Berzerkley wrap up?

So just read my new issue, I watched the Berzerkley build with interest, I like motorcycle engine builds, But Wrap up?

Let me get this straight, built a car designed over beer

spent more money than planned

Built a car difficult to drive that’s not competitive in any class, and breaks every time you drive it?

Crap that sounds like one of MY projects

Seriously, wrapped up?

Sometimes you have to admit your idea wasn't as great as it sounded when the first beer was cracked open.

Sometimes you eat the bar, and sometimes, well, he eats you

I'll be the first to admit the Berzerkley seemed all wrong from the start... leaving it FWD and all... but any build that involves machining your own gearbox is awesome.

Even if the final product wasn't great or useful - I would like to see another build that requires more than plugging a few sponsors for bolt-ons or farming out a cage. I like to aspire to the ridiculous and I really enjoyed reading this one.

walterj wrote: I'll be the first to admit the Berzerkley seemed all wrong from the start... leaving it FWD and all... but any build that involves machining your own gearbox is awesome. Even if the final product wasn't great or useful - I would like to see another build that requires more than plugging a few sponsors for bolt-ons or farming out a cage. I like to aspire to the ridiculous and I really enjoyed reading this one.

+1 Wierd mutant builds are what drew me to GRM and I hope to see them continue

That did seem rather sudden.

Kudos to GRM for making the attempt. It says a lot about them that they'd shoot for the stars in such an original way. Now that they have been humbled, I'm sure that they will return to comparisons of cold air intakes, body kits and underbody neon

I lost interest when it turned into a single-seat car...

This is the wrap to the original project vision, which we finally had to admit was flawed. At that point, we didn't spend a lot of time on finishing details--sow's ear and all of that. We did do 8 installments on the Berzerkeley, and there were a lot of good lessons learned, even if the end result IS a weird mutant. Some things are better detailed in other projects, though--not a lot of demand for a blow-by-blow on how to put a cage in a Berzerkeley.

Margie

IT's FWD?

AutoXR wrote: IT's FWD?

Perhaps you should check out the build page...

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/project-cars/berzerkeley/

Marjorie Suddard wrote: Some things are better detailed in other projects, though--not a lot of demand for a blow-by-blow on how to put a cage in a Berzerkeley. Margie

Well... the point I was trying to get at is that I enjoy seeing things "built" as opposed to assembled from a catalogue. This project made no sense but it worked in spite of whether or not it should have been done at all.

I like the outline that goes:

-ridiculous idea -plan for idea -implement plan -resolve things overlooked in plan using any means necessary -race the result

I like it because it nobody knows going in what comes out the other end. I can tell you where the S50 swaps and the software upgrades and the intake shootouts are going to end up before I read the article but I had no idea how you were going to steer or back up a FWD motorcycle powered tube chassis Bezerkley. It rocked.

I like it because it nobody knows going in what comes out the other end

absolutely!! not knocking the project.

LOVED the TRUE grassroots nature of the beer fogged idea, just could not pass up the opportunity to poke fun at the project pros

makes us all feel human

AutoXR wrote: IT's FWD?

single biggest reason for the failure

narrow track short wheelbase awesome power + FWD= FAIL

I really enjoyed the Berzerkely because it DID fail.

It just proves that smart motivated people can still screw the pooch just like us dumb unmotiivated ones!

It motivated me to find a real vintage sports racer and build a full-on motorcycle-powered race car. In that regard, it was a total success.

The LeGrand starts in December...

Per

You generally learn far more for failure than success.

I loved it as a project (even though it was flawed)

I am only upset at the fact that it never saw ANY action! It would have been interesting to at least see some lap times at ocala.

aircooled is right you learn more from failures than successes.

Who knows what kind of crazy project someone was dreaming up that they have now decided not to do. I'd much rather learn on your dime than mine.

aircooled wrote: You generally learn far more for failure than success.

Good point. And in this case, we got to watch somebody else pay for it...

At the same time, I don't think the car was a "failure". Flawed, maybe... but it seems the design plan was more or less achieved.

I suppose I was hoping the end result would have been more of a street car... at least that's what I would have tried to build...

-ridiculous idea -plan for idea -implement plan -resolve things overlooked in plan using any means necessary -race the result

Much like the Ro-Spit project car from a few years back - it was a lot of fun to watch the development of both cars.

I'd like to see a Capri or a Pinto with Miata drivetrain and running gear. Or maybe a GLC to keep it all Mazda...

The Berzerkeley was the first real project I was involved in for GRM, even though I was more of an accessory than the mastermind. As such, it will always have a special place in my heart.

The real problem with it was that no matter what we did, there wasn't a good place to play with it. No sanctioning body has a class for something like this. We thought about HPDE, but it just didn't seem like a good car for that environment. Even when it was mostly sorted, it was still a handful to drive.

I was sad to see it go, since I was kinda geeked about doing a few top-speed events at Maxton or even Bonneville. The Berzerkeley was definitely the wrong choice for that work, but maybe next time...

Hmmm...

http://www.turbo-kits.com/gsxr-1000_turbo_kits.html

RossD wrote: I'd like to see a Capri or a Pinto with Miata drivetrain and running gear. Or maybe a GLC to keep it all Mazda...

Or maybe a first generation 626... from 1979 to 1982 they were rear wheel drive. I bought a 1980 626 brand new and loved it. They handled well (I believe the suspension was very similar to a first gen RX-7 but they were underpowered. Unfortunately, they're just about extinct these days.