A bip is about 85-95bhp.

I know exactly how competitive a 1000ss can be if you have the money. Baines have a lot more money than me - you mentioning them shows how you still miss the point by a country mile. Their resources are significantly better than mine. They can throw pots at it and they can write it off as a business expense. I can't. Throw enough money at anything and it will be competitive :rolleyes:

748

mro thunderbikes



ho hum mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

looking good to me too:)

I think you have missed my point, in that there is good racing throughout the field, whether you have a big or small budget. The guy in 3rd place in the series races a Minitwins spec SV650 and does both Thunderbikes and Minitwins at every round! Last round young Claude McCullin scored 3 points finishing 13th on his incredibly tatty SV650 K1, still on the same set of tyres after 3 meetings and after 2 big crashes over the weekend. He finished the meeting with a huge grin and a season budget of around £500.
There will always be teams with big budgets in every race series you look at, so not racing because they are there seems a bit of a cop out to me.

You said that you didn't do the Thunderbike series this year because of the choice of circuits andx the travelling involved, and now next year because there will be 748's racing. I'm not being funny, but maybe you need to look at your motivation rather than the series itself?

Matt, thanks for the email early this week. What bikes can enter the Thunderbike class?

The list would be huge for which actual bikes are allowed to enter, but here is what the regs say is allowed for 2007:

Single cylinder, Unlimited displacement
Twin cylinder, air cooled, Unlimited displacement
Twin cylinder, liquid cooled, 3 or less valves per cylinder, Unlimited displacement
Twin cylinder, liquid cooled, 4 valve per cylinder, up to 750cc
Twin Cylinder Water Cooled Desmo valves, up to 750cc (Ducati 749 not eligible)
Three cylinder, non-fuel injected, up to 1200cc
Four cylinder, air-cooled, up to 1200cc
Four cylinder, liquid cooled, 1990 to 1992 model year, up to 650cc
Four cylinder, liquid cooled (oil or water), pre-1990 model year, up to 860cc
All air-cooled, 2-valve, unlimited displacement.

(Model year refers to year of manufacturer, proof of which lays with the competitor)

As an example this would allow the likes of all production based: Ducati 748, Ducati 900/1000DS, Buell/Harley (all models), Any Single cylinder (singles can use any frame and do not need to be production based), Yamaha MT01, BMW1100/1200S, SV650, early CBR600 or other Jap 400/600multi (1990-92), Pre 1990 GSXR, RC30 etc, Moto Guzzi (all), Early carb model Hinckley Triumph triples, the list goes on.....

The biggest rule of all in Thunderbikes is the BHP/Weight restriction of 1bhp/4lbs(1.814kg), as measured immediately post race without rider. This is what makes the series so level despite the wide variety of machines taking part.

hi, new to forum so excuse my silly questions but why can the749 race in this series? I just got one and want to know what if any series i can have a go in?

because they are too Bl**dy fast ;-).

The 749 is a different kettle of fish to the 748 and would add considerable cost to the series. The 748 can be bought and raced pretty economically these days and with the Thunderbike rules would also be reliable for a privateer to run for the year without tuning the nuts off it. The 748 is still competitive in Supersport racing so has a natural class to race in already, whereas the 748 has been left out in the cold recently so fits quite well with the 'eclectic' nature of the Thunderbike class.

Don't suppose this years rule changes would allow the use of a Baines Imola chassis kit to house a Ducati aircooled engine

Although not a production chassis the Baines kit is available for the public to buy so I would say it is allowed in the series. There is a clause for the organisers to allow bikes in at their discretion and I think that the Baines kit is just such an example of one that would be OK for this.

Like most unusual machines, you'd probably find that no-one would mind unless you ran away with races, then they's all be consulting rule books like crazy :)

John Baines is building just such a bike for the series already.........

You keep you thieving hands out of my garage Kev-you are NOT having that twinspark! :lol:

John