This is the progress so far on the bodywork. The colour scheme is period Suzuki red/black with yellow and white pin striping, in line with the original concept.
I’ve used rattle cans, which are far better than they used to be, with just a bit or ‘orange peel’ to polish off.
A proper professional paint job would be £100’s, which would undoubtedly be better and probably sensible on a newish bike.
However, many years ago one of my mates hand painted a car, and made a great job of it (after much polishing).
If you look carefully at many even new cars, the paintwork is far from perfect (I used to manage a 1st Tier supplier of painted body parts). If you’re being very picky.
You have to wait 15 mins in between coats to get the paint to cure properly and quickly, and use good quality masking tape to get sharp lines.
This time of year you need to heat the workshop to avoid blooming, in particular heat the parts being painted.
Preparation is also key.
I’m very much an amateur painter, so if concerned get advice from someone with more experience.
After the decals, all the parts are being clear laquered to protect them, and improve the finish.
The white area for a race number doesn’t meet ACU regulations, as it’s not upright, flat or deep enough, it’s just for the look.
If you’re building a race bike, you’ll need to fit a bikini fairing or number boards either side of the seat etc for the race numbers.
I’ve fitted a front number plate, with a race screen fitted behind it, which should make it a bit easier on the arms and neck at high speed, which you can see above
I’ve used stick on pinstriping, but I think if I did it again, I’m now confident to be able to paint them on, having watched an episode of Henry Cole’s programme Shed and Buried, which included a professional paint shop, and how to do it properly using paint layers.
You just need top quality thin masking tape, mine was intended for modelling.
We were recently looking at specific risks to young motorcyclists for the National Young Riders Forum. I have a friend who is now a Consultant Surgeon, but spent much of his early career in the NHS in A&E.
I asked him about typical motorcycle injuries and for advice.
His main concern were fatalities and serious life changing spinal injuries, basically because most other injuries he could fix.
I then started looking at neck braces, and was given an airvest with an inflatable collar, which I’ve been wearing.
Many racers and trackday riders are now starting to wear them, with one of our young stars Joe Woodward inadvertently testing his out several times without injury
My latest helmet came with a separate inflatable collar which looks like a pillow for aircraft passengers, and no instructions.
We’re now starting to see more designs coming onto the market, but not all are CE approved.
Doing some more research, I found this piece of research below from Imperial College. Worryingly, it appears some collars can actually increase the risk of neck injuries, so take care when buying a brace.
MX neck braces have been around for a while and there is evidence of how effective they can be, it’s probably the new collars for road or track riders that need to be properly assessed.
Imperial Collge Research into neck braces for motorcyclists.
‘The results show that using such devices may increase the neck forces and the stress level in the cervical spine and consequently can increase the risk of neck injury. The results show that the design of such devices requires better understanding of mechanisms of neck injury mitigation.‘
This was originally an attempt at creating a Suzuki XR69 from a Bandit. However, it was discovered that it would have required major surgery to get the seat to fit, and having bought a complete XR69 body kit, the fairing is far too low and narrow.
Could have cut the fairing in half, leaving just the top and bottom, but decided not to. I suppose you could cut it into 2 halves and widen it, but it might look a bit odd.
An orginal XR69 looks like this – if you haven’t seen one.
Below is another great bike based on a Bandit in Classic Team Suzuki blue, but without a fairing and high bars. Looks like a SRAD seat? Smart colour scheme. Looked a better way to go.
A great attempt below with the fairing problem overcome by removing bottom half.
I can’t find a track bandit with a full fairing, although later 1250 road Bandits had one, and Pyramid Plastics do lower touring panels for road bikes.
You can get cockpit fairings, but it was decided to go with just a Bandit race seat, straight bars and a number board, more Wes Cooley than Mick Grant, but in the red and black Suzuki colours.
May look at fitting a belly pan later – can’t find a race one at the moment.
Expert advice from Spike at Ragged Racing if you want a full fairing on a Bandit:-
Harris F1 fairing is pretty much the same dimensions as an XR69, since Harris copied the bike. Seen a few Bandit/XR69s, but it’s the height that really throws it. You have to have the clip-ons very low for any of the full fairings.
I must admit, I am a fan of a more naked look… and the XR69 replica thing has been done to death! I noticed you had the Yoshimura half fairing in your article [No12 bike], which is essentially a Harris F1 to with holes in it. Skidmarx have just bought BB Plastics moulds, and have that…
And alternative, would be to ‘copy’ the Team Force bikes that bellypan came from, which is a well know European endurance bike. This is a top derived from the 1979 XR69, so has that ‘proper’ Suzuki look. The seat is a slightly altered Nico Bakker. I have Christian Hames’ mould for this, and can produce a fairing with or without headlight cut-out. Obviously this is a Harris chassis, but it’d work as well on a Bandit, with just a bit of light surgery on the subframe.
Firstly, cycles were recently found to be 3 x safer than E-scooters, so E-cycles look to be much safer so could simply and easily replace E-scooters.
But if pedalling is seen as putting riders off, then the simplist and probably safest solution is to remove the pedals etc from existing hired out E-Bikes, and fit footrests or footboards and a throttle – which although currently illegal, are freely available.
Failling that, here’s some ideas for new E-scooters:-
Electric – obviously – current E-scooter drivetrains would fit.
Being seated and a longer wheel base make them far less likely to tip up, and should halve the current Dft braking distance standard, back to Highway Code standards.
Larger wheels to better deal with potholes, kerbs etc. Should be able to safely mount a 4 inch kerb (current standard is 30mm), so will need larger wheels probably 16inches in diameter including pnuematic tyres. Better grip overall.
Battery mounted horizontally between the wheels.
Disc brakes.
Could have suspension added which would be nice, more comfortable and probably safer.
Could be made a bit more stylish, but I think the grunge look is great, although a bright colour would be better for visibility.
‘Monkey bikes’ could also be produced with electric motors, but would be more expensive…
…..or there are some small electric ‘step throughs’ already on the market, but would probably need restricting to 15mph for riders without motorcycle licences.
12 people killed last year, > 1300 injured, >400 seriously, although these figures are thought to be significantly understated.
Something should be done.
All these options would still allow local councils to rent out small electric PTWs at a eye watering profit margin, whilst significantly reducing the risk to riders.
The new Cannondale looks perfect, great for carrying your groceries, but a bit expensive at £5,000.
Finishing off the braking system, it’s now got wavey discs which I think were around in the period. Thought of updating the brakes, but the 6 pot calipers I don’t think were any better, and Suzuki went back to 4 pots with 8 individual pads on the later GSXRs which are too late.
Don’t think you can upgrade without spending silly money, although modern radial brakes are far better, the Brembos on my Aprilia RSV were astonishing at the time. I think they came later.
The rear brake master cylinder has an integral reservoir I haven’t seen before. Not sure what to do yet as you can’t see the fluid level – race bikes usually just have a clear tube. Anyone else seen one of these?
Anyway the fluid front and back will be changed before it’s tested, and not just the master cylinders (which is a well known trade short cut).
I’ve sourced a S/H race seat off Ebay, although you can buy them locally from A16 race parts, along with belly pans.
It’s going to be a red and black scheme as the XR69’s were, not the current Suzuki Classic blue.
The idea was to turn a 1200 Bandit into an XR69 race replica, however having bought a full body kit only the mudguards fitted.
So for now, it’s a project to turn it into a classic track bike. They came out in 1997.
I’ve sourced a Bandit race seat and started work.
First thing is the front brakes which have been taken off and checked all piston are moving freely. Mounting bolts were all different, so have been replaced with titanium Pro Bolts.
I’m sourcing some new pads, which will be a known brand from a proper supplier, having bought some at an auotjumble for my ZXR750 some years ago and subsequently couldn’t stop at a trackday at Donnington – at the end of the main straight.
I was off to the IOM the following week, so would otherwise had probably found out at the bottom of the Creg on Mad Sunday.
The best way to negotiate corners is to use the ‘vanishing’ or ‘limit point’ to judge entry speed (see Police Motorcycle Roadcraft). Works equally well on track.
On the road you complete your braking before the turn and apply a steady light throttle through the corner.
On the track you carry your braking into the corner gradually releasing the brakes as the lean angle increases, before apexing and accelerating away.
On the road you stay in the saddle, on the track you slide off inside onto your inner thigh and also move the top of your body across. This keeps the motorcycle more upright so the suspension works better.
Lean angle required depends on rate of turn which is a combination of speed and the radius of the corner – not just speed.
Road bikes can lean up to 45 degrees safely given a reasonable and dry road surface, race bikes can lean up to 60 degrees with soft track tyres.
I’ve updated and revised this report, originally published over a year ago, following recent reports in the Press of the incoming Labour government considering legalising E-Scooters.
Conclusions
Step-on E-Scooters have been found to be by far the most hazardous form of urban transport, resulting in a number of unnecessary deaths and serious injuries, and should simply be replaced by bicycles or E-Bikes, which have been found to be 3 times safer.
That they would be unsafe, should be obvious to anyone with GCSE Physics.
The public in general already has experience of riding cycles, rather than what has clearly been painful, sometimes fatal, ‘trial and error’ riding E-Scooters.
E-Scooters could be redesigned to meet Highway Code braking standards and be able to negotiate standard 100mm kerbs as all other vehicles can. This would probably involve lengthening the wheelbase, fitting a seat and larger wheels – essentially an E-Bike with floorboards and no pedals, if pedaling is an issue.
SUMMARY E-Scooters:-
are fundamentally unstable due to the design – based on a child’s toy.
require at least twice as long to stop than other vehicles.
cannot safely negotiate a standard 100mm kerb.
use more power than an E-Bike, which has to be pedaled and also provides healthy exercise.
Recommendations
E-Scooters should be withdrawn for rental and continue to be banned for private use on the highway, and withdrawn from sale. They also mostly do not meet the new 12 mph speed limit for rentals, some are advertised at capable of up to 50 mph. (You will probably find your travel health insurance covers you for an E-bike or a motorcycle up to 125cc, but specifically not an E-scooter. The insurance industry tends to be the experts regarding risk assessments).
For rentals, step-through unisex E-Bikes are probably far safer than E-Scooters, and should stop in a shorter distance than a cycle due to a lower centre of mass, and in a more similar distance to a motorbike, (and also need less charging as you have to pedal).
E-Bikes to be limited to 15 mph using regenerative braking or other means, should be fitted with hydraulic disc brakes. They should ideally have front suspension which is common place on mountain bikes to better cope with kerbs, potholes and poor road surfaces, and have a minimum 26 inch diameter wheels.
Background
A few years ago, myself and a RoSPA colleague Dave Bryant, both DVSA qualified, devised and delivered workshops based on accident data for young riders for Safer Roads South Yorkshire called ‘Twang’.
In 2023 I was approached by the National Young Riders Forum to advise on hazards to young motorcyclists. I looked to see if anything had changed, and was talking to a local youth club leader. I was told that her members now exclusively used E-Scooters, not mopeds. It appears that the hazards had shifted.
I then started looking at E-Scooters to see what I could find regarding the risks, initially for young riders.
the Problem
44 E-Scooter riders and one pedestrian died so far, mostly avoidable as the identified alternatives – walking, driving, taxi, public transport, not bothering, are all far safer – even cycling was found to be 3 x safer. Over 1,300 riders were injured, >400 seriously, which is considered to be significantly understated.
Half are being ridden by children – young riders below the age of 16.
E-Scooters are illegal, but over 750,000 have been sold in the UK supposedly for use on private land, which is a very obvious dishonest device.
They are routinely ridden on pavements with the first pedestrian death last year – a 71 year old woman knocked down and killed by a local 14 year old rider. 28% of casualties were not riders.
E-Scooters are hazardous to ride due to the small wheels making them vulnerable to potholes, kerbs, drains, etc. They have no seat, a short wheelbase, narrow handlebars and a centre of mass high above the front wheel, which makes them liable to tip forward with the rider tripping over the handlebars and steering stem. There is a particular danger of head and facial injuries. They are unstable with reports of riders falling when making hand signals.
E-Scooters, although illegal to to ride on the road, can be legally hired from many Local Councils, and seem to be extremely profitable to provide. A private scooter can be run for circa 3p/mile, a local government hired scooter cost > £1/mile to rent and even > 30p/mile with a season ticket. The overall profit generated nationally probably runs into many £millions/annum, but clearly puts the public at an unnecessary risk of injury or death.
The latest E-Scooters have the battery moved from horizontally below the deck to vertically behind the headstock, which will make them even more likely to tip up – but makes battery changes easier.
I can find no evidence of yet of this new design being officially tested, so these machines may not be able to meet the published required standards.
You can buy an E-Scooter capable of 49 mph.
The DFT standard applied to rental scooters sets the braking distances at twice that of other vehicles, and sets the kerb height that they can negotiate at 30 mm when a standard kerb is 100mm or more.
The concern is that E-scooters are offered to rent primarily because they more profitable than E-bikes, rather than safety being the priority.
E-bikes use less electricity, having circa twice the range on a single charge, are significantly safer with a seat and larger wheels, are more stable, have shorter braking distances, provide some good exercise, and are safer because most riders have already learned to ride a bicycle.
E-bikes are also safer for transporting shopping as panniers can be used, rather than a back pack which is liable to worsen the outcome of any collision.
E-Scooters could be totally replaced by ‘step through’ E-bikes, which could be made even safer still by mandatory hydraulic disc brakes, and restricting them electronically to 15 mph potentially by using electronic regenerative braking or other means. They also need to be made tamperproof with ‘firmware’, which some currently are not (from experience).
E-Bikes should have large wheels for stability, 26 inches is standard for cycles, and be fitted with front suspension which has been used for decades, to cope better with potholes, poor road surfaces, kerbs etc., and to improve braking over poor surfaces.
WMG have been commissioned somewhat belatedly to produce a safety report, so it will be interesting to see their opinion when they are published.
It also appears that the Local Authorities are contracting out E-Scooter hire to small single owner limited companies with no assets, which could be a device to try and avoid any manufacturer, or hirer, or Local Authority being held to account through the Courts.
E-Scooters
Known Safety Issues
The DFT’s commissioned report from ARUP published in December 2022 found 50% of riders were underage, 61% were riding too fast, the accident rate was three times higher than cycles, 63% thought E-Scooters were unnecessary and 46% thought they were dangerous. 10% of users had been in an accident. There were reports of brakes not working.
The government report below into casualties, shows that it’s mainly youngsters riding in the early evenings around 6.00 pm. Half the casualties occurred in non-trial areas, on privately owned scooters for which there are no standards.
‘It should be noted that a considerable percentage of non-fatal casualties are not reported to the police. Non-fatal casualties for e-scooter users are amongst the most likely to be under-reported in road casualty data since they have no obligation to inform the police of collisions. This should be borne in mind when analysing and interpreting the data.‘
The centre of mass is critically high above and at a steep angle to the front wheel contact patch, which means that under hard front wheel braking, the scooter will tilt forward and simply pitch the rider over the handlebars. The back brake is relatively ineffective as there is probably usually only 50% of the weight on the rear tyre, and this weight reduces along with rear wheel grip as the weight is thrown forward on braking.
From my experience with motorcycles, and with my automotive engineer’s perspective, E-scooters are unstable as they have a high centre of mass, a short wheelbase, small wheels and no seat. Riders could be up to 2 metres tall and weigh 100Kg and should still be able to meet the TRL braking guidelines. The limiting factor for braking, for most PTW’s, is the centre of mass making them tip forward.
From John Bradleys ‘The Racing Motorcycle’
Steering Geometry
The steering geometry of an E-Scooter is more radical than a Motogp bike, (and they are designed to be at the ragged edge of stability), due to the steep steering head angle which is a fundamental feature of scooter design, and the small wheels. The length of steering ‘trail’ is closer to a supermarket trolley.
Wheel Size
Wheel size is critical, not only for stability, but to cope with kerbs, potholes, drains, etc. The current minimum wheel size for a motorbike is a 10 inch rim giving a circa 15 inch rolling diameter. Early Lambrettas and Vespas had 8 inch rims which were found to be unstable, having ridden a 1950’s model and and a later one with 10 inch rims which felt much safer.
A standard motorcycle rim is now settled at 17 inches giving a circa 24 inch rolling diameter, with both 18 inch and 16 inch rims tried in the past.
A standard road cycle wheel is 26 inches.
There does not appear to be any minimum size for E-Scooter wheels, which can be as small as 7 inches, only that they can negotiate a 3 cm kerb (DFT).
TRL Investigation
I had been looking again for results of E-Scooter brake testing, and have come across this report issued by the TRL in 2022.
21 E-Scooters were tested with the braking performance found to be 0.35g which is half that of all other vehicles according to the Highway Code braking distances, with only the rear brake being effective.
Braking obeys a square law. Twice the speed means four times the stopping distance. Most of the speed is lost in the last few feet, so when any other vehicle would have stopped from 15 mph, the scooter may still be doing 12 mph. Fatal collisions start at just 9 mph, and once riders fall, there is always a risk of being run over. With 30 mph or more probably achievable, if only downhill, this could extend to 90 feet or more, which makes them very hazardous. When all other vehicles would have stopped an E-Scooter would still be travelling at 20 mph.
Braking downhill would additionally likely extend the braking distance further, with the E-Scooter even more likely to tip up.
Clearly pedestrians as also at risk and have been injured, (only 76% were riders) and in one instance killed.
Privately owned E-Scooters are mostly set at 25 kph or 16 mph, but can apparently be easily changed using a freely available access code to the software on many (as I have found on my first E-Bike).
The brake testing was carried out on the flat at 25 kph, but not at higher speeds that would be obtained when riding downhill, or when riding down a slope. It is therefore not known if regenerative braking could prevent excessive speed including downhill.
There is also a concern regarding the robustness of E-Scooter design and the need for a high level of maintenance. ‘In the sample, more than 50% of devices had brakes or steering in unserviceable condition‘ and ‘average under-inflation of pneumatic tyres of 55% observed‘.
The report also found that ‘In 2021 82% of these involved private e-scooters; 38% of all casualties sustained serious injuries; casualties are largely male (about 70%); and about 50% of casualties are under 24 years of age. Around 24% of casualties in e-scooter collisions were not the rider. The reported percentage of serious injuries is high relative to slight injury, and therefore it is likely that the actual number of e-scooter related injuries are under-reported‘.
TRL Guidelines for Hire Scooters
The TRL have issued guidelines for hired e-scooter brakes, which sets a minimum braking distance of 7 metres from 15.5 mph. This is twice the distance than the formula used to calculate braking distance in the Highway Code.
The speed limit has now been reduced to 12 mph for the next phase of the e-scooter rental trials, but a scooter will still be travelling at 9 mph when other vehicles would have stopped, which is the speed where fatalities start.
E-Bikes
E-Bikes are more stable than an E-Scooter due a centre of mass further away from the front wheel and better than a cycle due to the low position of the motor and battery, which will shorten braking distances – the limiting factor as with motorcycles is the vehicle tipping forward. Crucially the front brake is effective, whereas on an E-Scooter it isn’t.
The larger wheels provide a far higher gyroscopic effect which tends to stabilise and keep the bike upright at speed. You can ride a bike ‘no hands’ and the steering will self correct. A scooter will probably immediately veer off line for any reason.
A recent Met report identified only 1 E-bike fatality from 2018 – 2022. However, E-Bike casualties do not appear to be reported nationally, and the new Road Safety Factors lump E-Scooters and E-Bikes together, presumably also with powered hover boards, ball boards, skate boards and unicycles.
Privately owned E-bikes need to have ‘firmwear’ specific to the speed limit of the UK market, to avoid easy tampering, and could be electronically limited to 15 mph using the braking system, which would make them even safer.There is a known problem with owners altering the speed limiter on E-Bikes (as well as E-Scooters) with access codes to the software was readily available on the Web. No software or laptop needed. This is presumably to allow dealers to alter the speed limit dependent on market.
Throttles are also available to allow E-Bikes to be powered without pedalling, creating an electric motorcycle. These problems need to be addressed by making them tamperproof.
E-Bikes can also be legally ridden from 14 years old.
You can also buy electric motorcycles, which I have seen being ridden on the road and public areas. In Europe, it’s usual to see electric cycles with number plates.
From observation, E-Bikes, and illegal E-Motorcycles and E-Scooters are used in the gig economy, along with mopeds on L plates, with businesses taking advantage of the situation, and as recently reported allowing riders to ‘subcontract’ deliveries to others out of the businesses control. Hopefully this will be addressed by employment legislation in the near future.
Mike Abbott MBA, RoADAR (Dip), DVSA RPMT 800699, ACU Coach #62210
New signs warning of left hand bends have been recently trialled in Scotland. Some are a particular hazard for motorcyclists who misjudge their entry speed and lose control, running wide into oncoming traffic. This causes a disproportionate number of fatalities for us in Lincolnshire, and on rural roads nationwide.
The trial has been very succesful initially, so expect to see them appearing on rural roads at known blackspots nationwide.
The bike decks out with a footrest or fairing, frame exhaust etc hitting the road, the weight comes off the tyres and you exit the corner at a tangent through the scenery if you’re lucky, or hit something solid like an oncoming vehicle, tree etc if you’re not.
However, in most instances the rider just thinks they are going too fast, panics and either hits the front brake or tries to sit the bike up and then brake, which often leads to a fall or simply running off the road.
If riders are confident and competent, they would simply ride around the corner at a higher lean angle, or apply the rear brake and or countersteer and avoid a crash.
On a racing bike with more ground clearance when leant, you can bank the bike until the tyre grip runs out – at around 60 degrees of lean.
British Superbike School 
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