Tamiya Yoshimura Hayabusa

Hi Rob ;

I have both Kits too ,and if you have build something before ,

there are noheavy step for you . 

For Hayabusa there is a  PE Transkit from Lion Roar with Disks ,Chain Meshs on Market  .

Hope you do it well 

Lutz 

cross drilling and thinning the brake rotors is a must, unless you get that lion roar PE set, which is pretty neat for merely around 15 bucks. 

you will notice a night and day difference between the hayabusa and the virago.  virago being an older kit, has a really thick coat of chrome, some might even be tarnished by dust particles sometimes.  the fit is okay on the virago, but you will still need to break out ur trusty tube of putty.  the best advice for that is to strip all chrome (that's about half of the kit) and re-do the chrome yourself after filling those seams on the exhaust and all, though it won't be as shiny.  if you prefer the bling and can live with the seam lines (something i can no longer stand nowadays), it still builts into a pretty nice bike.

Thanks for the advice, definitely gonna get that pe set for the Hayabusa now, at least I can carry on with the rest of the kit while I'm waiting for it.

 Thought the Virago would be old school, but I always wanted one, and they're so cheap over here, only £9.  Have to admit, it's a pleasure to be building a Tamiya kit again after a fair break, I'd forgotten how good they were.  

If I can get photos done, and I don't wreck the kit, I'll try and post them. 

The Yoshimura 'busa was my frist ever bike kit and I was in love with it from the start.

Brian model car page has some great tips on building bikes , i have lost the link but you can search it and it will come right up.

Drilling the rotors is a must on this. Also, I addd thin wire inside the vinyl tubing to help it hold its shape better. I found all sorts of great pics on the net , PM me here if you are interested in them, very helpful stuff.

I used Tamiya acrylics coveredi in a clear Future coat. The decals will apply very easily if you soak them in HOT water first.  the stand is kinda wimpy, so I made a simple brace for the rear tire out of thick coathanger wire and a piece of tubing cut in half to support the rear axle.

The pipes DESERVE to be fully finished out in Alclad, and look fanstastic with a touch of brown and blue added for heat staining.

The busa is a good bike to start with, im having a few more issues with my YZR 500 than the Busa...

David