Got out on the SV first with her new rear brake-line. Gave her a right canning for two laps. :-) She is so well behaved, even through the real bumpy sections. Great fun!
A pic from John Turton (thanks Edwin for finding it!) from the Bungalow
Came in, ate a banana while the BAMF warmed up and headed off down Glencrutchery Road. I short-shifted all the way to St Ninians, but by the time we reached the traffic lights we were ticking along a lot faster than on the SV. Got the tyres up to temp and then opened her up after Union Mills. Baaaaaarp! Shit! Clutch slipping. I ease the throttle open. She hit 8 500 rpm and 'Baaaarp' clutch slips again. Bollocks!
The offending brake line
Shiny and new - thanks Dennis at Dennis Trollope Race Spares - he's got everything!
Couldn't get her cranking along at full throttle with the slipping clutch... but as soon as we started to get up some speed, I'd have to hang on real tight. On the flat-out run from Glen-Vine to Greeba Casle, the airflow hitting my head was so much that my helmet strap started choking me. Not good. I tucked down as much as possible, but still too much wind hitting the front of my helmet. It was like this on every straight. I had taken the little wind-deflector off because it obscures one's vision (especially when wet) and I landed up looking over it most of the time. It helped a bit.
Best lap on the SV: 97.7 mph. 32nd out of 110 with an 11th best speed through the Sulby Speed Trap of 137mph. Not bad for an almost standard 2001 SV! :-) The Wee Monster last year could only manage a trap speed of 124mph.
I jumped Ballagh Bridge 4 time last night... 1 screw-up and 3 in style (I'm getting better at it)... of course the photographer only got the screw-up. Thanks Dave Kneen... another pic for the shopping cart
Best lap on the BAMF: only 101.4mph with a trap speed of 147mph (the top boys are getting 170+). With a clutch that works and a bit of aerodynamic work, we should get that closer to the 110 mark.
Looking at the aerodynamics over the nose of the two bikes, the SV is quite steep - this give me a nice bubble of still air to have a cup of tea behind. The BAMF has a Ducati 1098 nose, a lot sleeker and sharper. Great for short circuits (and looks wicked) but around here is just directing too much wind into me. SV screen angle is 56 degrees, BAMF 38 degrees... a full 18 degrees lower!
Found out my ally paddock stand has some nasty edges that can open you up... and give a mouth to a finger- puppet
Did some work on the BAMF nose this morning... now got the screen up to 47 degrees - that should help. The clutch arrived... but I wasn't here (I was getting a filter and oil for the job... doh!). It's stuck somewhere in the Manx mail system... I hope to get it soon and have enough time to fit it... running out of time here. Might have to go out tonight with a slipping clutch... at least I can test the new screen angle. Got a stonking migrane at the moment too... so could do without the running around...
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