AMP Research research

[danson67]

Re:

It's back in 2012 now, but I had no problems dealing with Risse.
My contact was Kevin Risse kevin@risseracing.com

They returned a Lawwill Leader shock, all OK, one week turnaround.

All the best,

 

[r32]

With regard to Risse Racing - try their eBay page to see if they're more responsive there. They still have current ads running.

I bought a Genesis off of there from them but only just started riding the bike and the barrel's starting to score. But since I'm not intending anything more than just light riding, I'm just going to leave things as they are.

 

[r32]

Afternoon. So I've recently bought an Amp F&F and am (easily) confused re disc brakes as all I know and have ever had are canti's..

Can I ask the panel some stupid questions:

Hubs:
I need some of these. What hubs are a sensible midrange, ie not cheap tat nor uber high end, choice today to run discs on a mid-late 90's Amp? Modern Hope or Shimano as long as it has 6 bolts for the rotor and is of the correct colour? Would love some period correct mid 90's ones in an ideal world.

Rotors:
I need some of these. As I understand it, OEM was 160 front and 140 rear but everyone uses 160's F&R now?

Adapters for Calipers:
I need some of these. Need to work out if B3 is still around to buy from him as his adapter sale thread hasn't been updated in ages or make my own.

Calipers:
I need some of these. I see more images of Amps using Mechanical Disc brakes than hydraulic. I know the original Amp/Rockshox calipers were cable pulled hydraulic. Would love a pair of these but seem to be in the Unicorn teeth camp again and rebuild parts for them are allegedly hard to come. So a modern equivalent replacement makes sense. Mechanical appeals to me as I don't like the look of modern disk brake levers. Avid BB7's seem to be very popular. I keep seeing Shimano mechanical calipers on bikes in shops and on ebay at similar prices to BB7's. Shimano BR-M375, are these any use? Anyone tried them? Or is everyone else running Avid's?

Can anyone advise on the above?

Thanks

James

Probably one of the biggest bike purchasing mistakes I made; let me explain.

AMP made these bikes way before there were standards for everything - suspension and disc brakes. As such, they don't work very well, and very few bar Risse have bothered with upgrade parts for too long. You can at least get Risse shocks for the rear end, but the front forks (F2, F3 or F4) no one has any absorbers or spares I know of.

The brake situation is slightly better especially if you have cantilever brakes. Put on a set of cantis or V-brakes and you are good to go. Otherwise the brakes use non-standard tabs as noted above, brake hubs are three bolt types. Again noted by someone up above me. If you desire a factory original set up, you are in for a long arduous hunt. They are rare, they are not cheap to acquire and they do not work well when compared against the harsh light of modern technology.

In order to correctly build up one B5 in the period correct spec (link below) I have had to acquire three part-bikes. To be fair, part of it was down to the fault of the US Customs losing my original D1 brakes after a baggage inspection, but it is nevertheless a challenge.

It has costed me quite a lot of money to get this bike to this state and as it sits it is a feathery 26lbs. After around 4 years of collecting parts and sniping on eBay, its finally done. It could have been better, if it had red instead of silver calipers, it could have had carbon seat and chain stays as well as a carbon F4 BLT, but that's another matter for another decade.

 

[TheEasyLife]

Morning r32,

Your bike looks very nice. Hope my B4 looks half as good as that when I get round to building it up.

Generally speaking, It's the age old question as to whether to restore a bike/car/house using period correct materials or whether to upgrade certain elements for safety or security or because it looks better or fits in with your plans for that bike/car/house as it is your property afterall.

Its all a question of choice. Do you want to use period or modern hubs/rotors/calipers as most will fit once youve sorted out adapters for calipers to the Amp mountings.. I've been quietly looking and watching in various places to understand what my choices are in relation to brake and hub options to maintain an element of being/looking period correct. I'm obviously at a disadvantage in that very few of the original items were imported to my little island originally as most appear to have been sold in the US back in the day so finding period correct parts such as Amp calipers and 3 bolt hubs in the UK is definately a challenge and then I have import duties/taxes to pay on top of high purchase prices. Such is the price for originality but bike parts are much cheaper than classic car parts...... I've already spent hundreds more than I thought I would but still need a number of special pieces so am not finished spending yet.

I was initially sold on using modern Avid cable activated disc brakes/rotors (and bought some) but then bought some retro Hope disc wheels with 5 bolt rotors along with some Hope 3 and 5 calipers for a full retro Hope hydraulic brake set. I'm really expecting to be able to stop on a sixpence with those once they've been serviced.

Original period correct options are out there in all sorts of conditions from rough to NOS. I've looked and found a fair few of them, D1 calipers, White Industries 3 bolt hubs, etc. You just need to know what you really want to buy, be looking and asking for them, and be prepared to act quickly and not wince too much at the price when an item on your wishlist is found/offered.

I need to start a build thread for my Amps don't I?

Cheers

James

 

[Lloydstrans]

There are parts available for just about anything that pop up from time to time. The secret of ownership is know the true value and be prepared to jump. People say I paid too much for this or that, but, I'm the proud owner. If I would've sat around waiting for that item to come up at a garage sale for $1 I'd still be going to every garage sale in southern California. And, yes I need to get started putting my M/B B4 together. And it will have V-brakes, wheel choice dictates that.

 

[r32]

Would love to get a line on a pair of red D-1 calipers though. Couldn't find any.

And if you think its hard to get AMP bits in the UK, its worse for me over here in Asia!

 

[danson67]

Re:

Pretty easy to get them re-anodised red,.of you can only find gold or silver.

All the best,

 

[ishaw]

Re:

There's a full bike on eBay with the red calliper brakes. An expensive option but you could sell what you don't need.

 

[r32]

Re: Re:

There's a full bike on eBay with the red calliper brakes. An expensive option but you could sell what you don't need.

That’s how I owned 2.5 AMP/Mercedes bikes to get one bike spec-ed the way I wanted! I’m not doing it again!

 

[Akula]

Hi R32 are you on the FB page in Singapore , the retrobike movement?