project nail_bOmb

ey up, I'm here as a result of a drunken, friday night bid on e-bay on a '99, first gen SV, I'd forgotten I'd actually bid on it but Mrs b informed me the next morning that I was now the proud owner of a very tatty, very tired motorcycle. Up to deepest, darkest Lincolnshire in the trusty van to pick up my new purchase and to say that she was underwhelmed was a bit of an understatement! ' you did have a good look at photos before you bid on it didn't you?' Err, alcohol and evil-bay are a bad combination, I like to think that I bluffed myself out of a compromising situation with the usual 'well, I'm going to be cutting/scrapping/modifying the majority of the parts so it's not that bad actually......'
So, back to the plot, the plan is to build a trackday/hillclimb/mini-twin machine on a very tight budget to have some fun on. Expect some shed-build engineering, rattle can paint and some home-made Carbon bits, (courtesy of off-cuts from a well known Midlands aircraft manufacturer er-hurm....) I'm aiming to bring the project in at two-grand including the initial winning bid of £650 and I'm not going to scrimp on new tyre's, brake components, chain, sprockets or suspension, a hard call I know but stay tuned.
Here's a few pictures of bikes I've poked with a stick before including my old MZ and Beemer race bikes........

[ophic]

a 650 for £650, how could you possibly not bid?

Can't see any pics though.

Sorry about that! Here you go...

[Markylemin]

The MZ looks a bit cheeky.
We've all been there with the drunk- bay purchase

[Bibio]

lovin those bikes.

is the MZ the 350?

the bmw looks superb.

Thanks for your kind comments, really appreciate them. The MZ started life as a 250ETZ commuter complete with top-box! I built it to race in the MZ series with Bemsee but soon found out that there's no such thing as cheap racing ( especially when race motors complete with Yamaha con rods, race pistons etc are upwards of £1400 a throw!) I built the Beemer to race in the British Historic Racing B.E.A.R.S series but again seriously underestimated the costs involved ( plus the fact I wasn't very good!) after a third place, my best result) at a very wet and cold Darley Moor I decided to sell up and just dip a toe in with the odd track day instead.
So, here's a couple of pictures of the SV as I bought it, my Mrs says it reminds her of me, ok from a distance but rough as a badgers **** close up! Time to put a new blade in the hacksaw I reckon......

[Bibio]

looks like you have the skill to turn the SV into something nice even if it is for going round and round on the same bit of tarmac.. lol

[punyXpress]

The Holy Grail!
A YELLOWNaked Curvy

Love a good project ! Think your bikes rough .... just hand bashed the tank Ford st grey . Budget builds are more fun

According to Mrs B its 33 years since I last owned a Suzuki, a 1000cc Katana, the flat-slided carby old Formula 1 homolagated special. Looking at some old photos, I was shocked to see that we were running Pirelli Phantoms in a 130 section! State of the art tyre's and the widest you could fit in the swingarm at the time, how times change!
Anyhoo, as I stumble towards my sixtieth year on planet earth here's the update on project nail_bOmb and a little insight of how I build my bikes. I have the attention span of a Jack Russell terrier, I flit from one thing to another but I have the finished bike very much in my consiousness, I can visualise the end result but actually getting there is another story all together. I like to finish one item to a reasonable standard which tends to drive me on to improve the last bit I worked on, if you know what I mean?
As I stated in my first post this is going to be a budget job, I'm not going to drop the engine or swingarm out of the frame, rather, work with what I've got, lightening stock components where possible and just generally tidying up the bike as I go along, the sort of thing anyone can do with a little mechanical sympathy and patience.
I already had a pair of Apico risers and Renthal 'Fatbars' in stock so it would be rude not to use them, I'm going naked with this build,(ooh err missus!) no fairings, (just a KTM Sx number board on the front and a BB plastics race seat. I'm thinking supermoto style hand guards like I have on my KTM's too),hey, I crash, a lot, so when the inevitable happens I'm trying to keep it cheap. Here's a few photos of the mock-up to try and give an impression of what I'm trying to achieve. I'm not posting in a chronological order but I hope it all makes sense in the end.......