Conversion cost
 

Quick question… what would be a ROUGH estimate of the cost of converting a road bike to DD trim? What am I missing from the below:

Dynojet + dyno set up £150
Fairings £200
Tyres £150 (would need a new set regardless of buy/build really?
Cheap shock recon + fork set up £200
TOTAL £900

Obviously other bits such as rear sets, clip ons, race pads, master cylinders etc but in terms of the main bits, does the above seem sensible? Do I need anything else?

Seriously considering the conversion route at the moment…

I kept a log of costs from the first ever season of DD back in 2005:
http://www.horrible.demon.co.uk/bikes/racing2005.htm

If the check the table on the right of that page, you'll see each item costed, so just remove the stuff you don't need or want to include.

My rough cost to get a bike ready was £2500.80, but that included the cost of the bike (£1200), the ACU test, twin caliper conversion (new front forks, twin disks, calipers, etc) and so on.

thanks. Bike has twin discs and clipons so think I'm in the right ball park. Will post up if I go ahead! :)

I recon you will double that to make a half decent bike;)

don't say that too loudly... trying to sell this to the Mrs as a cheaper option! :lol:

In all fairness there's very little you have to do to race it. The only things you have to add are lockwire, chain guard and a bellypan; the rest is removing things!

It depends how far you want to go replacing things, upgrading things, tweaks and performance mods that will determine how much you want to spend.

chepa shock will be more than your £200, and the cost of rebuild at least that again.

Mine was failry cheap as it had cans, did forks with help of mates and didnt have that much race kit and it cost about £800 the first yera, then another £4-500 the second. TBH in hindsight way cheaper and better option to buy one already done - thegre are a few for sale like mine (for cheap money ;) ), Craigs etc

thanks. I'm actually considering getting the road bike to convert while riding it through the winter and fettling a little along the way. In that case, if I turn out to be the slowest DD rider in history next year I can just put it back together and sell it as a road bike

The bar has been set pretty low by others I won't name :devil:

Crash protection is something I never really considered during the rebuild of mine last season. It has cost me a fair few quid this year and DNS's.:confused:

That's a very good point actually.

Fork protectors will cost you less than £20 and a set of frame/fairing bungs can't be more than £50? That would certainly help you get out in the next race and reduce replacement costs.

I'm currently converting a 620 sport from road to race. If you have a half decent starting bike you should be able to sell the stock fairings, seat, exhausts etc etc which should claw back some of the costs. I'm planning on the bike plus £1500 - £2k to make something half good. ( maxton forks, upgrade the brakes lines, brake and clutch master cylinder, clip ons, quick action throttle, fairings, PC3, race rearsets and exhausts. Well I might be kidding myself but hopefully minus £500 or more for the road parts sale.

An oil cooler's a good idea to get heat away from the vertical cylinder, and with proper piping, no jubilee clips!

pete

I dread to think what my bike cost to build, or rebuild!

If I had my time again, I would definitely buy a bike ready built and then fettle as I went along.

This is not just a ploy to sell my bike!!!

Where DD all started for me can be found here

http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/sh...skidlids+diary

My aim was to do it on a shoestring budget
Sadly all the pics have gone as the DSC have changed server a few times since then
Though there are still some in my Gallery
http://www.ducatisportingclub.com/vb...do=hall&u=6793

I think DD has come a long way since those days Kev! there were a few exceptions but some of the bikes looked like they had been salvaged from scrap yards & little done to them.

The standard today is far far better & most look like proper race bikes this is all reflected by the money & care that has been lavished on them.

Also they are going quite a bit faster than in 2005 so need to be safer handle & stop better.

Just my take & I'm not knocking anyone or there bikes.

DD's Brilliant let's keep up the standards:)

I agree Chaz DD has developed and as I often say to those contemplating racing for the first time and aren't sure if its for them, just get out there without spending to much and if you decide you like racing spend a bit more.

Often a converted road bike and a trailer towed behind a car is the starting point, futher down the line its a well sorted bike and a Motorhome towing the trailer.
Thing is its hard to enjoy it if its crippling you financially. Many have started at the budget end, DDers like Bradders, Scott, Sam West, Jimbo, Dean Russel and many more started out with very basic race bikes in recent years and once hooked on the racing have put more into their bikes so as to get more out of the racing.
on my bike I'm still running the same seat unit, tank, rearsets, frame and yokes from my original 2005 bike. And over the years I have steadily uprated various parts with the biggest changes coming when I moved up from Class B to Class A,

Next year will be my 8th year in DD and my 15th year of racing all self funded, not a single £ coming from anyone else and if I hadn't treated racing in DD as a budget series I would have had to pack racing in before now.

I'm not sure how much money this Seasons Class B Championship winning bike has had lavished on it although I'm pretty sure Ghostie lavished a fair bit of care on it, maybe it still fits the bill of looking as if its just been salvaged from a scrap yard, its all part of the attraction of DD

WTF Kev!!!!!:devil:

Its without doubt cheaper to buy a pre prepared bike, but just think of the fun you are missing out on preparing your own. I thought this was part of the atraction?!

Maybe for some, but not everyone. In the first race in 2005 there were quite a few brand new bikes (bought specifically to race in DD!) which had been "shop prepared"!

I would say you are looking at:
Dyno run £50 - if it is upwards of 47bhp, why waste any more money?
Fairings £150 off of ebay, plus £50 on bits and pieces to make up the brackets
Tyres £50 for a set of scrubs from last year if you really wanted to save
shock/fork £????? I personally think this is where money should be spent..... and one of the things that makes an already (well) prepped bike a bargain by comparison. For instance, my relatively cheap set-up of wilbers fork springs and bottom of the range wilbers shock was still probably in the region of £600
clipons/rearsets/sharkfin/crashbungs/pads £500
levers £up to you how flashy you want to be, from leave as they are to top of the range Brembo.
So a total (which I think is a realistic, achievable one) of around £1,500. Any less than that and I really don't think you'll be happy with the result.

So, with bikes either on the market (or will be in the next few weeks) from Craig/Bradders/Neal/KevP/Phil/Hugh, plus the ones in the classifieds from prices of £1,500+, I know what I would do. Look at it this way, you can buy a prepped bike for the cost of converting a road bike.... so you have the cash you saved from not buying a donor bike to spend on upgrades to the bike you bought (most racers would tell you what they would change to make their own bike better - so you would know exactly what to do). However, just be careful that the bike you are buying is the bike that was raced, and not a frankenstien of bits.

I'm not quite sure how that works. I only tended to bend levers/clipons/pegs, which you would do with or without crash protection?

this actually is a fantastic point; many have bits removed, sold one whatever and they are not as they finished the season

Ron,

it was my two offs at oulton that hurt the bike really, front wheels besnt, 2 discs bent, 2 throttle assemblies , 2 brake levers, 1 brake master cyclinder, 2 rear sets, 1 can, 1 link pipe, 1 upper fairing, 1 side fairing...............Ouch..:(

decision made... buy it is! (unless yours is a frankenstein?! ;) )

ha ha nope mine is EXACTLY as it finished Castle Doom...nothing fancy here; just functional :)

Crash protection did not help me much when i had my Snetterton off in 2010 :(

Oooh that still makes me go cold. :(

You just have to hit the Giant Castle Coombe airbag wall and land on your feet like I did while my bike stayed upright. Wasted money my bungs :lol:

Craig

BTW, my Frankenstein comment wasn't specifically aimed as a dig towards anyone. I know Kev and Phil will be selling slightly revised bikes, but they will no doubt be well prepared and still have the strong engines they had.

Similarly, it is a common misconception from newbie racers that championship position is a direct indication of how good a bike is. TBH, it isn't true. I would have said, purely from a machinery point of view, that Alan/Kev/Hugh/Phil had the lighter more powerful bikes. Neals was also a very light bike, but one of two bhp down on the others. Mine, despite finishing 2nd in the championship was heavier and less powerful than most. For example, it was 20kg heavier than Phils/Neals when I set the Anglesey Lap record (and I "only" had 48bhp). What I am trying to get at is don't automatically go for the bike that finished highest up the table. It will no doubt be a good bike, but there could be a much better bike back in 10th (that has actually been thrashed less).

Again, I am not trying to promote or scupper any sales here... just pointing out what maybe isn't obvious to the newbie racer.

I'm not sure crash protection can prevent bending a wheel ;)

I do run crash bungs, but not the front wheel mushrooms. I have lowsided mine three times this year, flipped it once, and ran over Neal/Neil, and the worst I have done is smash a screen, bend some bars and levers, and smash the lid off the brake reservoir. I have scraped the front wheel nut (3 times now - this year and last), but it still works fine. I think crash protection or not, it is as much about the luck of where you fall and what the bike hits...

Cost of converting depends on the starting point
What Exhaust does the bike come with,even if its a race can is it quiet enough or does it need repacking as you will get sound checked several times through the season, also does it offer enpugh ground clearance.

Cambelts, cam timing and valve clearances (shimming and half rings) - This applies to road bikes and used DD bikes, when were they last checked/replaced/looked at. Belts are easy enough but shimming and having the cams dialled in may need doing.

Handlebars/clipons these may need changing to suit what ever fairing gets fitted

Brake lines, converting a road bike may require the fitting of Aeroquip hoses

Shock/rear rideheight, if buying a road supersport you'll probably be wanting a longer shock. at least one from an SSie which is 5mm longer and try and get a Showa if going down the rebuild route, but preferably go for an aftermarket shock, one with a ride-height adjuster.
On a Monster you will probably be looking at extenders for the rod end bearings in the rear hoop, and again a 15 year old standard shock is going to either need replacing or a rebuild and again make sure its a make of shock worth rebuilding. I usuall put Sachs shocks where they belong - in the bin

Buying a decently sorted bike that has proven itself can be a good starting point even if it needs a top-end refresh. Knowing your on a bike that has done say a 1m 50s around Cadwell is good for the head, if you find your doing 1m 54s then the chances are its not the bike holding youi back

especially if it would go faster if the pilot was a little lighter ;) :lol:

...it is all in the head with DD. I am sure that any of the top 5 from last year could have set the same time on just about any of the top ten bikes (if given a few sessions to get used to it). The only difference is that when you really push and start to get close to the edge, you know what the bike you have been riding all year is likely to do.... and it is that final push that makes up the last second between 1st and 5th. Obviously this is only my view on it.

....although I do sometimes wonder if it would have made much difference to my lap times if my bike was as quick as Alan or Kev down the straights.