IOM 2014 Day 13 - Final Prep

After the success of Wednesday's Supertwins race, we decided not to go out on the Aprilia for a final practice. I was happy with the bike and had nothing to test or learn. The final practice was cut short because of a civilian emergency and the riders didn't even get a full lap in anyway.

Thursday we spent going over everything on the Aprilia. Everything. And prepping her for the Senior race on Friday. We were all done by the afternoon and spent the rest of the day and evening chilling out.

Manx GP 2012 Thoughts - The Supertwins

Last year, in an effort to improve the little SV650, and with the help of Steve Mann, I grafted a proper front-end onto it. Away with the standard spindly, non-adjustable forks and crappy floating brakes... on with a serviced set of 51mm Ohlins off my 1998 Aprilia RSV with obligatory brembo stoppers. We worked hard on this... key was retaining the original geometry that seemed to work around the Isle.

Bungalow Bridge - always makes for great up-close pics

Pre-Manx testing at Mallory was promising. I could feel the front-end... the braking was transformed. 200% stiffer on the front-end, I could bury it deep in the corners, back wheel in the a air... and still feel exactly where the limit was. The new front-end showed up just how crap the original SV stuff is. Built to budget I guess. Those old forks flexed like Lou Farigno on Venice Beach... awful for short circiuts... but maybe not too bad on the Isle. But the old brakes were rubbish... bad on short circiuts... worse on the Isle. So... we were full of hope when we arrived on the Isle of Man mid-August.

Bungalow Bridge - from the other side

I first campaigned that bike in 2010 - that was a good year. Back then, the SV was basically a stock bike - 73 bhp at the wheel. I'd not ridden the bike before heading down Bray Hill for practice. During practice, she was flawless... a whopping 9 laps of practice with a fastest lap of 101mph. I qualified 35th of 89 entrants. During the race I got the hammer down, finishing 17th with a fastest lap of 104.6mph and earning my second replica. An awesome result... especially considering she was a 2001 stocker.

2011 wasn't a good year. With 12 more bhp, I only managed 3 laps of practice, with a fastest of 103mph. I still managed to qualify 19th... so things were looking okay for the race. But I broke down on lap 2 while lying in 12th place. Bah!

Ballaugh Bridge - doing proper jumps now

With good power (for a carbie SV) and my bling Ohlins front-end, I was looking for a replica last year. Or at least a 106mph lap.

The weather played against us... and then she developed a missfire as I was turning off Glencrutchery Road after only my second lap of practice. I checked this, checked that... found some old paint in the bottom of the tank, so cleaned out the whole fuel system and the carb jets. I didn't really know what I was doing... just following the fuel, stripping and cleaning. I didn't fix the misfire. Running out of practice days, I dropped the bike off at Padgetts. The young bloke there was great and found the problem - a rotten HT lead.

I think this is just after Ballaspur, on the approach to Doran's Bend - I can't remember the name...

The problem seemed cured. Due to one thing or another I didnt manage to get out on the bike for another lap of practice. I went straight into the race with it... but as I pulled off the start-line something was amiss. She just was't pulling. I even spent a minute parked up during that first lap at Quarterbridge checking for the problem.

I fought on during the race, expecting her to blow up at any second. It was a bit nerve-wracking. She couldn't even pull 6th gear up the Mountain Mile. The other Supertwins were just breezing past me on the straights. Fucking frustrating... I just got angry with her and wrung her neck. I finished the race with a fastest lap of only 98mph. Crap. But a finish.

Douglas Road Corner -  hard on the brakes before the exhilarating (and bumpy!) blast through Kirkmichael

After the Manx, and a few months of garage dejection I finally hauled the little SV up to Steve Mann to find the cause of her spineless performance. Steve knows his stuff and methodically goes through the scenario and possible causes. Check this, check that. Within 20 minutes, he finds the problem. The cap on the vacuum operated carb slide on the rear cylinder was on the wrong way around. The tiny airway was blocked. That slide wasn't sliding at all.

So, with one cylinder on idle, and the other in full tune, I did 150 miles at race pace. Throttle held wide open most of the time. I did the whole race on 1 1/2 cyclinders!

One of my favourite pics of the fortnight - stretching the cables coming out of Ballaspur

What muppet mechanic put that bloody cap on backwards? Fucking idoit! Looking back, a 98mph with the bike running the way it was is encouraging :-) So, all she needs is an oil change, a litte toone-up on the dyno and she's good to go! Finacially more palatable than the Aprilia.

Manx GP 2012 Thoughts... the Senior

It's been a few months since my ManxGP 2012 - I've had time to think about it a bit... digest it all... an get over the disappointment... also been watching some of my on-board footage and doing a bit of analysis. I'll start with Betty - the 'big' bike I used in the Senior race. My fastest ever lap of the TT Mountain Course is just shy of 109mph - I did this in 2006 on my stock 1998 Aprilia RSV. I'm going to get all anoraky now...

Greeba Castle. When a bike handles... it all feels easier... less fear of getting thrown into a wall... so you can go faster...

In practice week I did a 107 mph (average speed) flying lap and a 106mph lap from a standing start (I also did a 108mph from a standing start - but don't have any footage from that). Standing starts are generally around 2 mph slower than a flying lap. And in all my past years, I go about 2 mph faster in the race than I do in practice - adrenalin? Things were looking good for me to beat my personal best in the race.

The Gooseneck. Giving the vintage Fattrack leathers an airing during practice...

Just to make sure I wasn't just being hopeful, I checked out times from the on-boards. On the 107mph lap, it took me 9:08 to reach Balaugh Bridge. On the 106mph lap, about 09:28 with a bit of traffic and wet around Glen Helen. Looking at the overall lap times it stacks up. I compared with my race footage...

Ballaugh Bridge. On my 6th ManxGP,I finally get the knack of jumping Ballaugh...

I knew it was the fastest half-lap I had ever done around there... the vid confirmed it. Depite it being wet around Glen Helen - the clock says 08:54 to Ballaugh Bridge. Extrapolate that out and I was on target for a first lap of around 110 to 111mph. That should give me a flying lap of around 112 to 113 mph. This has been my goal since 2006. But, with the bike breaking down 200m after Ballaugh Bridge... half a lap counts for nothing.

The bike started running on one cylinder... so I was hoping it was just a loose wire or something. I was so disgusted with it for breaking down that it just got dumped in the corner of the garage when I got back from the Isle in the beginning of September. I had a closer look at it before Chirstmas.

Ballaspur? Nothing comes close to the feeling of going as fast as you can on real roads...

The rear rear cylinder plug was bent... damage on the piston crown and fine shards of metal on the tops of the inlet valves... it didn't look good. I took it down to may mate Don Plane (Aprilia guru) at Southern Cross. Turns out it dropped and exhaust valve on the rear cylinder. Shit. :-( gonna need new pistons, valves and other bits. Don's now trying to get the head repaired... this is gonna cost :-(

Mountain Box. Flat-out for miles on a bike that hauls... gentle curves become hard corners at over 150mph... exhilarating!

Up until the point where she went 'pop', she was running sweet. For a 10 year old bike, she's fast. And with the help of my fellow competitor Dennis Booth, I was getting her handling too. Dennis knows his stuff. In my 5 previous campaigns, I've never been able to make a bike handle around there. It just shows what a bit of know-how can do. With a fast bike that handles... I know I can go fast around there...

ManxGP Vid

Found a vid I didn't realise I had from this year's ManxGP.

The real action starts 3 minutes in... and ends 9 minutes later... :-(