Where are the Moto2 road bike kits?
Discussion
How come none of the Moto2 chassis makers have started a sideline in selling road kits using a version of their Moto2 chassis. I could imagine a kit, with gp pedigree, that lets you resurrect a crashed CBR 600 would be very popular. A bit like folks used to do with Harris frames years ago.
I can see a small market for fairings/bodywork but a frame kit? It would be horrifyingly expensive for very little performance gain.
I looked at building a Magnum IV a while back and the costs to do it properly were eyewatering, iirc about £8k +VAT for the frame kit plus you'd need forks, brakes, wheels, electrics and an engine. You could get all of those from a donor GSX-R1100 but have you seen the price of oil cooled Suzukis recently?
If I'd used a Bandit as a donor bike what I would've saved on the bike I would've had to spend out on a decent front end and engine work, the oil cooled engines were powerful in their day but their day was 25 years ago.
I looked at building a Magnum IV a while back and the costs to do it properly were eyewatering, iirc about £8k +VAT for the frame kit plus you'd need forks, brakes, wheels, electrics and an engine. You could get all of those from a donor GSX-R1100 but have you seen the price of oil cooled Suzukis recently?
If I'd used a Bandit as a donor bike what I would've saved on the bike I would've had to spend out on a decent front end and engine work, the oil cooled engines were powerful in their day but their day was 25 years ago.
You'd have to really love your 600's. There have been Moto2 trackbikes from a couple of the actual teams built, but they weren't road legal. If it was to re-instate a crashed CBR600, the frame alone would probably cost more than a whole, uncrashed CBR600 of the same age. So you'd just go and buy another CBR600 for the less money and sell your old carcass to a breaker.
If you were going all-out and building a Moto2 replica for the road you'll be on possibly a long and most certainly expensive journey to get all the bits together, working together and legal for the road. Not many people would be up for that when you can get something fancy like a R1M or similar for probably a lot less time and effort.
That said, I'd certainly ogle over one if someone did do one!
If you were going all-out and building a Moto2 replica for the road you'll be on possibly a long and most certainly expensive journey to get all the bits together, working together and legal for the road. Not many people would be up for that when you can get something fancy like a R1M or similar for probably a lot less time and effort.
That said, I'd certainly ogle over one if someone did do one!
I agree that a straight facsimile of the race chassis might not be a good idea on the road, but something closely related, a bit less adjustable and simplified to keep the cost reasonable would have appeal with those who want something a bit more hard core with race pedigree.
Maybe I’ll hold off on booking a slot on dragon’s den with this idea
Maybe I’ll hold off on booking a slot on dragon’s den with this idea
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