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Couple of MK questions.........
Sloan85 - 9/7/12 at 08:05 PM

Couple of questions to help me in my research.....

Just wondering whether I will fit in an MK Indy. I am 6'1" and 16st.

I have heard space is tight in the 7 style cars so was hoping I would fit in an MK. What do you think?

Also, I was looking at building with an R1 engine but after speaking to someone who "knows almost everything about bikes" (apparently) has told me to build with a GSXR 1000 engine. I know very little about bikes but can someone tell me which would be best? (the guy I spoke to said hayabusa would be the first choose but this is out my budget).


Cheers


nick205 - 9/7/12 at 08:10 PM

Yes, you will fit in an Indy.

Know very little about bike engines myself, but the R1 is well used in kit cars from what I've seen.


bobinspain - 9/7/12 at 08:12 PM

You'll fit no problem. I'm 5' 11" and 16 stones. Getting in and out is a pain, but then I'm 64 yrs young in 3 months.
At the MK open day last year, MK had a bespoke build for a customer who was 6'5".
A Gen2 Busa engine will set you back £3k plus. For a third of that, you can get proven technology and performance from a Gixer or the R1.

[Edited on 9/7/12 by bobinspain]


Staple balls - 9/7/12 at 08:14 PM

I'm 6'4" and 18st. brother in law is about the same. we both fit fine in an indy.


LBMEFM - 9/7/12 at 08:22 PM

I am 6'6" and 17st and I fit into to my Indy very well. I have a small steering wheel and shell type seats which help and are very comfortable. For track work I have had welded a curved section on top of the factory roll bar and rear support struts. I have an early Fireblade engine in mine, it is very fast and you can pick up a good carb'd engine for £300-£400 I have no experience of bike engines what so ever, but found it easy to install. Have a chat with the MK guys they are extremly helpful and arrange a visit for a test drive. I would certainly recommend MK's. You don't say where you are based but if you are anywhere near Kent you are welcome to have a test drive of mine.
Barry

[Edited on 9/7/12 by LBMEFM]


Sloan85 - 9/7/12 at 08:23 PM

thanks for the speedy replies.

Another question....... Is there a definitive list of items needed for building an Indy? I would be looking to get the deluxe kit but just trying to work out what extras I will need.

Cheers


Hellfire - 9/7/12 at 08:35 PM

If you want Busa power for half the price, fit a ZX12R. ;-)

Phil


Sloan85 - 9/7/12 at 08:40 PM

Thanks, I will look into it.

Another couple of questions, does the MK Indy use drums or discs on the rear? Does anyone have a link to a thorough build diary from start to finish?


Thanks.


nick205 - 9/7/12 at 08:44 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Sloan85
thanks for the speedy replies.

Another question....... Is there a definitive list of items needed for building an Indy? I would be looking to get the deluxe kit but just trying to work out what extras I will need.

Cheers



How long is a piece of string

There is no definitive list containing everything you will ever need. The build of each car is so personal and dependent on your time, budget, requirements etc. that it's pretty open ended.

The common story from pretty much every builder though is take your start budget and add 25-50% to it. It's amazing how the cost mounts up as you go along, especially if you add in tool purchases.

DON'T let that put you off though, there's always a solution and you've already found the best possible source of help right here (Locostbuilders, not me BTW)


jacko - 9/7/12 at 09:03 PM

If you fill in where you live someone is bound to live near you that has built a mk
<<<<<<
<<<<<<
Jacko


eddbaz - 9/7/12 at 09:34 PM

I don't live too far away, I'm in Stamford mk Indy r with zx12r welcome anytime to have a look and a chat.


ReMan - 9/7/12 at 09:41 PM

I've couple of jobs to do on mine before the MOT runs out on 13th, but if theres a dry evening (or should that be if theres a dry evening ever again) between now and then i'm happy to spin out for a fitting.
I;ve got Cobras in mine, Im 5-10 17st you can gain another couple of inches in shell seats
Col


zilspeed - 9/7/12 at 09:51 PM

I'm 6'2" and weigh somewhere between 12.5 and 19 stone depending on how keen I am on cakes at the point of weighing.

I fit in an Indy absolutely perfectly.

I do not properly fit in a book locost at all and still have space for a seat.

Indy I'm right on the money.


Custardpants - 9/7/12 at 09:51 PM

As above you'll fit fine- my brother @ 6'1" and 16 st fits fine too but i'd like to see him try to get out of the car if his weight was around his middle rather than shoulders

I went for a gen II busa as i wanted it to be fast enough, which it just about is, but had no idea how much the dry sump would set me back. All in the car is great but has taken significant(albeit fun) work to put right, and this was a factory car. If there are other bike engines out there with similar power without needing dry sumping i'd go for one of those instead, a gen II busa with a dry sump is some cash..

Have you had a Look at the MEV mevabusa too? After practically rebuilding my MK this year, I had a good look at a mevabusa at goodwood. A lot of their extras are expensive but the base kit itself looks like a lot easier, cheaper, and lighter build than an MK, and being 100kg lighter than an Indy, one will be mad with even an R1 engine- i'd have gone this route in hindsight, sourcing all my own additional parts/ancilliaries, including the standard bike loom which the car is designed to use. Don't get me wrong - MK has been good to me and I love my Indy but look at all your options - with the mevabusa I'd have probably saved 7k over my MK build, and ended up with a much faster, and a less 'is it a caterham?' looking car.


big_l - 9/7/12 at 10:26 PM

dont forget MNR awsome quality exelent re-sale value and mega back up .... have a chat with chris he's very helpfull


MikeFellows - 10/7/12 at 08:12 AM

im almost finished a MK Indy-R from a deluxe kit

you will still need a lot of stuff

obvioulsy you need to supply all the sierra running gear, if you going to run a busa (as I am), you will need airbox/filter, something to make the clutch work, a shortened and baffled sump. You will also need all your electrics, speedo healer, potentially a power commander

ive not even started on wheels and tyres, brakes, master cylinders, push pull cables, reverse box if its going on the road, seats, dash, lights, trim

and the above is off the top of my head

when i first looked at building a busa based kit, people told me you could do it for cheap for £8k and a good en for £12k. with mistakes and wanting the best of everything ive blown my £12k budget

edit to add: I'm 6'3" and 16st and fit fine

[Edited on 10/7/12 by MikeFellows]


big_l - 10/7/12 at 08:15 AM

Agreed I personally feel that a good high spec busa build will and has in my case cost 18k +

Well worth it though


bobinspain - 10/7/12 at 09:24 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeFellows
im almost finished a MK Indy-R from a deluxe kit

you will still need a lot of stuff

obvioulsy you need to supply all the sierra running gear, if you going to run a busa (as I am), you will need airbox/filter, something to make the clutch work, a shortened and baffled sump. You will also need all your electrics, speedo healer, potentially a power commander

ive not even started on wheels and tyres, brakes, master cylinders, push pull cables, reverse box if its going on the road, seats, dash, lights, trim

and the above is off the top of my head

when i first looked at building a busa based kit, people told me you could do it for cheap for £8k and a good en for £12k. with mistakes and wanting the best of everything ive blown my £12k budget

edit to add: I'm 6'3" and 16st and fit fine

[Edited on 10/7/12 by MikeFellows]



Mike,

If you are interested in the precise spec of my factory car (£15k, built), I'll happily list it for you (u2u?). There's not much missing on the spec, except no dry sump. I've gone for billet sump with swing arm pickup, and as you know, I have the Pipercross air filter.
You can save yourself £500 by talking to SJL or Cosmick who can get the same results by re-programming the Busa ECU as you'd achieve with a PC 5, (which I have).
I have Flatshifter Expert and ally everything. Braided hoses, plenty of carbon, LED lights, the works. The engine was a 68 miler (sixty eight) Gen2, supplied to MK by a pal of Mal Curnin, (Yorkshire engines).
Take a look at my archive for photos. I'll happily post more if you wish. I'm happy to attempt to feed back some of the help I've had on this site. I'd have been lost without it. However, please don't ask me any techie questions!

Addendum: Mike, I'd really appreciate feedback on Cosmick's masterpiece. I'll be ordering one pronto if it fits.

[Edited on 10/7/12 by bobinspain]


MikeFellows - 11/7/12 at 08:37 AM

quote:
Originally posted by bobinspain
quote:
Originally posted by MikeFellows
im almost finished a MK Indy-R from a deluxe kit

you will still need a lot of stuff

obvioulsy you need to supply all the sierra running gear, if you going to run a busa (as I am), you will need airbox/filter, something to make the clutch work, a shortened and baffled sump. You will also need all your electrics, speedo healer, potentially a power commander

ive not even started on wheels and tyres, brakes, master cylinders, push pull cables, reverse box if its going on the road, seats, dash, lights, trim

and the above is off the top of my head

when i first looked at building a busa based kit, people told me you could do it for cheap for £8k and a good en for £12k. with mistakes and wanting the best of everything ive blown my £12k budget

edit to add: I'm 6'3" and 16st and fit fine

[Edited on 10/7/12 by MikeFellows]



Mike,

If you are interested in the precise spec of my factory car (£15k, built), I'll happily list it for you (u2u?). There's not much missing on the spec, except no dry sump. I've gone for billet sump with swing arm pickup, and as you know, I have the Pipercross air filter.
You can save yourself £500 by talking to SJL or Cosmick who can get the same results by re-programming the Busa ECU as you'd achieve with a PC 5, (which I have).
I have Flatshifter Expert and ally everything. Braided hoses, plenty of carbon, LED lights, the works. The engine was a 68 miler (sixty eight) Gen2, supplied to MK by a pal of Mal Curnin, (Yorkshire engines).
Take a look at my archive for photos. I'll happily post more if you wish. I'm happy to attempt to feed back some of the help I've had on this site. I'd have been lost without it. However, please don't ask me any techie questions!

Addendum: Mike, I'd really appreciate feedback on Cosmick's masterpiece. I'll be ordering one pronto if it fits.

[Edited on 10/7/12 by bobinspain]



Bob,

your car is pretty much identical spec to mine from what I have seen...

White body with black cycle wings, full caged rose jointed chassis, same holeshot sump as you, i wont be purchasing a power commander though as im fully aware of the busa ecu actually being better than a power commander.

as soon as I get the box from cosmick I will get it fitted and if it fits, I will post direct to you


Sloan85 - 11/7/12 at 07:00 PM

i have set aside £8k for the build. Do you think I can build an Indy R1 for this money? I could put in another £1-2k probably throughout the build duration so £9-10k max.

another question...... Does the Indy have rear discs or drums?

Cheers!

[Edited on 11/7/12 by Sloan85]


Sloan85 - 11/7/12 at 07:06 PM

sorry, another question. Do people normally buy the engine on its own or buy a bike, strip it and sell any parts that aren't needed?


Hellfire - 11/7/12 at 07:06 PM

Your budget sounds fine to me but the spec obviously depends on your ability to make/source parts cheaply. Indy can have either drums or discs depending on your preference.

Phil


Hellfire - 11/7/12 at 07:09 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Sloan85
sorry, another question. Do people normally buy the engine on its own or buy a bike, strip it and sell any parts that aren't needed?


I guess that depends on factors such as price, how much space you have and how much effort you want to put into it. I reckon if you wanted a Busa engine it would be cheaper to buy the whole bike, take the engine and bits you need and sell the rest.

Phil


Sloan85 - 11/7/12 at 09:01 PM

Thanks for all the speedy replys guys. It really is helping in my research. Still got questions so will just use this thread to ask them if that's ok.... :-)

Does anyone with a bike engined Indy have a full spec of parts they have bought? Just looking to work out exactly what else I would need to buy.


ChrisRidge - 11/7/12 at 09:14 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Sloan85
Thanks for all the speedy replys guys. It really is helping in my research. Still got questions so will just use this thread to ask them if that's ok.... :-)

Does anyone with a bike engined Indy have a full spec of parts they have bought? Just looking to work out exactly what else I would need to buy.


BEC specific parts include but not limited to-

Baffle plate
If R1 5VY then breathing mods to camshaft casing
sprocket adapter
2 part propshaft
Gear linkage, gear cable & mounts, for either gear shift or paddle
stronger clutch springs
clutch arm modification
filter holder or airbox modified
MK bike engine cradle
3.38 diff
In tank fuel pump if later injection R1 engine

Sure another member will point out any missed!!

Chris


ChrisRidge - 11/7/12 at 09:15 PM

Oh reverse set up

£700 quaife reversing box & propshaft modifcation
or electric reverse kit from MK £350, wiring, relay, switches, warning lights or slightly cheaper if put together yourself


ReMan - 11/7/12 at 10:16 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Sloan85
sorry, another question. Do people normally buy the engine on its own or buy a bike, strip it and sell any parts that aren't needed?


Both. There is no normal here
I bought a bike and a car!
But there are =/- for both approaches, often depends on circumstances and time
£7-8k is doable for an R1 imho, as long as you don't collect "extras"


bobinspain - 12/7/12 at 08:27 AM

quote:
Originally posted by ChrisRidge
Oh reverse set up

£700 quaife reversing box & propshaft modifcation
or electric reverse kit from MK £350, wiring, relay, switches, warning lights or slightly cheaper if put together yourself


Depends on how much manoeuvring you're planning on doing.
Custardpants removed his leccy reverse altogether. Fine if you park on the flat, don't get caught in traffic and drive the car 'on a mission' every time you go out in it.
I have leccy reverse as an emergency selection, which I used last weekend in a congested town here on the coast having taken a wrong turn. My mate in his reverse-equipped Westie found my slow progress hilarious, (but it worked).
If you can do without it, do so. Less money, less to go wrong!


Custardpants - 13/7/12 at 09:30 PM

Yep, as Bob says i took my reverse off my car, as i just preferred pushing it anyway-

Unless you mess around with batteries and relays the electric reverse only works with the engine off and is only 'on' or 'off' and just too sudden a jolt to safely park with whilst strapped in with a lid on (for me at least).

I was half tempted to reverse the polarity,upgrade the motor,battery,and gearing to create my very own electric KERS F1 Boost mode though


bobinspain - 14/7/12 at 10:04 AM

quote:
Originally posted by Custardpants
Yep, as Bob says i took my reverse off my car, as i just preferred pushing it anyway-

Unless you mess around with batteries and relays the electric reverse only works with the engine off and is only 'on' or 'off' and just too sudden a jolt to safely park with whilst strapped in with a lid on (for me at least).

Luke,

I use mine engine on, clutch depressed, (as recommended by MK). I've used it 3 times in 5 months, as I try to park in such a way as I don't need to employ it.


Sloan85 - 18/7/12 at 07:45 PM

Another question!

What pedals does the Indy use?

Cheers


austin man - 18/7/12 at 07:56 PM

Origannally floor mounted MK manafactured pedals, they can supply a top mounted set up as well


Hellfire - 18/7/12 at 08:01 PM

Depends if it's car engine or bike engine......

BEC pedals




CEC pedals




Phil


Sloan85 - 18/7/12 at 08:10 PM

Ok, cheers.

[Edited on 18/7/12 by Sloan85]


Custardpants - 18/7/12 at 08:41 PM

The standard pedals aren't very good though-only suitable for small feet too. I'd go for a decent pedal box with dual brake cylinders!


ReMan - 18/7/12 at 09:56 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Custardpants
The standard pedals aren't very good though-only suitable for small feet too. I'd go for a decent pedal box with dual brake cylinders!

Sorry, unless size 9/10 are small, I'd have to disagree with that.
One of the boxes the MK ticked for me was that I could driove it wearing NORMAL shoes, not just racing boots
The supplied pedals are OK for me too.
I cant see the point of the expense of a balance bar, my driving is not that precise yet?


PAUL FISHER - 18/7/12 at 10:45 PM

Yes, I have always found plenty of room around the pedals of my Indys Ive had for my size 12's, I always wear trainers when driving though, and race boots on track


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Custardpants - 19/7/12 at 01:31 PM

Size 9/10 is small sorry.
Maybe my feet are just too big- my brake pedal touches the arch rather than the ball of my foot with my 12 race boots. Paul, think you have different pedals bolted on-the stock MK pedal size is much smaller.

[Edited on 19/7/12 by Custardpants]


Sloan85 - 20/7/12 at 11:05 PM

thanks for the replies guys, most helpful.

If I were to fit a GSXR engine, would this require a dry sump?

Thanks


PAUL FISHER - 20/7/12 at 11:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by Sloan85
thanks for the replies guys, most helpful.

If I were to fit a GSXR engine, would this require a dry sump?

Thanks


It depends if you are going to track it or not, if you are going to track it they you will need some sort of oil control, I put a rod through the side of a GSXR 1000 at Snetterton on slicks after a couple of laps. So either dry sump or accusump, if your not going to track it you will get away with a baffle plate, the best guy to speak with on this is Andy Bates at AB Performance.

http://www.abperformance.co.uk/


If you have not purchased your engine yet, I would go for either a R1/Fireblade/ZX12/ZX10


skidude88 - 24/7/12 at 06:00 PM

I'm 6ft7 and fit in an Early MK (di-deon) -

Done long runs down to LeMans no probs. Cobra seats fitted without sliders. Yes it's cramped but a trade off ( If I wanted something more comfy I'd of gone in the company tintop!)

Could go for home-made foam seat to get further back & lower but the finishing looks crap (Gaffa tape)

No pedal box as such, Just floor mounted pedals. Have to wear race boots, no chance for normal size 11 shoes - But I imagine that goes for most kits?

Other points - With small screen, My height puts my head in the turbulent air, also needed a taller Roll Bar - But again these both apply to other kits.

James.

[Edited on 24/7/12 by skidude88]