Well good news all sorted now, $1450 of work. Feel like it's getting to the stage I need a new bike :D

On 20/11/2025 at 05:05, Alex said:

Well good news all sorted now, $1450 of work. Feel like it's getting to the stage I need a new bike :D

Speaking as a 1998 Thunderace owner, meh, sometimes you pays the money... But that's probably going to be the most money you spend on it for the next several years!

On the other hand, I see nothing against getting another bike!

On 20/11/2025 at 05:05, Alex said:

Well good news all sorted now, $1450 of work. Feel like it's getting to the stage I need a new bike :D

a lot of money to find but the equivalent here doesn't sound that bad at £714.65 UK

On 21/11/2025 at 15:23, Snakebite68 said:

Speaking as a 1998 Thunderace owner, meh, sometimes you pays the money... But that's probably going to be the most money you spend on it for the next several years!

On the other hand, I see nothing against getting another bike!

have you hasd to pay out on the t/ace much s/bite? don't like to tempt fate but so far it has just been low level stuff for me like oil, filters, cables..

The really big cost I had with my Ace was having my valves gapped...
5 bucket type valves per cylinder, the price mounts. But it was well worth it performance wise.

And I was spending an upsetting amount on chains & sprockets (three chains in the first two years! (I like my acceleration! lol)) But I solved that one by uprating my chain to a bigger size and haven't changed it in the last four years now.

I've spent a mild amount of money putting things back to how they should be from strange upgrades from past owners.

Right now, my concern is my radiator, it's rotting in the bottom corner and I've got reduced cooling. Finding a decent 2nd hand one is proving to be difficult currently, and a custom replacement is NOT going to be cheap. I'm looking around to see if anyone can re-core mine, but not everyone does curved radiators...

P.S.

Front tyres!
For some reason, I go through front tyres more than back tyres..?
I put it down to not doing burnouts & such, but taking every opportunity to get my knee down (not really, I'm a little creaky for that but getting it well leant over).
My front often vaguely resembles the old V shaped racing tyres by the time I've finished with them! lol

crumbs i'd better check my radiator. your valves shouldn't need doing again for another 27K I think it is. I've got a loose exup valve in the exhaust system, still works but makes a clicking sound at times, mainly when cold. Replacements are difficult to find in operational order. You can't get too excited riding in these parts around Oxford and the Cotswolds as it is relatively crowded, there's dual carriage ways and motorways but they are busy too. For quieter roads I need a whole day to leave the area and get over to the west towards Wales. Have you noticed how Thunderace prices are dropping in recent times? I guess if problems were to mount up one could realistically consider another similar bike if you could find one without without issues.

Oh, I've done a LOT of miles on my Ace...
Not only did I ride year round in all weathers just for shits & giggles, it was my daily driver for commuting too!
I can't be far away from another gapping! lol But this time, I think I might give it a go myself.
I'm trying to work out if I can afford a new garage / man cave, if so, I'm going to strip it down completely and do a full refurb.

Aaah, I have a stainless exhaust system, exups aren't a worry for me! lol.

18 hours ago, Snakebite68 said:

Oh, I've done a LOT of miles on my Ace...
Not only did I ride year round in all weathers just for shits & giggles, it was my daily driver for commuting too!
I can't be far away from another gapping! lol But this time, I think I might give it a go myself.
I'm trying to work out if I can afford a new garage / man cave, if so, I'm going to strip it down completely and do a full refurb.

Aaah, I have a stainless exhaust system, exups aren't a worry for me! lol.

you somewhere around leeds s/bite? i was a student there for four yrs in early 70's - over 50 yrs ago lol at the then polytechnic.

Yup, Wakefield...