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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 7:47 am Post subject: boomerrang Bike (Yammagamma) |
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Bit of story to this one, which i will try not to bore you with
My first Yammagamma was a C reg MK3 (C554 HOK) with swarbrick pipes and a pepsi paintjob. it never reaaly ran perfectly but I really enjoyed trashing it around the roads of bedfordshire. But as I was unable to sort the problems with it I swapped it for a 250LC.
Fast forward a few years and I bought this off ebay from a bloke, north of newcastle. The description in the ebay add could have been for a completely different bike
The exhaust headers were rotted through, the powervalve spools were worn down beyond use, it was badly painted, covered in stickers and filthy! and yet I still handed over my money and bought it home
I partially stripped it and started to clean it up. the exhaust went back to swarbrick to get some new headers made, I added a coolant expansion tank (off an LC), got the powervalve spools welded up so i could dress them back into shape and made a stainless steel chainguard for it.
the Plan was to get it back on the road for the LC Club wales rally but one day, whilst working on it, it fell off the paddock stand and damaged the bodywork and I then started to lose interest in it.
So i stuck it up for sale and My Bolas bought it, along with a load of other RG250 bits and bobs I had bought off Gagster.
Several months pass, one house move later and suddenly Kar from PB keeps going on about wanting a Yammagamma, this re-ignites my interest and I start looking around for a suitable project (ideally another MK3) and end up with a red mk3 RG250 with a bandit rear wheel and CBR600 front end in it
Before I had even had a chance to rip the standard engine out and replace it with a YPVS one, a completed Yammagamma appears on ebay.
a few subtle enquiries reveal it is the same MK2 as owned previously but it has been stripped and rebuilt, loads of bits powdercoated, new exhausts, new tyres bought, even taxed and MOTed, but the starting price was way beyond my budget. But it doesn't sell and was relisted with a lower starting price
So my RGV250 VJ21SP and the Red RG250 get sold and I manage to buy the Yammagamma back
So far I've set the oil pump up correctly and finished running it in.
it still needs a bit of work as the rear shock has lost all its oil and therefore has no damping and it could with the rear panels being resprayed back to the standard colours and I'd like to ge the exhausts chromed but a change in finances mean that these might not happen for a little while. The only other change i wanted to make was to add a solo seat convertor but with these being fairly rare I thought I was goin gto have a year long search followed by a bidding war on ebay but whilst trawling the autojumble at the stafford show I managed to find a genuine suzuki one, still in the original colours, for just £20
Anyway I'll add some more pictures after next weekend.
Cheers
Tom _________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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StrokerBoy Show Star !
Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 1293 Location: Oop North, UK
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 9:32 am Post subject: |
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Nice one Tom. See if you can hang on to it this time.
Darin almost had that seat cowl for his Walter-Wolf Mk.3 but we couldn't agree what model it was off... |
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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2007 10:43 am Post subject: |
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got no plans to sell this one, although I already have a buyer for it if i do change my mind
The solo seat cowl for the MK3 is very different to the one for the MK1/MK2 and looks like this:
_________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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Craigside_Pete Show Star !
Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 104 Location: Near Bristol, UK.
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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Glad that WE Yammagamma is going to stay as a special...so many are turning up without engines: I've been wondering if they are worth more to the LC crowd as just engines rather than as complete bikes!
Really is a special moment finding a WD/WE special part and not having to pay mega buck ebay prices for it! I managed to get a single seat and a set of fairing bottoms in a whole load of bits for not very much in the spring...well chuffed! not so chuffed when the MOT'er scratched the blazes out of the fairing bottoms last week
Re Solo cowls.... Lots of cowls going around at moment which LOOK like they are WE versions [i.e. Light and mid blue decal follow bottom edge] but they ARENT going to fit the WD/WE back end... |
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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:45 pm Post subject: |
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I think that the rekindled interest in the LC (and YPVS) coupled with the RG not having the same following probably means you are correct.
Complete and unmolested examples of the RG250 (all models) should start to increase in value due to the rarity of them, but having owned a MK3 in walter wolf colours and being very disapointed with how slow it felt I would never own another standard RG.
Let us know if you see any more engineless WD or WD models as I know a man who'd be interested in one _________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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Craigside_Pete Show Star !
Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 104 Location: Near Bristol, UK.
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 11:07 am Post subject: |
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If he wants a GJ21A frame with V5C [with some rubbish forks and enough bits on it to roll around] I've got one mouldering under a tree....
I'm wondering how many of the original 200 UK WD's are left...I've not seen one for years - The imports will keep supply relatively high compared to the limited market [think about it, not many around new will mean not many will want to spend their rich middle age reliving their youth] so I think values will remain low and they continue to be broken or modified until extinction...don't think they'll be "worth" anything other than parts
Only worth for me is they make a great little bike to potter around on [but yeah, could always do with just a bit more power...perhaps I need a Yammagamma as well ]
p.s. Just a thought Tom.... I actually like the side panels and tail in that dark blue..it was one of the things [apart from engine ] I really liked about the bike when it was on ebay |
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StrokerBoy Show Star !
Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 1293 Location: Oop North, UK
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 1:54 pm Post subject: |
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Craigside_Pete wrote: |
I'm wondering how many of the original 200 UK WD's are left...I've not seen one for years - The imports will keep supply relatively high compared to the limited market [think about it, not many around new will mean not many will want to spend their rich middle age reliving their youth] so I think values will remain low and they continue to be broken or modified until extinction...don't think they'll be "worth" anything other than parts |
I never had one back when I was 17 or whatever but I still want one now for some reason. Standard Mk.1 Gamma that is, not a hybrid. Can't take on another project though...
UK or import, I'm not bothered. Look nice next to my KR... |
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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:28 pm Post subject: |
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Craigside_Pete wrote: |
If he wants a GJ21A frame with V5C [with some rubbish forks and enough bits on it to roll around] I've got one mouldering under a tree....
I'm wondering how many of the original 200 UK WD's are left...I've not seen one for years - The imports will keep supply relatively high compared to the limited market [think about it, not many around new will mean not many will want to spend their rich middle age reliving their youth] so I think values will remain low and they continue to be broken or modified until extinction...don't think they'll be "worth" anything other than parts
Only worth for me is they make a great little bike to potter around on [but yeah, could always do with just a bit more power...perhaps I need a Yammagamma as well ]
p.s. Just a thought Tom.... I actually like the side panels and tail in that dark blue..it was one of the things [apart from engine ] I really liked about the bike when it was on ebay |
I'll ask him about the GJ21A frame and bits, but I reckon the answer will be: "Yes Please"
as for the original 300 WD models, I've only seen one standard one in the last few years and it might be up for sale again soon. (Yes Tim, I will let you know )
The blue panels on mine are ok, but the paint is cracking and failing off in a couple of places so they need repainting and I will probably get it done in the original colours to match the solo seat cowl. But it looks better than the black it was wearing before.
cheers
Tom _________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2008 8:53 pm Post subject: |
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random pic of a yammagamma being (ab)used _________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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StrokerBoy Show Star !
Joined: 15 Nov 2006 Posts: 1293 Location: Oop North, UK
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2008 8:31 am Post subject: |
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Saw your bike at Donington Tom, very nice.
There seems to be a bit of a Gamma resurgence going on at the moment. I haven't seen one for years, then there's yours plus an original Mk.2 at Donny, then Pete puts his Mk.1 on show at Bristol and the next week there's 4 on Ebay and more appearing on here all the time.
Maybe it's 'cos LC's are way too pricey now ? Gamma's are the next big thing I reckon, whether original or with a Yamaha engine transplant. If only I had some spare money and space in the garage... |
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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2008 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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I had a chat with the bloke who owned the Mk2 on the suzuki owners club stand. He'd owned it since it was 18 months old and still enjoyed it.
Mine has (finally) had some workshop time. the naff rear shock has been replaced with one with damping and the head bolts are now stainless steel.
It now doesn't bounce you out of the seat when you hit a bump and pulled to the redline in top, down a local road.
Roll on Summer _________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2008 10:29 pm Post subject: |
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next months CMM (out end of August) apparently has a bit of a yammagamma feature
Mine has been joined by another
_________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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Craigside_Pete Show Star !
Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 104 Location: Near Bristol, UK.
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:28 am Post subject: |
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So did you buy Mick's bike[s]? [that looks like one of 'my' repro decals ] |
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Tom Mac Show Star !
Joined: 04 Dec 2006 Posts: 227 Location: UK
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Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 3:30 pm Post subject: |
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Craigside_Pete wrote: |
So did you buy Mick's bike[s]? [that looks like one of 'my' repro decals ] |
Yep, I cleared out Mick's garage of RG250 stuff. the Mk2 (that i bought off him) is up for sale and the mk1 will be built up _________________ my TDRs from over the years:
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Craigside_Pete Show Star !
Joined: 27 Sep 2007 Posts: 104 Location: Near Bristol, UK.
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Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 7:34 am Post subject: |
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If you got it all for what he was asking, then that's a stellar deal
If you put a yammaha lump in it, i'd be interested in the J201 lump. |
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