Racin' Blues

A bit miffed I'm missing the ol' flat trackin'

Looks like a good time was had by all in the Co Built Team at the Flat Track Friday.

Chatted to the ACU yesterday. I asked if an extension would be considered on getting my 3 'meetings' done. I was told I need to do them first, then ask. Sounds a bit arse-about-face... "Go spend loads of time, effort, money and risk injury and then we'll think about it.". I asked if any extensions had been given before... the answer was a flat "No." Not looking good. Will get on the blower this afternoon to the Chairman of the Comittee to try get some sort of clarity.

Otherwise had my first Physio on my wrist today. Lookin' good for that point of view... not good because of the internal stitches being on the outside. See ing the surgeon on Friday about this... not happy - I think they did a crap job closing me up. Doesn't fill me with confidence when I consider the work they did on the inside of me.

Aprilia motor is still not finished! No good.

Worse News

Got a letter from the ACU today. I have to do 3 more meetings before the 30 June... that's on Tuesday!

Tried to call them. Only the receptionist is there... the whole of the ACU have gone to Donnington Park for World Superbikes. Good to see the licence money they are given by riders and clubs is being used constructively.

Running out of options here...

The Absurdity of the ACU

Licence Issues:

Yes... according to the ACU, 7 races over 2 days in 3 different classes only counts as 1 'meeting'. It depends how the club applies for the licences for the race day. 1 club licence = 1 'meeting' for the TT Mountain Course Licence. So... a bit of pot luck whether your club uses 2 licences for a weekend or 1.

How this for a bit of technical-so-far-removed-from-the-reality-of-racing-motorcycles bullshit!?

I think the ACU have lost touch with what it is really like to participate in racing motorcycles. Sad.

So... I have to do 3 more 'meetings' in the next few weeks.

More money, more time, more stress, more risk, more pain.

The 'money' factor looks to be to motivator for the ACU. Facists!

Mike said I can use his wee Monster - it's the only choice here. It'll be a farce running it against the likes of 160 horsepower Ducatis... with one hand! But you see, this is in the interest a 'safety' according to the ACU. Absolutely absurd!

Now I am angry.

Now I am even more determined.

Licence Issues

Oh - I called the ACU today to find out how my TT Moutain Course licence is getting on as I sent it in 3 weeks ago and haven't heard anything.

The lady says it's been rejected because I haven't done 6 'meetings'. So apparently, to progress from Novice to Clubman and then Clubman to National licence, a 'meeting' is a day's racing. My last two Mountain Course Licences followed this principle and I got my licence no problemo. Now, all of a sudden, for the TT Course Licence, a 'meeting' is an entire weekend's racing!

I nearly fell on the floor when I heard this. So... depite me doing 7 races at Anglesey in May, this only counts as 1 'meeting'. I can go wobble around Mallory on Boxing Day in the rain... and this also counts as 1 'meeting'. Absolutely absurd! The ACU have done this for 'safety'... because apparently, wobbling around on Boxing Day in the rain is preparing the rider for teh rigours of racing on the TT Mountain Course! I think they are a bunch of ignoramuses... or perhaps they have other motives?

So... according to the ACU I need to do 3 more 'meetings' because the 17 races (over 6 separate days) in the last 12 months just isn't enough! What an absolute load of tripe!

I will speak to the person who rejected my application directly tomorrow to get to the bottom of this... I hope the ACU are not trying to kill off road racing in the UK.

Monkeys!

Here we have a Titanium 'hotshoe' (that didn't really work - needs re-engineering) with matching Titanium plate (hidden under scarred flesh - that I hope will work)

The BAMF assembly begins!

Right! So my plans for the Manx GP are roughly:

1) Rebuild my old race bike (Aprilia RSV SP) that I did the Manx on in 2006 into a Badd-Ass-Mutha-Fucka of a bike (Codename: BAMF). More horsepower, less weight.

2) Go fast

I tore the old beast apart in November 2008. Packed her inboxes and went about getting the frame repaired and the motor overhauled (the gerabox was worn... 8500 miles having the crap ridden into it does that...).

The frame was ripped open at the headstock after a big off at Cadwell in October 2007. Being an SP, only 150 frames were ever made. This I thought would be a problem, but alas... Goeff the welding/fabrication god came to the rescue and did a brillaint job of repairing the headstock. It is now stronger, lighter and still retains the trick adjustability (yes, the SP is a trick machine!).

The motor is another story. Eventhough some parts are the same as an RSV (like the gearbox), lots of parts aren't. Aprilia are the most unhelpful of manufacturers and are only interested in selling scooters. The parts are frikkin' expensive... if I could get them. So, after being stripped down in December, I am hoping to have the assemblyfinally complete and to pick it up this week. It has been an absolute nightmare and have no idea if it'll run until I've built the rest of the bike.

I got the wire pulled out of my wrist on Friday and this weekend was the first time since breaking my wrist and surgery that I've been able to use my hand. So... I've got to work preparing as much as I can without the motor.

Things still to do:

- Fit motor

- Fit other bits

- Build custom wiring loom

- Build custom front and rear subframes

- Get the beast started

- Fit 57mm throttle bodies

- Get custom exhaust link pipe built

- Get PCIII fitted and dyno tuned

- Fit custom body-work

- Get it painted

- Test

There are probably otehr things I've forgotten, but it needs to all be done in 8 weeks!

Do-able? We'll see.

Breaking my wrist hasn't helped, but there isn't much I can do without the motor anyway (the frame was finished nearly 3 months ago). Really frustrated at how long it has taken and that I have to call every second day to get any work done on it. This is why I don't like relying on other people - too many of them let you down and drop you in the shit.

Classic World Superbikes - Nurburgring 1999 Oil!

1999 World Super bike Nurburgring - the Oil Spill

This is a classic clip. Kawa blows up at the end of the main straight... oil. The riders start going down... some big names in there. Edwards is pissed off!

Foggy also pulls a nasty one on a slower rider. Great stuff!

Metalwork

An x-ray of my new metalwork. Strange that they put the screws right through the bone to the other side.

Still got this frikkin wire sticking out my wrist... and it's still bloody painful. Hopefully they'll yank it out on Friday... if they don't, I'll do it at home in the garage!

Slidey, slidey supermoto

This is how to back it in... supermoto stylie!

Check out the movie

Probably not the fastest way around a hairpin... but looks cool as heck!

More King's Lynn Pics

I found some pics from King's Lynn on my camera - forgot that I had taken them!

Accomodation was comfy as ever in Hotel Chevy

Steve with his big Harley (37r - one of the few roadie-bikes there) and Mike looking pensive (63r)

Rider's briefing in the centre of the track for the 'Dash-for-Cash'

Mike on his 'Hot-lap'... dashin for the cash!

The paddock looks like this for most of the day. Busy, busy... and man! What a racket! Glorious...

One sweet lookin' flat-tracking machine.

Babes on El Monstero.

The Grand Final. Check out the style! One day... one day...

The 'Blue Groove' - miss this and you're in shite.

Picking up Mike from A&E... motorbikes are dangerous!

King Kenny at the Indy Mile

Featured article on King Kenny's first outing on the fabled Yamaha XJ750 in Sideburn issue no.2 ... here's the footage!

KR on the XJ750 - Indy Mile

One can even hear the 2-smoke screaming away...

One Cool Monster

This is one cool-ass monster!

http://www.ducatimonster.org/featured/2004aug/featured_aug.html

Dem Bones

Ah, the miracles of modern medicine!

No boring old X-Rays here on Speedtherapy!

No, no ladies and gentlemen!

Here are some CT scans, 3-D and in full color of my wrist!

This is the inside of my left wrist... as if the back of my hand were flat on the screen. The jagged line in the big circle is the main break across the end of the radius. Doesn't look too bad. In the small circle is the 'knob' of my wrist that has parted company. This looks worse.

This is my hand rotated with the knob toward you. As you can see in the big circle... the end of the radius has been displaced downwards (toward my elbow) by nearly an inch. This caused my hand to sit about an inch from where it should be in the joint. In my pics from Peterborough you'll notice my hand looks a bit... funny. The bone is also nicely smashed up. This helps explain why I couldn't pull in the clutch, push the bike or find neutral with my hand (But doesn't explain how I still managed to pick the 170kg beast of a bike up off the floor). Turns out the knob in the small circle is of no real concern as it has no function other than to give you a knob on your wrist. That makes a whole lot of sense...

A view from the opposite side. The important bit here is your joint... the break and displacement caused a very uneven joint... not smooth and rounded. If it had healed in this way, I would have lost a lot of mobility, it would have caused extreme discomfort (pain) but more importantly I would have had severe arthritis in this joint within a few years. Not a good situation.

So... they dug inside of me, straightened the bones, clamped them, then screwed a 'T' shaped plate over the joint to hold it all together. The knob that was 'hanging out' has been skewered back in place... this is more cosmetic than anything because it doesn't form part of the joint. So... yes, I have had cosmetic surgery.

I'm back at the ortho on Friday... so hope to bring you some pics of the bionics! Wrist is still painful and recovering from having the bones drilled and tapped. Some major trauma pre and during surgery there...

Thanks to the NHS for the scans, surgery and anatomy lessons.

I'm in Ipswich at the moment having some magnetic and lazer treatment by the fabled Physiotherapist who specializes in 'High-speed trauma injuries'; Brian Simpson. His waiting room is pasted with 'Thank you' pics - it's like at who's-who of bike racing: Trials, MotoX, Grasstrack, Speedway, Road Racing, 'Real' Road Racing, MotoGP, BSB, WSBK, Classics, Sidecars... you name it.

If you ride bikes (push-bikes included)... bookmark his website. You never know...