Another bike engined project bites the dust :(

[mintex]

Going by the pictures the engine is where the back seats should be as you can see a screen behind the front seats so don't think it makes much difference if it was an air cooled or bis.

Still don't see how its road legal if its still registered as a 650?

Ive read this again and some might see it as im being rude or offensive, im not and i probably never worded it very well but sometimes content on a forum can be taken many ways but if anyone read it and thought i was then sorry and certainly not my intention   

[mintex]

Another one 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-126-PROJECT-1200cc-141BHP-BIKE-ENGINE-GEARBOX-MANIFOLD-26K-ANCILIARIES-READ/262333587864?_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850&_trkparms=aid%3D222007&algo=SIC.MBE&ao=1&asc=20140107083358&meid=748bbb75927e4150b71da569aee88b4a&pid=100011&rk=6&rkt=8&sd=231860445175

[Gadge]

Weirdly this cars been doing the rounds on eBay for a while but not as a bike engined project but as a spares car hence why it's missing parts but I guess he's changed he mind at some point..... it's ashame as it could've been fantastic but people only seem to get a quarter of the way in before they give up.

[mintex]

Another bike engined 126 thats still registered as a 700cc bis, comes with and mot and a v5 but how can it be road legal???

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/fiat-126-bike-powered-car-/322191380244?&_trksid=p2056016.m2516.l5255

[stuey]

its not- they've not notifed the DVLA of the engine change and the minute you do they will they probably force you to have a biva test which it might well fail and open you to a whole host of expense to get it road legal especially since it looks like they will have cut a hole in the floor to run the chain drive from that mid mounted engine- That said its about the best engineered most "finished" one I've seen in a while (not that the bar has been set high by some of the angle iron engineering I've seen on some) I'd still like to have a go with it though!

[Gadge]

Yes definatly the best one I've seen so far  still not a fan though as I could never get to grips with that wall behind the drivers seat which has to be in place if you go for that configuration also, no reverse? It's the compromise of having it that way around as oppose to using a different gearbox.

[drcdb15]

comes with and mot and a v5 but how can it be road legal???

No, it says it "will" come with an MoT...  As for contruction and use regs, would that exhaust outlet ABOVE the rear bumper be accepted? I know the height range is defined for a motorcycle, but this isn't a motorcycle, and generally a car exhaust will exit belowthe rear bumper (so not sure what the regs are for deep water kits eg for Landys)

[thepuddlejumper]

The exhaust height on some Hondas and more modern cars are within the bumper, some modern cars have cut outs so it may be acceptable, the mot tester should know.

Ralph

[mintex]

Its registered as a standard bis so what's the point? If you cant enjoy the car on a daily basis on the road then how can you enjoy the car for what it is?

[thepuddlejumper]

I suppose it all depends on what he cut out to get the chain drive in. I changed the engine in my 500 and only had to give the engine number and capacity, that's a straight engine swap, I believe it's the same if fitting say a scuby engine without cutting into the monocock.

Ralph

[drcdb15]

Its registered as a standard bis so what's the point? If you cant enjoy the car on a daily basis on the road then how can you enjoy the car for what it is?

Bearing in mind your post of 6 March about misinterpretation...    and the fact that it seems we have the general question of "do you like this car?" crossing posts with "has the bodywork been cut away for the chain?", then my post now is: "

I don't understand what you mean by your post which says "what's the point?... ... ... enjoy the car for what it is".

Are you saying [A]: "one should enjoy a standard Bis for what it is, and if you don't like it then why did you buy it in the first place? If you wanted a dragster why didn't you buy one instead of trying to make a Bis into one?"

OR

Are you saying : "what's the point of notifying DVLA about the engine change, if they're happy to list it as a standard Bis then why bother telling them any different?" [the answer here in my view is that presumably not telling them means type approval (as opposed ot ordinary MoT) vehicle testing may have been by-passed, in which case insurance is probably invalid, which can become a seriously wealth-limiting option].

OR

Are you saying [C] something completely different and I've missed your point entirely.

[this begins to read like a script from Banzai... which-ah anfer does Fiat Fan mean, ayyy, or bee or seee, place-ah your bets! Banzai!!][any other Banzai fans on here?] 

[drcdb15]

Oops! my second answer option was labelled B within square brackets, which the software has interpreted as a Bold code, hence all the unintended heavy type. Sorry!

[Xylaquin]

I think he means what's the point in modifying a vehicle if you can't drive it on the road.

[mintex]

Are you saying [A]: "one should enjoy a standard Bis for what it is, and if you don't like it then why did you buy it in the first place? If you wanted a dragster why didn't you buy one instead of trying to make a Bis into one?"

I think he means what's the point in modifying a vehicle if you can't drive it on the road.

Sorry for the confusion lol but Yes i mean i don't see the point if the car car never be road legal 

.

[drcdb15]

Ah.. so the correct answer was [C], I'd completely missed the point ! 

Well, I think the most frequent answer to that is, people get into these projects without thinking them through - which is the complaint Gadge has most often. Folks get all fired up thinking they'll make some fabulous customised special, without any real appreciation of the technical and "other" challenges they are taking on - those "other" challenges being all the paperwork and regulatory issues of type approval, registration, testing and so on. We see it all the time, don't we, even with a relatively straightforward project such as importing a LHD car.

That's not a criticism, by the way, I am as guilty as the next guy of rushing in to follow my dream fantasy, only to realise months later I've spent a shedload of dosh on something that will never fly. We all do it, and if we don't, if we're honest we like to *think* we might do it one day.

In addition to that group, there are people who just like to create weird and wonderful vehicles, regardless of whether or not they'll ever actually be used. You only have to look at the USA west coast rodding scene, you can barely walk for tripping over custom creations built solely for show in some promotion, or as a film prop, or as a simple ornament for those who have more money than taste (that's a personal judgment of course). One example that springs to mind is a fabulous custom chopper that was built purely as a tribute to the NYFD friremen who died in the 9/11 disaster. As I recall, it was intended only as a showpiece in a reception area, maybe in the HQ building? I don't know.

Then there's a third group who do very much intend to use the vehicle, but not on road - only for off-road competition. The obvious case here is the Blitz dune buggy style off-roaders, but think also Taz Racing. Some of their conversions are road legal, but I suspect that is pure coincidence rather than by design. And didn't we chat recently about something on eBay that was designed primarily to be a hill climb car?

So I think there *can* be a point to knowingly creating a vehicle that cannot be used on the road, but I suspect that Gadge has it right in thinking that *most* of the time, it's the first group that prevails - people who chase a dream and haven't thought it through.