I would just like to add my experience of running a "genuine" 750 Formula 1 bike at the Classic TT in 2013.

Ryan Kneen rode my OW01 when he finished third in the inaugural Classic F1 race.

Unfortunately for Ryan there was no "Joey Dunlop" trophy for the first 750 to finish until last year (2014), but never mind.

For the record, the bike is (was) a roadbike before this race, but we did not have any history on it and it was definitely in need of some TLC when we got it.

When the engine was stripped, it was not in too bad a shape, apart from all 20 valves being completely shot, so it had a new set of valves (common OW01 problem). The engine was bog-stock bore & stroke It's a bit of a long story, but in a nutshell we could not get any rings for the original 2-ring pistons, (the pistons were within spec.), so we had to buy NOS Yamaha pistons to fit the new rings. We also ran the STANDARD CV roadbike carbs. The only "trick" items on the bike (apart from the rider) were the original YEC "kit" ignition box (allows higher red-line) and the original YEC muffler (we even left the EXUP valve working). The cams were standard. The head had a 10 thou' skim and that was the sum total of the tuning! Dyno showed 120 bhp (the engine builder said it was a really good motor and was chuffed to bits at this reading).

We (the crew-chief to be honest) thought that the biggest importance was to make the bike reliable and then we maybe had a chance of a top 10 finish.........how right he was!

Ryan said the bike was fantastic to ride and he obviously enjoyed it as he got ahead of the official YEC OW01 in the race on time (before it crashed at Ramsey Hairpin).

It's a pity the two bikes in front of him at the finish were replicas, but hey-ho, we all had a great time and Ryan had a bit of luck when it ran out of fuel at the end of the last-lap but did not cost him a result.

In terms of cost......it's not cheap, but then again, it was not outrageous and I don't regret it for a minute.

Bike is for sale if anyone is interested? It has not been used since the last Jurby meeting of October 2013, when it finished third (I think?) in the modern 1000cc superbike class races and won the classic by a mile.