TT Machine Test

Been absolutely flat-out finishing and prepping the bikes - so this is an update from Friday...

After getting back from collecting the Triumph and track prepping it with John Trigger at 02h00, I managed a few hours sleep before loading the bikes and van to be a Mallory Park circuit for testing by 08h30.

I get to the circuit and sign on - I miss the first session as I unload the bikes, get setup and get the bikes noise tested. After all the troubles over the last few years at Mallory, there is a 103dB maximum limit on a static test for the day with drive-by monitoring down the main straight. The KMR comes in at 100dB and the Triumph scrapes through at 102dB on the static test.

The Norton team are there with Cameron Donald and Adam Child testing their TT Superbike and Lightweight bikes. The Norton Superbike is a custom framed Aprilia RSV4. That V4 sounded the absolute dogs bollocks out there. The Lightweight bike is a Kawasaki ER-6 with different body-work on. Close up, both bikes are surprisingly rough. I am surprised... maybe they are test bikes. But I have a feeling that those are the only bikes. We'll see in 2 weeks time.

All geared up and I make my way to pit-lane for the first of my test sessions on the KMR. I get a few approving nods and people are checking out the KMR. Adam Child comes over and tells me "We're admiring the bike.". We have a chat about the KMR and the TT while we wait - within a few minutes pit-lane opens and we are on circuit.

Team Norton with Cameron Donald (he used to be my wife's favorite TT rider ;-)

With cold tyres, I warm up on the bike gently. First heavy braking into a corner and I make a mental not to adjust the brake-lever. The bike is surprisingly smooth and docile. I start winding it on and 15 minutes later when the session ends, I'm really getting into it. I fiddle around with the brake lever a few times during the session, the bars need adjusting but everything else is just spot-on.

After the session I give everything a check and change the brake pads on the Triumph. Soon, I'm on circuit again on the KMR. I was in the fast group. I though t that on my little 90 horsepower bike against superbikes with twice the power I would be blown away. There are 2 or 3 riders that do just that... but the rest I either overtook or was pretty much level with. The wee KMR is such an easy machine... so smooth, balanced and planted. Built for the TT :-) I am super happy with it when I come in after another 15 minutes. I park up and put the cover over it - no use wearing out the machinery!

1 hour 20 minutes of racing on the Isle of Man and 2 sessions on track - a race tyre... superb!

Next session and I'm due out on the Triumph for the first time. Unfortunately, there is an incident at the hairpin my session and they call lunch early. The two ambulances cart 3 riders off to hospital. A reminder that track-days can still be dangerous.

After lunch and there is another hour and a half delay as we wait for one of the ambulances to return. There was lovely sunshine with a cold breeze - perfect conditions for the sunburn that I got on the back of my neck while fettling the Triumph. I am so tired from the last few days work on the bikes and lack of sleep - I can't keep my eyes open and retire to doze into and out of consciousness in the back of the van.

I wake when they announce the next session on track. I scramble groggily onto the bike and head out on circuit. Despite having had the bike on tyres warmers for the last few hours, as soon as I ask more than just a pootle from the bike, the grip levels feel terrible. I pull in to have a check in case there is something wrong. All seems as it should. I head out again and start to wind that 3 cylinder up to it's max power at 14 000 rpm.

The freshly track-ready Triumph stayed in the van overnight...

The engine is just so smooth and creamy. She pulls from low down at 4000 rpm - like a big vee twin :-) She hits 10 000rpm and just keeps on pulling! Beautiful! On one lap, coming out of Devil's Elbow, a rider comes up my outside... I pin the throttle and level-peg with the other bike next to me all the way to the braking zone for Gerrard's. I roll off early - I then see it's Cameron Donald on the Norton Superbike next to me. Either he wasn't on it or the Triumph pulls damn impressively despite running TT gearing that is way too tall for a short circuit. On both bikes I only use 5 or the 6 gears.

The brakes are bloody fantastic on the Triumph. They really show the KMR brakes up to be mediocre. I'd say that's the only weak point of the KMR... on a short circuit. Around the TT course this will be far less of a disadvantage. Maybe it's just the Brembo feel that I'm used to - the KMR has a ZX-10 Tokico setup. The Triumph stops as quick as it accelerates :-)

Next thing, I'm getting the black flag waved at me. I cruise around and pull into the pits where I'm told my bike is too noisy and I must fit baffles. I have no baffles and with that open race exhaust is was always a risk of taking it to a track-day. Especially at Mallory. I promise to keep the revs down and they let me out on track again. If I get another black flag, I'm sent home so I keep the revs below 12 000. A bit disappointing because she pulls like a demon and sounds fantastic on full chat.

The offending object of beauty

A few adjustments here and there and I get out on the next session to just get some bike time. K-Tech sent the incorrect steering damper fitting kit and without a steering damper, she was real lively over the bumps and coming down from crossed-up power wheelies. JT will have the correct kit for me on the Isle - so that should work out ok.

More titanium exhaust porn on the KMR... 

I struggle with edge grip. As soon as I get the bike down, she feels like she is loosing grip. I hardly touch my knee down and can't get her on her ear. I had a few slides in the earlier session, but I start getting her stepping out on both the left-handers (the only two on the track). It's those crap road tyres. Michelin Pilot Road 4 tyres just aren't meant for the track. I had some old Pirelli Supercorsas that I was going to fit... but after midnight, JT and I just didn't have appetite to change tyres. I am getting frustrated that I can't accelerate like I want and the cornering is also limited by the tyres.

Triumph - One and a half sessions an a new road tyre... they're shit.

My riding starts to get scrappy - the lack of sleep and sunburn factoring in. I get a big slide coming out of Edwina's and I decide to call it a day. I didn't have the energy to change tyres for the last session and on those tyres there was nothing more for me to learn... and a lot to lose. Lesson: rather go on track with worn out old race tyres than brand new road tyres.

I left frustrated that I couldn't get more out of the Triumph, that I had to wait another hour before they opened the gates to let us out but mostly by fatigue. But... the shake-down was a success. The testing is done, some adjustments made, some lessons learned and most importantly, some bike time on the machines that are going to take me around the Isle of Man in two weeks time. Nothing broke or fell off. No leaks or problems. Both bikes felt comfortable and strong. I stayed on. We're happy :-)

These two bikes followed me home... I'm happy... really... I am...

Now... to finish off the Triumph build and get both bikes prepped for the TT!

Data Logging

On my Sunday test run with the Ducati SP3, I tested a Vbox Sport datalogger that my friend Ant has kindly lent to me. It's not connected to the ECU and just gives GPS location and time. From this it works out speed, route, g-force etc. It makes interesting reading...

The software is difficult to use and pretty crap. But I think it'll be useful on the Isle of Man - I hope I'll have enough time to muck about with the user-unfriendly software to get some meaningful data from it. Maybe I just need more practice with the software.

Here's something interesting that I got from it. From a standing start, I accelerated briskly... not a race start and not redlining every gear. She did the 1/4 mile in 11 secs. Ducati are making a  song and dance about the Panigale Superleggera doing the 1/4 in 10 secs... will be interesting to see what the old 888 does at the race start down Glencrutchery road.

Road Test!

On Sunday I managed to get out early on the 888 on damp roads for a wee test. I did a 50 mile loop with some bumpy twisties and dual-carriageway.

As I'd felt a few weeks earlier when taking her for an MOT, the combination of lightening the primary gear/flywheel/clutch basket, the close ration gearbox (tall first gear) and moving some of that mid-range torque/power to the top has made her an awful road bike :-(

She needs at least 5000rpm and a slipping clutch to get her going without stalling. Around town I use first gear... a lot. She's not the most comfortable to ride stop-start and under 40mph. But... get her wound up... and she flies! She is so sweet between 8 and 10k :-) She feels like she'll pull 10k on the gearing I'm running - last year she could only got up to around 9750rpm. We'll see what she does on the IOM through the fastest sections - past the Highlander pub (just after Wagon n Horses Leap and before Greeba Castle) and just before Brandish.

I also tested a data logger I'm borrowing - a Vbox Sport. More on that in another post.

Nothing broke or fell off :-) She worked well. I'd jacked up the front and rear to try give a bit more ground clearance - this has increased my swing-arm angle as well as my squat on acceleration so under power the forks are a steeper angle leading to less stability (one change affects all!). For a short circuit she'd be mint - turns in real easy :-) (higher c of g will help this too). A bit too flighty for IOM, so I lifted the front a bit more - the short test ride in the afternoon was more stable.

One thing that you can only start to get a feeling of on the roads it the sensation of very high speed just feet away from the road furniture. It gets scary pretty quickly. Because I hardly ride bikes, it's something I need to get used to quickly on the IOM. Looking forward to it!!

Classic TT Build - Cheeky Test

Work has been busting my balls the last few weeks... and with the challenges of this build on tight timelines, it was all getting a bit too much. So I've taken my vacation two days early... to finish the bike properly, get packed and prepped. At 17h30 yesterday afternoon, I felt like 2 tonnes of shit have just been lifted from me. Man, it feels good!

So... I got the old Ducati SP3 out for a cheeky road test... just testin' stuff... including the camera mounts and angles.

In a few years racing on the IOM, despite good intentions, I have not often been able to really test stuff before bombing down Bray Hill. Man, I am so organised this year! To have the luxury of testing camera angles and doing some stickering up two days before I even get to the IOM and having those two days off work is just brilliant!

Looking like that custom belly-pan is going to work out...

 

Rain ended the fun. But I tested what I needed to... even tested the pit-lane speed limit through my village 'SLOW DOWN' speed monitor.  She felt good. Pulled well and sounded awesome. Handling... hmmm... with a much softer rear spring, she felt a bit vague. Almost felt like the rear had been dropped.

Some beautiful carbon porn for one of my sponsors: oronero

More oronero beauty!

I think I'll lift the back up anyway... front a bit too. Worried about ground clearance. The scientific measurement for the belly-pan clearance is a "fist and an inch" before bottoming out. She's on that limit now. Need to check all the geometry.

Chin pad... needed for the bumps and Bray Hill/Begarrow bottoming out

Dropped the run-in oil and she's got some fresh Motul. Still got long list to get through... but now I got the whole day :-)

Starting to look the part...

 

Mallory Testing

On Wednesday I took some time off work and got up to Mallory Park to test the Manx weapons. Because of work (so much for taking time off), I arrived late and missed the first hour :-(







Sure beats the hell out of work! 

All set to get out on track and the noise tester comes around, that's when I find the Aprilia RSV is in 'limp' mode and won't rev over 3k. What a ball-ache! A few calls and help from Aprilia guru Don  and I manage to get her running ok - looks like a faulty oil pressure sensor. Must be faulty becasue I unplugged it and the engine didn't much itself. In the end I managed to get 2 decent 10 lap sessions in on the SV and 3 sessions in on the Factory. A good shake-down.

Shit way to start a test session...

Setup for racing around the Isle, of course they were way overgeared but felt solid and stable. Just what's needed. The new SV front-end is superb... feels like a proper bike now. You can brake so much later and harder, all while keeping perfect composure. It feels solid and doesn't waggle around and flex under heavy braking. The Factory is fast, but I struggled with the way-too-tall gearing around the menagery Mallory - I couldn't get out of 5th gear. I need to get used to that quickshifter and the feeling of keeping it pinned while changing gear.

Neither of the bikes blew up or fell to pieces - the new front-end on SV worked and feels great... and the Factory felt strong. I found a few little potential problems that need attention...  so just a bit more work and they'll both be ready to haul ass down Bray Hill. :-)

Testing

On my way to Mallory Park to test the Manx weapons
:-)

6 Days

I've had the trailer on the back of the chevy for 6 days now...

Tuesday - dropped the flattracker and Candy off at TSS for a toon-up for the new exhausts

Wednesday - picked up the flattracker and Candy form TSS. Candy's power curve is nicely smoothed out with a 4bhp gain at the top. The flattracker has gained 2-3bhp across the rev range :-)



Thursday - Got down to the field and had a blast just ripping up the dirt with Ant. Our track is so overgrown... many places is just a foot-wide groove of grip... get off this is and you're sliding across the grass. Very dry and dusty too... hooning around the fields was fast as you like! Awesome fun!

Friday - Down to Brands Hatch for a test day. Took Candy out for a couple of runs. All's good. She's running well and the bodywork makes her slippery! Took the Suzy V out as well to get her better setup for short-circuit racing. I left the suspension as it is from the Manx last year and just changed the wheelbase, gearing and front ride height. I didn't want to change too much.

 Early morning start on Friday...

 Pitting under an awning with Team Respro - oh... the luxury!

 Schnuggled up for a night in the paddock

Saturday - Still at Brands Hatch for the fifth of my six qualification races for the Manx GP. I'd entered Suzy V in the Thunderbikes class because with the winter engine work she is now illegal for the Minitwins class. She was a bit outgunned against most of the field and with mostly Manx set-up wasn't the nimblest... but she did well. Qualified 17th and in Race 1 managed to bring her home safely in 14th. It wasn't a fun race - a sidecar in the race before blew up and dropped oil on the racing line on 6 of the 9 corners. Spent the race dodging oil. Lap times were about a second and a half down on qualifying times. I normally do a second or two faster in a race.

 Paddock ingenuity for a lost exhaust plug

Team Respro: Mr Harry Cole 

We waited the whole day for Race 2 - this was cancelled after another sidecar incident before us. I hate racing with sidecars... it's always the same... they screw it up for the rest of us. They're not even motorbikes... they should go race with the cars. The only peeps that like sidecars in the paddock are sidecar crews. They're like quadbikes at enduros... just a pain in everyone else's ass. Hmph!

View from my paddock waiting chair... 

This is road racing... hurry up and wait... and wait... and wait... and pack up and go home. One reason why flattrackin' is more fun... less waiting and more racing!

We were racing on the Brands Hatch GP circuit... which is rare thing because of the wankers that move to a village next to one of the oldest race tracks in the world and then complain to the council that it's noisy on weekends. Tossers! The last time I raced this circuit was 2004 when I did about 10 laps before I had bike trouble. Yesterday I only got 14 laps in on the 'best circuit in Britain' - disappointing.

Harry likes to rock n roll! 

BUT - I got to test both bikes... got qualification race 5 under the belt... and pitted with my friend Harry Cole who I haven't raced with for a few years. And... the weather was good... so it was great!

Sunday - Got the fourfiddy back down the field where Ant, Mike and I did some shredding! Ultra dry, dusty and super-fast. Nothing like holding onto the big ol fourfiddy at full pelt down a single track... speeeeeeed-therapy!

We were just about to finish off... and were doing wheelies up 'wheelie' hill. I went off the back of the bike and cought my leg sideways. "Clack!" Jeeeeeeeesus! My knee! The pain! Despite wearing quality knee braces... I've now done my knee in. My flattracking knee (left). It hurts like fuck if I twist it slightly. Shit! Bollocks! and Fuck!

Test at Snetterton

Took some time out from my house move on Sunday to test the little Suzuki SV and the BAMF at a Snetterton trackday. I got there early but the organization was piss-poor. Queued for 1/2 an hour to sign only to be told I have to go to the room next door and fill out some forms. At signing on there was only one staff member... and she was taking cash. Both bikes also had to be noise tested.

Early morning start with a Chevy packed with house contents and dragging 2 race bikes to Norfolk

They only started noise testing 45 minutes before the first session... of course they had the compulsory riders briefing during this time. Another queue. My session starts and I'm still waiting to be noise tested - I get out for 2 laps before the end of the session. It was run by a well known trackday company called 'No Limits' - they're shit.

Between sessions I queued again to get the BAMF noise tested. Despite the exhaust being repacked, she failed miserably. Limit: 105 dB. BAMF: 107 dB. Not good.

Got out on the Suzuki for 3 more sessions before lunch. She was great! She's a bit slow down the straight for the fast group - late model 1000cc superbikes would fly past and gap me by 50 yards before we got to the end of the longest straight on British soil. I'd then claw some back all the way to the chicane and they'd gap me again on the next straight. There were a couple of really fast boys out there... but most of the riders didn't get too far away from the 9 year old SV which had less than 1/2 the horespower than just about all of them and was on Pirelli road tyres.

Finally managed to get some air-ride suspension fitted to the Chev-dawg last week. You just load her up and pump up the pressure... fully loaded trailering 2 bikes she just eats up the bumps at 90mph! Brilliant!

During lunch I tried to botch a dB-killer on the BAMF - but wasn't accepted by the noise tester. :-( Got out for another session on the SV after lunch, but wasn't learning anything new. As Colin Edwards once said: If you're not riding at 110%, your just wearing out the machinery. Besides... I had a house-move to continue. So I skedaddled.

I was very happy with what I'd learned on the SV. It's dead-easy to ride quickly. Very forgiving. A bit slow, but quite a bit quicker than the Wee Monster. On standard road gearing I was still revving her out before braking - so need to sort that for the ultra-long straights on the Isle of Man. She's a lot lighter than the Wee Monster and easier to throw around, but still has worse brakes (no Brembos!) - got some new Performance Friction pads waiting for her so should be a bit better. Nothing broke or fell off. No surprises. Lovely! The bloke who built it, Gary at SDC Performance did a good job. :-)

The well mannered little SV and the fire-breathing Badd Ass

I was bit disappointed not to give the BAMF and run with her new-found horses and magnesium rear wheel - she's just been one disappointment after another since the rebuild - but I have faith that we'll get the old gal right.

Cadwell Testing

It was a beautiful evening on Saturday. After fighting through traffic on the M25 I got up to Cadwell after 4 hours 45 minutes. I signed on, unloaded Candy and suited up. It was an ACU test session with an open pit lane. Perfect!

(Warm summer-evening glow in the Lincolnshire hills...)

The noise test for Candy was 105.9 dB. The max allowed for racing is 105... they warned me and let me on track at 18h00. I did a few slow laps... just checking everything.

When I came in there was some oil down the side of the bike - I traced this back to the steering damper. I cleaned up the oil, checked everything and got out for about 8 laps at 90% pace. Came in... check. Everything good... no more oil.

10 litres of fuel in and out for an 18 lap, 35 minute session. Pinning a loud VeeTwin on one of the prettiest race tracks in the world in the warm glow of evening light was simply glorious. I love Cadwell.

There were hardly any other bikes on track and I was going quicker every lap. After riding nothing more than the 60bhp monster for the last 18 months, it took me a while to get used to the sheer acceleration and speed of this bike. You hit the straight bits, wind the throttle open and "Fuck Me!" you're flying! Stonking brakes too!

She felt really good... a lot more agile than before the rebuild. I've completely changed the geometry and now it is similar to the race-winning monster.

(Used Dunlop GP209s on her... I loved 'em. Simmilar feeling to the Dunlop slicks that I used to use and love.)

Nothing fell off, nothing broke, no issues (besides the initial oil dribble), Candy ran perfectly and felt better and faster than she ever has. I could hardly believe it!

I have been so worried that the bike would explode into a mess of engine parts, fire and oil... or there would be some major issues. Such a relief! I could race her tomorrow. I still have lots of things to do like fit the 57mm throttle-bodies, get her power-commanded and dynotuned (more bhp) build an new 'airbox'... a whole list. But none of the tasks are show-stoppers. She is already better than she was when I did the Manx GP on her in 2006.
I got home after 12. Relieved.

(Not finished... but lookin' damn fine!)

Did some more work on her yesterday morning then headed up to the farm for some crossing with the lads. It hasn't rained there for a few days so the track was dry and fast. It was a hoot, I got a great workout AND didn't have to stand in the rain for an hour cleaning spadefuls of mud from the bikes!

Now I'm struggling to find someone who can fit a Powercommander and dynotune the beast before we leave for the IOM. But this won't stop the show...