They'll Pay . . . on Ebay

Veteran, experienced racers don't like to pay much for racing parts.  They'll make due with a chipped gear, 'cause the parts will eventually get all blown to bits, wrecked, destroyed and thoroughly abused.  Pistons with small scuffs get sanded and reused.  Small cracks get JB Weld.  Cams with welded up lobes, frames with extra gussets, funky brackets, duct tape, wire, welded nuts.  Real racing motorcycles have all-of-the-above.  Buckets and boxes of wrecked, unusable parts serve as filing cabinets, only to be gone through and inspected, fixed, rigged, and reused again.  In a pinch.  Anything to get back on the track.  To compete no matter what it takes to get points.  New, original builds always look so perfect, but after extended track time, the end of the season - all the racing motorcycles start to look the same.  More cracked fiberglass.  Skid marked.  Chips in the paint.  Pop Rivets.  More duct tape.  More beads of weld.

I love old racing parts and how they work (over a stock part) in a engine rebuild.  NOS parts are the supreme find.  When I see the vintage parts and accessories I've read about my entire life (in person) and hold these parts in my hand - it's like . . . wow !  XLR aluminum fork caps !  Iron XR pipes (new - in-the-box) !

These parts(new and used) show up on Ebay at insanely high prices - only to be purchased by the rich collector - and never (I suspect) by a real racer or current competitor. 
$900.00 for these PB cams ? 
$ 1,900.00 for these C-Grind KR cams ? 
$350.00 + for this KR head ?  That is cracked.
_______________________
I can't afford this stuff.  I suspect all were purchased to go on a museum bike? or to hang on the wall of a collection?  The real racers know how to modify their engines, and they don't really need these parts.  They've got the know-how.  The $75.00 P cams work better anyway . . . Leineweber or Enfield has $500.00 lobes to cut your old cams, and degree and weld (J- Grind better than C anyway) With a modern flow bench, and some fixtures, modify your $100.00 K head to out flow the KR head.  The rich guy takes the bolt-ons . . . the poor man takes the scrubs and makes his due.  Knowledge is power . . . is money still in your pockets . . . for gas - or Sambos !
 

2 comments:

lucky23design said...

You still have Sambo's out there?? All gone here on the West Coast.

Noot said...

OK . . . Maybe Perkins?