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I've been riding bikes for over half my life. I've ridden on the road, dirt, and the track. Commuted, Sunday hacked, ridden solo and in groups. Crashed, scared myself, written them off, and picked myself up again. I've raced 600s, GP250s, and supermotard. I've had countless bikes over the years, I even chose a house because it had a double garage and space for a dedicated workshop. I've loved every minute I've ridden and looked after bikes. I have friends all over the country I've met through biking, and countless more bike riders I know on the Internet. You could say I'm a little obsessed by two-wheeled vehicles.
I have many recollections of bikes when I was a kid, but
the following memories stick out. Like the ratty dirt bike one of my cousins
bought that he used to ride in the factory complex across the road from
their house. I remember it well because it was the first bike someone
I knew owned. I remember the first bike I rode. A kid across the road
let me "putt pftt" my way round his father's allotment on his
trials bike. I seem to remember we fell out after that first ride. Something
to do with the fact I'd been watching Junior kickstart and tried to ride
it over the shell of a burned-out VW Beetle resulting in a blackened eye
and some bent forks. I can also remember standing with my jaw on the floor
as I watched a bike wheelie for the first time (Suzuki GS1000S, Gilesgate,
Durham, circa 1978), and I can remember watching Barry Sheene tumble down
the Daytona speed banking on "World of Sport". All of these
memories played their part in attracting me to bikes! However, if I had
to pick a moment that convinced me I just had to have one. The one experience
which decided for me .... it would have to be the first time I rode pillion
on the back of a big bike. I was hooked. A mate's Father owned a Triumph
Bonneville 750. I was taken out on it when I was about 16. I had to have
one - but parents being parents I had to wait until I was 17 before I
was able to convince them. I bought my first bike - a Kawasaki KH100EX
- with the sale of a computer, and the promise I wouldn't be throwing
myself down the road anytime soon! I'm now married and in my mid-30's. I'm still just as nuts about them as I've ever been and the countless bikes I've owned and ridden through the years are treasured memories I'll recount to my grand-children some day. I've got plenty of earth-sky tarmac surfing moments to recount as well and having raced and done trackdays for several years, I'll probably regale them with a few choice moments there to. Recently I've found myself lusting after something different. The trouble with riding bikes flat out on the track is you get a little discerning. I have GP bike (Yamaha TZ250) - 80rwbhp out of an AvGas drinking 250cc! It's fantastic ... just it's been a little temperamental and expensive. With a kid on the way I need something that's got the handling of a GP bike, plenty of power, but a little more maintenance friendly and kinder to my pocket would be nice. I'd been mulling over buying an RG500 and fitting it to the TZ frame. Never been done as far as I can tell searching the web. Someone has fitted an RD500LC engine to an early TZ chassis, but to my mind an RG500 square four was always the better option. I spotted an advert on Rob Koopman's RG500 for sale list that really caught my attention. Instead of the normal plethora of RG500 frames, RGV conversions, and people requesting RG500 engines, someone was offering something different. An RG500 engine already in an Aprilia RS250 frame. I phoned the chap who was selling it, instantly knew I wanted the bike. After all I was just about to head into buying a knackered donor bike, potentially refreshing a tired engine, converting a TZ250 frame - this had the main work done. Why not save some budget for finishing the project rather than blowing it all on the donor and initial conversion? A quick phone call to my understanding (and very pregnant wife), some compromises later (you know the normal ones us blokes always end up making to wives when they have you over a barrel), and I was back on the phone to the seller. So here's the information on what I have just bought :o)
Within the following pages you'll hopefully find some
detail about the completion of the bike and how we went about it.
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My
parents tell me my first words were "car". So the petrol-head
in me started early. The fascination with bikes started a little later,
but not much later. They were loud, and fast. What more do you need when
you are a kid. I'd head straight over and just stare at them whenever
one was parked up. My youth was spent gawping at other people's bikes.
