From the top

What got me here

The VFR750 FV was my first bike above 600cc. It was a bit of a revelation for me, who had long been convinced I was a super bike guy, only to find out the comfort and confidence a sport tourer could bring was a real match for me. Couple that with the intoxicating V4 engine and i was sold on the formula.

Fast forward a few years and I owned a VFR800 RC46. The bike remains in my stable as my daily ride lasting for longer than any other machine I have owned. It is just the perfect bike for me with nothing on the market that I would replace it with.

When it comes to the track however; I have been drawn to the two stroke side with an RD250 D dressed up as a TZ. My first season was a blast and I have grown to realy like the buzzy little aircooled two stroke.

Before I got her however the idea of running the newly eligible VFR750 RC24 in the CRMC's superbike class had been discussed at length. This idea had not left me and when the opportunity appeared I found myself working on race bike number two.

The plan

Well as the first image would suggest I want to build a 6X replica VFR750. These were run in 1986 by Wayne Gardner and Geoff Johnson followed by many others. The 6x was a special HRC build with many upgraded parts that would find themselves in the RC30. Crucially being run in '86 this means I can enter in into the superbike class in the CRMC.

I have had a half eye out for a bike but with their new found eligibility and a recent practical sports bike write up, the prices have gone up. When a bike finally showed up for the pocket money I was willing to spend I jumped at the chance.

A trip to Bristol and back found me a few hundred quid lighter and stood looking at a rather suspect looking VFR750 RC24 FH with cracked fairings, blowing exhaust and rust on its rust.

It did however run, had a full year MOT (not that I was going to use it but nice to know) and some recent service items. Things like new brake pads and tyres were nice to have even though I had plans to change all of these items anyway. I could also recoup some of my costs by selling these items on as they were replaced. Most importantly to me; knowimg the bike had received some love meant that mechanically it was hopefully okay.

Although I had no plans to keep the plastics I gave the bike a good clean to find out what was what with this thing.

The bike looked like it had spent a long time sat outside with sun bleached switch gear and brittle plastics.

A decient clean with degreasers and wheel cleaner did however show that underneath, the bike was still looking good for its age.

A short while spent foil taping up the exhaust, a quick tyre pressure check, squirt of wd40 and a splash of fuel later: I decided to take the bike for a short run.
I was surprised to find that the bike was in fairly good health. The suspension was comfortable, chassis much like my RC46 if a little stiffer and the engine was a carb clean and balance short of being fine. This all made a nice change to my usual experience of pushing the bike home or shedding parts across Lincolnshire.  

 About those parts...

Only a week later I was back on the road with my bank account screaming in my ears. 

I had come across another bike!

An important job to do to get an RC24 ready for racing is to get some 17" rims on her. This was proving to be more costly than I would have liked so I just went ahead and bought a 98 CBR600 F3 to donate all of the parts I needed for a lot less money.

Over a week of evenings, I stripped the CBR down, listing bits I don't need on eBay. I was surprised at the number of solenoids and other electrical parts that were common to the VFR which would make great spares. Along with these; the front suspension, both wheels and brakes were set aside for future use.

Over the coming weeks more parts started to trickle in such as:

A full Motad stainless system for an FJ/K

I may only use the headers but it takes a hell of a lot of work out of exhaust making even if only for the short term till I make something that meets my needs better.

top and bottom yokes from and FJ/FK

More on this later but basically I ended up needing these.

a set of gold Nissin four pot front calipers

They were a tenner! It seemed rude not to and seeing as another RC24 ran with them during 2017 I would strongly consider fitting them. I'm already taking an upgrade to the CBR two pot sliders which are fitted to the fork legs already but with a little bit of bracket fabrication, these could be even better.

There are plenty more bits sat in the garage but not really worth listing unless you were making your own shopping list.
The plan so far seems to be fitting those bits acquired, fabricating rearsets and finding a fiberglass fairing at some point. I would love to say I am going to throw money at this thing and make it super competitive but that just isn't me. I neither have the finances nor the inclination for this thing to be anything better than an enjoyable ride; initially. The RD250 D remains my priority race machine which itself needs plenty of time and money spent on it.
I am very much looking forward to seeing this machine when it is ready to ride. Then, no doubt, I will keep massaging it till it lives up to the 6x name it is going to try to live up to.