It never goes to plan: I

Bike: GSX-R600 K1

Name: Adam (Chad) Child, MCN Road Tester

It’s a small, simple idea; turn a crashed bike in to a race bike. How hard can it be? Remove the road stuff; add a race fairing, jobs done. How wrong can one person be!

I’ve been thinking about racing for years, but I’ve used up all the excuses. So I thought it was about time I pulled my finger out of my arse and got on with it.

As budgets are tight I wanted to turn a crashed bike into a race bike, simple. To be honest I didn’t want a 600, as every 600-club race seems to be carnage. But after paying a visit to Ken Urwin Motorcycles (01405 740248) near Doncaster I couldn’t turn the GSXR600K1 down. Ok it’s an old bike but for a few races to get back in the groove it should be fine.

Job No1, the frame needs straightening, but only slightly thank god. That was easy, as it involved no work from myself, all done by specialists at Ken Urwins. Next make sure the bike runs.

First I had to rewire the new ignition barrel, as Urwin’s couldn’t find the original key. No problem, I say no problem as my brother did that, I can’t fit a light bulb. What do you know it started first time, and then flew coolant all over the drive. The radiator was holed from its original crash. I’ll have to add that to the shopping list.

Aaahh the shopping list. At first I thought I’d only need one or two items, wrong again. Here’s a quick list, full fairing, fairing brackets, exhaust, rear sets, spare wheels, radiator, front mudguard, brake lines, pads, tyres, aaaahhhh stop its hurting. Looks like the missus and me will holiday in Bridlington rather than Barbados this year.

I’ll up date you next week to bring you up to speed. If you got any comments or advice please feel free to contact me adam.child@emap.co.uk