Advice on buying bike engined car

[El Capitano]

Hi,

Well, just sold my Beach buggy that i had spent last year building, not really driven that much, bit of a shame to see her go, but i have decided i want to get into track days, and have something with a bit more power behind it!

Anyway, Going to look at a Fisher Fury on the weekend, hoping to buy. Just looking for some advice from those of you who already own a bike enggined car.
Its a Fireblade engine, on carbs.
what to look out for then? I guess the bike engines suffer in a car a bit more than they do in the bike, heavy etc.. does the gearbox take a pounding? clutch?

I know what to look for when buying a car.. but these engines are pretty new to me.

Thanks

[Jubal]

El Capitano said:

Hi,

Well, just sold my Beach buggy that i had spent last year building, not really driven that much, bit of a shame to see her go, but i have decided i want to get into track days, and have something with a bit more power behind it!

Anyway, Going to look at a Fisher Fury on the weekend, hoping to buy. Just looking for some advice from those of you who already own a bike enggined car.
Its a Fireblade engine, on carbs.
what to look out for then? I guess the bike engines suffer in a car a bit more than they do in the bike, heavy etc.. does the gearbox take a pounding? clutch?

I know what to look for when buying a car.. but these engines are pretty new to me.

Thanks

You need to drive it hard to see if the clutch is going. It will slip under acceleration in 2nd, especially uphill. You'll feel and hear it. Whilst you're driving it hard check the gears go in cleanly both up and down the box. Most of these cars don't get driven much so wear and tear isn't the issue you'd think. Plus, new clutch is approx 180 quid for springs and plates so time to negotiate if it's slipping. Even if the engine goes pop it's cheap to replace like for like. Happy hunting.

[LocoBlade]

Its worth asking seller if its got any BEC friendly mods to the engine, uprated clutch springs, sump baffle plate etc.

As mentioned by Jubal, if you can drive it check for clutch slip and also try coming sharply off the throttle in as many gears as possible after accelerating hard, if the dogs are worn or the selectors bent, this scenario is probably the most likely time it will jump out of gear.

Regarding gearchanges, 1st to 2nd will feel very strange at first because you're going across neutral, but once you build up a bit of confidence and become more positive with it, you'll be fine. the other gears should be very precise with only a quick stab of the clutch and a slight lift of the throttle to bang through the gears. If you're pootling through town though it won't be very smooth and there will seem to be quite a bang as it goes in gear, but thats pretty normal. Its also normal for it to sometimes refuse to go into 1st from neutral when stationary, if it does this just dip the clutch in neutral then try again and it will go in. Also if you change like you do in a car though, ie clutch down fully, change gear then clutch up fully in three distint steps, it will feel very clunky and awkward, but again its something you'll refine with practice in time.

If its got a mechanical reverse box in it, check it works obviously, and ask to have a close look at it. It will almost certainly be leaking oil which is normal so thats not really a concern unless it doesnt have any left in there, but its worth checking that the flanges aren't loose and don't have any play in them because otherwise you may be looking at a rebuild or replacing it, either with a new one or most likely ditching it for a single 2 piece prop and forfeiting reverse (or going electric). You might even need to ask to put it on axle stands or take the tunnel cover off to have a good look if there's no inspection panel, but its a fairly common failing and quite expensive to fix so worth investigating.

Edited by LocoBlade on Thursday 3rd April 19:56