What would you do?

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milfordite

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What would you do?


I still have my old racer and am wondering what to do with it. I could part it out, sell as is if there is a market for such things, or use it as a base for a cafe racer and ride the thing. Specs are: MkIII cases with Maney crank, cam, Stage 1 head, std rods, exhaust by Herb Becker, 36mm DellOrto carbs, Suzuki 550 GT rear hub, Works shocks, 18" alum. rims, Nourish gearbox case with Triumph 5 speed cluster, belt drive, good fork brace, slimline frame, etc. I won my share of races with this bike and would probably be competitive today with most of the field. I'd hate to part it out, but it would be work to detune the engine, etc. to make it a street legal machine.
So, what do you lot think?
 
Well, can't figure out how to get the photo to show up. Sad to be computer illiterate...
 
Why wouldnt it be legal on your streets....Maybe smaller choke carbs and back off timing a tad... suppose it depends where you live .. Thing is that you have serious kit sell it now and replace it with what?
 
Opening up the valve clearances can tame the valve timing sometimes. Has it got some scary compression ratio?

And as he said, 32 mm carbs. Don’t worry about a step in the inlet tract.
 
Unless you’ve got sky high compression and / or poor fuel where you are, there’s nothing stopping you ride that as it is. There are lots of Maney cams on the road. 36mm carbs aren’t too big, it’s the export size itself that’s crucial to maintaining velocity.

If you insist on de tuning it, get a 3 or 4 inch radius ground on the lifters to lower the power band in the rev range.

My 850 runs sweet with 10.5:1 CR, so unless you’re over that, I don’t think you need to worry too much.

Put it on the road and enjoy having the hottest Cdo in town !!
 
The compression is 11.5:1 so that would have to be lowered. When the 4 spd box was in it I could barely kick it over when warm. I'm not concerned about the cam or carbs, they will work OK. The bike would have to have lights, etc. to be legal in this state, but that's not a deal breaker. The bike dynoed at 68HP at the wheel last time, so it's doing OK. I thought about using the lightweight rods and pistons to help with the shakes but we'll see.
 
I've had friends suggest I should put lights on my Seeley and register it. All of it's development has been for racing. Putting it on the road would defeat it's purpose. I could easily break every speed limit in first gear. It would be the ultimate in frustration. These days I cannot afford to race, so I save up for a track day and get my jollies by improving my bike's performance. Next time, I will be doing some on-board video.
I have looked at your photo - your bike is too good to cannibalise. It is obviously well developed, and the work involved in achieving that must be worth something.
 
Here is a question - what do you do with a road-race bike after you have achieved perfection ? With my 500cc Triton, I got it to the stage where it was very quick, but there was no race class to suit it. So I sold it and built the Seeley. Now there is no race class for it too. Sensibly you would race it against air-cooled Ducatis and Guzzis, but it is never going to happen. In Australia we have historic racing. It was started by guys who had never raced and has always been a balls-up. We have BEARs racing which runs moderns and oldies off the same grid. BOTT in America seems to have been good until it went silly.
 
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Put a Joe Hunt maggie on it a small battery for the brake light no need for the head light on during the day well here anyway but it will make a good road bike, you can put a alternator and run a battery elimantor to run the lights thats how I have mine set up but a small battery will help with brighter lights, it would be a dream bike for the road and give a few mod bikes a good run for their money.
Don't part it out you will regret it down the road and its a good looking bike set it up for on the road you be glad you did, Pommy John over here did it to his racing Featherbed and is now on the road, my 850 Featherbed has a hot motor but was build for the road from the begining and is outstanding to ride on the road and will get folks wanting to talk to you about it where ever you stop.
So get it on the road is what I vote for.

Ashley
 
I was in exactly the same position with my race bike. I built it from boxes of bits in the 80s and I was really reluctant to part with it. It has PW3 cam 10.5 pistons, 36mm Amals and a slimline frame.

I converted it into a road bike and I use it occasionally, but not much really. The work to do this was not too difficult. I had to built a wiring loom from scratch which was a steep learning curve, fit lights, horn etc. I lowered the compression with a thicker copper base gasket and a thicker head gasket and took up the valve clearance with lash caps.
I swapped the Quaife gearbox because it wouldn't take a kick start, and cool though I am, I didn't want to have to push start it every time outside the pub :)

The tricky parts were brake light switch for the rear, it still looks a bit bodgy, and rear mudguard simply because the frame is powder coated and I couldn't weld any brackets on.

I have recently fitted some high rise clip ons 'cos my old back and neck can't take riding around town crouched low any more.
 
I was in exactly the same position with my race bike. I built it from boxes of bits in the 80s and I was really reluctant to part with it. It has PW3 cam 10.5 pistons, 36mm Amals and a slimline frame.

I converted it into a road bike and I use it occasionally, but not much really. The work to do this was not too difficult. I had to built a wiring loom from scratch which was a steep learning curve, fit lights, horn etc. I lowered the compression with a thicker copper base gasket and a thicker head gasket and took up the valve clearance with lash caps.
I swapped the Quaife gearbox because it wouldn't take a kick start, and cool though I am, I didn't want to have to push start it every time outside the pub :)

The tricky parts were brake light switch for the rear, it still looks a bit bodgy, and rear mudguard simply because the frame is powder coated and I couldn't weld any brackets on.

I have recently fitted some high rise clip ons 'cos my old back and neck can't take riding around town crouched low any more.
Sounds like what I need to do. I have a nice large Lyta aluminium tank for it as well as a half fairing with a spot for a headlight. The electrics wouldn't be a problem, I can make a loom up easily. I have a 4 spd Norton box I can put in as well for a kickstarter. Hmmm, might be fun to play with at that. Higher bars would be a must though.:D
 
Definitely convert it to street legal and ride it! Obviously it's too fast to ride to its full potential but riding it is WAY better than parting it out... That exhaust may attract unwanted attention but that is easy enough to replace...
 
I agree, drop compression a bit and make it a roadie. I gather vibration might be the main issue?
I'm fighting that too with a 650ss. Dynamic balance is next.
As far a Vintage racebike being
" too fast " for the roads at 68 bhp, I don't think that will be a problem.
Its a different world today. A Burgman scooter has 55 HP! A 675 Daytona 130 bhp. Small everyday 4 cylinder cars have equal or greater acceleration than the 60s muscle cars with giant V8s.
A bit of power is nice. A lack of power is actually quite dangerous, especially when attempting to pass.
The road will soak up 68 bhp no problem.
Still enough to be fun tho.

Glen
 
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