End of an era

Well, for the first time since April 2000 I don't own a ZX-6R, not even a
broken one.

After umming and ahhing about what to do with the frame I stuck it on eBay
for 99p start no reserve, so I was quite chuffed to get £315 for it[1].

Shame the engine only fetched £1.20. The same guy bought both and drove up
from Leeds to collect yesterday and took some other bits and bobs off my
hands as well, meaning that this weekend I took as much as I was told my
entire bike was worth when I started breaking it and also meaning that Eddie
finally has a clear[2] space in his garage.

Nice, but I'm still sorry to see it go. Just the Fiat to get rid of now -
anybody want a very cheap[3], very fast set of wheels?

[1] Although an hour after the auction ended somebody e-mailed me with a
sob story about them having to rush to hospital and offering me £325 if I'd
sell the frame to him instead. Is it just me or is that a bit crap? I
mean, if you're going to try that sort of gazump you could at least make it
a decent increment - £400 at least.

[2] Clear except for the kitty-litter-covered oil and coolant leaks and a
small pile of random bits.

[3] Cheap as in "cheap to buy", group 18 insurance and low 20s MPG make it
not that cheap on a day-to-day basis.

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Aprilia RSV-1000R, Honda VFR750F-L, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

Woo-hoo!

Just the last few bits of GSX600F to get rid of now. Anybody want an
engine and frame? Ideal for that winter project! Treat the man in your
life to an excuse to spend all Christmas in the garage drinking beer!
You *know* it makes sense.

.... the radiator in a bucket, the bits of oil-stained wood, and a
distinct hole in my beer supplies.

 

eh? Was that when you got your first ZX-6R? I would have sworn you
had one before that. You had one when you inaugaurated the BOTAFOT,
didn't you?

 

<hopeful>

So you have some space for a track bike now?

 

Space, yes. Money, no.

The mortgage market is pretty screwed at the moment, for some reason.

 

No, the first BOTAFOT (the Wik-binning one) was done on my CBR400.

I bought the black & grey 6R when Lisa was in hospital in the run up to Emma
being born (as she was on drugs it seemed like the ideal time to ask her if
I could buy a brand new bike) and I got the second one in December 2000,
because Lloyd Coopers were, frankly, giving them away.

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Aprilia RSV-1000R, Honda VFR750F-L, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

I did something similar with the 7R. When the buyer came to pick up the
frame, I offered him the engine for 50 quid. Quickest sale ever.

"Well, it was definitely a working engine when I crashed..."

 

how cheap is cheap?

 

£500

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Aprilia RSV-1000R, Honda VFR750F-L, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.

 

Really? You don't say

Actually, as my current killer (4.47%) 2-year deal comes to and end on
1st Dec, I was dreading what I might be able to find. But, I've
managed to organise an offset tracker from First Direct at 0.79% above
base, which is pretty good, and likely to get better - the talk is of
base rates plummeting in the next year or so, perhaps even as low as
1% ! [1] Which would be lovely.


[1]
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/stand...unge+to+record-breaking+1+per+cent/article.do

 

Eh? I thought you'd been offered more than that already.

 

******

I had hoped you were going to say a couple of grand.

I'm looking for a track car, and that's well within budget.

However, is it road legal?

It is the 20v Turbo, right?

Has it had the fan-belt work that requires engine removal?

 

heh - almost exactly what I had in mind - I fancy doing a couple of
car track-days, but don't want to risk (well, read: highly likely)
pranging the RX-8 resulting in expensive repairs.

For £500 for a car that might only last a couple of days, that's still
fine (in fact, I'd not cry if the engine blew up on the first lap for
that sort of money).

Also (and it's insane in the brain, insurance-wise), my 19-year old
stepson is just learning to drive and we could do with something semi-
disposible

 

A man, currently with no mortgage and plenty of savings, writes: No it
wouldn't!

 

In communiqué

ITYM cam belt, but the reasoning is otherwise sound. I always
quite fancied a Bravo 2.0 HGT. I am happy to find my new SO Mazda is not
an 'interference engine'.
--
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pete Fisher at Home: |
| Voxan Roadster Gilera Nordwest * 2 Yamaha WR250Z |
| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

Yeah, that's a good deal. We're just waiting for our IFA to get back to
us with what he's found.

 

heh.

Mind you, you might find that even if base rates go low, if credit
markets stay fucked up then the inter-bank rates will stay high. If
banks have to get money from depositors, then savings rates could
still be good.

 

One can only hope! Of course, next year we'll probably have a
reasonably sized mortgage & little savings so my outlook will change
accordingly anyway.

 

1998 20V Turbo 5-speed in Maroon (looks better than it sounds) with tan
leather interior.

It needs an MOT and, as it's not insured at the moment, it's more hassle
than it's worth to get it down to the MOT station. I'm pretty confident it
would pass, as all of the things that they usually fail an MOT on (brakes
and track-rod ends) were done last year.

Things that are wrong with it:

The rear NS tyre has a slow puncture
The air-con has a leak in it somewhere, but I've never investigated where it
is or how much it would be to fix.
The bodywork and the wheels are less than mint, there's a small dent on the
leading edge of the bonnet and one on the front NS wing. There's also a
ding on the rear NS corner which has had a pretty crappy repair (by the
previous owner)
The exhaust is a bit loud, but Eddie and I fitted a new exhaust section last
year and I think it just needs tightening up a bit more.
The brake warning light sometimes flashes at full boost in 1st and 2nd.
I've checked the fluid levels and they are OK, so buggered if I know what
this is.

If you were going to use it as a track car you'd really have to look at the
brakes - it had new pads and discs last year, but they are still shit.

The fan belt was done at 45,000 miles and it's currently a whisker below
70k, so you could probably not worry about the belt for another 10k miles,
minimum.

Fiat did actually issue a technical bulletin telling their mechanics how to
do the fan belt without taking the engine out (basically you remove some
auxiliary gubbins, undo the engine bolts and then tilt it in the bay to give
you enough access), but Fiat dealers are shit and none of the owners I know
would take their car near one if their life depended on it. Independent
specialists will do all of the belts for £300-400. Alternatively you can
have the engine out and get the clutch done at the same time (another
notoriously expensive job). My clutch is fine, but if you're looking at a
track car you may want to go with something a bit meatier.

The engine car be taken up to 300hp for not that much (it's 220 as standard)
and up over 400hp is possible.

--
AndrewR, D.Bot (Celeritas)
Aprilia RSV-1000R, Honda VFR750F-L, Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo
BOTAFOT#2,ITJWTFO#6,UKRMRM#1/13a,MCT#1,DFV#2,SKoGA#0 (and KotL)
BotToS#5,SBS#25,IbW#34, DS#5, COSOC# Suspended, KotTFSTR#
The speccy Geordie twat.