Nikasil coated alloy cylinders with 4032 alloy pistons

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Nikasil coated alloy cylinders with 4032 alloy pistons


This special 1007cc motor never broke with over 40 races on it using the same parts (the rings were replaced).

"At the CRMC Croft event May 7, 2016 and the Sunday June 19, 2016 Bob Mcintyre event, Gary Thwaites won all six races in his class and made fastest laps in Classic." Dave Watson (owner). "The engine is much smoother and power up...we are well happy with the bike and all your gear that is inside the engine...Gary rode the big Norton in two Crmc meetings in 2013 at Cadwell Park and Donington and won all his five races." Gordon Humphreys (tuner).

Also - I think there was a 1000 Commando racing in the UK a year or two ago until it crashed out. But they do seem to be fading out.
 
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jseng1 said:
Nikasil coated alloy cylinders with 4032 alloy pistons


This special 1007cc motor never broke with over 40 races on it using the same parts (the rings were replaced).

"At the CRMC Croft event May 7, 2016 and the Sunday June 19, 2016 Bob Mcintyre event, Gary Thwaites won all six races in his class and made fastest laps in Classic." Dave Watson (owner). "The engine is much smoother and power up...we are well happy with the bike and all your gear that is inside the engine...Gary rode the big Norton in two Crmc meetings in 2013 at Cadwell Park and Donington and won all his five races." Gordon Humphreys (tuner).

Also - I think there was a 1000 Commando racing in the UK a year or two ago until it crashed out. But they do seem to be fading out.
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Yep...that's the one that turned tyres into chewing gum! :oops:

I didn't say they were fragile motors.....

I was thinking much more of everything else you bolt to it!

Though as I understand it Chris' 960 originated form this team and is a 960 because.....the 1007 barrels were damaged!

Twins in general are fading out but some of the big Tiumph triples are in retirement too...

Thruth is, it is the age category that is fading out, veryfew '70s bikes in favour of cheaper and more accessible '80s bikes...things the riders or builders remember from their youth!

Us '70s twins people are getting too long in the tooth to keep a class going!
 
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Not sure it’s the age of the competitors Steve, lots of riders of Commandos and Triples etc are moving on to the the 80s Japanese stuff cos (so long as you‘re not chasing the championship) it costs next to nothing and the bikes just keep going without any work.

A mate leaves his Manx and Commando at home now and rides a Yamaha FZ sumthinorother with CRMC, when I asked him how it’s going he replied “weird having nothing to do between races and the straights suddenly got a lot shorter” !
 
Hi Steve
It was always a 960. The barrels were cast iron. Steve Maney said it was very high compression & witches brew for fuel. As you know it went bang at Donington. I had it rebuilt with alloy barrels & Steve lowered the compression ratio. He told me to run Avgas & Shell. I now run octain booster & Tesco's best.
Dave Watson went on to develop the 750 with 180 crank/ cams. It's after this that they built the big engine with Jseng1 parts. 750 might have had them as well as they put a lot of money & effort in to developing that engine.
All I know is Gary's best lap time at Brands Hatch was with my engine lol.
 
Hi Eddie
I was having a walk through the pit garages after borrowing a rear sprocket & getting a tyre put on the rim. When I came across Tony Hayward who used to run a T140 engine in a Bandit frame. I asked him how was his weekend going & he said "dreadful" I've had to charge up the battery & put air in the tyres! Normally I only put fuel in the tank!
FZ 600 Yam.
 
Steve, I believe the 1007 is very different to a 960 anyway. A 960 can be built using ‘normal‘ Commando parts, basically a 920 with a longer stroke, but the 1007s have barrels with different bore spacing and consequently have crank journals further apart and unique crank cases. IIRC.
 
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Chris said:
Hi Eddie
I was having a walk through the pit garages after borrowing a rear sprocket & getting a tyre put on the rim. When I came across Tony Hayward who used to run a T140 engine in a Bandit frame. I asked him how was his weekend going & he said "dreadful" I've had to charge up the battery & put air in the tyres! Normally I only put fuel in the tank!
FZ 600 Yam.
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Tony Hayward as in belt drives etc ?
 
No Not of belt drives lol yes the 1007 is a unique stand alone engine.
 
SteveA said: "very few '70s bikes in favour of cheaper and more accessible '80s bikes."

Fast Edde said: "riders of Commandos and Triples etc are moving on to the the 80s Japanese stuff"

And then there's the monoshock air cooled ducs with radial tires in twins class that started kicking my ass in the late 80s as shown in the video below.



#777 with grey leathers and alum tank & tail in 3rd/4th place. Note the 1st lap puff of dirt in the last sweeper turn when my knee hits a mound of off track dirt and knocks my knee pad loose. If I could have afforded a 5 speed I think I would have held on to 3rd place. Good to see my ol buddy Fred Eiker make the win.
 
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SteveA said:
Yes but, classes here in France and in Belgium are up to 750 and up to 1000! 920 or 960 is your Norton limit. (960 is 920 81mm bore with 1007 93mm crank, 'Chris' has the only one I know of)

So I would say no thanks. And I did say no thanks when I built my 750 short stroke, it was to take advantage of these classes European classes I have since run in, and to qualify for the F750 class in the UK. I also raced it in UK 1300 twins when built giving me two classes to race in at each meeting, finishing 2nd in the 1300 twins championship in 2015, my first year on the bike. Last raced in it the last time the class was run in 2017, took home trophies!

1007 motors deliver power and torque and lots of it, the question is do you go any faster? probably but it really depends how well your style and abilities can exploit it My best ride of 2015 was in very tricky wet conditions, I passed quite a lot of much bigger engined bikes to do it! Pretty sure I would have been on my ear on a 1007.

Another reason for my choice was that I was using an original frame. 1007 motors will challenge to destruction any part you fit to a bike, including tyres.

Great stuff in the right hands and for teams that can field another bike for 750s and to run when the big bore bike breaks.

Really 1007s are best left alone by the rest of us! It would be cheaper to build the smaller motor, but not enough for that to be your primary concern for a new build. And of course now that Maney isn't making cranks, cases or barrels, or modifying heads to suit it isn't as off the shelf as it might have been.

And a question for you, when and where did you last see a 1007 motor actually race?

Not sure I have seen one since 2016!
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Guess I should update this, the class in France is now 900cc, so even the 920s are out! Explains why Bruno Perlinski was testing an 850 last year!

Change of crank and rods would keep revs down and give me some more torque! But really only give me France as an option to race.

Not getting any younger so probably won't ever do it!
 
Do 1007cc Commando motors rev as high as 750cc short stroke Commando motors ? Personally, I prefer torque to revs. But a Commando engine is different to most others. It is expensive to get more power by raising the revs unless the motor is short stroke. In the middle somewhere, there must be a happy medium which is still versatile without being peaky or self-destructive..
 
jseng1 said:
SteveA said: "very few '70s bikes in favour of cheaper and more accessible '80s bikes."

Fast Edde said: "riders of Commandos and Triples etc are moving on to the the 80s Japanese stuff"

And then there's the monoshock air cooled ducs with radial tires in twins class that started kicking my ass in the late 80s as shown in the video below.



#777 with grey leathers and alum tank & tail in 3rd/4th place. Note the 1st lap puff of dirt in the last sweeper turn when my knee hits a mound of off track dirt and knocks my knee pad loose. If I could have afforded a 5 speed I think I would have held on to 3rd place. Good to see my ol buddy Fred Eiker make the win.
Click to expand...

Were you using a close ratio gearbox ? A Manx four speed close ratio cluster with a standard commando first gear fitted, should be enough - $700 . You might need a slipper clutch if you are ever forced to go back to first during a race. If you race with the standard gearbox, you will never be quick enough. You also need twin discs on the front.
 
In watching that video, most of the corners appear to he high speed sweepers. The circuit might suit a Ducati more than a Commando. A Ducati usually takes a high line in corners where a Commando would go tight and under. If the circuit is faster when you motor around the outside in corners, a Commando might struggle more when there are no slower corners. If I race, it is in an historic class against 1100cc CB750 Hondas. We all use methanol fuel. Theoretically the Hondas should crap all over my Seeley 850. But on Winton Raceway most of the corners are tight, there is only one sweeper. So I have no trouble keeping up with the leaders. There are about three straights where the Hondas really get mobile, but they always take the high line in corners where they can apply more power .
I don't usually race on bigger circuits, but when you raise the overall gearing you are back to a similar situation. The shape of the circuit suits some types of bike better than others.
 
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Al
Full of conundrums!
If your going to use a 4 speed box you may need an ineligible slipper clutch? So that's a no then! I thought we had already sorted the fact that no you dont need twin discs. All Gary's championships & races were won with a single disc. I know we dont race with monster big bore methonal fueled bikes, we have our own classes but you seem to think things are still the same as they were ten years ago when you last rode! Have a look at your lap times from back then? Compare them to recent times.
 
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