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New Team Muzzy 1994 WSBK Project Bike

9K views 31 replies 8 participants last post by  ccmhunt 
#1 ·
Greetings,
I think that I posted here years ago when I first bought the bike, but have not posted in recent years. I had a very bad crash at a track day last year (was helicoptered out), lost my job and then almost died from pneumonia in April of this year (spent a week in the ICU). I decided to consolidate my collection, sell some bikes and concentrate on restoring the special bikes. I have a 1991 Ducati 851 SP3 and a 1974 Ducati 750 Sport that I am restoring.

But the bike that is relevant here in an ex-Team Muzzy 1994 factory Kawasaki ZX7R World Superbike (either ridden by Scott Russell or Terry Rymer) which was then used by Team Muzzy in the 1995 AMA Superbike championship (ridden by either Pasacal Picotte or Steve Crevier). It was then sold to Mike Sidewell along with a second 1995 Team Muzzy AMA Superbike, who along with his brother rode both bikes in NASB and other club races. There is an article in the February 1996 issue of Sport Rider magazine where the bike was tested along with 4 other AMA Superbikes. The bike then went through a couple of different owners before I purchased it in 2008.
The last owner had put a stock ZX9 motor in it and had it registered for street use.
I rode it on the street for a couple of years before taking it on a Ducati Monster club street ride in 2009. While I was making a slow speed right turn, a newbie rider on a Ducati Monster tried to pass me on the right side and T-boned me, crushing my right leg, hip and pelvis. I almost died that day and now have 10 pieces of metal holding my hip and right leg together.
I parked the ZX7R and have not touched it since that then. The bike suffered very little damage, as my body absorbed most of the impact from the Monster.
Since my latest dance with the Grimm Reaper, I have decided that I better get going with my projects or they are never going to happen.
When I bought the bike in 2008, it came with the original Team Muzzy factory race motor and a large amount of race spares.
I have decided to return the bike to 1994 race appearance/specification within limits. Some of the parts on the bike are 1995 specification (AP Racing front braking system instead of Nissin Carbon/Carbon brakes), which I cannot imagine finding. So it may not be 100% 1994 correct.
I have most of the parts to do the restoration, but need a few odds and ends that hopefully someone can help me out with.
I am also trying to get concrete confirmation on who rode the bike in both 1994 and 1995. I contacted Dave Turner at Muzzy's in 2008, but he was no help. I also had Gary Medley, Tony Romo and even Scott Russell look at the bike, and while they all confirmed that it was a Team Muzzy Superbike, no one could say if it was a Scott Russell bike or not.
I will start posting as progress begins.
Brian
 
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#6 · (Edited)
I might be interested in the carbon rotors. It would be very cool to have the bike 100% correct, but they would keep me from ever riding the bike on the track or street again. Since it has a street title, I was contemplating doing the race restoration, but having a quick release rear light/license plate bracket and an actual light behind the cover on the Suzuka style fairing that Team Muzzy ran in 1994.

Here are a couple of photos of the bike the day I got it. One with the original race motor and boxes of spares that came with it.





Here is the stamping on the bottom of the Ohlins magnesium front forks that leads me to believe that it may have
been a Scott Russell bike (SR2=Scott Russell bike2)




Does anyone know of a source for the original style Muzzy fairings? I have not found anyone that sells bodywork with the one left side Suzuka headlight opening. I am partial to Sharkskinz fairings (better quality with less flaws), but their 93-95 ZX7R fairings have the upper fairing fit over the outside of the lower fairing, with the indent on the lower fairing.
The original Muzzy fairings have the lower on the outside of the upper, which has the indent.

Airtech is the only manufacturer that sells fairings like this. Airtech also has two choices for the 93-95 ZX7R, one regular Superbike style and one World Superbike style. But the difference between the two fairing choices is not very distinct.
Can anyone confirm that I should be using the World Superbike style?

Thanks,
Brian
 
#8 ·
Does anyone know of a source for the original style Muzzy fairings? I have not found anyone that sells bodywork with the one left side Suzuka headlight opening. I am partial to Sharkskinz fairings (better quality with less flaws), but their 93-95 ZX7R fairings have the upper fairing fit over the outside of the lower fairing, with the indent on the lower fairing.
The original Muzzy fairings have the lower on the outside of the upper, which has the indent.

Airtech is the only manufacturer that sells fairings like this. Airtech also has two choices for the 93-95 ZX7R, one regular Superbike style and one World Superbike style. But the difference between the two fairing choices is not very distinct.
Can anyone confirm that I should be using the World Superbike style?

Thanks,
Brian
Yes, I do know someone. Me. I have two brand new Muzzy fairing sets (upper, lower and tail) that have not ever been painted. Both sets have the provision for the headlight. I also have the set that Scott Russell crashed on at the Daytona 200 and came back to win as well as a Crevier set (although those are already taken).
 
#7 · (Edited)
These are the front brakes that are presently on the bike. AP Racing worked with Team Muzzy to develop this setup and it works very well. I have not seen these brake calipers on any other bikes aside from Kevin Schwanz's 1993 Suzuki 500cc GP bike before they went to AP Racing MMC calipers in 1994. I guess that they worked pretty well as Team Muzzy continued to use them on Doug Chandler's 1996 AMA championship winning bike.



The front brake rotors are stamped 14 2, which leads me to believe that the bike may have been Steve Crevier's 1995 AMA Superbike (bike 2), as his 1995 AMA competition number was
#14.



When Mike Sidwell owned the bike, he had a bunch of aluminum parts (brake caliper brackets, upper/lower triple clamps and rear sets) black anodized. What is the best way to remove this and return them back to the original aluminum finish?
 
#18 ·
You are right! This bike is an important part of racing history. I am not going to do it half-assed. I am going to get it as close to 100% correct as I can.

I did not think that I could do it before, but from the initial responses that I have gotten on this forum I think that may be possible now.
 
#10 · (Edited)
If you buy the Airtech parts i would like to hear more about all the details. I know them only by the website. But these are the nicest fairings you can buy in new at the moment.

ccm: I do not mean unoptanium but fairings everybody can buy in new directly from the manufacturer. Years ago OPP sold carbon fibre 7 fairings but can`t remember the name by now. Lost the interest after they stopped selling these fairings...

L / M fairing


P/N fairing
 
#14 ·
I have a few sets of those AP caliper.
Your assumption on the fork mark is correct, I have DC and AG forks.... You know who they are.
I agree with Johannes (walnusbaer).... Go all in or not.
Also passes me off that every time someone has ex race bike the rearsets are incorrect.
 
#19 ·
I agree with both you and Johannes. I am going all in on the bike, back to 1994 WSBK appearance and specifications.

I was lucky to have had the Protek rear-sets on the bike when I was hit by the guy on the Monster, as it turned the brake pedal and foot-peg into a pretzel (along with my foot).

I have all of the correct race kit rear-sets for the bike, except the rubber covers for the shifter and brake pedal are old. I should have bought new covers from Kawasaki when I got the bike, as now they appears to be no longer available.
The part number for the covers is 92160-1150, does anyone have a pair?
 
#21 ·
Yes, those are both from the same article in the 1996 February issue of Sport Rider. Mike Sidwell told me that my bike was Pascal Picotte's.
but after finding the 14 2 on the front brake rotor and seeing that the ID plate on the right frame spare is in a different location from the photo of Picotte's bike in that article, I think that I have Steve Crevier's bike. I tried to get photos from Tom Riles and John Flory that they took of the bikes at that test but had no luck.

Any others out there with photos of Steve Crevier's 1995 Team Muzzy bikes?
 
#27 ·
I just mixed up the year (1995) that Scott crashed at Daytona, remounted and then won (on the #4 AMA bike). Is that the bike that you own?

Both of the bikes that Mike Sidwell bought started out as 1994 bikes, as they have 1994 RMR (Rob Muzzy Racing) chassis and engine numbers, and also have other markings (Russell and Rymer suspension) where you can see that they ran 1994 WSBK setup and parts and then were later updated to 1995 setup, such as the rear brake stay rod. During most of 1994 WSBK season, the front of the rod was anchored at the stock mounting point in the frame. But at the end of the 1994 season and during 1995 they welded a new bracket to the bottom of the swing-arm and ran a shorter rod from the rear caliper mount to this new bracket. Even though my bike has the 1995 setup, there are marks on the frame where you can see were the brake stay rod was mounted in the 1994 position.

I think that Team Muzzy ran these bikes during the 1994 WSBK season, then brought them back to the USA updated them to 1995 specification and had Picotte and Crevier ride them in the 1995 AMA
Superbike championship.
This is what I think happened, but it would be nice to get concrete confirmation as to exact history of my bike.

The article in Sport Rider magazine was from February 1996, and they tested both Picotte's and Crevier's 1995 AMA Team Muzzy bikes.
From the numbers stamped into my front rotors and the photo evidence of the German VIN plate, I am pretty sure that my bike was one of Crevier's 1995 AMA Superbikes. It would just be nice to know if it was Scott Russell's 1994 WSBK ride, or Terry Rymer's
 
#26 ·
My brother racing against the Sidwell boys. He wold hole shot them into turn one the the horsepower in those Muzzy bikes would eat his GSXR for lunch.

I always wondered what happened to those bikes after Daddy pulled the plug on the boys racing. I know one of SC's bikes that was raced by Todd Harrington is in AZ. ccmhunt knows who has it too.
 
#30 ·
I am pretty much now 100% sure that my bike was Crevier's 1995 Team Muzzy bike. After finding the 14 2 stampings on the brake rotors I have been doing more research on the bike. Since I know that it was one of the two bikes that the Sidwells bought, I knew that it was either Picotte's 95 bike or Crevier's 95 bike from the article in the Feb 96 article in Sport rider.
Years ago I spoke to Mike Sidwell, and he told me that it was Picotte's bike, but I think that he mixed up which bike I had. Mike rode Picottes old bike and his brother Sean rode Crevier's. He thought that I have his old bike, but I found photographic evidence that I have Sean's old bike.
I have since gotten some great photographs of all of the Team Muzzy bikes that ran at Daytona in 1995 from Manfred Mothes, and found confirmation that my bike was Crevier's #2 1995 bike. Good thing it wasn't his #1 bike, as he crashed that at the 1995 Daytona race, but so did Russell and he won anyway.
If you have not checked it out, Manfred Mothes website:
http://www.highsider.com/index.htm is a treasure trove of racebike photos. You just click on continue, pick the country the rider is from and then choose the rider and check out the great photos. There are some really good Kawasaki photos on the site.
Since my bike was both a 1995 AMA Superbike and a 1994 World Superbike, I am thinking that I would like to restore it to be either bike, depending on what fairings and front brake parts that I put on it.
That era of both AMA and World Superbike racing was a golden point in time for me, and all of the riders from back then are my heroes.
I just wish that I could confirm that it was Scott Russell's '94 bike.
 
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