The building of my vintage racer

This will be my first year at vintage racing...and this is my first build of a vintage racing bike. I like to hear people's opinions and thoughts. I have yet to achieve any level of experience. This year is only about getting a bike out on the track. Adjustments and tweaks will come. If I feel like I want to be more competitive, enhancements will be inevitable.

This will also be my vintage racer for Pike's Peak in 5 years or so. I have to wait until I'm old enough to enter the class. The vintage class also requires the rider to be over 50 years of age.

Looks great Andrew. Nice virgin covers : ) What are you running for gearing at NHMS? The lower the better@ NHMS, either 3:56 or the next lower ratio is about perfect for good drive without fully revving out past the checkers on the front straight.
Running without a Tach sucks when you're sitting on the grid surrounded by bikes so freekin loud that you cant ever hear your own bike revving. Tough to get a good start not knowing where your revs are. I can get away without using one on my R50, well, because its a 500 with no power so revving it to the moon is not going to loop me. My 750 on the other hand can wheelie off the line excessively if I dump the clutch above 5-6k. I would imagine the heavy flywheel and Bings may "smooth" your starts.
Hope to make it to the Vintage Celebration (spectating only this event), and hopefully will be back on the grid after some long overdue mods to my 750. REALLY cool to have you and Mike showing up as the past few years the big bikes have been dwindling in numbers. Perhaps this is the start of a resurgence : )

Marcus doesnt need any stinkin safety gear!

3:56 or next HIGHER gearing, 3:41 I think

I didn't know about the rider age limits at Pikes Peak. I am tempted to try this just for the experience--the winner will need also-rans like me to make the win even more satisfying. I have an R90 that should do nicely.

Have you talked to Junkyard Dog about his airhead BMW racers?

Good luck.

FTB,
How was your weekend

silver hammer?

Actually that shorai battery of yours should weigh well under 5 lbs. More like 2-2.5. I'd be more concerned with using it in a constant loss system as the Li-Fe batteries don't like being discharged a lot. If you drain it too much it's permanently toast and will never take a charge again. I'd try to find some kind of deep cycle battery if your running a constant loss system.

Nice bke, I'm in my first season ever of classic racing.....more just out there 'doin' it" than anyting. I currently running a massive 32 amp Motobatt battery ( I pinch it from my Ducati) as I also run a starter...be it a cheap copy of the BMW one...( charge easily lasts for a 2 day meet)
Pommy John is right about sitting on the dummy grid....some times the breakdown wagon can take ages....
The Shorai batteries have become popular here for racing and its been discussed as mentioned in earlier post that they die if over discharged.
I'm running Bridgestone 45's.....seem to suit my purposes....which is mainly improving the rider skills.
We don't have rider age cut offs
Still if I can keep in front of my mates T140 I'm happy.
Have fun.

I can't tell you how many people tell me to ditch the starter motor "All that extra weight" they say.
My view is that the best way to improve my lap times is to use the throttle more and the brakes less. A few pounds of starter ain't going to make a bit of difference.

I was told by a BMW sidecar guy to get a small Toyota one and adapter, I suspect they are thinking I'm running an old Bosch starter....the Valeo copy at $99 US is a lot lighter.....and if it breaks I have another.....
In my case you are spot on about more throttle less braking over a few kgs.
Hey PJ what sort of tyres do you run?, we have to use treaded type and treaded race compound Avons are 3x the price of good old BT45's
( sorry OP for hijacking your thread....:huh)

I use the outrageously expensive Avons. I haven't found anything suitable to replace them. Some guys use a Dunlop KR 124A on the front and a KR164 on the rear, but they are the same price as Avons.

On my Norton 750 I use a Dunlop TT900 GP 90/90 and 120/80, but they are only H rated which is 130MPH max. The big BM goes faster than that.

I tried the BT45 on the front but had a crash when I lost the front braking into a hairpin and found that saving money on tyres is a false economy .... the crash cost more than the tyres would have

I'm hearing you... Not so much saving money is " have to start somewhere" ....Your running 18 on the front?
my Norton is only for weekend rides so has good old Dunlop TT's ( came with them).

Fair enough. The Bridgestones are pretty good. Probably as good as you'll get in an 18" road tyre. I was playing with them to try to overcome a pattering ( chattering to our US friends) that I had with the Avons.
I probably crashed due to my own fault braking too late and a bit off line.

I just realised that what I said about the Bridgestones may have put a little doubt in your mind about them, and confidence in your tyres is crucial to going quick. so please ignore my previous comments. They are good, but not quite as good as the Avons.


Yeah, 18" front and back.

Well, the first race weekend is over. The bike had issues. The shifter arm was moving on the gearbox shaft. I wasn't able to shift the bike very well on Saturday, but I got through my only race that day. I came in a solid last place. It was probably because I hadn't tightened down the set screw well enough. So, in an effort to sort that out, I tried to remove the shifter arm. It came off half way and then got stuck. It took a bit of work to get it either back on or get it off. Finally got it off the shaft.



I believe the banging and cranking on the shaft really fouled up the alignment inside the gearbox. Sunday morning I put back on the shifter arm nice and properly. I thought I was all set and ready to go. Set off onto the track to find I couldn't shift the bike into 3rd gear. I could only use 1st and 2nd. Bugger! I was done. I wasn't going to tear into the gearbox there at the track. I will try to find a 5 speed gearbox. I have a 4 speed one in there now. And with the 5 speed gearbox, find a newer clutch and flywheel.

I was quite disappointed Sunday morning, but I got over it. I will chalk it up to experience. I was still able to learn a lot about how the event is run. I had a fun weekend all the same, although racing would have made it more fun. Next race is a one day event on 11 June. I'll return from watching the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal the evening before and then get to the track, which is 30 miles from my home, to do my own racing.

For pictures from the whole weekend, click on the photo above. It will take you to the gallery.

The starter might be a bit of extra weight but at least it is right wear it matters the least up toward the front and right around the pitch axis. Mass centralization works.

It's too bad Avon quit making their old street tires. They gripped much better than BT45's. Not as well as Avon race but night and day better than BT45's. At some point while you are getting better and using the throttle more and the brakes less you have to really start working with your tires. Most bias ply street tires are always "off" grip wise compared to good tires. When good tires are good, you can go WAY faster on them but good tires "go off" and when they go off they aren't any better than normal tires. You have to constantly adjust your riding to the condition of the tires especially if you can't afford to swap tires at the first signs of your tires going off. It's easy to under ride new tires and over ride old tires. Over riding old tires can be fun IF you know they are "off"! Good luck!

I suppose one is bound to have some issues first race. It's good you are taking it in stride and moving forward. I hope you have better luck with your next race.

I'm getting to the point where I would like to do this with my /5. It's a tough call because It's such a joy to ride in the first place. For now I'll live vicariously through people like you.

It's hard to see from the photo how that shifter thing is held onto the shaft. By a pinch bolt I guess. It looks to me that it's a fairly solid lump of alloy and may be a bit inflexible to be cruched onto the shaft by a small 6mm bolt.


I use the genuine part from BMW. It's steel and is attached by a bolt up the middle into the shaft. That's on a 5 speed . I would really look into replacing that with something made of steel.

It's a 4 speed and it uses a locking 8mm set screw from the thick side. They work very well if they are tightened down all the way:)

Can you use a 5 speed in US vintage racing?

Yes. Not a problem using a 5 speed gearbox. At least for USCRA.

The problems I had were not because of the parts. If installed correctly, I think I would have had more success. Like I said, experience was gained.

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