GPZ1000RX

Aldershot on road club has started running heats for F1s again. Apparently they get 7 or 8 F201s at the club meetings. Check out amcc.org.uk Cheers Paul.

Not many people know this! These clockwork chargers only use a big fat low value resistor and the clockwork timer to work. The timer is there to stop you cooking your nicads if you forget you were charging. They didn't fully charge from FLAT, a 1200mah batt way back in neolithic times in 1/2hr so theres no chance with 1700's etc. Also the charge current is certainly too low for hi cap batts you need a good 5A for 1700s to get the best from them. A good guide is 2.5 X capacity = charge rate (ish) ie. 2.5 X 1.7 = 4.25 Amps But don't go beyond about 5.5A for ANY size battery

Cant really add any thing in the way of help, but, by way of encouragement it looks absolutely superb!!!!

There should be no ELECTRONIC compatibility problems with ESC's of any age with any radio gear built since the early 70's. I have some Futaba Medalion sets (77ish) which I ran quite happily with ESC's then and with 90's ESC's much more recently. The only problems you may encounter will be the plugs etc. The only concern with early wheel radios is with the ergonomics which were pretty dire!! Thats why modern ones look so different.

I dont suppose tha NHS would want my 50 year old addled organs! Keep riding guys, FUN is where it's at.

The old Kawasaki GPZ1000RX is 15 next month, got its new MOT yesterday and took her out for a ride. Big heavy slow steering yes but on the M? at 90mph in 6th, wind on the throttle and hang on!!!!! the old girl leaps to 140+ in seconds and those gentle motorway curves need serious lean. Came home with a really big grin, "Bike it you'll Like it" YES YES YES Tamiya bikers unite!

Join your local on road club and use the track, canvas the other members about them rebodying their old F1s and start a club race series for them (and you) these cars were designed to be raced so race em! Cheers Paul.

You will probably not find a magazine which does not heavily feature nitro cars because there has been a major swing of interest in that direction for a few years now. Also racing means spending big money (usually) which means big advertising budgets which means magazines promote racing. Thats the way the mags always have been and I have seen magazines going back to the early fifties! Cheers Paul.

You will have a problem if the batteries are ever allowed to get very cold, don't store them in the roof space,shed or garage. If they do get cold let them warm up naturally to 20c (if possible) before charging. When charging, you can use any charger, but the battery MUST be at ambient temp to start with. Charge until they get warm (40-45c). Some chargers use a probe under the heatshrink and switch off at this point. Serious racers use a pack only once a day, fully discharge it and let it recover until the next meeting. The hot guys carry 5 new packs for racing and 5 last seasons packs for practise and setup! Cheers, Paul.

You should be fine with a sport tuned and your esc. I would make an educated guess that a sport tuned is 27T but it is definately heavily advanced. Play save, gear lower (smaller pinion and/or larger spur) if the esc has it, turn down the current limit (punch control) Cheers Paul.

Tekin were my favorites too, I've got a 10 year old one and an 8 y o they have both seen loads of racing and have never given any trouble. I have to point out tho that you must gear lower if you start to run hot motors (smaller pinion and/or larger spur) The esc current limiter (punch control) is there for a good reason, run it as low as possible (50-60 amps is a good start). If you gear too low or limit too low you will only go slow. Go the other way and you could cook motors esc and battery!!!! Start gentle until you get a "feel" for what you are doing. Motor maintenance is important also, if your motor needs a service it can also cook esc batts and itself. Most serious racers skim the comm etc after 5 5minute races! Cheers, Paul.

Dont know about the grp C spurs but the F101/102/103 spurs are, for all practical purposes the same and therefore interchangeable. also can't say if a 48 pitch spur is available to fit. Cheers Paul.

I've always used Futaba radio, never had a failure, very rarely any glitches (usually caused by people switching on without the "peg") I've got some 70's vintage Futaba Medalion sets, and the all work pefectly. Futaba = Highly recommended for vintage, much superior to contemporary Accoms

Thanks Lucodeath and Netsmith for your assistance, I've just resubmitted my subs to the club and...........BINGO............success!!!! Was I unnecessarily worried? probably! Am I I.T. illiterate? certainly! Which leads me to an idea:- For the over 50's Tamiya fans out there (like me) a few "idiots guides" somwhere very visible on the site would be very helpful. Before I stumbled on this club I had never heard of PayPal and never visited Ebay! So, to the understandable exasperation of netsmith, I found it very difficult to join and subcribe. I probably belong to the first generation of Tamiya fans and believe that the reason for the makes huge popularity is that Tamiya make what was previously very difficult for many (building a viable RC car)as easy as possible. In terms of instructions and build friendliness they are still the best! In terms of the site and joining up etc maybe the Tamiya club could split it all up into Tamiya style, IT idiot proof steps for us more mature guys for whom "threads" "fields" "format" "HTML" etc etc is a foreign language. Perhaps also, a beginners guide to RC cars would be good, I could even help out with that, I've been racing eletric cars (slot & RC) since 1967 and am an electrical engineer by trade so know a bit about electric motors for instance. Thanks again guys hope to be of some help soon, Paul.

Sorry to bother you all again with the same old saw but I still don't seem to be recognized as a subscriber. I filled in the online form, got transfered to paypal to open an account so that I could pay the £15, filled in their form including an instruction to pay Tamiya club £15 subs using my credit card, got all the paypal notifications back complete with notice that to pay the club £15 I would have to sign up for an enhanced account (fee $1.95) signed up for that, got the security code on my monthly bill, entered that on the on line paypal form, got cleared and............ BINGO......................nothing. Something seems very clunky with all this, not sure if it is me, paypal, the club or all three! My paypal account doesn't show a debit and my credit card bill shows only the $1.95 paypal fee for the enhanced account. Do I have to resubmit the club form or what? Is there any other way of paying my subs (by post for instance), I am an old git!!!! I started all this on Jan 27th and am finding it all more than a little confusing, can anyone offer advice or suggest an alternative payment method suitable for the club? Cheers guys.

as above for sale (or possibly trade for E MAX or T MAX) Nearly all of it there, but missing:- 1 radio box fastener front bumper plastic transmission cage broken Chassis otherwise complete and in good condition, a few scratches on the underside, tyres almost unworn, could be made into a very good runner with little work. With Sand Scorcher(ish) lexan shell. With absolutely BRAND NEW AND UNPAINTED:- Complete body with all chrome all glass sunroof driver (steering wheel missing) Also Rough Rider Brand new rear wheels and tyres Mail me if interested

Thanks Guys, As my old Mum says, "patience is a virtue" seems she was right all along! Cheers, Paul.

Thanks for your rapid reply, I completed the club form to subscribe, at some point during the on line form filling I authorized payment of £15 to the club using my credit card details. I very quickly received, from PayPal, notification that £15 was above some unspecified limit (£0?) this gave me the option to pay for an enhanced service, fee $1.95, I accepted this and authorized this payment to PayPal ($1.95). I think that the security code, in my next credit card statement, is for my use to access my PayPal account statement etc. My confusion arises from the fact that, if I use my credit card online to purchase, for instance, a full option Tiger tank with battle system (£600+) I would expect a van man with a very large package to be at my door within a few days. I'm at a bit of a loss therefore, to understand why a simple subcription seems so fraught. Can anyone post up an idiots guide to PayPal that might ease my furrowed brow? Cheers, Paul.

Electric motors like to rev hard, they draw minimum current from the battery when spinning fast. To maximize run time, gear low (like 1st gear on a real car)use a small pinion with a large spur gear. This will give best acceleration but a low top speed. To maximise top speed, gear high (like 5th gear) use a large pinion with a small spur. This will give a high top speed but poor acceleration and poor run time. Always err on the side of low gearing, on most tracks the acceleration is MUCH more useful! and you are putting much less strain on the motor, speed control and batteries. Gear to high and you will run out of batteries before your race ends and you COULD damage the motor and speedo. If you are trying a faster motor then you MUST gear lower!!! You have been warned Cheers, Paul.

Hi guys, There is no reason not to use an electronic speedo in just about any electric RC car. I have never raced with a mechanical unit unless the rules demanded it (Mardave mini stocks) My first car was the Spectron (1977), specifically chosen because it came with an electronic speedo. So most vintage Tamiyas could rum a period ESC! In terms of control, performance and efficiency ESC's are vastly superior to MSC's BUT they are expensive and don't like water at all (unless you choose carefully in the £100+ price range) However you can do all sorts of other expensive damage to your cars and radio gear by running them in mud and water! Driver Beware!!!!! Cheers, Paul.

Can anyone offer guidance/reassurance? I think I subscribed to the club about 2 weeks ago, filled in the online form(s), got diverted to PayPal, signed on with them, got told I was over my transaction limit (for fifteen quid????), signed up for a useable limit ($1.95), got all the acknowledgements back from PayPal, just waiting for my security code to arrive on my credit card statement. BUT..... I still can't log onto the site as a subscriber! How long does the proccessing usually take?, have I messed something up?, am I just being impatient? etc etc. Help I'm confused?!?!?! Cheers guys, Paul.[8)]