What would the ultimate beach racer bike be?

[Conquiztador]

There was no MX anywhere on Saturday, so together with my son we decided that he would give the Gisborne Beach racing a go. He liked it so much that he now wants to do the full three round series. And I am all for it as it gives him useful experience. He raced in juniors where they had an A and B grade. A was for 125cc and older juniors, and B for 85cc and the younger ones (he is 11yo). Should have the results by Wednesday latest, but from what I was able to see he should be either leading the series or in second spot as he was passing some 125cc bikes on his 85cc!

The seniors was interesting. A Yamaha R1 (I was told it was) was my clear pre-race favorite to take the class. Fitted with some serious dirt tyres it looked mean. But to my surprise the bike struggled in the turns and also on the straight that was not flat (the straight by the water was flat and hard and the Yamaha was flying and easily passing all in the class, but would be overtaken in the turn and also did not do well on the more loose sand and in the small jumps). An Aprilia was the winner of the day! And some of the bigger dirt bikes also did well.

So, as you do, I started thinking that this looked fun and I should really give it a go next time... But what to ride? Some years ago I used to ride speedway solos. I have also owned a few dirt bikes, custom bult cruizers and some road bikes. I don't think any of them as they were/are would be the best option. Perhaps some kind of hybride of a few of them?

What does the KB community recon would be the ultimate bike for beach racing? (The senior track is 800 meters between the cones, the juniors track is 150m, then there is also the 250cc one that is 400m).

[blackdog]

I know you got one of these in the shed anyway.

[Conquiztador]

I know you got one of these in the shed anyway.

There was a K100 that did one lap in the practice but then died. (Apparently the coil faulted). Had some big dirt tyres on. But these are heavy beasts and in loose sand I recon you would be struggling. Another thing is that as they have shaft drive you would be struggling to play with the final drive setting. If there is a chain and sprockets it is soo much easier to set up.

[scott411]

the big motocross 500 two strokes, and 450 plus four strokes are always pretty fast, and the rougher it gets it does not worry them,

the 4 cylinder road bikes are always fast, but harder to ride, and easier to make mistakes on, if the beach is flat and hard then with a good rider they beat the mx bikes,

its been the same for a while, my old man won the national open title on a GS1000 on the beach at gisbourne in 1987, beating the 500 2 strokes,

[scott411]

having a look though the photos, I think the Aprillia Twin MX bikes would be a pretty competitive weapon with the right riders on one,

[FJRider]

I always liked this one ..

http://thekneeslider.com/ducati-999-beach-racer/

[haydes55]

Easy. Longtrack speedway bike, bigger gas tank. Fit an old norton (if I recall correctly) gearbox (it's a separate unit on those older ones). And the front rim can be swapped out for another old bikes front wheel with a brake.

That aussie guy came over for burt munro and cleaned up every race on his long track speedway bike. Right from the start nothing was as fast. He was slower under braking and turning but not enough to let the other bikes catch up enough.

[Ocean1]

I always liked this one ..

That back tyre looks to be on backwards.

I'm sure it's just some newfangled technology sent to confuse me...

[pete376403]

Easy. Longtrack speedway bike, bigger gas tank. Fit an old norton (if I recall correctly) gearbox (it's a separate unit on those older ones). And the front rim can be swapped out for another old bikes front wheel with a brake.

That aussie guy came over for burt munro and cleaned up every race on his long track speedway bike. Right from the start nothing was as fast. He was slower under braking and turning but not enough to let the other bikes catch up enough.

You'd need more substantial forks with caliper mounts, but apart from that I think you're on to it. Even the Norton gearbox might not be necessary, longtrack bikes have a two speed.
Not sure what the new longtrack motors are like, but the old ones were smaller bore than the speedway engines, but with corresponginly longer stroke to get back to 500cc - so put a speedway top end onto longtrack bottom end and you get a 600 or so.
Or just leave the motor alone, watching the Speedway GP at the Springs showed the motors have perfectly adequate power as they are

[Conquiztador]

The Junior racing:

[ktm84mxc]

Would a KTM 950/990 Motard or super Enduro make a good beach racer? Yes a bit pricey now but will get cheaper.

[Banditbandit]

An old Indian Scout ... they can be fettled to reach around 200 mph ...

[Paul in NZ]

An old Indian Scout ... they can be fettled to reach around 200 mph ...

Only if you are allowed to set fire to your lawn occasionally and with the current fire ban thats a no no so maybe not...

[Banditbandit]

Do you really think a fire ban would have stopped Burt??

[Big Dave]