The Mini twins phenomenon
Tim Carrington

The aim of this truly  wondrous piece of work is to show just how affordable racing at the Manx Grand Prix can be. I have raced at this terrific meeting for just shy of ten years and I have made many good friends along the way. Like many other competitors the “Manx” doubles as my annual holiday as well as a race fortnight. For me, financing my racing for proved even tougher than normal. I hadn't secured any sponsorship and as a consequence had to sell my long suffering RVF400 to fund the ferry, entries and fuel for the MGP. This left me with £1500. Having read the regulations to work out exactly which bikes are eligible for each class I made my mind up to stay with the Ultra Lightweights. I could buy another  400, a 125 GP bike or a 650 twin. The later was particularly appealing as a 400 was becoming somewhat cramped (nothing to do with my pie consumption), so the search was on for a suitable machine!

The bikes that I considered were a Kawasaki ER6, Hyosung 650 V twin and the cheapest option of all, the   Suzuki SV650. There is a twist however that I failed to notice - in the UK, Mini Twins are only allowed to run mostly stock parts. Engine horsepower  is restricted to 72bhp, stock forks, wheels and brakes. However in the Manx and Irish races you are only limited on capacity, so anything goes. I started my search for an SV in the usual places like Bikesport News, MCN and various racing club websites. By chance I came across a damaged SV on ebay. I made a bid and bingo – for the princely sum of £600 I got myself an SV!  When I picked the bike up the present owner said it was in a few more bits then when I had bid for it - he wasn't joking as most of it was in a wheel barrow in large lumps! He threw in a manual and the deal was done.

When I got the bike back home I loosely assembled it to find out what was missing. The motor was an oily mess. At some stage the final dive chain had come off and smashed the crankcase cover. It had been "repaired” with resin which had only proved only partially successful to say the least! A replacement from a breakers yard fixed that for £20. A strip down of the motor revealed that everything else was as Mr Suzuki intended. I carefully rebuilt the motor with new gaskets and seals etc. I re-seated and shimmed the valves and installed later model cams which I bought for £55. Hopefully with the motor built correctly I should have a reliable 70 horsepower machine that would give me good drive up the mountain.

The chassis was filthy, but in good mechanical condition. Everything was dismantled and checked before being greased and assembled. Wheel bearings were replaced as a matter of course  (cost about £25 from my local bearing factors). The SV came with braided brake lines and was fitted with a Kawasaki ZX6 rear shock. The front forks were standard but fitted with progressive fork springs and 10 weight oil. The brake callipers were stripped and fitted with EBC HH pads(£40). I decided to stick with the standard discs. The bike had come with a full M4 exhaust and had a stock air box fitted with a BMC air filter. The fairing was a modified ZX6 item made to fit with brackets crafted in 16 swg stainless steel.

I first rode the bike at a Brands Hatch track day and was reasonably pleased with the performance. I bought another SV for spares (motor /  wheels /  GSXR shock) for £150 and headed for the Island.

On arrival I managed to get Dave Hagan (Evo Moto ) to check the jetting on his dyno. After a couple of runs, the fluffiness I experienced at Brands Hatch had been cured with a jet change -game on! I had 69.8 bhp at my disposal. My only concern now  was, would the SV make 2 laps on a tank of fuel? As it turned out the answer to that question was yes, but only just!

During a very wet practice week I met up with some other Mini Twin racers. One of them was my old friend Mike Minns who was racing a modified ER6 Kawasaki. Mike always does well but usually races bigger machines. He was really enjoying his ER6. His bike had a standard motor,  Micron exhaust, Maxton modified forks and rear shock. During practice Mike’s bike was timed at 136mph along Sulby straight with my SV a shade over 130mph. Neither speed is particularly impressive, but outright speed is not everything on the Island, where  reliability is just as important. Another variation on the Minitwin theme was Andy Mac Pherson’s beautiful Ducati. This was based on a 748, but sleeved to 650 - it was stunning! By comparison with my SV effort, this was a no expense spared attempt.

There were eight Mini Twins that finished the Ultra Lightweight race. Mike Minns was the highest placed at 7th.  His time for the 3 lap race was 1 hour, 5 minutes and 31 seconds. I finished way behind him 1 hour, 11 minutes  and 41 seconds in 32nd place. A big difference - not so much in machine but rider ability. My best lap was just over 97mph so I was happy with that.

So with the benefit of one years experience, what would I do differently when riding an SV at the Manx? Suspension! I have used Maxton suspension on three of my previous bikes and whist expensive, it is good value considering the support Ron and Richard give. They are always at the Manx for practice and are very willing to help with problems. As regards the motor, I know it is possible to get over 85 bhp from a tuned engine however my concern would be the price you pay in reduced reliability. 

So there you have it. At a time when we are all having to watch our budgets carefully perhaps the Mini Twins, particularly the SV Suzuki is the answer for the cost conscious racer. I doubt you would get more fun for your pound from any other bike!

Summary: used Suzuki SV: £1000, race bodywork: £200, rear sets: £100, clip ons: £35, brake lines: £50, 520 chain and sprockets £85. TOTAL: £1470.

Many thanks to Tim Carrington for sharing his experiences. Tim will be riding in the 2009 Ultra Lightweight race on his SV 650 and would like to acknowledge the support of his sponsor, marksttphotos.com. A total of twenty three Mini Twin racers have entered this year’s Ultra Lightweight MGP.

Good luck Tim!


To comment on this article click here....

Ewan Hamilton
Many thanks to Tim for posting this on the website as his ethos fits mine, at the level that we are at racing has to be competitive with ultimately safety paramount, affordable and most of all fun. Both on and off the track in the garage we all get our fun in different ways but Tim has shared what I think are his very valuable lessons learned in that the Manx can be reasonably cost effective verses the outcomes of what you personally receive from your efforts.
Whilst the type of bike is not my personal preference as I’m a two stroker at heart, I applaud what he has done to get there in a cost effective and hopefully fun manner. Well done and it might point people in that particular direction and keep the grids filling up.
Best regards
Ewan Hamilton

Thanks Tim for sharing this information which has left me feeling pretty inspired! Time to get to work on my SV.... Very best of luck for this year’s races
I. Q. High

A very good read Tim , Ive gone down the same route as Tim for 2009 MGP with an SV 650 - looking forward to catching up with you again,
all the best Irish Ago....

Thanks for the info mate, im buying an SV in the off season. Will prep it for Mini Twins and ride it in the Manx in the future,,,,, Rob Miles