NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
Thursday 1st October 2009
It has been some time since I last updated my site, but with the problems that I have been having it has been difficult to find the extra time & when I had time I have just wanted to rest away from racing & try to get the enjoyment back. I think we are there. I have done two meetings now after a long break from July to the end of August & thankfully, so far my cooling problems seem to have gone. I do not seem to have the speed though that I had last year at my best (just before I crashed) but I am looking at my setup now to try & improve things. I think I have been riding with the wrong gearing this year so I am experimenting with that & I have changed the geometry of the bike.
This weekend is the last meeting of the year for me (Stars at Darley) so let's see if these changes help. Usually at this meeting my times are slower anyway because I am not so confident with the cooler conditions, maybe this time it will be different. See you there.
Wednesday 1st July 2009
We have had another meeting in June to test the bike for its cooling problems but it was no different. So I have had to bite the bullet & remove the engine again. With the heads off I can't see any obvious signs of blowing etc., but it is the only thing left that could be causing my problems. I have been in contact with Mike Tanski of Ferriday Engineering ( see sponsors advertising & other useful websites pages for details) & he is going to make a set of Bi-Metal head gaskets for me. This does mean that I will have to miss the Darley meeting on the 12th July.
The June meeting was OK for me & I did enjoy it more than previous meetings this year as my problems only seem to start when I slow after the finish. Once I understood that, I was able to have some battles with other riders ( I was hoping these battles would be closer to the sharp end of the pack not two thirds of the way back). Hopefully I will be back for the meeting at the end of August.
Thursday 14th May 2009
The race season is well underway now & I wish I could tell you that it's going well but it isn't. I have had problem after problem. The March test day & race Sunday was hampered by a slipping clutch so I could not get full power down on the track (I had noticed on my Dyno run that there was a dip in the graph at 8000 rpm & so I now know what caused that) . Also after I finished my last race I noticed that my engine temp was higher than usual & when I checked this out I found it had filled the expansion tank with coolant.
The April meeting started badly. I had removed the thermostat to try & solve my cooling problem & also fitted a new clutch, in between the last meeting & this one . As I started my bike for morning warm up I was met by a volcano of oil coming up & out of my fairing. It went all over me, my brakes, tyres, tyre warmers & up the walls of my pit shelter. One of my oil coolers had blown. I bypassed it & ran with a single oil cooler but I missed qualifying. The overheating was also still a problem & I also found a leaking clutch master cylinder. I need a hug.
May's meeting had changeable weather. I had looked at the possibility of air locks in the cooling system in between meetings & hoped that this would be the answer to my problems. It wasn't, so like the previous meeting I spent more time looking at my temp gauge & riding my bike with care than racing. Oh yes, one of my rear brake calliper bolts stripped just to give some extra confidence in my bike.
Since the last meeting I may have found something wrong with routing of the coolant hoses & a possible small blockage in the coolant return pipe. The only way to test if this has sorted the problem is to do another meeting, as the problem only happens under race conditions. If this doesn't cure my overheating then I must consider removing the engine & taking the heads back off. If that happens then I will have to miss some meetings as I have no funds left & I will have to use entry fee money to help pay for replacement gaskets & alike. Fingers crossed.
Tuesday 17th March 2009
At last the bike is ready. I finally got the parts I had been waiting for, a couple of weeks ago. The build did not go smoothly though, the bike ran very rough & it turns out that I made a mistake when timing the rear cylinder. I was convinced that I had done it correctly & although all the symptoms pointed to this as the problem I was in denial. In the end I asked Sean Kynnersley to take a look & he confirmed that I had timed it wrongly (thanks Sean). Once back in my workshop it only took me an hour or so to retime & it then ran fine.
I ran a few gentle laps at Mallory & then put it on the Dyno for a custom map. The results on the Dyno were very pleasing. Now the problem is that with all the hold ups & last minute rushing to build the bike, I have not had a lot of time to get myself ready. I had better get cracking with that now, less than 2 weeks to go.
Friday 6th February 2009
The new season is coming up very quickly & I am nowhere near ready. I have been waiting since November for some parts to come from Aprilia & I still have not got them, so I am feeling rather stressed. Other items, that I sent to Germany to have work carried out on, came back months ago. This really isn't leaving me any time to sort out any problems that I have not foreseen (thanks a lot Aprilia !!!!!). I am waiting for Maxton to finish my forks, they should be done next week. John at ARD has repaired my bodywork as well as he could & he has now returned it to me. Thanks John.
I talked to one of my local motorcycle dealers this week to see if I could get some help for the next season. I was proposing that they could supply me with my tyres at cost price & some Dyno time (so no real cash outlay for them, just no profit) & in return I would provide the usual advertising & promotion, but it seems to have fell on deaf ears.
T.T.F.N.
Tuesday 14th October 2008
That's it, the season has come to an end. The stars meeting was another OK meeting for me. The weather forecast was awful for the day & when I went out for my qualifying it started raining again. I wobbled around for half a dozen laps or so hoping I would get better in the conditions but I didn't. I spoke to some other riders after the session & they said that they had never qualified in conditions like it. It made me feel a bit better as I thought I was just being a wuss (I was still slower than most of the other riders out there).
Come lunch time the clouds parted & the sun came out. I couldn't believe it, I thought it was going to pour down all day. I had entered the Open class as well as my usual SOT class & it was the Open I was out in first. The temperature was cool & I had brand new slicks on, which were not even scrubbed in. I lost touch with the pack very quickly, nervous of the tyres not being scrubbed in & the cool temperatures (especially after what happened at the last meeting, however these new different slicks shouldn't let go like the others). I enjoyed the race & it was a good experience riding in the same race as so many fast riders on very fast bikes. I was disappointed though as my lap times were slow & I proved at the last meeting that I can go a lot faster. The SOT race was my last for 2008. I was better in this one & stayed with the pack at the start, although we did have to restart the race after Ian downed his TL & it caught fire. I was still slower than I should have been (I think the track temperature really bothered me) & I finished 6th in class. I was pleased with the position but I just got lapped on the last lap which hadn't happened to me since the middle of the year.
So it looks as if I finished joint 8th in the Darley Moor S.O.T. championship. I'm quite pleased with that BUT I CAN DO BETTER. Here starts the hard work for 2009. I have plans for my bike which involves a lot of work this winter (& money which I don't have). I hope it will pay off. See you at Darley Moor in 2009 (& maybe some other tracks).
Friday 26th September 2008
I've completed four more meetings since I last updated this page, the first being the Thundersport GB meeting at Mallory. I found myself out of my league in the GP one class, on a day that was very hot. I only had one race which was double distance. My engine cut out on the start line, which after my previous experience at Mallory did not go down too well, but I got it restarted just as the lights went out so I was last off the line but I didn't get hit by anyone. I pulled in after half a dozen laps or so & watched the rest of the race from the paddock. A disappointing day.
Next up was Donington Park. Qualifying was dry, warm & enjoyable, it had been 10 years or so since I last rode there & that was on my road bike on a track day. I had forgotten how much I like the place. Unfortunately for my races it poured it down so although I still enjoyed the races I took it steady as a lot of riders were going down in the rain.
August's Darley Moor meeting was my next outing. I did OK but I changed three things for this meeting (new Dunlop GP Racer slicks, gearing & the way I approached & took Townleys). The result was that for the first time this year my lap times actually were a bit slower than the last meeting. The problem was my new approach to Townleys, the new way felt quicker but it wasn't.
September's Darley Moor meeting was a day of highs & very lows. I had carried out some modifications to my Ram Air system just before this meeting (didn't cost me any more money, just some time working with my Dremel). The results were fantastic, I gained 6-7 mph top speed down the straight & I suspect possibly 5 BHP (not had time or money to check this on a Dyno). The result was my first 1 minute 4 second lap. The next lap I think was even quicker but (here comes the very lows) as I put the power down to exit Paddock the rear Dunlop let go, no warning just no grip & deposited me & the bike into the tyre wall. I couldn't believe it. We had our work cut out to try & get the bike on track for the next race but after working flat out right up to just before I was due out, we managed it. Thanks to my wife & daughter who ran around getting my tools & spares as I am trying to fix the thing & (which I didn't notice at the time) they managed to clear all the grass & mud (and there was a lot) out of every orifice of the bike that you can imagine. Also thanks to Paul (99) & Sam (161) for lending a hand. No more Dunlop GP Racers for me thank you very much !!!!!!
Tuesday 15th July 2008
Sorry it's been a while since I've updated this page, so I'll briefly bring things back to speed. At Darley on the 5th May I had some technical problems with the bike which turned out to be a faulty connection on my PC111USB so I only completed three quarters of a qualifying lap. After disconnecting the PC the bike ran OK but with no quick shifter. After the Mallory crash I am a bit tentative on the starts but I was quite pleased with how the rest of the meeting went. Brands Hatch didn't go well. We camped in our tent the night before & I didn't get a wink of sleep. I thought the Indy circuit would suit me but I could not master the last set of bends before the start/finish straight. There were two tar seams running around those corners & they unsettled my bike terribly. I think at the end of the season Maxton will be looking at my forks. Before Darley's June meeting I remapped my bike on a Dyno & changed to a different type of tyre (still second-hand though). I was very pleased with the result. Another second & a half off my lap times & very consistent times. Last Sunday's Darley meeting was a good one for me. I managed to qualify on the front row of the grid & in the first race I was lapping in the same times as last meeting. In between races I walked over to the hairpin to watch the top guys & see which lines they were taking. The lines were different to mine. Race two with a different line around the Hairpin & a bit more aggressive through the Esses another one & a quarter seconds consistently off my lap times. This also enabled me to keep with a couple of the 675 lads & join their battle for the last rostrum place in the S.O.T. class.
Wednesday, 2nd April 2008
Mallory Park did not go well at all, I'm afraid. Various problems with my helmet & then with scrutineering left me very short on time to get ready for qualifying, hence wrong choice of tyres for that qualifying session. That left me further back on the grid for the races.
I was involved in a start line crash with two other riders in the first race. Luckily, I managed to keep the bike upright but injured my left shoulder & later discovered a suspected cracked right forearm (however an x ray of the forearm later that day showed it to be intact). The doctors ruled me out for the rest of that meeting. There was some bike damage but it could have been worse.
One of the two other riders may not have fared so well, I understand he may have broken a leg. If anybody knows of these riders' condition please could they let me know & I wish them a speedy recovery. I just wish the incident hadn't happened.
Thanks to Karen & Lauren for loading the car back up to come home & the Scrutineers / Marshals who helped get the bike on the trailer.
Friday, 28th March 2008
The first meeting of the season has come & gone & conditions at Darley Moor last weekend were a lot better than the forecast led us to believe. The new bike seems fine & is faster than the TL. My lap times, despite the very cold track conditions, were quicker than I had done here before (but not by a lot). In the second S.O.T. race four of the laps were within a couple of hundredths of a second from each other, with my fastest on the last lap. I was however a little disappointed as I had hoped to have gone even faster but I know the track temperature made me very tentative & nervous with regard to tyre grip. Hopefully some dry & warm conditions will give me the confidence I need as I won't be happy until I knock off another five seconds a lap (seven seconds would be better). I am going to make a couple of small changes to the bike which should help a little. I'd better finish getting ready for Mallory this Sunday & we will see how we go there. T.T.F.N.
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