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Very exciting! 2013 is our return to the BMF show at Peterborough next week, we are once again taking part in the moped endurance race which is part of the entertainment for the weekend, under the new team name ‘team bikemeet.net’.
After a year off, we uncovered the scooter (Gilera Runner 50) from under the tarpulin finding it still covered in the mud from the September 2011 race! Lots of work has been done on the bike, we have replaced a broken brake lever, a damaged throttle cable, replaced the clutch, spark plug, fuel lines and carburettor.
We have had massive trouble getting the carb set up, and a trip to the local bike mechanic has traced the issue to a faulty float valve in the ‘new’ carb.
So currently the bike needs a replacement carb sent over from the place we bought it from, all the fairings are still off, the brake calipers need stripping down and cleaning, back tyre is flat and we need to get the paint out because we need to change the race number for this year.
7 days remaining, what could possibly go wrong?
Thanks to JC motorcycles in Yardley, Birmingham. They are only a small garage but they have the best mechanics and friendliest staff. Give them a call for any of your bike needs 0121 707 4879.
Great stuff Champs, there’s nothing like a close deadline to work towards.
"Team BikeMeet.net" for the win!
Is it true that Ses might be joing your rider line up??
Are we going to have a Vetel v Webber situation here??
I say fastest gets the mountain view!
Yep he’s joining us, although its not going to be a ‘situation’ As I am getting the mountain view in France
Quick update. New carb only arrived the other day. Got the ped back from jc motorcycles at half five this afternoon so good work to rob and the guys to get that sorted. Replacement carb is fitted and tuned. We only got a quick blat around the back of joes house but it feels nice and reponsive. Fairings have the final coat of paint on them.
Nothing like a bit of pressure to get the old heart going!
Quick update. New carb only arrived the other day. Got the ped back from jc motorcycles at half five this afternoon so good work to rob and the guys to get that sorted. Replacement carb is fitted and tuned. We only got a quick blat around the back of joes house but it feels nice and reponsive. Fairings have the final coat of paint on them.
Nothing like a bit of pressure to get the old heart going!
Looking forward to hearing all about, sorry I can’t make it to support the team
So mental note to self, leaving it to the last minute doesn’t work.
We got the bike back on Thursday and headed for Peterborough the next morning.
We arrived at the east of England show ground about 3 ish and set about building camp. We had planned on the weather being changeable so had dug the gazebo out of the garage, although leaving it in the living room at home didn’t help us when we got to the site! This was roughly the start of things to come.
Friday evening/ night had the usual antics of bad eating and high alcohol consumption, mixed up by finding the biggest highest fastest fair ground ride we could to see who had the strongest stomach.
High alcohol contents also produced a rather funny video where we took took the gopro on the dodgems. Will have to get the (edited) highlights on YouTube at some point.
Saturday morning we woke to lost voices and sore heads, after a full English and a few jugs of coffee we headed off around the show, the usual best in show, classics and manufacturers were there but were joined this year by a new offroad and overland section.
A few bargains were to be had this year too, the usual clothing stores were open, with joe (one of the team) collecting a very smart looking set of two piece brand new rk sports leathers for less than £150.
If you are ever looking for something new to add to to your biking wardrobe the show is well worth a look. I almost treated myself to a brand new frank Thomas textile jacket for £40, although my £40 I had was burnt on alcohol the previous night and I already have some textiles!the stunt team were back this year, and also the introduction of motoball
We then gathered back at the paddock for the moped to be safety checked for the races. The guy doing the checks was thorough as usual, and picked up that we were missing 8 case bolts on the swing arm. Being integral to the strength of the swing arm case he told us to go and fit them. Not a problem because I remembered all the case bolts are in the ‘bit pot’! Which we later discovered was in the spares box…. Next to the gazebo…. At home!
A quick run back round the show ground and we traced a man selling different sized bolts. We picked up some case bolts and were ready to go!
At 3pm we gathered up at the paddock with the other riders and after a quick briefing we pushed the mopeds and pulled the gear over the pit lane in the centre of the race track.
For those who are new to this, the moped enduro is held on a speedway track, concrete and shale mixture. Roughly a 400 metre track with 3 chicanes built up from tractor tyres. There are two 90 minute races, team with the most completed laps wins!
Qualifying this year was a luck of the draw. Out of 45 bikes starting we found ourselves 24th and right in the middle.
Race one got off to the usual hectic start with everyone piling into the first chicane. Joe was riding this first stint and came out of the first chicane in the middle. We were off and running!
The bike was holding its own with only a slight lack of power low coming out of the tight chicanes, but speed along the main straight was keeping us in the middle of the pack scrap.
After about 20 minutes we called joe in for a rider change. I jumped on and headed off. Being in mind we hadn’t had any testing or practice, I wasn’t doing to bad. Maybe if we had the time we would of adjusted the tyre pressures but other than that no problems. I was about 15 minutes into my 20 when I miss judged my line through a chicane and smashed the left hand side of the bike along one of the tractor tyres. The impact was heavy, the fairing was cracked and something didn’t sound too healthy from the engine, but this is endurance racing and we keep going!
End of my stint and me and joe switched again, as he headed off I caught a glimpse of the air intake. It didn’t look as it normally does, maybe a bit lower? And bit further back?
“Well, it’s running” I thought.
About 10 minutes in to our 3rd stint, we noticed the moped was not responding out of the chicanes, joe was hardly moving, it didn’t look good. We called him in and had a look, the air intake tube had been split. Maybe from my accident, or maybe something else? It didn’t matter. The new carb was full of crap, the fuel/air adjuster didn’t seem to be affecting anything. Full throttle only made the engine die. We cleaned the carb out but we were now miles behind. We sent the bike out again but it promptly died again out on track. Saturday was over.
That evening after the race, the mood was a bit low in the camp. Mainly frustration than anything. We have all known each other long enough for it to be anything else. We stripped the carb, changed the spark plug which looked like it had been cooked, fitted a new air intake pipe and after a few adjustments on the fuel air mix we got the bike running. A quick 15 minute test in the paddock suggested it should be ok.
That night we drank away any problems with a mixture of lager, beer, cider, Bacardi to name but a few, mixed it up with dancing to the status quo tribute band and headed back to camp.
the lead guitarist I couldn’t help feel he looks like thumper?
and another band where the lead singer had the biggest….. voice
Sunday morning came with the standard painful head and lost voices, only to be added to by everyone testing there mopeds in the paddock.
The race had been moved forward for some horrid reason to half 9, the second race got under way and I was the first man out. The bike was running really well until just before the end of my stint. I came out of the final chicane onto the main straight opened the throttle and…. The engine died.
We tried to get it restarted but to no luck. 20 minutes out of 90 and we were retired from the weekend.
All in all, not the most successful weekend, but we only have ourselves to blame. We are just looking at availability from the various social secretaries to allow us back to the September race. Needless to say, we are pretty much last in the standings, so September will be more of a test session, but….
Here’s to September! Maybe…. Probably…!
even tho it sounds like a disastrous weekend, it still sounds lots of fun!
Looking forward to the pics
We’ve had too many problems with that air intake, so it’s coming off in favour of something more robust. We also reckon the carb is jetted too high because the spark plug(s) were coming out totally black. We’ll have it sorted for next time!
You all had some fun so that’s a win in my book! Look forward to seeing the dodgem vid.
Sounds like it was a real shame about the carb probs, how did the rest of the bike feel when it was working?
Sounds like it was a real shame about the carb probs, how did the rest of the bike feel when it was working?
It was fine, handling was fine, grip levels were about right, Sunday morning the track was wet but the knobbly tyres were finding grip everywhere really, although they locked up quite easily into the braking areas.
We are toying with fitting lighter rollers to get the acceleration up, although we need to mark out the length of the straight and test to check we won’t be bouncing off the rev limiter too early, you can deristrict the rev limiter but that obviously brings other potential issues.
We need to get back to consistency first, the first few years worked well because we just kept going round the track. We are learning though and have already got a shopping list ready.
Great stuff Champs. Sounded like you had a brilliant time despite all the problems. Team Bike meet rocks!!
That female singer certainly had a ‘big-voice’ as you said!!
September’s BMF tailend is approaching, and instead of leaving it till the last minute we are starting work….. at some point in August!
Jokes aside, just ordered a few bits for the ped.
New main jets for the carb to reduce the fuel mix.
New sparkplugs because we burnt out the last one within 10 Km! (True story) and used 2 litres of fuel in the process
New brakes… well… because they are useful
New air filter because the last one was crap
New rollers to make the ped pick up quicker of the chicanes (hopefully)!Not expecting much this time round, Saturday will consist of me plus a novice rider, and lets face it, Sunday is back to a standard rider line up but we came pretty much last in May’s event so a good final position isn’t going to be very high.
We have got a couple of different tires to test and the new jets have 10 different size options.
I ordered 4 sparkplugs so if we trash one we can just swap it. Hopefully looking at extra front wheels so we can change tires during the race. September is going to be a test run for next year.
Fingers crossed!
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