Spirit
Racing 2011
Getting the Bikes Ready
The bikes are almost ready to go, with the first meeting at MalloryPark
on 26/27th March. This is perilously early in the year, and will very
probably be cold and wet, but at least it is close enough for going
home overnight if it's too horrible. Next it will be a one-day meeting
at Donington Park on May 2nd, Bank Holiday Monday, with Thundersprint
the very next weekend. A different set of gear ratios for that are
due to be tested in Sally's road Cub, if that works well there will
be frantic swapping of bits during the first week in May.
Fine spring weather for working on the bikes
Mallory
Park March 2011
Jenny's Gazebo, our home from home
Well, although the beautiful Spring weather took a weekend off, it
was better than we had any right to expect at this time of year. Practice
was delayed while the mist cleared, and unlike last year both bikes
got through that stage without breaking anything. Starting from the
back of the grid, the Cub was making progress when the first race was
stopped - riders made a habit of falling off throughout the meeting,
restarts and re-runs were frequent. Alas, in the second race the Cub
bent a pushrod and, while spares were to hand, it could not be fixed
in time for the re-run of the first race. As Sunday's grid positions
were taken from the results of that race, that kept me firmly at the
back. Most of my class disappeared into the distance while I had fun
playing with a Greeves from the 250 class, much faster on the straights
but catchable in the corners. I tried adjusting the timing for the
last race but went slower instead of faster.
The Daytona, on the other hand, was going well, moving
up two rows on the grid as a result of a reasonable placing in the
first race.
Unfortunately this didn't help, as it only has four gears and the
opposition has five or six, getting them off the line much faster
so that I was
still last into the first bend. This still left me the fun of plenty
of overtaking to do, and I was able to dice with some of my old opponents
from the last two years. There was precious little chance of getting
in the first three, as our class has been invaded by young lap record
holders
on pukka racing bikes rather than the converted road bikes the
rest of
us have, but the scrap for the remaining places was good. The third
place trophy sitting on the seat hump of the bike below was so nearly
mine, one of the top bike's didn't finish the last race and a desperate
dive up the inside at the Bus Stop chicane so nearly worked...
Mick McKay and his Kawasaki. Goes like a train, but
handles like a camel, in proper Kawasaki style. We were neck
and neck for the third year running.
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Joan and Joop Van de Pol's rapid Hondas, 200cc and
500cc. |
I think
that the Daytona can be left as it is for Donington, but some extra
oomph
needs to be found for the Cub. The lap times were competitive until
after the repair so there is hope that further rummaging around inside
the engine will help.
Donington Park May 2011
Truly, even the fruit itself is seldom as pear-shaped as things
went at Donington. Much of this has to be put down to incompetence
or false optimism on my part, but the final twist of the knife
was just an outrageously bad piece of luck.
Much experimental work had been going on to decide whether
the new, thicker pushrods would fit the Cub OK. There was also
a suspicion that the valve springs that had cured the valve
bounce were too strong and stopping the engine from revving
freely, so as an experiment one of the original valve springs
was put back in, plus a new one of a slightly different typel.
In case of trouble I took spare pushrods and valves. After
two laps of practice the bike slowed due to a slightly bent
valve then stopped altogether when a pushrod jumped. It was
then discovered that I had two spare inlet valves but not the
expected exhaust valve. The pushrods had also been horribly
mutilated and had spread bits of aluminium throughout the engine,
so no racing on the Cub that day. The one positive note was
that, with only one cautious warm-up lap and one with a down
on power engine, the posted time was not too bad, so maybe
the attempted tuning is heading in the right direction if I
can get some details right.
So, there was still the Daytona to enjoy, and practice revealed
that the Melbourne Loop - the extra bit of the circuit we don't
normally use - suited me as well as I had hoped. However there
was some clutch slip in practice, so with plenty of time before
the main race I whipped it apart. The centre seemed too floppy,
just worn rubbers or something coming loose at the back? Well,
still plenty of time so off it came, there was a bolt coming
undone so it was as well to have checked. With Paul checking
the plates for flatness and giving them a scrub, I started
the reassembly to hear that the parade we could hear was being
run during the lunch break rather than after it. Suddenly the
pressure was on, time was getting short, and bits started not
going back together as easily as they should. My attempt to
stay calm was not entirely successful but at last it looked
as if we were going to be in the nick of time. The bike fired
up straight away, but with massive clutch drag came the realisation
that I had asked Jenny to put the clutch plates back while
I replaced the alternator, and I had then forgotten to balance
the clutch. With no time left I tried turning round to head
for the track but the clutch stayed fully engaged, with the
front brake on the rear wheel spun as I turned and bike and
I went down in a heap as it stalled. Bump-starting it back
to life I tried again, this time it threw me off on the other
side. I limped back to the van - could there yet be just time
to fix it? - but it was too late. And the second fall had damaged
the front brake line.
Oh well, we had plenty of time before the final race...
A spare brake hose was fitted and after a lengthy struggle
the brake was successfully bled. In the earlier rush, I had
also misrouted the alternator wires, which had been cut by
the primary chain. Knife, pliers, silicone rubber and cable
ties produced a satisfactory bodge, balancing the clutch took
no time at all with the cover off, everything was double-checked
and to be absolutely ready the footrest rubber which has to
be removed to use the paddock stand was replaced, the bike
being leant against the van in its customary position. Time
to clean hands and tidy up.
A few minutes later there was a mighty gust of wind, which
blew the bike over - it was a windy day, but that took quite
some doing with the fairing sheltered by the van. Well, the
bike had often been over on its left hand side one way or another,
with no damage. It turned out that the end of the clutch lever
had snapped off - OK, I had a spare that could be made to fit;
with a few minutes work, that was sorted, we were ready again.
Annoyingly, the bike had landed on a tool box which had put
a dent in my lovingly crafted aluminium oil tank, but it had
not split. The race was called, and I headed for the track.
Grid position was allocated, I was in the holding area with
the other bikes, warming the engine up. And then I saw that
when I revved the engine, a drip of oil would escape from the
oil tank. A small drain plug had also been caught by the toolbox,
and pushed back just enough to cause the leak. I couldn't go
out after all.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my day at Donington.
Thundersprint
So, with 5 days to be ready
for Thundersprint and the engine in a sorry state, it was
as well that I had another engine
that I had been running in in Sally's Cub. This had revised
gearing which I hoped would prove ideal for the event, and
a high compression piston, but of course I could not experiment
with open exhausts on the local roads, and the cylinder head
was borrowed off Sally's bike so had a much smaller carburettor
than the race engine. There was just time to do a bit of extra
gas-flowing and check that it revved OK in first gear in the
driveway. Sometimes it seemed to hold back so the carb was
stripped and cleaned and all the electrical connections checked.
All seemed OK so come Saturday it was time to load the bike
onto John's trailer and hope for the best. The weather was
scheduled to be pretty foul so with no van to work in there
would be little opportunity for fettling between practice and
racing.
We were pleasantly surprised
to find the weather brightening up as we arrived to pitch
the tents, and by the time we had
driven down the road to look at the Anderton lift - a nearby
wonder of Victorian technology - it was downright sunny. We
returned to the camp site to park up and head into town to
meet my old friend Ben and his son, for food, beer, and the
usual gig at the Memorial Hall. This featured interviews with
the younger GP riders taking part in the Thundersprint, and
tales of derring-do from the older riders. A local band followed,
but most of the audience headed for their beds in readiness
for the early start in the morning. Fortified by Newcastle
Brown, the only drinkable beer in the place, we stayed to the
end to give the band some much needed and well deserved support.
There was definitely a "we happy few..." feeling
by the finale; as the whole affair was timed to finish before
it got too late, there was time for a final pint when we got
back to the campsite, which was wonderfully quiet by then.
Just time for 5 hours kip before heading back into town. The
promised next belt of rain had arrived during the night, but
was once again easing up, and we unloaded the bike in a substantially
dry paddock.
In the paddock
Signing on and scrutineering
done, I was able to watch the start of practice while Sally
and John tracked down some breakfast
- none allowed for me, I was still above racing weight! The
track was drying out well, it would certainly be dry for my
practice session an hour or two later unless there were further
showers.
Cleaning the bike
And so it proved, the day
brightened steadily, the crowds started to flock in and,
best of all, the bike ran sweetly
leaving me with the fastest time in the Lightweight group
- ahead of the MZ that beat me last year, and the Bantam
that
had been streets ahead at the Mallory meeting back in March.
Dave Edwards and his ultra-fast 125 Yamaha were absent, giving
the other 10 of us in the class a chance. So I went out to
join the cavalcade with a big smile on my face.
The
Cavalcade
Upon returning from the obligatory three circuits of the town
centre, I spotted a screw sticking out of the rear tyre. A
few spots of rain had wetted the tyre, and tiny bubbles were
forming as the screw was pulled out. End of big smile.
Changing the innertube
A call on the paddock PA produced
a fellow competitor, Oliver Presswood, with a spare tube
and some tyre levers, and Robbie, the owner of the
Bantam, lent me his paddock stand and helped with changing
the tube, as did my friend Paul, taking him back to his days
at Waddon Racing many moons ago. We got the job done in time
to watch the GP riders, who were trying quite hard this year,
albeit on road bikes and, of course, with strict instructions
not to crash and injure themselves. I was going to have to
knock a second off my time to beat Danny Webb.
And he's off
In the end, I only knocked
.3 of a second off, and was beaten by Robbie and his Bantam,
who tried screaming round the whole
1/4 mile in first gear and was pleased to discover that the
engine held together. None of my three runs were anywhere close
to perfection, so that extra second is definitely there for
the taking. Roll on next year...
Morini
Rider's Club Track Day - Cadwell Park, 17th June
An ideal opportunity to check that the bikes
were OK before Brands Hatch in July - with M1 roadworks and
the usual perils of the M25, it's a long haul down to Kent
so a full weekend's racing would be good. The Daytona needed
trying out to ensure that all the repairs to the chassis parts
and brakes were up to scratch, and I was keen to see how the
Cub's Thundersprint engine worked when geared up for a longer
circuit.
Lots of Morinis as you'd expect
Well, the Daytona felt fine, and towards the end of a pleasantly
sunny day some rain provided the opportunity to check the wet
weather handling too. On the Cub, the slightly different gearing
was not as suitable as the closer ratios normally fitted, which
was useful information. It also felt pretty much as fast as
with the larger carburettor and I was looking forward to comparing
lap times once it was fully warmed up. Unfortunately, on the
fifth lap, it seized. There goes my rare and precious 11:1
piston, and the barrel will probably need a rebore too.
As Jenny's race bike is not
yet ready she took her road Morini, this gave us a chance
to check we could get three bikes in the van.
Room for one more?
Loading the third bike
Strapping in is easier without the fairing on.
Three into One can go
Brands Hatch, 9-10th July
One of the problems at this time of year is that Sally has
a long-standing arrangement to slope off to watch Wimbledon,
and sundry extra trials and tribulations at the shop have led
to a distinct shortage of spare time. In addition, the Saltbox
Motorcycle Club was celebrating its 50th anniversary - while
the club faded away about 20 years ago, many members have kept
in touch and the chance to meet up with lots of old friends
was not to be missed. With the reunion being in a field in
Surrey, it made sense to visit other friends and relatives
darn sarf too, so that was a long weekend used up, most enjoyably
it must be said. Eventually the main race engine was back together,
seeming OK but with some misgivings about whether all the bits
of aluminium cleaned out of it had offended the big end. I
had checked it twice but it there was a hint of knocky-rattliness.
At least I had a spare bottom end together, a spare head and
spare transmission.
It was damp and distinctly breezy on Friday evening as we
put the gazebo up next to the van and got the bikes ready for
scrutineering and noise testing in the morning, but Saturday
dawned clear and bright. No problems in the practice sessions,
apart from some slight vibration and a strange feeling at the
back end. Everything was checked for tightness, the back tyre
had worn in a peculiar way and some curly bits (technical term)
were filed off on the right hand side in time for the first
race.
A bright and sunny start to the day, bikes
ready to race, just a last minute clean.
Both bikes went pretty well
though not quite well enough. The first race in both classes
used current championship position
to determine grid position, and since I had missed all but
one round so far I started at the back The Cub was handling
especially pleasantly and I was able to move up several places
on the first lap, and then chased a group of 200cc bikes -
the ones I'm meant to beat - while picking off a couple more
of the slower 250's.
200 Class at Paddock Bend
I was constantly closing up
into the bends but didn't have the acceleration out of them
to make it stick,
and in the end achieved the distinction of coming 7th out
of 6. OK, so there were a few extra entrants not listed in
the
programme, but it was still not what I'd had in mind. Just
one second a lap faster would have moved me up 4 places,
I was sure I was getting faster round the corners but while
the
bike felt OK the lap times showed a slight slowing towards
the end of each race. Then, just before crossing the line
at the end of the third race, there was an expensive-sounding
bang, which turned out to be the top coming off the piston.
Bottom on piston still attached to the conrod
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Top of piston still in the barrel |
They are meant to be connected!
The suspicion is that when
a valve hit it earlier in the year, although it looked OK,
it had a hidden crack underneath which
had been the cause of the rattle and the slight slowing when
hot. I have now run out of spare pistons, like an idiot I
didn't grab two spotted on the Internerd last year and they
are getting
alarmingly scarce.
500 Class: starting the chase.
On the Daytona I had a slide
at Clearways and was scraping the toe slider round Paddock
Bend at a satisfyingly high speed
by race 3, but the gearbox was playing up and I'd lost top
gear. As this made no difference to the lap times I could clearly
do with gearing down for Brands in future.
200cc Cub vs 250cc Cotton Telstar
Alas, a couple of
laps into race 4 it was clearly getting worse so I pulled
in, investigation has revealed that a missing circlip had
allowed
a bearing to move. A problem of having an engine put together
by the aforementioned idiot. Hopefully it will all work OK
again with a modest amount of work, now I have to phone round
on the piston hunt in time for Darley Moor in August.
Darley Moor 13/14th August
My first time racing at Darley Moor and, as
with other first-timers I spoke to, I was impressed – despite
the lack of ups and downs and basic triangular shape, the
extra twiddly bits
added make it an interesting little circuit. And I had plenty
of ups and downs of my own, in any case.
warming up
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setting off
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It was The Weekend of the Gear
Problems – what had been
a minor sign of some worn dogs in the Cub gearbox decided to
change to full-blown jumping out of second gear. At Cadwell
Park you just stick the Cub in top gear and pretty much leave
it there, but at Darley Moor second gear is used a lot. The
result was a lack of acceleration resulting in an inability
to keep up with my usual protagonists, let alone the faster
guys in my class. I could have done with a higher gear down
the longest straight too, though the lower gearing suits the
rest of the circuit – the limitations of a four-speed
gearbox making themselves felt. Just to add to the fun, the
Cub ate another pushrod so it seems that the thicker ones
are still catching on something. Some new thinner ones needed
shortening but as we were close enough to home to be returning
for a good kip anyway the lathe was put to use while we were
there. So on Sunday the valve clearances were back to being
correct, I had found a way of mitigating the gear problem to
some extent, and lo and behold the lap times were just as bad.
And there is a mystery oil leak which looks like the head gasket
blowing although there is no sign of it otherwise.
fettling with a file
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serious investigations
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On Saturday evening there was a pushbike race round the circuit
which I felt compelled to enter on my clapped-out mountain
bike bought second-hand 20 years ago. This, I thought, would
make me have another go at sorting out the gears on that bike
but time spent on the other bikes meant that I only had two
to use instead of 15. I didn't do too well, but it did at least
confirm that my heart, lungs and legs are still functional.
Those of you following the harrowing saga of this year's racing
will be aware that I had a go at destroying the Daytona's gearbox
at the last meeting; it looked as though I had got away with
it but third gear turned out to be entirely unreliable. Fortunately
the Daytona has a wide spread of power and revving it hard
in second allowed me to skip swiftly through third into top,
resulting in only a slight loss of time. This difference was
just enough to keep me behind two of the bikes in my class
rather than in front, but at least I was close enough to have
an enjoyable chase and avoided coming last. In the first race
this needed some very late braking on the last lap and as I
slid down the track it looked as though I had overdone it,
but a line of oil dropped by a Kawasaki was the culprit. No
great damage done and at least it gave me the satisfaction
of being able to complain about these oily old Jap bikes, not
something a Triumph rider often gets to do.
Oops.
I stayed aboard in the second and third 500cc races and in
my last race of the meeting I was thinking that I might just
catch the bikes ahead for a last lap lunge. Alas, it was not
to be. The leading few bikes of the much faster class that
we go out with normally start to lap our class before the end
of the race, and the leading rider misjudged my speed as he
cut across me and took my front wheel away. You go down a lot
harder in that type of crash and this is being typed up when
I had been planning to be re-roofing my garage. Hopefully my
right leg will be fully functional by next week, and the bike
does not look too badly bent. I hope that is the case, especially
as I have just sent off the last few weeks' profits for a replacement
gearbox...
Cadwell Park 10th-11th September
Well, the end of an imperfect racing year, going to Snetterton
next month would be too masochistic by far. I had high hopes
of having all four gears on both bikes, which were promptly
dashed in practice; the Cub now stays in second gear but jumps
out of third, though at least not as badly. The Daytona jumps
out of third every bit as enthusiastically with its expensive
new perfect-looking gear cluster as it did with its obviously
worn predecessor.
Making the best of a bad job, I had some fun on the Daytona,
once again not quite fast enough to be up with my usual competitors
but at least able to have some good dices near the back of
the field. Several of the bikes and riders in the 500cc air
cooled post-classic class are now way out of my league as demonstrated
by my friend on a Morini, who due to a numbers mix-up started
near the front of the grid among the fastest 1300cc riders,
proceeded to go 3 seconds a lap faster than either of us had
ever gone before, and was still not in the top three of our
class. In search of more power I tried different jets in the
carburettors, it went slower and developed a misfire. I returned
the settings to normal and sorted a suspect electrical connection
before the last race, it felt happier but still had the misfire.
On Saturday the Daytona was still
going relatively well.
The Cub, meanwhile, was also going more slowly than usual
and attempts to check the timing were thwarted by the strobe
gun playing up - again. This is the new gun bought when the
old one played up in exactly the same way, the problem comes
and goes and no-one can think of a reason why. Frustration.
Some parts had been changed in the hope of curing a mystery
oil leak with no success so the top end of the engine was stripped
down on Saturday night, work ceasing when it got too dark.
The first race on Sunday was sacrificed to the cause of not
rushing the rebuild, on the warm-up lap it felt OK and then
halfway round the first lap the carburettor fell off ; the
clip seemed perfectly tight but the mounting rubber seemed
strangely slippery. By the time it was re-attached with the
aid of a marshal's Swiss Army penknife it was the last lap,
the oil leak seemed not to have returned but the bike had had
insufficient thrashing to be sure. And what was that slipperiness
all about? More frustration.
The Cub chasing around. At least the
weather held up.
So, the plan is to put the Daytona back to road mode so that
extensive tests can be done on both engine and gearbox, there
is one immediate modification that offers hope of getting the
latter sorted. The Cub engine had better go into a road chassis
too for further testing, though there is further playing around
to be done first with both gearbox and transmission. The lesson
from this year is that it is pointless going racing if sufficient
time and energy can't be found for proper maintenance, still
less development. But hope springs eternal, there is Thundersprint
2012 to look forward to and the gearbox I use for that was
working properly last time I tried it...
Pete on his 350cc Morini showing the 500cc
class how it's done.
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