What bike makes the best bucket racer?

[wbks]

GPbuilt 125's are illegal, true. However I see no reason why a road going RS125, if it fitted in the engine capacity regulations, would not be allowed.

Yea but taking it down to a 100
Would be a waste of a 8k bike but I guess price wasn't mentioned in the thread topic

[James Deuce]

One with a 45kg rider and no brakes.

[bucketracer]

I've heard of some airforce guy from someone on here that made his own frame for a cb125 and cleaned up. So a custom frame, cb125-cb750 piston, custom swingarm for monoshock, some sort of disk braked front end=145cc beast! lol Yes, I've been day dreaming while working on my cb. Just out of curiousity, what does "Team E.S.E" stand for?

Team E.S.E they are a bunch of guys who seem to know a thing or two about getting air cooled Suzuki GP125 rotary valve, late 70's road bikes going very well.

Tomas the Vietnamese race bike engine tuner works with them. They have been very open and helpfully with tips for my super quick (hopefully) water cooled, 14,000rpm 32hp GP100.

[wbks]

I see... Perhaps they can help me with my kawasaki H1 running all three cylenders, just detuned, in the desmocedici frame on carbon rims and bridgestone 09 motogp tires. My homie Hopper is coming over soon to help me start development

[all4A50s]

I'm taking a Yamaha RX125 (air cooled two stroke) and putting it into a Suzuki RG50 rolling frame and fitting it with a RS125 fairing. Motor been a bit of a B":{ch to fit in and the fairing is putting up an argument about where it wants to sit.

As to the best bucket i think the Suzuki RG50 is a good starter bucket (especially if you are racing on a tight) track then moving onto a 100 -125 commuter when you feel more confident.

As to the gear, trade me for second hand leathers. I started with a two-piece which cost me $70 and when I decided I was going to continue I found a one-piece for $80 (with knee sliders).

[gav]

Probably the best bucket if you're just starting out is, something that is reliable and easy to ride. Its hard to go past an FXR150 for this. You'll have alot of fun and reasonably competitive on a standard bike, once you've been racing for a bit, you'll think of things you want want to change or try and improve.
The other option is to buy a properly sorted bucket racer. This means one that has had plenty of track time, not like some you see Trade Me, advertised as a bucket, and its just had street gear removed and a set of handle bars fitted.

[Yow Ling]

If you are mechanicaly retarded then an FXR150 is probably the best bike as it needs not much work or attention. if you got heaps of time and mechanical aptitude then some sort of special is going to be best. The rules are a great leveler, as there is always going to be a handicap for whatever grand scheme you can come up with. Read the ese thread and you might start to understad that even simple shit isnt. A sleeved down 150 2 stroke can be a wicked engine but it either costs money or time (choose one ). The ability to test your creations is a factor too, if you make a change are you able to test it before you race it. Not everyone can go to the track twice a week for testing ! One thing I have noticed i it is alot easier to say put this piston in with this ignition and this carb and she will be sweet . Selecting and testing parts for a frankenengine is really time consuming and disapointing (heartbreaking?)
Stick with a stock FXR untill you can ride it fast and move to something else .
compared to riding fast selecting a good bucket is easy

[Sideways Sam]

OK, I'm gonna put my 2 cents in.........

Rumour has it (from several separate reliable sources) that the CBR150's from Thailand cleanup eveything in the South Island and Australia..... I'm having trouble seeing this because the FXR150s have much better specs from the factory plus a few differences that make them easier to tune etc.

We're running a stock standard FXR150 (well it's stock this month anyway) and it's really competitive as long as I'm not riding it.... The stock FXRs just go and go and go and go.... A good bet if you want a competitive bike that you don't need to spend all month rebuilding

The big questions you have to ask are:
* How much time do I want to spend working on the bike
* What track am I going to spend the most time on

For instance, at Mt Welly, top end power doesn't give you much of an advantage unless you've got really big balls (to hold it open that little bit longer). Much more use getting some serious torque happening in the low and mid range, that's why the 2 strokes have struggled to place there in recent years.... Get the 2 strokes on a bigger track like Taupo and it's a whole different ballgame (just ask Team ESE)

My own dream bucket is about 5'6", dark and weighs about 50Kg but I gues that doesn't help you guys much..... Seriously, if I had plenty of time, I'd be trying to squeeze a seriously worked CB125T engine into an RS125 frame, I've had a good look without the measuring stick and I reckon I could do it......

[Gareth123]

So if I get this GL145 what would be the best thing to do to it to make it faster/better? It has to remain road legal so that I can ride it to the track. When I get there I'm gonna have to spend a fair bit of time whipping bits and peices off but oh well.

[wbks]

Just remove guages, lights, numberplate, indicators, everything you can that is required for the road, take the PSI down a little bit so the tires warm up faster. And if you have bars mounted to the forks, not the clamp (never seen a gl145 so I don't know) probably lower them a couple cm's so you don't sit so upright

[speedpro]

super quick (hopefully) water cooled, 14,000rpm 32hp GP100.

How do you like your humble pie sir? With cream?

[speedpro]

And if you have bars mounted to the forks, not the clamp (never seen a gl145 so I don't know) probably lower them a couple cm's so you don't sit so upright

The seriously fast guys just about all have a nice comfy riding position with the bars not set any lower than a stock bike. Karl, Nigel,and a few others. Buckets just aren't fast enough at Mt Welly to require being able to tuck in. What you need is to be able to wrestle the damn thing in the tight stuff and be able to switch sides easily. I've got a few sore/stiff joints now but even so I don't think I would lower the handlebars back to their stock position below the triple clamp. It's sweet with them above.

[wbks]

I wasn't meaning for tucking in, I was meaning to make it easyer to hang off. Unless you've got abnormally long arms or are really tall it's kind of hard, just a little easeyer to use lower bars. Imagine getting your knee down with a harley with apehangers. Then imagine it on a pocket rocket. Its like that IMO only not such an extreme difference if you know what I mean?

[koba]

I must add a vote for the FXR!
Great way to start out in buckets!

[koba]

So if I get this GL145 what would be the best thing to do to it to make it faster/better? It has to remain road legal so that I can ride it to the track. When I get there I'm gonna have to spend a fair bit of time whipping bits and peices off but oh well.

Ride it.
Good practice and track time will lower your times further, faster, cheaper, and with more fun than almost any mechanical work.