from what i can tell, this engine seems to be a predecessor to the R1 engine. Bit less power but still seems ok.

any reason why i should avoid it for a BEC? as far as i can tell it is water cooled and chain drive, so its a good start!

any thoughts anyone?

They only come with 5 gears

I used to have a thunderace - with 2 wheels strong mota

is 5 gears bad news or just not as good as it could be?! seems like a cheap option anyway.

im just trying to find a pair of cheap bike engines...

istr a chap from here was building an MK GT1, so there must be some experiance of it

You don't want to use that in a twin engine car. Let me have it for a single engined one and I'll tell you if it's any good or not

i did a search of the archives and there were a few mentions of it being used.

Pete! sod off, its mine! and dont look on ebay cos its not there honest.

seems like a good option for now, i just hope the seller answers my question and explains what electrics it needs or includes...

The thunderace engines are nice smooth, torquey, reliable lumps, let down by a typical clonky Yamaha gearbox.
You should find one alot cheeper than a blade etc because the bikes were never hugely popular ( the styling gave them an old man owner type of image ).
I have worked on lots of these engines and have only really had one that was troublesome. It had a stange oil leak that was found to be where the crankcases had not been machined properly.
Hope this helps
Cheers Tim

You little fibber!! I'm not ready for one yet so I'll not bid on it I'll get it off you when you abandon the idea. I've edited it back out now and I won't put it in bargains elsewhere if you pay me in unmarked notes to my offshore account

[Edited on 26/3/04 by Peteff]

ha! cheers pete, i believe i have some unmarked first edition monopoly money somewhere, give me your bank details and i'll have it emptied in no time!! lol

Was it the very clean one that went for £299. Looked a good deal.

[Edited on 28/3/04 by Peteff]

started at 299, but sold for 502 in the last minute. I didnt bid anyway cos it had no coils and no engine management thingies, so i couldnt be bothered with the journey to collect it as it wasnt all there. Theres an ok lump in halifax coming up soon, but i suspect that that will also jump up at the end...

still, no hurry! i've got a banger to finish first!