Roger Gillespie from Ballynahinch in Northern
Ireland, has kindly sent me some superb pictures of his Thunderace.
It's certainly a 'looker' and roger's put several very large tubs of
elbow grease into this one. Roger has also supplied me with some
details of the work he has carried out. Roger's own words appear in
mauve below.
To give you an idea the bike is a
1999 model Ace, ( this being the last year for the Black and Blues)
which was a UK model which hung around the dealers until someone took
a liking to it in April 2000 and bought it. It's therefore a 2000
registered 1999 model which I bought with 2100 miles on the clock in
August of that year.
Because I had recently returned to
the world of motorcycling I was only able to insure the Ace for road
use for any 8 months in 12. For the other 4 it has fire and theft
cover only. So in November I put the bike up on stands and prepared
it for the winter. I thought I'd take the opportunity to get the
bodywork off and drop the wheels out for a good clean up, ( it would
also remove the temptation for a quick run up the road if the sun
came out!), and the next thing I new I was plundering the websites
for information on polishing alloy.
Over the winter the bike has had
the following forced upon it:
- Front and rear wheels removed,
stripped and the alloy rims polished to a mirror finish, the
spokes and centres colour matched to the black of the fairings and
lacquered to aid cleaning.
- The frame has been polished on
both sides from the front headstock back, finishing at the swing
arm mounts.
- A section of the steel handle
bar weights has been cleaned and polished to add to the effect (
it was also showing wear in of the paint where it was rubbed with
my gloves, and I felt this was easier to maintain)
- Brake and clutch levers, plus
the passenger foot rest mounts were removed and polished.
- A Powerbronze Double Bubble
screen in dark smoked grey has been added to aid cruising. I also
feel that it improves the lines of the stock bike.
- A Red Fox hugger takes care of
the mess that can get thrown into the shock, while they come
standard in a carbon effect, I had it colour matched to the blue
of the bike along with the front mudguard. I felt that the black
guard was swallowed up at the front, and lost all definition.
- A Pyramid seat cowl is added
for solo use. I feel that of the alternatives available it looks
more like an original part of the bike, however finding a spare
set of brackets required to enable quick changes with the OE seat
was a nightmare as every dealer was aware that the brackets were
not available separately from Yamaha. This in conjunction with the
relative rareness of broken Aces meant when I did find some the
dealer was able to hold me to ransom. His price was still a lot
less than purchasing a new seat, but far more than the brackets
were really worth.
- A Renntec grabrail resides on
the bike when taking a passenger. I can fit and remove the rail in
a couple of minutes and as it has to be an aftermarket fitment is
not used solo as it detracts from the lines of the bike.
- A Scorpion vision bolt on end
can replaces the stock item I didn't feel that Carbon Fibre would
look well against the bike so was looking for something different.
I saw the Scorpion advertised last year. It was a special edition
for the millennium, limited numbers only available in 2000, oval
textured alloy, with the exhaust pipe oval instead of round. If
you look at oval cans you will see they come with round exhaust
pipes. I just liked what Scorpion were doing, and there build
quality is second to none. I love the shape and texture of the
can, and the exhaust note is superb!
- Stainless steel fittings and
braided lines from Goodridge have been added all round to brakes
and clutch. As far as the front goes they make a good brake
superb. From what I can feel from my relatively short private road
trips braking becomes a single finger affair. The back brake needs
changing like I need a hole in the head. It will take a while to
adjust to the responsiveness the lines bring. As far as the back
is concerned changes are really cosmetic only. The clutch line I
find has made the action smoother the original clutch action could
be quite jerky at times, something which has been considerably
reduced since fitting the line.
- A Renthal rear sprocket with 2
extra teeth has been fitted to make use of the power available
from the Aces engine. I have had A very quick run on the bike and
have been staggered at the difference it makes to the acceleration
Good thing is it is not uncontrollable as it can be in some bikes.
The sprocket tones in with the alloy fairing ad fitment bolts I
used to replace the original fasteners which had started to
corrode slightly.
- A stage 1 Dyno Jet kit and
K&N filter are being fitted as we speak I am due to collect
the bike from my mechanic tomorrow afternoon. Coincidentally
Saturday is the day my road assurance goes live again. The guy who
does my Dyno work is a road racer and really knows how to get the
most from a bike. He is really busy at present getting bikes ready
for the road race season so I had to book the bike in some weeks
ago. I can't wait to see what the Dyno work has done for the bike,
if you want I'll send you over the Dyno run, as a lot of Acers are
interested in the results.
Roger, thank you very much for sharing your
Thunderace, which I think most people would agree, is a ' beautiful
piece of kit ' !
