Where to next?

**J_Buell** · 6th January 2011, 12:50

After spending the year on a 150 and being bitten by the racing bug I’m wondering what bike would be a good upgrade from the 150’s. I’m only looking to upgrade because the two front runners and my main competition are switching classes.

The way I see it I have several options:

1 Aprilia RS 250, I’m of small build and only weigh about 68kg so I though one of these would suit me. I also think that a worked RD350 motor in one of these would make an extremely competitive F3 bike.

2 Honda RS125, I’m put off by the stories of high maintenance costs and lack of bikes on the grid. But I do like the idea of running one as they are a great learning tool and would teach me allot about mid-corner speed. Also are MNZ trying to get rid of these with the addition of the 250 four strokes?

3 Suzuki SV650 seems to be the most common bike and the easiest bike to be competitive on

4 “Ozzy 450” Glenn proved that these can be bloody quick

At this stage I’m only interested in racing at club level and doing trackdays.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated because at this stage I’m lost.

**xr-rider** · 6th January 2011, 13:38

buy my cbr400. its in the trading section. alot of fun

**gixerracer** · 6th January 2011, 22:20

Sv 650 pro twins

**Ivan** · 6th January 2011, 22:52

125GP is great and not that high maintenance a worked rd350 would be more,

Pro Twins very good bikes

450 I know of a 600 ready to be converted cheap haha

But any option has its advantages

**blackdog** · 6th January 2011, 23:05

how much ya wanna spend?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-345412717.htm

**Billy** · 7th January 2011, 00:12

Originally Posted by J_Buell

After spending the year on a 150 and being bitten by the racing bug I’m wondering what bike would be a good upgrade from the 150’s. I’m only looking to upgrade because the two front runners and my main competition are switching classes.

The way I see it I have several options:

1 Aprilia RS 250, I’m of small build and only weigh about 68kg so I though one of these would suit me. I also think that a worked RD350 motor in one of these would make an extremely competitive F3 bike.

2 Honda RS125, I’m put off by the stories of high maintenance costs and lack of bikes on the grid. But I do like the idea of running one as they are a great learning tool and would teach me allot about mid-corner speed. Also are MNZ trying to get rid of these with the addition of the 250 four strokes?

3 Suzuki SV650 seems to be the most common bike and the easiest bike to be competitive on

4 “Ozzy 450” Glenn proved that these can be bloody quick

At this stage I’m only interested in racing at club level and doing trackdays.

Any comments would be greatly appreciated because at this stage I’m lost.

Plenty of options available out there Joel,Give me a call sometime to discuss

**J_Buell** · 7th January 2011, 14:33

Originally Posted by Billy

Plenty of options available out there Joel,Give me a call sometime to discuss

Thanks for your advice!! Will do Billy

**ajturbo** · 7th January 2011, 14:36

i recon you should move up to Bucket Racing....

**Ivan** · 7th January 2011, 16:26

Originally Posted by theblackstig

how much ya wanna spend?

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-345412717.htm

Nice bike but a 6g RS125 will give it a decent run

**blackdog** · 7th January 2011, 16:29

Originally Posted by Ivan

Nice bike but a 6g RS125 will give it a decent run

in this sort of class i assume rider ability is a far more important factor

**satchriossi** · 7th January 2011, 16:53

Glenn Mason's NSR250 is for sale:

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Mo...-330680195.htm

Alot of good, sensible mods done so you can drop straight onto it and go racing.

With the introduction of the 400cc capacity limit for 2 strokes, you could also use the NSR as an excellent platform for building something special as it is so closely related to the NF5 RS250 GP bike and TT F3 parts (HRC race kit parts specific to the NSR), whilst rare, are still attainable.

**Kickaha** · 7th January 2011, 16:59

Originally Posted by J_Buell

2 Honda RS125, I’m put off by the stories of high maintenance costs and lack of bikes on the grid. But I do like the idea of running one as they are a great learning tool and would teach me allot about mid-corner speed. Also are MNZ trying to get rid of these with the addition of the 250 four strokes?

We found a lot of the people telling nightmare stories about high maintenance hadn't really had any experience with them

They are nowhere near as bad as most people make out and best of all are a proper GP race bike

**CHOPPA** · 7th January 2011, 18:13

If your consider an RS250 with a diff engine you should consider getting an RS125 and doing what S Moir has done and won on by putting in a 450 MX engine and racing F3 or you could be the first rider in NZ to put a 250f motor in and race in the 125 class

**J_Buell** · 9th January 2011, 14:56

Originally Posted by Kickaha

We found a lot of the people telling nightmare stories about high maintenance hadn't really had any experience with them

They are nowhere near as bad as most people make out and best of all are a proper GP race bike

So approimatley how many kms/hours should you get out of a piston,crank etc? What are the parts for a top/bottom end rebuild worth?

**J_Buell** · 9th January 2011, 14:57

Originally Posted by CHOPPA

If your consider an RS250 with a diff engine you should consider getting an RS125 and doing what S Moir has done and won on by putting in a 450 MX engine and racing F3 or you could be the first rider in NZ to put a 250f motor in and race in the 125 class

I think that has more to do with how good a rider scott is than anything else