Hi All, Thought I ought to introduce myself as I'm new here, I joined basically so that I could contact someone Stateside who uses this forum. I've been riding bikes since I was 12, starting with old mopeds bought for a pound or two, progressing to a BSA Bantam when I was 15 which I got for free in boxes with a knackered engine, I then bought an engine from someone at my school for a few quid, followed with buying an Amal Concentric carb for 30 bob, that my woodwork teacher had as a desk ornament! It made a brilliant field bike with a set of braced scrambler handlebars! Following that I progressed through an NSU Quickly moped at 16, then at 17 moving on to a Francis Barnet then a 250cc Greeves, Ariel 600cc VB single combo, then a '62 pre-unit 650 Triumph Thunderbird combo, which you could legally ride as a learner, passing my test later that year so that I could ride it solo. I spent some time tuning it and constantly blowing it up racing my mates who had much newer bikes, before buying a Triumph Trident T150V in '76 during the hot summer, which finished the night I rode it home! I had various other specials that I built including a Wideline featherbed Triton with a Tiger 110 engine. The bike I always wanted was a 900SS Desmo Ducati, but there weren't too many around then a friend suggested I tried a Laverda and ended up getting a 2 year old 180 Jota in '79, which I've still got. Moving forward a while I bought a brand new Ducati 996S in 2001 and lavished loads of money on it kitting it out with full carbon fairings, and all the usual other stuff, hugger front and rear, air tubes, etc. etc. with titanium fasteners everywhere, slipper clutch, light flywheel, mag alloy Marchesinis, and it didn't go out in the wet like all of my previous bikes, as I used my car instead! However this all had to stop when I had some investigations done to see why the pain in my hip wouldn't go, an xray revealing that it was completely worn out, following more tests I discovered that I had 3 fractured vertebrae in my spine, due to Osteopenia, so I made the decision to pack up riding before I ended up doing any more damage to myself if I binned it, or if someone knocked me off whilst I was riding! I sold the bike (cheap) to my eldest son, who'd wanted it since the day I bought it, and have spent every penny that I got from him on a very special engine for my Lotus Elise, not quite a bike, but it does handle the corners well! Cheers all!
Welcome. Sorry to hear of your retirement from two wheels…but at least it sounds like you have had fun getting to where you are now!
Hi Thor Well done for sounding so upbeat considering what's happening. You have a 4-wheeled motorbike now.
It is what it is, hope you enjoy the Lotus as much as you did the riding and may you have many more enjoyable motoring years!!
Well if you can't do 2 wheels 4 fast ones will do instead Welcome into our mad house of all forms of wheels
Like car owners who’ve progressed with Alfa ownership only a true biker can make that claim having owned a mighty NSU Quickly And there’s not many of us! Welcome
Hi All, Just wanted to thank everyone that replied to my retirement story, very kind of you, I wasn't sure anyone would take the time to bother with reading it!
Not sure if I can bring myself to get rid of my Jota, it's been a part of my life for nearly 44 years! I'm planning to recommission it at some point, after the Lotus is finished, I might end up selling it to raise funds for my Ram Cobra that sits in my workshop, I bought it in '85 but life got in the way! It's a rolling chassis, needing the engine sorting - a 289 Small block Ford with forged crank, rods and pistons, Edelbrock heads, which I've got an Eaton supercharger to fit, along with twin turbos. Should be fun when it's finished!
The Elise engine details (very special!) It's a Rover K Series, I started with a new Chinese block which has improved waterways and suitably beefed up where needed over original, also CNC machined, so far more accurate. Then billet steel crank, forged rods and Omega forged pistons, lightweight flywheel, all fully balanced, ported head with 4 throttle bodies, also gearbox rebuilt and fitted with Quaife L.S.D. So far it's been on dyno and showing 195 bhp, with more to come, as only run to 7,500 and will run to 7,800 after it's got a few more running in miles I'm told. I've not driven it myself yet, as rest of car still being worked on, won't be too much longer now though!
Nice! Forgive the noob question - I take it it was easier to stay K-series rather than go for a newer Toyota unit?
Yeah definitely, especially as you have to change so much other stuff with the Toyota engine and 'box - engine mounts exhaust system etc. Also with the K Series the car is much lighter, especially my one, being one of the first of the S2's it doesn't have power steering or a brake servo and no aircon or electric windows, it was originally 800 kg, I'm going to weigh it when it's finished, and with the various carbon body panels I've fitted I'm hoping for a figure of around 750 kg. My friend who's doing the build for me and services a lot of race cars for his customers reckons that a good K Series will outdo the Toyota cars on most circuits! My car is equiped with everything brakes and suspension-wise that they use in the Elise Cup championship, not that I'm planning to race it, just track days and maybe sprinting.
