new member looking to get into bantam racing/parade

Hi, firstly thank you for allowing me on to your site, i am based in the Northeast nr Middlesborough, i have been looking at Bantam racing for a while now, unfortunately, not done anything about it as not sure if i am too isolated up here, the thing is a friend of mine down South has decided to put his Bantam racer up for sale,            
     


this is as he got it, does not run, requires some sorting out, D3 crankcases, partial electronic ign, high compression written on underside of head, other than this nothing else known, does come with race fairing, price wise neither of us know what is fair, any advice would be appreciated, regards, Geoff.

Looks a bit suspect to me ...

Several things to probe a bit before parting with too much money -- I mean -- even to a friend.

The plunger suspension dates it back quite a bit ... but then I knew of a racing Bantam that had a rigid frame with the rider happy just to ride rather than be competitive as a racer. It was a good one for parades.

I don't want to be too harsh -- I mean it looks good -- but I wonder if it was raced and how it handled because although it looks very neat and tidy and the front forks look professional as well as the general impression, .....   I am instantly wary of front end geometry. I could probable be criticised on the latter because this is a photo and careful measurement might suggest I am wrong in being critical at all..  

Probably very good for doing a parade or two each year but for racing....???

I hope I haven't uüset anyone by this....  

Best of luck with your endeavours,

JayBee.

Hi, i am taking on board what you say, the unfortunate part about it, is, that my friend has no history regarding the bike, therefore we do not know if it has ever seen a track, it does look the part, but that could be purely cosmetic??? as for me, perhaps someone with better knowledge than i have, would need to check it out first, initially my friend is looking at £1750/£2000 maybe too high, as you say, no use parting with good money if it`s not correct, regards.

Hi, after some consideration i am thinking of building one from scratch, i am a bit long in the tooth for competitive riding, maybe a fast parade bike would be better suited i think, what base model would you suggest as a starting point??

Oh dear -- that is extortion Geoff. A non-runner at that.

Better not tell you what Icarus-1 (in the picture of me aboard) cost in 1967-8 because it would make your heart bleed. It was a "Racer on the Cheap" as BRC Chairman, Roy bacon said in his book, "Racing on the Cheap". I had many good races (over thirty 1st-3d places) in the Intermediate Class events although not quite quick enough for any hope in the Senior class. Icarus-2 was less than half of what Icarus-! cost because I had learnt how to deal with BSA Dealers. Breakers and Others by then, and club membrers would quite often "pay" me for a bit of welding with spare parts and bits of bike for the welding I did for them. ..

If you have the enthusiasm enough, the means (a garden shed and a friend with a lathe & welding equipment), the time and patience, then do what I did in making Icarus-1. I went round several Bike-Breakers and got a complete 150cc Bantam ( a runner) for 15quid (with Icarus-2 -- I bought just the frame, forks & wheels for a fiver ). I worked at Ford Dunton, at the time and we made up a team of three with two other Ford engineers assisting: one tuning the engine and the other providing machining where necessary. I had my own gas welding so it was a matter of each doing his own bit and in the early days we were looking for a jockey. One of our team just happened to find the 125 engine (with wide spaced cylinder bolt holes) we wanted -- on a scrap heap, in a field. When it came to working out the optimum length of resonant exhaust pipe I took Icraus-1 to Brands on practice days and "tuned" the pipe by the simple method of (suck it and see) road test. This got to me that I found myself pitting Icarus-1 against much bigger bikes (like a Noton Dominator and an A7 BSA) around Brands and this gave me the urge to race --. which had been a big no-no before Brands practice....

There's a great deal of satisfaction in building your own and if you want to do a parade or two... then it does not have to be a racer. the trouble with parades is that there are a lot of crazy racers who seem to want to prove themselves -- in Parades ....

I know -- Now and again, I get a headache at the thought of BRC anniverary meeting at Snetterton 1981 I think it was ....

Cheers!

JayBee.

Geoffb-63

PM sent

Jimmie

Hi John & Jimmie, thank you for taking the time to reply, been looking at various sites and write ups, without going overboard with a bottomless pit of money, i have tried to extract what i believe could be a start point for a scratch build, i am currently watching a part std D7, engine/frame/ race tank/seat couple of other bits, hopefully very cheap, forks i will source later along with wheels/brakes etc, shed i have, access to machining/welding will have to sort elsewhere, the engine i will take advice on tuning, g/box apparently 3 speed is supposed to be good, i understand cr gear sets are very expensive if available, have to work on that one, fingers crossed could have a start in the next couple of weeks, will keep you informed, regards.

Hello Geoff,
Welcome to the forum and to Bantam racing, if you have any questions on any topic that you can`t immediately resolve then just post the question or query here and you will receive an answer. It won`t matter how trivial you may feel it to be, we were all of us in your position once and so are keen to help a newcomer.

Regards, Trevor