The first stage of the build was to organise a visit to Raw to take a look around, ask lots of questions, and test drive the car. As the Striker is so diminutive, I had a concern that I would be too big to fit, but I needn’t have worried, as I in fact needed a booster cushion to reach the pedals. I knew I was making the correct decision almost immediately, the car was very solid, and even though the sun was low in the sky and reflecting off of wet roads, I thoroughly enjoyed the half an hour or so that I had driving.
Over Christmas I sorted the garage out. It is only a single garage, but it will be ok if I am careful to keep it tidy…
After blagging a ticket to AutoSport at the NEC, I placed a verbal order for the Striker, confirming the body colour, Kawasaki green, being given a week later. The delivery time was expected to be 6-8 weeks, so I placed my deposit, and I set about finding the few donor components that I needed.
Most importantly, I needed to source an engine so that Raw could get on with fabricating engine mounts. My original plan had been to buy a crash damaged bike, strip it down, and sell on the bits that I did not need. I abandoned this idea fairly quickly, as my storage space is limited, and I did not want old bike bits getting in the way of the build. Therefore, I started to look around for a complete engine kit. Malc at Yorkshire Engines was my first call, after seeing the many recommendations on The LocostBuilders website. I also tried Partfinder, and finally called Andy Bates at AB Performance. Both Andy and Malc were very helpful, and obviously knew their stuff, and in the end I went with a 2005 R1 engine kit from AB Performance. It is an engine from a US bike, and not from a UK bike, and this has two advantages: firstly, there is not the electronic security trickery present in the ECU, which will make the wiring easier, and secondly the engine has not seen any road salt, and so is very clean. I also ordered the sump baffle and prop adapter from AB.
The next job was to find the Escorts RS2000/ Mark 3 Capri front uprights. After a bit of hunting and phoning around, I found some at Capri Gear, although I probably paid over the odds for them. They were delivered promptly, and although fairly crudded up, they looked sound.
Meanwhile, Andy called to tell me that my engine was ready for collection, and I picked up the engine a week later. Andy was very welcoming, and proved a fount of knowledge on all things Striker, as he has/is building them for racing. After spending a good hour picking his brains, I loaded the engine into the car and headed home.
After just spending money I was keen do actually do something in the garage! I set about cleaning and preparing the uprights so that Raw could modify them. My chosen method of attack was electrolysis. I used an old computer power supply as the DC source, and bought a length of mild steel from B&Q to use as the sacrificial anode. It was with some trepidation that I flicked the switch the first time, but after 48 hours each, the uprights were de-rusted and easily dismantled.
Finally, I acquired the 3.38 differential that I had looked for. I had toyed with the idea of using a 3.62, as they are cheaper and easier to find, and are available in both open and LSD forms, but after some geeky calculations surrounding aerodynamics, power to weight ratios, and gear ratios, I decided that 3.38 would be preferable for both acceleration (fewer gear changes, so less time wasted), and top speed. I will write a separate post at some point giving the details of the calculations.
That just about sums up where I am up to. I am still waiting for word of the kit itself from Raw, but I am occupying myself with preparing the engine, and researching the build decisions still due made on the web.