1976 MZ ISDT replica

bank holiday monday saw team loveless off to an early start, we were on the road to rockingham raceway near corby for the 'classic bike' magazine 'burn-up', a trackday for owners of classic bikes and racers, i picked up dangerous and we made the 70 mile drive in good time, mind you, i don't expect you run into much traffic at 0600hrs on a bank holiday, rockingham is a bit of a white elephant for the amount of actual racing that takes place there which is a real shame because the infrastructure is fantastic, the high 'bleacher' style seating offers a view to be envied, especially when you think about other circuits facilities, [are you listening donington?, how many times have i stood six deep in a muddy puddle trying to get a glimpse of the action], the grandstand area and the pits/garages are spotless, it's a real shame that only track-dayers get to enjoy it, anyway, got the bike out of the old ldv hire van, brew on and we have a stroll around, there's some serious tackle here, tz 250 and 350's, an old p and m formula one kwak, a couple of lovely bsa racers, some honda hailwood replicas, [the ones with the modern watercooled in-line four, don't know the model but it was bought in as a grey import], the jota racer was an amazing piece of kit and sounded fantastic out on the banking, the big triple bouncing the sound back off the high catch wall, i sign on and get the pre-session briefing while dangerous gets the mz noise checked, 99.9 db, not bad that, sounds noisier, the day is undersubscribed which is good as it means more time on track, we are split into two groups of forty and we are soon out on the track for three sighting laps, the track is very technical with a tight infield section which suits me, there's a couple of longish straights and we get to ride a section of the banking with a superfast left/right chicane at the end of it, the 'international circuit is 2.5 miles long so theres plenty to go at, after the sighting laps we are free to go, i soon make a right nuisance of myself, the little mz turns really quickly and is really light, [less than 100kg], i'm passing the bigger capacity bikes through the infield section in the turns and their having me down the straights, then i'm outbreaking them in the corners and they have to use their horsepower to get past me again, it's all great crack and we are flagged off for group two to have their session, i can't beleive it when twenty minutes later, just as i take my first slurp of tea when we are called up again, this goes on throughout the day and i get seven sessions in, well, nearly seven sessions, my carb decides it's had enough of thrashing around rockingham and jumps off it's mounting, we try to bodge it but the rubber hose that we use to mount the carb to the ally manifold has started to deteriorate with the oil/petrol mix and is like a worn out welly, luckily i only have to be recovered once from the track in the jcb, [i kid you not!] the other couple of times was right at the end of the sessions, a really good day out, chilled and good humoured without the usual trackday bickering and a refreshing lack of bloody tyre warmers!, we are home for 1900hrs, unload the van, put the tools away and sit with a couple of cold cobra's to round the day off..

'so human, you think you can control me with a piece of rubber hose, two jubilee clips and some silly little springs?, hhhhhaaaaa!, hahahahaha, werhahaha........'