Watching from the side lines

Snetterton, round 3,

It seemed like I had travelled back in time, to last year! when I spent the whole year watching,apart from the occasional trackday.
Watching from the side lines isn't so bad....... oh hell!, who am I trying to kid? It sucks!
I'd rather be out there, in the mix.
Actually, I really enjoyed myself. It was just the uncertainty of when I would be riding next. With my engines in pieces, everything is a maybe. Anyway, I'll get to that later....

On the way to Snetterton, we dropped off Phil's engine components at Steve Spencer's and had a good chat about what we were exactly going to do to the FZ motor. Then, off we went to get to the circuit before dark.
We got there to find Gyles and Chris had bagged the spot we had recommended from last year's experience. A good vantage point to be able to see the exit of Corums and the whole of Russle's chicane and onto the start straight...excellent.



Without going into loads of detail, Gyles's Guzzler had nothing but problems, but when it did go ok, he was absolutly flying! It seems Snetterton's fast straights suited the Guzzi well.
I know he had a great time and managed to bag some good points too!
The guys from Alto Performance came to the rescue of the guzzler.
It finished 1 out of the 4 races and went home with more problems than it arrived with. :-(




Gyles chases down John Hall on his aprilia "dirt bike"

Phil chases Dave Shannon on his FZR 750. We may not see Dave on the FZR anymore. He's decided to take his 400 out for the rest of the season. I think he is selling FZR, so we may at least see it in the hands of some one else. I hope so!

Phil enjoyed himself very much and managed some points as well to open his account.
Seems I've got some catching up to do.
Well I may just be able to do just that!......


After talking myself into, and then out of, riding my RSV in the Forza Extreme class at the next round at Cadwell, I decided to give Steve Spencer a call to see what the chances of getting one of the motors sorted, in what ever state of tune, to get me out in time for the next race.
I had spent the journey home from Snetterton, trying to work out some way of racing and not having to miss any more track action. Steve agreed to have a look and call me later in the week with the diagnosis.
Wednesday came.I was expecting a call but my patience got the better of me and I decided to call him........ good news! He had found a good block, some new rings, skimming of the head as it was warped, some new valve seals and a good clean up and valve seat grinding. He has found me a pipe to borrow, and some velocity stacks. A session in the dyno room and tweeking of the carbs should see her in good shape. Anything has to be a vast improvment on what I had before.

So an early departure up to Steve's, where upon his insistance, we will put the motor in at his workshop, rather that at the track as I had suggested. Good idea I guess. His experience is not to be sniffed at and I would take his advice over anything I could come up with.


Phil at Cadwell last summer, entering Hall Bends.....



and climbing up the Mountain.

So I have Cadwell Park to look forward to!
I really didn't want to miss this round. Cadwell is an amazing circuit set in excellent surroundings. A real circuit!



KIDNAPPED.......!
One titanium fork, one titanim spoon or knife....I can't remember which, plus two plastic tubs and a pack of bacon!
I was planning on melting down the titanium stuff but gas is so expensive these days. Shame, they would have made some nice light weight fittings for my bike. Phil talked me into giving them back..... Gyles and Chris are such nice guys, I guess they deserve them returned!
See you at Cadwell guys, I'll cook something nice, and I'll use our own cutlery....promise.
We did eat the bacon though, It would have gone off anyway!....nice.

Depressing, but exciting!

After 22 years of running about on public roads, it seems my number 1 engine can't put up with the race track, which is hardly surprising. I'm amazed it lasted as long as it has. My number 2 engine has also had enough! They both filled the dyno room with so much smoke, that Steve had to evacuate the place!...... sorry Steve!

The two engines have spent the last week in the dyno workshop being worked on to extract more power and get them running right. That was not to be and after performing poorly on the dyno, were then taken apart for further inspection. Steve has updated me on the sorry state of them both.

Number one has a blown head gasket, warped head, very badly seating valves, terrible scoring in a couple of the bores, one is particularly bad, and the exhaust pipe is seriously stifling the motor.
all pretty bad stuff!
Number 2 has also a blown head gasket. the rest of the motor has yet to be stripped.

It always was the plan to have one motor seriously tuned, just not quite this early in the year.
Oh well, there's no time like the present I guess!

Obviously I will miss the next round at Snetterton and more than likely the following race or two. I am rather gutted, but at the same time relieved. Neither engine would have survived another race and I would have hated to have ruined someone's weekend by possibly dumping fluid all over the race track or had one seize on me. It also means that soon, I will have a nice new motor, pumping out maximum allowed bhp and hopefully allowing me to move up the grid a few places.

So to the tuning work.
Steve has given me several options on tuning and we have reached a decision.
Rebore, new ballanced pistons and rods, new bearings, lightened crank, porting work, gas flowing , skimmed head and a multitude of other tweeks.
We have decided to loose the starter and also the generator and run total loss electrics. This, among other bits, will shed a good 6 kilos off the weight of the motor.
By the time Steve has worked his magic, we should have 106bhp at the rear wheel and shed a load more weight bringing the old bus up to, or very close to, the Thunderbikes power to weight ratio limit.

The really great thing about it is, it will give me a chance to work on other stuff. Not having to think too much about the motor now, I can concentrate on the brakes and suspension. The raised power will certainly show up both these areas and we'll see what happens.If I can get these sorted, I can then really concentrate on ME and my riding, which is what I'd rather be doing. I will hopefully be picking up my newly reworked forks from Steve Jordan when we get to Snetterton, to add to the improving package.
Now we should be getting somewhere! all I have to do now is be patient and keep earning those ££££!

Work resumes

Play time is over and work resumes as the engine gets removed, ready to go to the bench dyno.
Hopefully it will come home from the FZs good friend Steve Spencer running better, with a fatter torque curve.Not sure exactly what Steve will do to the motor until I get to his place and have a chat. Some mid range power increase would be great as would a little more top end for those long straights at the next meetings venue, Snetterton in Norfolk. I am sure there is loads of scope to just simply make it run better as I am not entirely convinced it is running that well.



I will also be dropping off the spare motor so Steve can give it the once over and see if it's worth tuning it into a proper little race engine. Time will tell, as they say.

In the mean time I will be away from home for a week which means nothing will get done.
When I return, hopefully with a more sorted motor, I will have plenty to get on with and I imagine it will be another mad rush and long evenings, getting ready to get to Snetterton sometime on the Friday evening.
I want to play with ride height and the rear shock, to complement the work that is being done to the front end forks.
A good clean up and other small mods are due too.
We are not doing the testing day, Thursday, as we decided to save funds for the following meeting at Cadwell.

I love this racing lark!

Round 2, Lydden Hill, Bemsee's home circuit.
A good weekend all in all, apart from sleeping on a hill and a bit of cold and wet on Saturday.

The bike ran fine, running well on all 4 and with no clutch slip. I however, was not running on all 4.
I really don't like the cold and wet.

Phil's Laverda decided to spring a water hose leak, 2 minutes before first practice and after trying to sort it, unsuccessfully, he missed the first race too.
The first race for me was still a case of getting to know where I was going and sorting out the correct lines. Still suffering with a horrible front end, especially in the slow turns, my storming fast start was wasted as just about everyone came past. I managed to finish 16th out of 18 finishers.

As race 2 approached, the weather went from cold and damp, to colder and wet and with not much time to decide on which tyres to run, my gamble to stick with inters proved wrong. 10 minutes before the start the rain got heavier and it became clear that wets would be the correct choice.
Phil had his bike sorted and was allowed to take the start.
Again, I got a very good start but quickly went backwards and skidded around praying for the chequered flag to come out and coming in last... not nice.

Camping on a hill is no fun, neither is being on grass!


I felt quite down about the whole day, feeling not very confident in either myself or the bike. I have a lot to learn about riding in the cold and wet!

After a nice warm evening in the back of our more comfortable van, after leveling up the bunk, and a better nights sleep than on Friday, I woke to a much better looking sky. The hotter the better for me! Heat gives me confidence.
The warm up was short, just a few laps and over in no time, but I managed to hook on to the back of one of the fast guys and learn some better lines.

Race 3 was much better. yet another blinding start, jumping up the order but not for long as loads of guys came past early on. About halfway through the race, I decided to take a peek over my shoulder to see whether I was being caught and if I was going to be last again. There was Phil behind me, and as each lap passed, I could feel him getting closer. On the second to last turn, the hairpin at the top of the hill, I felt the pressure, messed up the corner enabling him to get past. I finished second to last this time.
I managed to knock 2 seconds off the previous days time which I was happy about, but I was not happy with a few things I had done.


After a good chat with Jeremy Hill, my mentor for this season, I felt better.Some advice on certain lines and other bits and pieces were a good help and some adjustment to the forks for the second race of the day.

As race 4 got closer, very pissed off with myself, I had to turn negative into positive.
I tucked myself away in the van for a while to psych myself. I used a bit of visualisation and got myself determined to really go for it and not make the mistakes I had made previously.
I decided that I am to never look behind ever again. I knew after the last race that this is a bad thing, and that I need to 110% concentrate on what I am doing instead of playing silly games with the guys behind. Jeremy confirmed this with me.
I had, up until then, been letting the bike worry me. That had to stop too. If the bike is going to go bang or something falls off, then tough, don't worry about it. Just me and the road in front is all.
Leaving my warmers on until the last moment and not looking at anything, I made my way to the grid very well sorted in my head. If the belly pan decked out, then so be it (it had been putting me off all weekend as I still haven't got this sorted quite right yet). If I fell in the process, then so be it... bollocks to it! I had to get on top of the bike and push the thing more than I had at all so far this season.

So the lights went out and I stormed through 2 rows and about 10 places into the pack. This time I made it much further into the race before they all got me back.
The bike felt better, I felt better and although I went backwards in the finishing order again, I was happier with my performance and another 3/4 of a second off my lap time, and I wasn't last this time.

There are a few mods in the pipeline for the next race meeting at Snetterton. These include:
A change of gearing to cope with the long straights and high speed corners.
Getting the ground clearance right, including rear ride height and belly pan mods.
The front suspension is at Steve Jordan's suspension shop being sorted and a trip to the dyno to get the motor running better.

I really feel focused on improving in as many areas as I can in the coming races. This is once in a lifetime for me, so I plan to make the most of it.
Even with moments of doubt and getting a little down.... I love this racing lark!

Running on all 4 ?

I am 90% certain the bike is running on all 4, after finding another discrepancy in the carbs and spending shit loads of time trying to get to the bottom of the problem.I forgot what it's like to spend an evening at home with my girlfriend....oh yes, I almost forgot I had one!
The new brass bolt, screws into a sleeve which locates in the carb body on a slot and pin and the needle sits into this. I found this to be seated incorrectly which would explain why pot #4 only gets hot at high throttle and would also explain why the bolt was busted, a previous owner must have messed it up when trying to screw the thing in. This is a relief as I was racking my brain trying to work out what the hell I had done to bust this component.

So with all this now correctly seated, it seems to be running ok. I only say 90% as there is always that niggle of doubt in the back of my mind and that things never go that sweetly...we'll see come Saturday morning warm up!
The van is loaded and ready to go straight after work tomorrow. Just one more day of boring work....the day before race weekend always drags so slowly.
The weather forecast is a bit dodgy and I get the feeling we'll have plenty of wheel changing practice!
Well, with the clutch sorted and the thing running ok...hopefully, I am hoping to have a reasonably decent bike to ride. It will be nice to be able to concentrate on riding instead of worrying about the bike.

Race day here we come... bring it on!


Don't ask me...I've no idea what he was doing .........maybe he was cleaning up?........surely not!

Send me to the nut house!....maybe?

We are hoping that we have found the reason for all the mis-firing and trouble with cylinder number 4. While checking and adjusting the float height in pot 4's carb, we found the screw at the bottom of the needle jet was loose. On further inspection we found it was completely snaped and came away easily. I shall be ordering a new one first thing Monday morning! I really hope this cures the problem, although we found the float height was way too low, probably not getting enough gas into that carb would of course, not help the problem.

I have been getting covered in fiberglass resin again!
I have cut away the sections on the belly pan where it has been decking on the track and re-glassed these areas scalloped inwards.
Also cutting away the top edges so it sits closer to the frame and further away from the track as the bike leans over.
The exhaust was also burning a hole in the bottom so I have cut out and made a dip in the base to cure this problem.
There's not much left of the original item left now!

I have installed the new plates, which look in much better condition than the original, and robbed the pressure plate and springs from the spare engine. The springs are much longer now, look much newer and have a much more resistant feel to them. It is noticeable on the lever now too. The pressure plate looked in much better condition that the original as well.
If these mods don't cure the clutch slip then I will take myself off to the nearest nut house for a well earned rest!

I still have the forks to mess with.Once the carbs are sorted, I plan to check the fork oil level and possibly increase this in an effort to attain a bit more damping. Hopefully this will improve the handling and get me through the next race weekend, prior to sending the forks off to Steve Jordan Motorcycles to have the forks completely re-worked.

Not too much else to do other than some new oil, a bit of lock wiring and a general clean and polish, oh and a few more mods to the van.

A couple more images from Brands.... Phil, # 61, as you can see from the scrapes, he suffers from the fairing decking out! He does get that Laverda leant over incredibly far sometimes!

Rockin' !

Sunday was equally as good as Saturday. The weather was dry and clear although a bit windy.
the racing starts later on a Sunday, which means a lay in bed....very welcome!
We were not due on track for our race until after lunch apart from a short warm up session late morning. Well very short for me as I ran out of fuel on lap 2. Best to get these mistakes out of the way before the racing.... what a dork!

I got a great start in both the races but, again, found myself slipping backwards down the order, suffering badly with clutch slip. The engine seemed to behave this time though.

Handling of the suspension wasn't too bad but we found that the forks need to be completely re-worked. All adjustment being at one end of the available "clicks". Another job for Steve Jordan!
The rear seems fine and the tyres performing excellently apart from a couple of rear slides coming onto the start straight. Just me I guess, trying to get the power down too early.That is something the sorted suspension should cure.I am having to wait too long to apply the power out of the corners while I wait for the bike to settle.With no testing before Lydden Hill for us (due to having to work), and the forks not due to be worked on until after the race weekend, I am going to have to race with the setup the way it is until the next round at Snetterton.

I had the help of Jeremy Hill over the weekend. he is an ex-champion and had retired from racing to concentrate on helping new racers, such as myself. We talked about setting up the bike as well as a multitude of different things. He really was a great help and I very much look forward to his help throughout the coming races.

Thanks Jez!

I managed to shave over a half second off of my Saturday times, finally recording a 58.290 time.A long way to go to the front guys, who are running times in the low 52 second area.
It will be very interesting to see the difference in my times, next time we go to Brands Hatch.

The first race of the day was interesting. Following Gyles on his Moto guzzi, I could smell burning fiberglass and soon realised it was coming from the bottom of his bike. He, as I, was having trouble with the catch tray grounding out early and severely limiting angle of lean. This was soon to become an even bigger problem for Gyles as the bike decked out, loosing grip, and sliding him off into the gravel. He was thankfully ok and back at the paddock he and Chris, set about fixing the relatively light damage, ready for the next race.He made it onto the grid for the last race.

Here he comes!....bugger!

The second and last race for us was a belter! I got away from the back but made several mistakes, missing gears and recovering from a rather nasty slide allowed Phil, who I had passed at the start, to catch me. Coming along the start straight, I knew some one was behind and close as I could see their long shadow in the low afternoon sun. I resolved to try to keep this mystery guy behind, riding defensive lines. I decided to have a peek over my shoulder and found to my delight that it was Phil. There's something special about racing a close friend. We spent a good 5 or 6 laps close together and by the last lap I knew that Phil was going to try something. Sure enough on the entry to Druids hairpin, I let the bike run wide by mistake and Phil ducked underneath me and got in front. There was little chance to regain the position as he was running a second a lap faster than me all weekend, but what a great end to the weekend!

Monday was so depressing. I guess all the adrenalin from the weekend was gone and I was on a big comedown. This racing lark surely is a big drug.

Thanks to Steve Spencer for sending me a new clutch and springs. That should sort the problem.With plenty of mods for the bike happening this weekend, we should be in reasonable shape for Lydden Hill.


This was one of the best looking bikes I saw at Brands over the weekend.

Addictive stuff

Addictive stuff this racing business. I can't wait for the next round at Lydden hill!
I thought that the weird feelings in my stomach would get less, now that I have raced....wrong, they are still there.
We were gifted some great weather for March, but rather cold nights in the van.Nice and warm for the racing though.
The first race grid of the year is set by the championship finishing positions from the previous season.Phil was to start from 8th and I was to start from 23rd.I really didn't have any expectations of where I would be by the end of the race and no idea of how the FZ would compare to the machinery around me.I just figured on finishing.I knew from the practice race starts we did at Mallory last month, that the FZ was good away from the start line, so I was hopeful of a good start. I was right. I wasn't too nervous on the line and felt well focused.I got a great start and blasted past quite a few guys, clipping some one's handle bars with mine as I shot through.

Phil # 61 and Tim "chunky" Churchill trying to find a way past!


The clutch slipping was a big problem and the engine was running badly and stuttering quite a lot.I soon found myself getting swamped by guys coming past as I lost drive out of most corners, especially the straights.
The race was over so fast it seemed like we had done only a couple of laps. A lot of it was a blur, but what a feeling of exultation for quite some time after.
I found from our timing sheets after the race that I had finished 21st. I was happy with that. I phoned my girl friend to say I was ok and she gave me my times from Mylaps.com website.I had been running consistent times, which was pleasing.


The second race for Thunderbikes of the day came as the last race of the day and again I got a killer start finding myself way up the pack.Halfway around the first lap, going into Surtees, a rider lost the front and hit the deck right in front of me. I picked my bike up to avoid him and had to take to the grass, loosing positions as I rejoined and coming out last. I managed to get myself back up to 20th and finished half a second behind Phil, getting back to the paddock with an even bigger feeling of joy inside. Great to get through the day in one piece!.

It was a long way back onto the circuit!

Saturday evening was a great fun.We had camped out with fellow Thunderbike racer Gyles Fairclough and his friend Chris.These guys had driven down from Scotland with the Moto Guzzi and a shed load of beer. We had some good food and some great laughs with tales of swollen bollocks and past biking stories.

Gyles's Thunderbike...what a beast!

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.