Great people

One if the most wonderful things about this whole project has been the enthusiasm of other people.When complete strangers come and express their respect and enjoyment of seeing a 22 year old bike in the paddock, it gives me an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. Racing a shitter instead of a cheque book bike is a great challange and it's excellent to get the feedback that we have got from loads of people.

thankyou all.

A great 1st race weekend!

What a fantastic weekend!
After a much more comfortable night in our newly modified van, and with the luxury of power and a heater, Friday practice at Brands started wet. I have never ridden on wet tyres before, so it was valuable experience. I was amazed at the amount of grip available and more amazed to be over taken by several guys around the outside of me with their knees on the deck!
The day got progressively better weather wise and dried out nicely. Phil's Laverda ran nicely but not so good was the FZ. The clutch was still slipping badly and the motor was intermittently running on 3 cylinders for much of the day. I found that giving the thing loads of hard abuse seemed to get all 4 kicking in and by the latter part of the day all seemed ok. Another problem was ground clearance, with the belly pan and back brake lever hitting the deck quite badly. I raised the lever quite a bit which helped as it felt too low anyway but the belly pan would have to wait for workshop attention back at home. By the end of the weekend it had worn a big hole. More getting covered in fiberglass resin then!
The front forks are going to need attention at some point soon, funds permitting. I may just have put up with it for the next race but they will need to be re-sprung and re-valved to give more adjustment as they are at their maximum level. The rear felt good though which is a big relief.

The most urgent thing to sort will be the clutch. The bike was loosing big time along the straight and especially up the steep hill into Druid's bend and pretty much anywhere involving hard loading under acceleration.
So after a very busy and exhausting day of testing, the nerves started to build, and having spent much of the day sorting things and worrying more about the bike than what was happening with my riding and learning where I was going, I wasn't too confident about the coming races.
I shouldn't have worried so much. The racing proved to be a massive high for me and a great relief to be finally doing it after all our long hours and hard work over the winter. Phil and I had a great time on the track and a great battle in the final race on Sunday. we met some great guys over the weekend and had some fantastic laughs.
I will have to write more over the next few days as there is so much to say and some good photos in the post. It's now rather late so I'm off to bed with some great memories of my first weekend of racing.

Bleeding hel(l) !

Myself and Steve have spent the last 2 evenings trying to get the clutch sorted. We've gone from YZF slave and brembo master cylinder back to the original FZ items and finally got there late tonight.
I know I should have listened to Steve in the first place and gone with the Fz stuff as he said the ratio needed to push the right amount of fluid would be all wrong with the YZF/brembo items.... he was right of course.
Along the way, we had gone through 3 different slave cylinders, various leaky nipples and two brembo masters, all to no avail. The only thing that was any good out of it all was the new hel clutch line, although about 29 feet too long!
When we finally decided to get the old FZ item from out of the bin ( luckily we didn't leave it for the bin men!) we couldn't believe the state of the fluid, it was mud! and I'm not joking. The slave looked so rusty that we thought there would be no hope, but with a bloody good clean up and a thorough flushing through we were absolutely and thoroughly relieved when the bike went into neutral and had some decent feel. Thank all our lucky stars for that one!

So with not much time left this evening, the body work was fitted back on and we had a bit of a tidy up and a good mopping up of the 50 gallons of brake fluid we spilt everywhere.
Tomorrow is the last evening we have to pack the van ready to get a ferry as soon as we can all get out of work. I still have a list a mile long of things I need to get organised before the off. I really don't know how I'm going to get it all fitted in to one evening. Tea breaks at work will have to be used I think! and a bit of sweet talking the mrs. to give me a hand! At least with the bike 99.9% done i can concentrate on all the other stuff!

With the likelihood of shite loads of rain this weekend, I hope we can get to a power outlet in the paddock and try to stay as warm and dry as much as possible. I'm almost glad I'm really busy, it may just stop those crazy feelings getting me every 5 minutes.
Well I am really looking forward to it all now, just not enjoying the hectic last minute scramble.
I'm sure it will all be fine.

6 days and counting....the minutes!

Steve is dying for it to stop raining, so he can go out and test his new paint job.
He's convinced it'll add a couple of mph to the top speed!
Phil and I are not so sure.
We'll see........
His new pipes sound bloody gorgeous though!




6 days to go! The butterfly feelings and pounding heart moments are becoming more frequent as is that weird gut wrenching feeling of ....Oh fu*k! as time draws ever closer to my first official race.

In an attempt to cure all the problems we had at Mallory Park, we have been busy and had more really late nights in the work shop. hopefully, they are all cured... new dynacoils, Taylor leads and caps and a '99 R6 fuel pump seem to have done the trick in the running of the engine although a carb balance is needed yet to put the finishing touch on the motor.... for now!
The clutch drag is almost cured after loads of messing about. Still a bastard to get into neutral! A new master cylinder seems to have 99% done the trick but I think I need to swap the dodgy slave cylinder for a better condition item we have kicking about the workshop. I am confident that will do the job. Another evening buggering about bleeding the darn thing!

The belly pan is in a kind chap's capable hands and hopefully if he has time he'll save me from having to mess about with it. I know he'll do a much better job than I will! That should sort the thing decking out at the slightest angle of lean.

The only other thing I need to do is give the bike a bit of a clean and finally get around to painting the seat unit and generally make her look a bit prettier.

I've also been fitting out the van with new sleeping benches and a few other refinements to have a more comfortable race weekend. Fitted a couple of windows, borrowed a 12v fridge, fitted a decent stereo at last! and sorted out a nice big leisure battery to handle all the extra gadgets. I'm sick of bumping the van after flattening the battery constantly!

So we are nearly ready! Phil has almost sorted his Laverda after many a hilarious tale of all the bizarre things that befell him during his build, like, one hand dragging the motor across the bench while the other reached for that critical tool he forgot to place within arms reach and the cam chain that fell into the motor followed by the tool he was trying to fish out the chain with!
I'm glad I wasn't there! poor bloke! I told him to call me if he needed a hand!




Paddock hill bend...... it haunts my dreams some nights!

Race meeting dates 2007

I guess i forgot to mention the whole reason for going to Mallory Park... to get my ACU race licence, which is hopefully in the post! Woohoo!!
It may also help to mention all the race meeting dates for this year, which I will hopefully be attending all of as long as I can fund it all.

10th & 11th March Brands Hatch
24th & 25th March Lydden Hill
14th & 15th April Snetterton
28th & 29th April Cadwell Park
12th & 13th May Brands Hatch
26th & 27th May Pembrey
7th & 8th July Snetterton
11th & 12th August Cadwell Park
15th & 16th September Snetterton
29th & 30th September Brands Hatch

My Aprillia RSV Mille 1000 is now for sale to help fund racing.


I have 99% sold the XJR, sadly. Now up for sale is the above bit of kit which is awesome to ride and proudly got me 29th fastest out of 200 at Dijon racedays in 05 and a top 10 finnish in the race. Please buy it! so I can continue in Thunderbikes!................


oops! I forgot my dirt bike!

A missile in the making!

I would really liked to have had more time to write about everything that was going on, leading up to Mallory park, but alas, time was very short in supply.
we spent most of the last week, frantically working on the bike, quite often till 2 in the morning.
With the bike 99.9% finnished, we set off on the 6.30 am ferry in order to make 3 stops along the way. The first, to visit an amazing guy, Steve Spencer, who knows more about the FZ than anyone is ever likely to know. We spent 2 and a half hours talking to him and learnt more in that time than we would have on our own in several seasons of racing....absolutely incredible!! I can't express enough about the value of some of the stuff he revealed. much too much to be able to tell here.
He has raced and won on these bikes for years.
The next stop was to pick up a spare motor, the one I accidentally bought on the net a few weeks ago!
Then on to Alto performance to pick up a few bits for Phil's Laverda and then finally on to Mallory to spend a cold, damp night in the back of the van.I must have woke every hour that night, on each occasion, quickly realising it wasn't quite time to get up yet!
Finally the day got underway and proved to be rather hectic with just 15 minutes between being in the classroom and then out on track immediately after that, all day long. What an excellent day. I was pleasantly surprised to be approached several times by people who had been following our progress throughout the winter via this blog and I received much positive feedback about it too which made the day even more satisfying.She was so fast, Phil couldn't get the camera to keep up!


The bike. Well that was the best surprise of all. Apart from the fact we had nothing but running trouble all day, when she did run, she was surprisingly fast and even more surprisingly good in the handling and braking area. She has bags of potential to be a serious bit of kit as promised by Steve, the Fz guru we met on our first stop on the way to the track the previous day.
So on back home with a very overwhelming feeling of positivity for the coming season and confidence we can get her to run before the next race weekend.
There is loads to do. On the list for the bike are; new coils and leads, new fuel pump, new fuel filter, the clutch needs sorting as it dragged and slipped all day, the belly pan decks out really early so that needs hacking about, a coat of paint on the tail unit and a serious go at sorting out the wiring loom which it a real pain in the arse! We hope to get a few bits from Steve (FzSteve!) to help improve on what we have. (aside from all his encouragement, approval in what we have done so far and invaluable knowledge which has in fact, seriously saved our ass!) Really looking forward to seeing him at Brands Hatch on the 10th march.

After Brands, we will look at the new motor which Steve has assured us he can extract as much power as we want and about another 20 kilos at least which can be lost.A real missile in the making!

I spent more time at the side of the track than on it!











nice spot for a chat!



All in all a very fruitful day. The staff at Bemsee were fantastic, Phil was an absolute diamond without whom there is no way I would have spent any time on the track at all, as he got her going while I was in the classroom. I met loads of really great people and a few guys who will be racing in the Thunderbikes races this year and I also gained a mentor in my instructor, Jeremy hill ( www.jhill-racing.com ) who has promised to help me in the coming year, and I know he means it!
Not forgetting a real high light of the trip, Steve Spencer, one of the most passionate guys I have met in along time. I've never seen anyone get so excited by the sight of engine internals before...what a guy!! pure inspiration!

Motion

At last my browser is behaving, so here's a few pictures from the mallory CTC course.
more words later when I've finnished clearing up all the mess from the weekend.

Bloody pooters

My pc has gone down and I am desperately trying to get it sorted. In the meantime, I have very limited time on a work pc...so briefly..

A successful weekend and one ACU licence in the post, I am now gonna have to work my ass off to get to as many races as i can this season.
The bike had many teething troubles but none-the-less a very useful weekend even with more time spent at the side of the track than on it.
The bike felt great and very promising. Lots to do, to be ready for brands in 3 weeks but all achievable.

No more time, but as soon as I can, I will post loads of pictures and I have lots to tell you.
Bye for now

Coming together nicely

The FZ is coming together nicely now and we're really confident of making it to Mallory next weekend.

All my paperwork and enrty forms turned up today, leaving me with butterflies and a pounding heart...then i opened the bill for all the parts I have been buying over the past month... needless to say I was rather shocked... lucky I am busy with work to pay for it all!!

Tomorrow, or rather today as it's nearly 1.30am, should be the big day! we're hoping to get the motor fired up!

Most of the bike is complete but there is still quite a few things left to do, but even so we are hoping we should have a few days in hand in which I can get the paint work done and finnish fabricating the catch tray and side panels. I've also to sort the van, which is a right old mess at the moment.

One other thing is to strip out the drive on my wife's scooter, bloody thing. Never having had one apart before, I am going to have to wing it. I could really do without it this week and I'd rather be messing with the FZ.

A couple of people have said I should post a pic of me, so reluctantly, here you go.... :-(

Rushing about alot

What a busy weekend!

We made stacks of progress over the weekend although we still have enough to do to keep us on our toes.

One big headache has been discovering the exhaust system bangs on the bottom shock linkage and the slip-on can hangs in mid air, half a mile away from where it should be.The bike is going into a local engineering firm tomorrow to have the problem sorted. I'm sure it will be ok.

There has been all kinds of little headaches but our combined resolve has over come them all, and most sorted with bits and pieces just lying about the place. It's been good fun trying to be creative.

I would love to have the time to write about each individual job we have done, but I just don't have the time at the moment. If any FZ fans out there have anything in particular they would like us to reveal, I would be glad to answer, Just leave a comment!

I have been busy rushing about alot, buying and ordering loads of last minute stuff.

I'm really looking forward to seeing my nice new HEL brake and clutch lines on my doorstep in the next couple of days.

We are looking at getting the motor fired up this weekend coming, hopefully without too many dramas! and with most bits either on order or bought this week, we are confident all will be ready for mallory Park in less than 2 weeks!

I bet we will still be messing about with her when we roll up at the track.

Because of time getting short, we are concentrating on getting the thing running with everything bolted on and skipping things like cosmetics and using older fittings that are a bit scabby.Once the Mallory test day is over, We'll have 3 weeks to tweek and paint things and replace the scabby bits. She'll be nice and shinny soon!