Hi everyone, In my hunt for a 999 of 2005 or 2006 vintage, I have turned up a 2005 999R in race trim that has done 5000 miles. I think I could get it for £8K. My question is I would like to convert it back to road spec. Do you think this is a wise decision? My reluctance to jump on this is based upon two things: 1/ I have no knowledge of how much racing will knacker these bikes...does 5000 miles of racing mean that the bike is going to be well worn out? (though perhaps it hasn't done it's whole life on track) 2/ Is it going to cost a small fortune to find the necessary road spec pieces? Can you even find fairings for a 999R? Any comments welcome. I would be using the bike fairly regularly, though I would still like it to look fairly minty if I go for it. Cheers Grant
R parts are very expensive and rare to find, sure he/she hasn't got um in a box somewhere?? I know a few people have put race bikes back on the road but can be costly , plus if it was me I'd be getting the engine refreshed too.
Go for it - put new track bodywork on it if needed and run it on a day time mot - don't even attempt to get all the bits for that money, they will take ages to find and cost loads... but deffo buy it! It will look much better than a road version
I bought my 1098R that had been used as a track day bike from day one and put it back on the road. The bike had a service file like you wouldn't believe, including a £10k engine refresh from JHP with Pistals, NOVA gearbox, Nemesis quickshifter and traction control. The original bodywork had never been used on the bike, so the thing looked almost like new once I had finished my little project. Oh, it's a fast bugger too. Before. with bins for @Ducbird The strip. After.
I'd check out the history, and depend on on whether last engine refresh was make a bid. If it was recent, within a season or a few trackdays price looks ok. If a couple of years ago or only ever regular service (and has been raced most of those 5k miles) I'd be looking for a lot off. Its going to be a 4-5k rebuild if it needs doing. IMO obviously.
Cheers for the input and advice guys. The R is defo a good deal - full engine refresh just done. But in the end I have decided it is more than I need and in the long run would create maintenance costs...so back to searching for a base or S model!!!
