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.

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