The MW Automotive Thread 5.0 GT

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[reddsun1]

Aw, man.... 

Formula 1 champion Niki Lauda has passed, age 70. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/motorsports/f1-great-and-aviation-entrepreneur-niki-lauda-dies-at-70/ar-AABFeqU?OCID=ansmsnnews11

[sh9000]

 

[Nightbat]

Ok, I know it's 2 wheels short, but it's about performance on wheels and could be a decent/entertaining story anyways,...

 

So, I had been riding around on a 2006 GSX-R 750 for more than 12 years




In 2016 the headgasket started to sweat and overheat the bike, got that fixed, but a bit over a year later after my colleague pulled my bike out of the parking lot with his bumper
During those repairs early 2018, my mechanic found out that the base gasket was starting to sweat as well.
By this time, the little beastie was already clocking well over 50000 miles.
Anyways, I held on to her for as long as no problem arose which would lead to a standstill.
Few months later my headers cracked, powdercoat was starting to flake from the swingarm, front fork required a service, it definitely was on it's way to the great circuit in the sky.
But, she was still going...

So, I figured early 2019 to start looking around for something new(er...ish).
After so many years on a 750 (owned a 750 SRAD prior to the K6), I decided to look for her big sister, the K5 1000, figured I was a big boy by now as well.
-And I actually first contemplated buying a 2005 GSX-R 1000 instead of the 750 K6, but with not even having my licence for 2 years at that time, I probably wouldn't be enjoying this monster for long.

Looked around on my nation's version of Reverb, and other 2nd hand sites, and early march found one I was interested in (2nd choice, but more on that later).
20K on the clock, $6250, ...time for a test ride.
 

This was the first time on a 1k (that 1 time on the Honda 954 Fireblade of my buddy doesn't count as I was following him on his new bike home and he rides like a granny  )

My 750 was anything but slow,... but this thing?????

 

There was only one conclusion:

Well,....

.....at 20k miles, this one had more salt corrosion than mine did, while mine had been used all year round for 12+ years and was now showing 59000 miles on the dash.

^{And I never was known for being a disciplined polisher}
Rear tire and valves had dried out, engine covers left and right looked like they were painted in a sandstorm, rim edges were 'polished' (IOW Bare Aluminum) with the powdercoat left in the center starting to flake and the exhaust was loud as hell WITH baffle installed,...

Yeah, I needed one, but Nope, not this one!

Well, after saying goodbye and heading home, decided to take a detour and grab a coffee at the beach.

Never got there though, at a certain point, suddenly my dash showed 0 RPMs and 0 mph, first I figured it was simply my dash dying on me (hey, it also had done 59K).
But alas, a few miles further, she died under me, called road assist, conclusion: Generator meltdown, I was riding on the juice of my battery those last few miles.

....great, as if life wasn't throwing me curveballs to the nether-region already, I now was without a bike, and without a mode of transportation to easily shop for another bike (since I only have a motorcycle licence).


So, sitting around, browsing the sites, got a few feelers out, but nothing big, getting bored, figured I "generalized" my search parameters, I found her,.... again
-Back to that "second choice" comment: Prior to me requesting that test ride on that other 1000, I found one advertised with 4700 miles on the clock,
but before I was "actively" starting to shop, it disappeared, logical assumption it sold.

But there she was, on a different site, under a misnomer, contacted the owner, tense week passed, called the guy: Yes! He still had it for sale and Yes! I could try her out.

Chartered a buddy of mine for a lift, and off we went treasure hunting, time to see if this thing was as advertised.

I mean, it hadn't run for 3 years, I'd be expecting everything rubber to be either cracking, covered in dust and grime.

Arrived at a 2 national car importers company terrain, through the gate, down a ramp to an underground garage.

 

 

...there she stood.

 

As I walked closer, I already noticed that the headlight glass was as clear as if it wasn't present, the color of the top cowl almost seemed to radiate in the dimly lit garage.

Then she came in close up view.

 

It really was as if I called Doc Brown and we jumped into the DeLorean and went back to 2005 and walked into the showroom of my local dealer and saw her standing there (Only this time, I wasn't gonna wait a year to buy a different bike).
What I found out while talking that the sellers father in law got permission from the neighboring company to store the bike there.

...the neighboring company was the official Dutch Jaguar importer and one of their services to customers was storing their expensive Jaguars in a conditioned garage

We were talking showroom condition, except the tires (original front, 2nd rear,...15 and 13 year old production date respectively -Yeah, the testride was 'adventurous'),
everything felt and looked like new.

Did the mandatory test ride, but when I came back it was already decided:





So the past 3 months, I've been busy doubling the miles on the clock (what the previous owner took 13 years to do) and of course adding my own personal touches to it.
Those tires went ASAP, they really were dangerous to continue riding on, also grabbed that opportunity to replace the brakelines for steel braided ones, just to be sure
Yeah they still felt flexible, but brake fluid is bad stuff, most builders suggest replacement after 5 years, and since I couldn't see their inner condition, decided not to take any chances.
Luckily, she was already sporting a Short Yoshimura exhaust (An added bonus, back in 2005 I wanted this slip-on on my SRAD as well, but it was bloody expensive and I managed to get a full system Arrow for cheap instead).

Had my mirrors, grips and bar weights from my K6 and put those on there, slapped on some tankgrips, removed the passenger pegs for a single exhaust hanger,
Screwed on a set of crash pads, preload adjusters, chain tensioners and a set of levers, put a smoke taillight and smoke turnsignal lenses on the back, changed the smoke windscreen to a lighter shade double bubble, stapled on a seatcover and lastly stuck on a custom design tankpad.
By now apart from rear sets, she's pretty much done externally.

She's already outfitted with a powercommander, but a custom tune will have to wait, first i need to refurbish the suspension, that was a downside on that low mileage,
the front shocks are traveling rather stiff, oh well, since I'm not the biggest guy in the world, it gives me the chance to change the springs to more suit my weight as well.
In due time I'll probably upgrade the brakedisks as well, and maybe put her on a set of PVM 10-spoke rims (which I've been lusting after since the days of my SRAD, 14 years back).


Well, all talk, now some pics.


As I bought her:




As she currently stands:

 

 



 

Edited July 8, 2019 by Nightbat

[Shadow]

Will be in the market for a new car this Fall and I'm legitimately considering the Civic Type R. I know they're like unicorns and can disappear off the dealership lot real fast. Has anyone else here purchased one and if so, what was your experience like?

Edited July 10, 2019 by Shadow

[jenius]

24 minutes ago, Shadow said:

Will be in the market for a new car this Fall and I'm legitimately considering the Civic Type R. I know they're like unicorns and can disappear off the dealership lot real fast. Has anyone else here purchased one and if so, what was your experience like?

Have you considered a model 3? Where I live, they are the it car.

[Shadow]

12 hours ago, jenius said:

Have you considered a model 3? Where I live, they are the it car.

I currently live in the greater Pittsburgh area. Tesla's are a tad rare here. They're intriguing cars, especially if I was commuting in and out of the city 5 days a week. I'm just not sure I'm ready to bite yet on the electric-car market.

[spanner]

I miss this old layout. And multi cylinder engines! 

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A glorious sound!!! 

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Montoya always put on a good show!

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And now a lap with..

Mark "I'm an Aussie so why don't people love me?" Webber

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Back to tin tops..

[vlenhoff]

Yo Spanner! How is the Holden, holding? It has been a while my friend!

[spanner]

Hey mate, yeah has been a while eh! How's yourself? The Holden is still going good. Owned it now for three years this week funny enough! We recently moved house and I finally have a garage to park it in and keep it properly protected. Gave it a good clean inside and out yesterday. She got a little dusty at a coffee n cars meet last weekend.

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Edited August 1, 2019 by spanner

[vlenhoff]

On 3/7/2019 at 4:10 PM, spanner said:

Hey PE, yep still got it. How's your Subaru going?

Your drawing looks great! Nice work mate!

Nice to hear about  your new place, and the Holden. It looks fantastic! I had to perform some maintenance on the Subaru, as the miles pile up. i still love it, and I hope it lasts a log time. 

Thanks for the compliments about my illustration, I appreciate it!

Edited August 1, 2019 by vlenhoff

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[jenius]

No mid engine Corvette talk? Looks dreamy... If I wasn't toting kids around...

[spanner]

Yes it does look pretty dreamy eh! Shame they'll be so expensive when they hit Aussie shores..

 

Edited August 1, 2019 by spanner