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On a sidenote: it's not just fake VRP parts but that seller is also "cheating" on other parts as well. I am specialist on Mugen and VRP and cought him multiple times offering parts that weren't what he said they were...in the end he blocked me from being able to comment on his Facebook page where he often shows parts he has for sale....i often let people know that the shown parts weren't the real deal so obviously he wanted to get rid of the guy hindering him to sell his parts for good money. I was also threatened on the phone and by mail so there's the reason i won't name him anymore but i think by now everyone understood who he is anyway
He has some nice parts too....but when i see a person doing fishy deals the way he does....it just makes him a seller to avoid.
Surely you must have some sort of 'Consumer Rights'- rather than having to suck it up?
Ok, so you did not pay with Paypal etc which you may have been able to get refunded from, as many seem to.
However, I would just think the fact you are NOT HAPPY, gives you a consumer right to return the goods and be refunded? Let alone the fact that they are probably not safe, or fit for purpose as well as being sold as something they are not, i.e VRP!
I am not totally sure of the law/ or in Europe etc but think here in UK, we can return stuff within a given period, even if not faulty- it is a 'Consumer Right' and for a good reason often, as a way to protect Consumers from what can go on!
I would look into it- surely you have some sort of legal right to return these goods, especially as they are possibly unsafe and not fit for purpose. As said you may find you even the right to return them anyway without even giving a reason! I would try to look into it if I were you, as the situation seems totally unacceptable.
Surely you must have some rights to return these in oneway or another?
I think also a buyer has better rights if you pay for something with a Bank Card(Credit/ Debit not sure), as have heard you can claim back of them in the event of problems. Not totally sure though, just stuff I remember briefly coming across.
...Sort of similar story, got a friend who bought a really fancy expensive coffee machine from Italy, it arrived all busted up and was clearly damaged before transit.... basically the company sent her a busted machine and they knew it. They refused refund and told her 'she could fix it anyway and would have a cheap machine!' The thing was mullered..... Luckily she paid by a Bank Card I think, (not sure of what type of card) but she was able to claim the £700 back from the Bank Card.
https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/consumers/shopping/guarantees-ret…
To me it seems within 14 days you are able to send back without even mentioning a reason!
The Shop
Good information for any future buyers with this type of nasty predicament.
Possibly it maybe too late for the buyer to take this above right, (if received more than 14 days ago) BUT would still think he may have the right to return as it may not be as described, i.e, a genuine VRP(as was sold as), not fit for purpose and in the event of failure, possibly dangerous even.
It's not on really in my eyes and suspect the unfortunate buyer did not intend to spend loads of money for a fake product (as it appears maybe the case by former posts), or worse still a product that may injure him!
It was actually the first time i had my "standard" bikes facing each other same day, same track. My racebike with the aluminium VRP gas tank is a proven performer and really superfast. It was the second bike with the Mugen engine which needed to be set up as i haven't ridden it with those Mugen forks yet.
Since in Switzerland we still have very misty conditions and sometimes still freezing temperatures we have no place to ride still. So i obviously had to travel south to Italy where you have several practice tracks to choose from.
First roll-out with my 89 bikes:
There was some suspension testing going on. You get strange looks when you do such on vintage iron
Adding oil to fight bottoming
Once back home and all cleaned up i discovered a broken front rim...a well known issue with those old stock rims:
I was lucky i already had a new Excel rim around so i just swapped rims out and within a day i was ready to go again
I did the first round which was held at former GP track MALPENSA near Milan which is just across the highway of the Airport. With 3 hours from Zurich/Switzerland this is the closest race for me.
I was in great shape physically as i lost almost 10 Kilos / 22 lbs over the winter. The last summer i had some mishaps and injuries, which prohibited me from doing anything. I had to take heavy painkillers for months and in November had my shoulder operated (they removed a torn biceps muscle)....so i was not riding until January. That's the pictures i posted above. Then we had a pretty heavy winter in Switzerland and riding was basically not possible. So all i did was riding my mountainbike but at least 5 times a week!
So the only thing i knew was that my bikes were all prepped and ready, my fitness was there, but i had no idea where i would find myself in the races. Then the bad news: it rained all week prior to the race and some pictures from local guys showed the track basically under water. But for the weekend the sun came out and the track was prepped to the max. So this is what we encountered:
Malpensa/Italy with its famous uphills and downhills:
The soil turned out to be just awesome
In the end got a 3. in moto one which boosted my confidence. In the second moto i got another holeshot:
Later in the race i got passed and was again sitting in 3rd when just 300m from the finish my engine blew up! Out of thew blue it quit and i was left pushing my bike back to the pits. So instead of a 3./3. which would have been a 2nd overall i had only a 3./0.
Anyway - big confidence boost, a great race, fitness was there as was my speed. A super nice track to race on...a fun day all around IF i just could have brought home my bike in one piece.
Instead - this is what i found when i took the cylinder off:
Searching the rod....
...found it
What i couldn't believe is that in all that mess the cylinder and head had no damage at all! Not even the slightest scratch. The lower cases just one little nick. So all i need to do is put a new crank and piston....but 89 cranks are no more available. So most would fit the newer crank of the later HPP engines but this would also require a different ignition as the shape of the cone would not allow you to mount the 89 flywheel. Since my engine was superfast i wanted to have it again as it was which is with the stock 89 ignition. So i sent a different, old and used spare '89 crank off to my german tuner Tisberger who is a old-school technician and a master in doing precise work. He put a Wössner rod and it got balanced since weights would not be the same as the stock rod. By just installing the rod you would have a really bad weight distribution and a off-balance crank.
There's some tungsten weights installed to balance out the crank
I then let go the 2nd and 3rd round of the italian championships as those were at the very south of Italy. I'm not driving 1500km for a race anymore
This gave me some more time to rebuild my bike...
Yes, great pics and info- I so wish I had kept my race bikes from 1980- 1985, as well as some of the trick parts- I bet alot of us old riders did!
Italian custom VRP (Verona Racing Parts) aluminium chassis, swingarm, subframe-airbox combo with much larger volume, gas tank with air tunnels that funnel air directly into the large airbox
1989 Mugen kitted engine
1989 Mugen upsidedown forks
1989 ugen rear shock
I raced this bike back in the day in the swiss Inter championships and later on was also eligible o participate in GPs.
What is also important is to mount a good exhaust. On the VRP i actually mount the stock exhaust where i just got rid of the black colour. I don't ride the VRP bike anymore so it doesn't need the best exhaust...BUT on my two other bikes i use for vintage racing i use italian Messico exhausts which mage a HUGE difference in power. The stock exhaust feels like having a rag in the airbox. Same with the often seen Pro Circuit exhaust which is one of the weakest i have ever tried. I bought one too thinking it must be a good one...oh boy was i wrong. After 3 laps i took it off as i really thought i blew up my engine. No power at all. Just empty revs. Ever since the PC is collecting dust in a corner of my garage...When you install the Messico pipe the engine comes to live. It literally rips! Big, big difference!!!
Pit Row
Ever since the PC is just part of my exhaust collection...meanwhile i'm at 21 exhausts for my 5 125cc Hondas...
By the way - the PC is one of the weakest exhausts on my HPP engines as well. You can see a HPP PC exhaust in my collection as well...i won't ever use it again.
Same I use a pj38 too.
Next in line would be the Messico which is a great allrounder. Awesome mid-top. It just misses some extra rpms on top of the Tomasin.
However, while Messico exhausts fit like a glove the Tomasin needed to be cut&weld! Both-on my AF build as well as on the 98! Not what you are looking for when spending serious cash on a nice exhaust.
Here's a short summary of some exhausts i tried on my Mugen equipped HPP engines:
Tomasin R&D:
Decent low-end, comes on strong in the middle and will rev higher than any other exhaust while still pulling with authority ( my impression is that it revs like 500-1000 rpms higher) . It really has a super-strong top-end. BUT it doesn't fit well.
Tomasin on my '98 after some serious cutting/welding we got it fitted:
On the Tomasin we had to cut the tailpipe and then instead fitted the tailpipe of a crushed, old Messico exhaust i still had around...
Messico:
Good low-end, comes on very strong in the middle and revs pretty far making really good power. Fits great
FMF Fatty:
Really good as well, just not as impressive as the Messico. I really dislike the Nikkel plating. I don't like the disco-look at all. It's also heavier than the italian exhausts (thicker material?)
HGS:
good low-end, comes on strong in the middle but then signs off on top . Doesn't like to be revved! It hits a wall and signs off. Requests more shifts than other exhausts. Very similar to the Messico but won't rev up top.
Pro Circuit:
weak low-end, no torque elsewhere, revs out higher than stock but there is just no "meat" in the powerband. Needs a lot of clutch. Feals really weak when compared to the italian exhausts.
DEP:
I tried it a couple of years ago but it felt weak everywhere. Similar to the PC without offering the added revs up top.
Tomasin R&D exhaust on my AF build
Tomasin just fitted to my AF build. Obviously on such a build some angles might vary so i could accept that we had to adapt it here....but not so on the stock '98 bike above. It is really a pain to have them fitted but they perform so good that i was still willing to do it.
Such coned pipes just have a distinct look
I have 3 such Mugen forks fiitted to all my 89s. Big difference to those first stock upsidedown forks...and leaps better than the stock conventional forks. These actually perform really good. I personally don't like when people install modern internals/parts to their vintage bikes. The italian vintage championship requires you to run bikes as stock as possible, using parts of the era is allowed. But as always - you will always have the guys looking for an advantage and run whole, modern front-ends with bigger rotors (the only way to actually improve brakepower since these rotors had just 240mm diameter which is what we run on our rear brakes nowadays...) and forks with modern internals, adapted modern rear shocks....i personally don't like it and for me it also voids the "vintage" aspect of these races.
Rebound adjuster on the '89 USD Mugen forks:
Here's such a set of '89 Mugen forks as they were available back in the day. They came complete with triple clamps to be fitted instead of the stock, traditional 43mm Showas.
Those first USD forks need a good service as they were prone to develop serious play. As soon as they had play they would get sticky and wouldn't absorb small stuff anymore. You need a good suspension guy that is capable to eliminate any excess play in them.
There's some 30 years old aluminium on the workbench...
Stripped to have bolts swapped for Titanium
The magic shine of Titanium - i love it
When you though you had a nice bike with perfect bolts already...instead having the steel bolts you just changed on the table you realize how dull and sometimes oxidized they were.
To each bolt some anti-seize
All done she looks nicer than ever. Too bad the magic shine can't be seen on such pictures
The VRP needed some love as for the last couple years the "stockers" took away all my attention as those are the bikes that get ridden
I actually have two almost identical "stockers" for the vintage races
...and last but not least i weighed all my bikes again. The VRP as is weighs 94,2 kilos / 207,5 lbs. As mentioned many times before the aluminium chassis wasn't any lighter than the steel stocker but the stiffness was much improved and this made for a completely different ride.
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