After a three week full on thrash I managed to finish the Hindall 360 flat tracker in time to get her to the HBBB over the weekend. Unfortunately a minor ignition problem prevented any serious track action but I was glad the little bike got a lot of favourable comments.
All up the bike took three weeks and cost around $1000 to build (
give or take a hundred or two.) Here's a rough breakdown of the parts used and the approximate costs.
Frame: A Hindall motocross frame originally made to house a 350 Kawasaki Bighorn, purchased 10 years ago for $100. I spent a week removing twenty years of tarnish and welding in new mounts to suit the Yamaha engine.
Forks: Early Yamaha DT forks kindly donated by Nathan S, fitted with Vintage Iron heavy duty TM250 Suzuki springs, new seals and 10wt ATF.
Wheels: front: 19" Akront rim/Carlilse 3:50 x 19 tyre and Yamaha MX250 hub I've owned for over 20 years. Rear: Yamaha MX250 fitted with Mitas 4:00 x 18 trials tyre.
Shocks:CR250 Elsinore.
Bodywork: Tank: Trackmaster with flame job as bought on eBay for $40. I had to repair two severe fork "rash" dents and blend/match the paint. Tail/seat. Supplied by Matcho Mick and fitted with the sear from the Trackmaster tail that didn't fit the frame.
Engine: Very early pistong port bottom end rebuilt with new 214 rod/bigend, Barnett Kevlar clutch and PVL ignition. The cylinder is an RT2 reed cylinder on original bore fitted with a NOS piston/rings, Boyesen reeds, ACK head, 34mm Mikuni, unknown manufacture downpipe and Supertrapp muffler.
Little stuff:Inter-Am solid alloy flat track bars, Chinese pitbike billet throttle, Magura/Yamaha levers, Donkey Dick grips, Alloy number plates, pit bike air filter, Circle Industries fork brace.
The bike is one half of a matching pair- 'the Hindall Sisters', the other bike with identical frame but set up for motocross and fitted with a DT1 piston port engine wasn't finished in time for HBBB. It'll debut at CD8.
This was an especially enjoyable build as it allowed me a bit of 'artistic' freedom to do it the way I wanted, using parts from my second hand stash. The bike will be a continuously evolving project with the next mod being finding a set of adjustable triple clamps to allow me to bring the rake in to 25-26 degrees. I could acheive the needed geometry by cutting and shutting the frame but I'm hesitant to cut such a rare frame at this stage. I'll also fit a piston port barrel if the bike is to be used in the pre '70 class. I'm also replacing the 20 year old Carlilse front tyre with a Dunlop K160 or Maxxis.
