In today's competitive sportbike market it's difficult to find a bad bike in the bunch. Performance tests typically result in only fractions of seconds separating one bike from the other. With so many great ones to choose from, the aftermarket scene has exploded with consumers looking to customize their ride and make it their own. Project 3-Way set out to build three different bikes with three different purposes (for three different types of enthusiasts). Rather than take the easy route and pick the most popular models for the category (Honda F4i for stunts, Yamaha R1 for canyons and Suzuki Hayabusa for show), we wanted to demonstrate how any model bike could be made into a super streetbike. This is how we did it.
The Stuntbike
Eight-year-old carbureted bikes are an unlikely first choice when setting out to build a competitive stuntbike. In reality, any bike can be made into a great practice bike for learning the basics of stunting, though. The years sitting in the back of Zamora's garage took their toll on the 1999 Yamaha R6 and presented some interesting challenges.
Carb problems made riding...
Carb problems made riding our new stunt machine rather...tricky.
With a $3000 budget to spend, the majority of it went toward performance and preventative pieces like the Racing 905 crash cage and fairing stay, Powerworx's 12-bar, Vortex sprockets and mirror block-offs, RK chain, Full Throttle Inc. hand brake, GPR stabilizer, Odyssey battery, ESD manufacturing footpegs and Lockhart Phillips Speedscreen and bolt kit. We did much of the build ourselves-making it free. The tank denting, kill-switch mod, choke relocation and exhaust shortening are all mods that are pretty easy to do, but necessary for a proper stunt machine.
We wanted to make the stuntbike look good for a minimal amount of money, because many of the stunt rides we see in SSB are rather hideous. With help from Racing 905's Aaron Celiceo, we took the scratched-up race bodywork and touched it up with black spray paint for a solid color base. We then painted the lowers and tailsection bright yellow and had Sticky J Graphics tie the whole thing together with vinyl stickers. For a couple hundred bucks in material, we ended up with a bike that stands out from 50 feet away.
The bike was far from stunt-ready as gremlins appeared in the motor. Years of serving as a squirrel hotel resulted in bad gas, which in turn fouled the plugs. The carbs were also pretty gummy, so we had some work to do.
Once running, the modified cut-down exhaust sounded like a big-block Chevy with open headers. Years of track abuse and abandonment caused the carburetors to get out of sync, resulting in poor idle and low-rpm running.
A total of $2839 was spent on parts-roughly the equivalent to a good suspension, motor and bodywork on a racebike-proving that it doesn't take a lot of money to own a full-time stuntbike.
The Buyer's Box
2006 Yamaha R1
Original Make/Model: 1999 Yamaha R6
Front end: GPR stabilizer
Motor: Powers Stuntworxs 12 bar
Accessories: Full Throttle Inc. hand brake, Racing 905 stunt stay and cage, Lockhart Phillips windscreen and fastener kit, Vortex Racing mirror block offs, RK chain, Vortex Racing front and rear sprockets
Other: Odyssey battery, ESD Manufacturing pegs
Builder: Adrian Celiceo, Racing 905 (619) 210-4777