The Idea
So I picked up the beginnings of a new project for the shop last weekend. I have been wanting a 2 stroke racer for some time now. There is no sweeter music than the sound of a 2 stroke engine on the track. The old 2 stroke racers such as the TZ250 and RS250 are getting to be pretty pricey these days since our global overlords pretty much put an end to them back in the 2000’s. Many of them are collectors items and parts are getting more scarce and expensive.
Another factor is that I’m a big guy, currently hovering around 250 lbs, and 250cc’s are going to struggle to tow me around the track. My idea is to build a hybrid using RGV250 rolling chassis and combining it with a common 2 stroke 350cc engine from the Banshee. This gives me more ponies in addition to the fact that parts and upgrades are cheap and plentiful for the Banshee engine.
I now have the RGV roller in the shop and am on the hunt for a motor.
I had a deal for a stock Banshee 350 engine fall through and am now looking for either the right complete motor or the right case which can be built into the motor I want. Until I have a motor, I can’t get started with the job of fitting the engine to the frame and fabricating mounts. I had planned to wait until I had the motor to tear down the chassis and start the process of cleaning it up, but in the interest of time, I believe I will start the tear down this weekend. Everything will be thoroughly cleaned, any rust cleaned up and things will be painted or clearcoated. I plan to leave the frame and swing arm as is but will be visiting the powder coater today to get an estimate for powder coating the fork legs and an extra set of wheels I purchased.
One decision I have yet to make is whether or not I will try to keep it streetable or keep it as a straight track bike. The build will be simpler if I don’t have to worry about keeping it roadworthy, but it would be nice to zip around the country side on this every once in a while. I received two sets of bodywork with the bike as well as an extra VJ22 “banana” swingarm which I will most likely mount, as it just looks cooler.
The stock image above shows the RGV with the early “box” swingarm. This is what the bike looks like with the later “banana” swingarm.
Next
I am in negotiations for a complete RZ350 engine bottom including transmission which I can use as a base for my engine build. The RZ350 transmission is more desirable as the gearing is a little taller and designed for road. In my next post we will take a closer look at plans for the engine.