ManxGP 2012 - Day 4 - Damp Shakedown

Overslept. The last few days catching up with me. Got the wheels off Wee Suzy - those haggard old tyres from last year having done their job. Smart new Bridgestones on - heard good things about them. We'll see if it's just talk.

A clean, gas up, top-up the battery, a little tweak to the front-end to sort the dragging pads and we're good to go.

Full tank, cold tyres in the damp - taking it easy through Quarterbridge

 

Load-up, to the day-paddock, unload and the heavens open up again. The rain hold up after half an hour and practice starts late. I'm in the second session so I got time to get the bike through skrootineering and all my crap up to parc firme.

Rain, rain go away...

 

Second session and I'm out on Betty. Wet and damp around the course - I take it easy. The bike feels planted and fast... but it's still a big old beast compared with the wee Suzuki. It has a couple of strange hiccups at high revs... might be the quickshifter engaging over the bumps... must check that out.

...come back another day.

 

I come in, generally happy with the bike, but didn't really have a chance to let her rip. I park Betty up, have a drink and warm up Suzy. Ten minutes later I'm heading down a dry Bray Hill - flat out. Yeeeeeeha!

I take it easy through course - not worth taking a chance in those slippery conditions. I test my gearing and am getting her up to 9200rpm in top. Might need one tooth longer on the back - I'll see what's in my spares box.

Ready to rock for a few laps of the Isle of Man

 

Rain flags out at Hilberry... they were out on teh last lap. Wet under the trees. I take it easy and accelarate up the hill to Cronk y Mona. Half way around and I hear teh rain pinging off my visor... but the time I slither into Signpost on it's proper rain. I spash through the puddles down to Governor's Dip where Suzy cuts out. Huh? I fire her up again... but she's running on one cylinder. Shit. I limp back to the Paddock. I got some work in the morning.

Now here is a work of art - a proper race bike.

Phil McGurk built this custom frame around a super-tuned ER-6 motor. See the Ducati Supersport infleunce there. Roumors in the paddock last year had his bike making 112bhp. He says it's a little lower this year (he blew two engines up last year in practice). He's going to be up at the sharp end on this beauty.