Signing on. Kit inspection. Rider's briefing. Some grocery shopping and lunch on the go. Technical briefing. Back to the house... finish repairs. Clean. Load bikes. BAMF sails through scrootineering (she should.... the only thing I've done to her since last year is change the wheels and put on some numbers). Suzy sails through scrootineering (they didn't like the number '1'... so I'll knife it for Monday). Hurry up and wait as practice is delayed an hour. It was brought forward an hour... but a rain shower and mist on the mountain but us back on the original schedule.
Bikes repaired, loaded and ready to get down to the Day-Paddock
Little wheelie from first to second... shit! She pulls! I short-shift on cold tyres and first time back on the course after a year. Before I got to the bottom of bray hill, I knew that the handling problems of last year are still there. She felt twitchy, nervous. Over every bump she just doesn't feel stable. The faster I go, the worse she becomes... but she's pulling like a train!
I take it easy and try let it flow. But I'm a bit nervous as she twitches and shimmies along to Mountain Course. Also need to recalibrate my mind to the speeds we do at such close quarters to things like kerbs, walls, trees and lamp-posts. Fuck! This is quick!
3 bikes up and fully loaded - the new Air-Suspension system on the Chev-dawg is brilliant!
Coming over the mountain there is mist... not too bad and doesn't slow me much. Glad to bring her back to the pits. She is a scary to to ride around here. She'd a be a treat on short circuits the way she dives into corners and feels so agile, but this place demands stability... stability at speed. We got some work to do on her. We've solved the horsepower issue :-) but she still feels terrible around here. Scary terrible. I think it's the geometry.
I have a 15 minute rest then swing my leg over the SV. Before I even start going down Bray Hill she feels miles better than the BAMF. I take is easy on cold tyres, full tank and an untried machine. By the time I get to Ballacraine I'm really enjoying it. The Wee SV is just so well mannered and behaved. Dead easy! Fast enough to be fun, but not too fast to be scary. A bit like the Monster of last year... but a bit quicker.
I manage to get a second lap in and am enjoying holding the Wee Suzy on the stops for most of the lap. One of the 'works' Post Classic bikes (it was one of those Heron Suzukis) passes me coming out of Ballaugh. I stay with it over Ballacrye, through the Quarry bends (holding her flat-out through there!) and it starts to gap me down Sulby Straight... then poof! Smoke billows from it's one exhaust and the acrid smell of burning oil fills the air. I dive off it's line and keep well away from the trail of oil it's leaving all the way up to Sulby Bridge. It's going to be a busy few days for the mechanics in that garage!
The girls back home after a good day in the office
The mist on the Mountain had turned to fog. It gets dark and you just knock off 40% of your speed and follow the centre line. With no reference points you're constantly second-guessing when the turns are... "long left coming up... now... no, not yet... now... now? Shit where is it... then zap! the line you're following veers off to the left. Shit! Now! I knock off 60% of my speed. I pass about 6 riders that where really touring. we get out of the soup with a murky visor and a few clear miles back home. I think we got the gearing on the SV spot-on.
Despite the fog, it's probably been the best ManxGP first practice I've ever had. 3 laps done and thoroughly enjoyed it. The BAMF is a bit scary, but the Wee SV is a treat!
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