Tamiya Model Magazine – September 2019

TMMI 287 September 2019 37

exhausts were attached by screwing
in the Scale Hardware threaded
bolts where the Tamiya screws were
intended to be used. The oil tank that
is attached to the rear fender was
modified by cutting off the plastic
connection points and fabricating my
own with turned bolts and metal wire.

FRONT SECTION AND FRONT FORKS
I put a lot of work into these parts,
especially the front brake line links.
All the cable attachment points
were replaced with metal fixings
to accommodate the thinner tubing
(0.4mm tubing) for throttle, clutch and
speed sensor cables. I wrapped some
0.2mm copper coloured wire around
the handlebar grips, the pinch-bolts
for the handlebar clip-ons were drilled
out and replaced with T2M threaded
turned bolts, the front brake line link
was drilled out from all four sides,
then a wire was attached through the
middle and the part was reattached to
the brake lever with a T2M fitting to
replicate the adjuster, the same fitting
was also used as an adjuster for the
clutch line on the left hand side lever.
The top tree was painted TS-14 Black
with 2K clear on top, the pinch-bolts
were modified in the same fashion
as the handlebars but this time with
a nut on one side as per reference. I
also used PE washers at the top of the

trees where the front forks go through.

Out of all the Tamiya detail up

series aftermarket parts for this kit

the one I would highly recommend is

the front fork set (this set also includes

the aftermarket clutch parts). This

set allows you to build the suspension

with an actual spring and actual

working front suspension forks! Great

job Tamiya! The front fork set went

together very easily and other than

using the front fork set the only other

modifications I did was to add pinch

bolts at the bottom of the forks and add

some metal wire to the rear section of

the front fenders to hold the brake lines

in place as in the actual 1:1 version.

FUEL TANK

I added the clamps for the petrol

tank cap and painted the cap itself

an off-white colour as this is what

the reference photos showed. The

clamps are fully functional so you

can open and close the gas tank lid; I

used 0.4mm metal wire to create the

clamps. I also did a bit of work on the

rubber section that sits on the top of

the tank, the original part looked too

smooth with strange looking marks

in it so I decided to give it a little bit

of texture by dabbing a tissue with

Tamiya airbrush cleaner on the rubber

to melt it a little and give it a more

realistic texture.

The plastic moulded chain adjuster bolts on the

rear swing arm were replaced with turned versions

from Tuner Model Manufactory (T2M)

The speedometer is made up of three parts.

The back of the dial was cut away from the

moulded-in wire connector and metal fitting was

made, more suitable to the gauge of wiring being

used. Two turned bolts were added to each side

of the dial frame

Zero Paints ‘Honda RC166’ paint set was used for the main colours,
comprising two colours; Red and Silver

The petrol tank cap was painted an off-white colour as this is what
reference photos showed. The clamps are fully functional so you can
open and close the gas tank lid

The author decided to paint the white front number backing rather than

use the decal

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