The Evolution of Number 63 by Terry The Poisoner Dunn
The story of number 63 started with the search for a more powerful road bike than my trusty TRX850. I was in mind for a Yamaha Genesis 750 or 1000 exup.
A biker mate said he knew of a Genesis, laid up in someone’s back garden. Laid up really meant sitting on the rear patio under a tarp for five years, and it was a really early one, 1989 vintage and a 600 to boot. Not what I wanted at all, so I thought I’d offer silly money, the owner would tell me to bugger off and that would be that. “150 quid?” I proffered. “Sold!” he shouted and suddenly I’m the owner of a shonky old 600 complete with naff ‘lightning bolts’ paint scheme. It even came with a Haynes manual, still in its wrapper. To be fair, it was only really shonky on the outside. It took me an hour and a half to get the rusted spark plugs out but with new NGK’s, fresh oil, air filter and battery she fired up with one long jab on the button and was mechanically sound. The rest was cosmetic.
I got it road legal and it was quick. After all, it was the forerunner of the R6, but not any faster than the TRX. Here though was a golden opportunity to finally attempt a trackday. I’d often thought about having a bash, people who’ve been always raved about the experience, but there was no way I’d chance my pride and joy. Now though …It would need new tyres and the sticking point here was that the ’89 600 Genesis had an 18” rear wheel. The 400, 750 and 1000 all had 17”ers which gave a wide choice of rubber. At the time the only option I had was a 140/60 18 Dunlop GPR70 (now Alpha 10’s). Later the Bridgestone BT92 arrived. So, after paying £150 for the bike,
I forked out £160 for tyres! The Dunlops were actually really good though and I still use them today.
Castle Combe was the venue and amongst all the R1’s, R6’s, Ducatis and Honda rocketships I felt a bit undergunned and old school. Not so, as it turned out. Loads of people were interested in the old girl. I was eventually approached by a racer called Kev Toms, who said “ Nice old Genesis. I had one of those. Blew the gearbox. Sold the wheels and bodywork but if you need any spares I’ve still got the frame, forks, swinging arm and shock, loom, exhaust system and the top half on the engine. Yours for £70.” “Sold!” shouts I, and Kev empties his garage and I fill mine. Fantastic.
I did a few trackdays in full road guise, complete with indicators, and there is always a professional photographer on site. Ploughing through hundreds of pictures to track down your own image was time consuming and I quickly noticed how easy it was to spot the bikes with number boards.
I was trying to figure out how to attach numbers to the old girl when the decision was made for me courtesy of a low speed spill. It did for the fairing, being 20 years old and as brittle as plate glass. Well, it smashed just like it and was unrepairable. From that moment she officially became number 63.
I chose the number simply because way back in 1980 – 81 I raced motocross and that was my number. I was very young then of course, virtually a boy racer as I remember it (ahem!)
Running on a budget comparable to my schoolday’s pocket money, replacing smashed bits with Yamaha parts was a non starter so I was reduced to running her naked with just a front number board to cover her modesty. The front plate was in fact the base of a white washing up bowl, trimmed and drilled to fit!
It didn’t exactly carve a neat hole through the air and the windblast made my neck and shoulders ache something cruel. At the next Netley Marsh bike jumble I picked up a miscellaneous belly pan for a fiver, then an old stylee twin-headlamp nose fairing for a tenner. DIY mounting brackets and a second modification to the washing up bowl, sorry, numberboard, made her look a bit more racy and saved my poor neck some grief.
She went almost a year like this till winter ’09 when a friend put me in touch with a young lad who wanted his Cagiva Mito tidied up prior to selling.A word of caution here. Teenage lads are not noted for their routine maintenance skills. The Mito had been thrashed, neglected and crashed. £650 had been offered for it, which outraged the youngster, considering it was only a few years old. I sorted it for him (That’s a tale in itself. Cagiva nuts, bolts and especially fairing and panel fasteners are made of cheese!).
He sold the revamped Mito for £1,500 and I made £150, which turned out to be the exact price of a 600 Genesis race fairing from ARD racing of Newcastle 0191 2614579. These guys are the dog’s! The exact price did not include £20 p&p which I simply did not have. They waved it, which was brilliant, and the fairing went on without a single modification.
With a new tank cover for three quid at the Popham bike jumble and the application of a rattle can of white and one of red, number 63 now looked good and ready for 2010.
Looking at the photos I can see that along with the old girls looks, my style has improved a bit too. And my times. With Castle Combe being my ‘local’ track I go there a couple of times a year. 1st time out, complete with £40 second hand blue leathers, I was doing 1min 47sec laps. I’m now doing 1min 31sec laps, but don’t be too impressed. I believe the lap record is somewhere around 1min 19sec! That puts me firmly in the also-ran region but I can hold my head up in the intermediate/fast group. I also have total faith in number 63 even if she is well past the age of consent, has virtually non adjustable suspension and a severely limited tyre choice. From patio to paddock, my unwanted pup is now my faithful partner.
Long live number 63!