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Back for Septembers BMF weekend.
We arrived late on Friday and setup the hospitality area (table and chairs) and sleeping quarters (the tents), then… proceeded to the bar!
Saturday morning started with seriously bad hangovers, but after a quick fry up and a number of coffees we set about preparing the scooter for the race.
This began the weekend that none of us were planning!!The scooter started up first time, we checked all the fluids and double checked all the fairings were secure. After letting the motor warm through, we took it for a quick run. 30 seconds later… we had sheared an exhaust stud, only 3 hours before the start of the race.
An unhelpful trip round the various stalls at the show didn’t help. Luckily another team ‘Dynamite Fluff’ (Thanks Dan (bikers cafe)) sold us a spare engine block they had.
We went through scrutineering without a working engine, but we were at the front of the queue. As soon as the brake checks, tyre checks and no sharp bit checks were done we ran the scooter back to our camp to strip the damaged block out and replace it with new.Amazingly we completed the change within 45 minutes and after a number of kick starts, the scooter was fired up with just under one hour to go.
Finally we made the start line, and the question we had was ‘would our modifications over the last 6 months work?’.
However the track had been completely soaked by the track marshalls, nobody really had an answer to why. normally its just to keep the dust down (shale surface), but the track had been left waterlogged!
The start came, down to the first chicane everything felt good. The mods to the engine gave me the extra poke to get past some other bikes, and then it all started to fall apart.
The track was so wet that the shale was getting clogged in our tyres. The front was the worst. It was such hard work. Everytime I opened the throttle the bike tried to highside, and everytime I touched the brakes the bike tried to lowside. My energy was getting drained very quickly.Down the main straight the back wheel was spinning all the way, at the times I had enough nerves to open it down the straight I was taking places, but it was going so wrong everywhere else. I only managed 10 minutes before my arms were worn out. I came in early, swapped with Dave and collapsed.
Sadly, he wasn’t having anymore luck, and a pretty heavy highside left his motivation in tatters and the rest of the pits wondering how he was still moving. Dave brought the bike in, he had snapped the front brake lever, broken the front mudgaurd and knocked the steering out.After straighting the steering and removing the damaged mudgaurd, it was Joe’s turn. The whole time we were so disappointed. What had we done to make the bike so bad? Maybe a steering damper is required??
After his stint Joe brought the bike in, and it was my go again. Although I was very unconvinced about going out my spirits were lifted by joe shouting into my helmet, ‘its drying up’!
He wasn’t lying. It was drying up, and each lap was getting faster and faster. Each lap I would pass 2 or more bikes. It was all starting to make sense. We hadn’t caused the bike to handle bad, we just had tyres which couldn’t shift enough wet shale.
End of race one, and spirits were high. We found a vendor who sold us a new front brake lever, we washed all the mud out of the radiator (no mudgaurd remember), had a few beers and we (sadly) in bed pretty early, all with various bruises to nurse.
Sunday started with another fry up. Luckily the morning race had less water on the track. This was the chance to see what the bike really had to offer. The start was great, I kept out of as much first corner trouble as I could, and got going. The main straight was easy pickings but I was struggling with a slight understeering around the last corner, it tried to lowside a few times so that corner was taken at half throttle.
Dave was out nursing saturdays injuries, which the pitlane was still talking about. Mark and Joe took the second and third runs. No problems there, and they came back with good words about the bike. My second stint at the controls was pretty uneventful until my in-lap. I had been signalling my intentions all the way down the straight, but another rider was caught daydreaming, as I slowed for the pit entrance, he smashed into the back of the bike at full race speed.
The impact sent me and the bike flying. The following morning I would be waking up with a bruised right knee, bruised left elbow and a stiff neck, but at the time I was too busy shouting and waving my arms at him. He rode off and I picked the bike upand ran it into the pits for Mark.
By the time he came in, it was apparent that the bike had taken a fair whack. The steering column was twisted, and the exhaust had a growing crack between the expansion chamber and the silencer. On top of that, we were loosing front brake pressure, and that was adding to the problems. By Joes final run the crack in the exhaust had peeled to a hole, luckily it was after the expansion chamber so we didn’t loose too much performance, but it wasn’t sounding healthy.
Amazingly after all the spills, overheating issues, broken steering, broken brake levers, broken engine blocks, broken mudgaurds, broken exhausts and an unknown cause of pressure loss in the front brake, the scoot ended the race still running. Overall I believe we came 32nd for the year, not bad for our first year, and once we fix all the broken bits, we’ll be back on the grid next may.
Sounds like you had a real adventure Champs. Well done for sticking with it, hope the bruises and bumps clear up quickly!
Great review and pics too
I think we will have to and get some forum support down there next May!
Yes the team certainly put in a real effort there, both on and off track, you had a lot to contend with. Good luck with the next event.
Good write up bud, excellent fun although it sounds painful in places. Pretty fast cylinder change too.
You need to take a set of wet weather tyres next year if the same track marshalls are on. You reckon they did it to slow people down?
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Originally posted by imperialdataGood write up bud, excellent fun although it sounds painful in places. Pretty fast cylinder change too.
You need to take a set of wet weather tyres next year if the same track marshalls are on. You reckon they did it to slow people down?
I think so, the first place team completed around 30 laps less than may.
The bruises today seem to be travelling around my ribcage. I think the rider who crashed into me on my final stint hit my back. Luckily I had my back protector on, which spread the impact. Better that than cracking a rib!
Its all part of the fun.Looks like a lot of fun Champs. Well done.
I’m still on the look out for a ped to prepare over the winter.
Check out number 14 right at the beginning
Finally, we have a few more action shots from septembers fun!
Pre-race preperation
Usual chaos on the opening lap
Squeezing a rival offline onto the heavier mud… oops!
This image pretty much sums up how bad the track was.
Or this one!
Head down for an overtake
The main straight is a chance to catch your breath before getting hard on the brakes into turn 1.
Leaving the pits
Happy days!!
Its all part of the fun.
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