a strangely isolated place






fifteen and three-quarter's of an hour after setting off for the british historic racing practice day at cadwell park, i'm sitting in my shed with dangerous quaffing a couple of bottles of staropramen, it's been a strange day, early start, our traditional breakfast at the golden arches, egg mcmuffins and coffee, heavy, overnight rain and a pretty average weather forecast of low temperature, low cloud and persistent showers doesn't bode well, down for scrutineering, bike through ok bar us getting a bollocking for not running an oil catchment tank, basically the 'gravy tray' that we bolt underneath the bike to catch any fuel/oil/lubricant spills, i'd got it out i promise, it's just that we can't get the bike up the plank and into the van with it fitted and i'd left it on the bench, noise testing goes ok, ninety-seven decibels at four thousand rpm, sticker on and i'm happy, not so when i get my leathers, helmet, gloves and boots checked, my left boot is worn through under the instep and it takes some eating of humble pie and promises to replace them next time to get a signature on the tech card, briefing done, wristband's issued and i miss the first session, bollocks, luckily, the day is under subscribed, i reckon the weather forecast has put a lot of people off. it actually brightens up throughout the day and the track eventually dries, especially the mountain / hall bends / hairpin / barn complex where it's initially very damp under the trees. the early sessions see 45 bikes out on track, solo's one, solo's two then sidecars, i just do a twenty minute session, get flagged, off the track and straight back into the holding area for the next session, basically forty minutes track time each time, repeated throughout the day, brilliant value at sixty quid for the day, dangerous reckons it cost me 15 pence a lap the amount of time i got. initial thoughts on the new engine? brilliant, rev's easily through and beyond the red line, loads more power than before, got to modify the gear linkage, it's just too flimsy at six mil, need to step it up to ten mil so the gearchange is more positive, the bike just feels great to ride. a cold, damp, cadwell park in early spring, a strangely isolated place indeed, i get the reality check i need in the second to last session of the day, i tip into the uphill, left-hand bend at the end of the start / finish straight, drop a gear for the double apex charlies, blind entry and lose concentration, i'm off the track and onto the wet grass before i know it, how i keep it upright i don't know, i'm dabbing the back brake to try and scrub off some speed and the arse end is fish-tailing all over the bloody place, brakes just don't work on wet grass, at least i had the sense not to grab a handful of front stopper, lesson learned, i'm cold, i'm tired, i've had a great day, need to reign it in and call it a day instead of pushing it, i'm mad at myself for running off the track, but, you know what? there's no where else i'd rather be today..............

Comments

  1. Almost hate to admit it, but that Beemer is neater than a very neat thing.

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  2. At last Tim, sounds like it's all coming together, (other than being easily distracted, ahem), sounds like you'be got a proper racebike now, does it sound like a spitfire, with the baffles out?

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  3. Hey Tim did you get any air on the jump ? If your not running out of track your not trying !!

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  4. Nice one, see you at Darley!!

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  5. Well, me old matelot, after two years of frustration and testing your spiritual mettle, it does appear as though the six hundred pound gorilla is off the Team Loveless back, what a positively uplifting read this one has been . . . flimsy gearshift, grassing it up, new boots, no baking tray . . . doesn't mean fuck all, you actually got on it and got it on, the Buzz Bomb flies at last, total and absolute victory mate, you and Dangerman should be rightly stoked, and knowing when to pull the pin, perfect. Huge respect, big love and hearty congrats Lovey, go you good thing !!!!! XXX

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  6. thank's everyone, yep, managed to get some air under the front wheel over the mountain, dangerous reckons about four inches, ok, not exactly josh brookes but give me a break, it's a thirty-five year old tourer for fuck's sake! greg, i'm sure the tr1 will be neater, jan, yeah, it sounds pretty cool with the baffles out i must admit, cheer's andy, yeah, booked in for darley, are you racing yourself?, come and have a brew with us, dog williams, mate you know......

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  7. There's a slight limitation to the neat-ness off my TR1 at the moment (its engine is in bits)

    http://i468.photobucket.com/albums/rr50/der_nanno/TR1-Tractor/TR1-mini-overhaul/IMG_0607.jpg

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    Replies
    1. good stuff greg, how big can you bore the tr1's out too?, are they liners or nikasel bores? be interesting to see what size pistons you could slot in there?

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  8. Stock bore is 95mm, liners are very thick and nothing fancy (just oldskool steel in ally cylinders, shrunk in) and overboring to 97, 98mm shouldn't be a problem. More interesting is the fact, that the 1100 pistons (you need to go with the 1100 crank as well - long story) are basically the same as XT600 pistons opens a whole new world of opportunities. Wiseco does nice stuff and oversize liners are available off the shelf. Once you're aware of that... the world's your oyster.

    Oh and the BT1100 and V-Star 1100 use a lighter crank than the mid 90ies crank I am using... Luckily I have a second engine and frame, which eventually will be used for pursuing stupid ideas... Nah, skip that. It will certainly be used for some stupid ideas.

    My old TR1 is my everyday ride, so that just has to work... but the second bike... completely different story.

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