JUST LIKE BAZZA’S

You can’t have visited a major bike show over the last two years or so without seeing Pete Tantrum and his RG500. The bike is beautifully painted in the same DAF Trucks livery as the one that Barry Sheene last rode – but this bike isn’t just for show. Chris Pearson dusted off his helmet and went out for a spin on the bike that made Barry famous; or the nearest you’re likely to see on a public road.

Pete Tantrum’s RG500 looks simply stunning and it stands out from the crowd wherever it may be parked.

It began life as a red and black RG and from the moment Pete acquired the bike, the end result was clear in his mind. Whenever he mentioned a Barry Sheene replica, most people immediately thought of the red and yellow Heron Suzuki on which Barry romped to his two world titles in 1976 and77 – but not Pete. For him the tribute to this great man would take its cue from the final year that Sheene rode in GPs.

The transformation from an ordinary road machine into the bike you see today required much effort from all involved, and it’s hard to see who has ended up most enthusiastic about the project. Both Pete and his wife Zoe appear to be as happy with the results – as indeed is the man who helped throughout, paint guru Andy Peck.

Of course, the standard RG is a pretty fine machine anyway, but still some way off the level of performance seen by the race machinery. However, this lightened and fettled machine is close to the kind of performance enjoyed by the racers of the early 80s. With 95bhp on tap – around 20 more than a standard road going RG500, and feeling more stocky and business-like – the bike literally come alive, taking off like a scalded cat in the first four gears before regaining its composure and calming down somewhat in the final two ratios.

It isn’t just the engine that gets a pep up either; the chassis is tighter than a standard RG, mainly due to the Hagon rear shock and heavily braced swing arm taken from a race RG500 from the late 80s, and the modern rubber allows the whole plot to swing around with ease. By replacing the 16 inch front wheel with a 17 inch GSX600F version, the front end is transformed, losing the heavy feel of the original machine and tracking a finer line, particularly at speed. Add to this a considerably wider rear, and the RG takes on the mantle of a much more modern feelin machine.

At the time of the test, the brakes were ok, but – being the standard RG items – could have done with a shade more power, lacking much of the initial bite needed to feel comfortable on the track as well as fading with every lap due to heat build up.

Brakes aside, the most noticeable difference between Pete’s RG and Bazza’s can be seen in the low and mid rev range – and surprisingly the gauge swings heavily in Pete’s favour. Still using the standard RG 28mm carburettor units, the fuelling is accurate and crisp, whereas on the 1984 race machine, the 37.5 mm open-mouthed race units spat and dribbled unused petrol until the engine came on song.

A set of Swarbrick expansion chambers give a real boot to the final image, both looking, and sounding, like the real deal, with a sharp staccato cackle from the moment the engine bursts into life, which then develops into a banshee howl as the revs near the redline.

 THE RIGHT RACER IMAGE

Back in 1984, barry junked the original Suzuki chassis in favour of a specially built Harris steel tube setup, using his own requirements regarding head angle and geometry.

Pete didn’t have this luxury and is stuck with the standard, road-going box aluminium frame. This caused massive problems when getting the bodywork to fit, and it resulted in some heavy modifications by the third member of the Tantrum team, Andy Peck of M A Nicholls Coachworks in Didcot. Andy is a racer as well as a talented painter and it was he who Pete chose to carry out much of the work. He admits to not being too enthusiastic at first, but as the Sheene bug bit he became totally immersed in the project, clearly going the extra mile to create the full effect.

Both the race seat and fairing had to be extensively modified to get them to line up correctly as the race bike dimensions are very different to the road-going machine. This involved cutting the fibreglass and extending it with matting and sheet aluminium before rubbing all of this down to get a flawless finish. To create the right racer image, all the usual parts found in and around the cockpit area had to be relocated. The ignition switch is now slung low down on the rear engine mount while the switchgear has also been junked.

To the observer, Pete’s machine passes more than a close inspection, with a stunning paint-job and tasteful touches in the the mechanical department. The bike’s rolling development encompasses continual modifications, the latest being a set of period Lockheed callipers replacing the puny RG items, increasing stopping power immeasurably.

 WORK, EFFORT AND PASSION

It is a replica, but somehow it seems unfair to label it as such, as so much work and effort and passion has clearly gone into its creation and, with this in my mind, it was with some trepidation that I cocked a leg over it when we tested the bike at a wet Mallory Park.

In use, it isn’t far off the real deal; modern rubber and the efforts of tuning god Stan Stephens have given Pete’s RG the true feel of a racing thoroughbred.

CONVERTING A RACER

 On the face of it, most people would think it easier to convert a race machine for road use rather than making a road machine look anything like the race bike. In reality, running the real thing would prove costly in the extreme. A complete clutch for a race spec RG – often not the hardiest of components – costs around £1800, while a gearbox and reciprocating parts within the engine are simply beyond the reach of most of us.

What Pete has achieved is admirable; the RG has more than a passing resemblance to the real deal that Sheene rode and is totally useable in the process. Being Fully road legal (and well set up too), Pete Tantrum’s tribute to Barry is just as happy pootling around town or ripping up the racetracks in fine style.

Pete Tantrum is a lucky man; not only does he own a Barry Sheene lookalike machine, he can ride it to work every day if he wishes.

Chris Pearson.