Fitness and Space

Earlier this evening I finished my last training session for a long time (I hope!). Between working away from home 5 days a week, moving home and preparing bikes I haven't had any time to get on a bike and get bike-fit. Been getting my ass into the gym (I hate it...) and working on some aerobics and some high-rep weights for the last few months. It's not ideal, but better than nothing. I felt my fitness let me down at Erzberg and am a bit concerned about it for the Manx GP. Practice starts on Saturday evening and I'm doing 2 races on Friday the 3rd September - last year I was bushed after just 1 race.

Took the Monster for a blast down to Geoff's place on Sunday to pickup a dB killer he made for the BAMF... rode it briskly, crouching down trying to simulate race-tuck. From the 45 min trip each way my neck and shoulders were sore yesterday! Screw the gym... I just need to ride more.

Okay... enough yaddah-yaddah... now some pics...

Just had the roof of my new garage boarded up this last w/e...

... more space to collect shit.

Cleaning and Clearance

The other weekend I cleaned the Duke flattracker. I used to do it on the street outside my house (I had no real driveway or garden) - curtains would be parted and I could almost hear the disapproving tut-tuts from my neighbours. Between the flattracker and Fourfiddy, every few weeks the patch of washed off mud and clay outside my house would be a different color. Now... I have a garden...

...and lovin' it!

A few clearance issues to sort out now that the 19" wheel is fitted

Flattrack Buxton - Vids

Had my helmetcam wired up for a few of the heats at Buxton two weekends ago...

Shorttrack Heat 3 - Geoffo gets it all crossed up half-way through... saves it and stops... and then still comes through and pulls a move on me before the finish... red mist! Nice one dood!

Thunderbike Heat 3 - Close quarters combat! This is the race where I got pipped for the last place in the final... I hit No.22's back wheel on the last lap trying to get past.

ShorttrackUK - Buxton

Right... without any more fart-arsin' around... this is what happened last Sunday...

One of teh great things about my recent house move is that all the ShorttrackUK race meetings are not on the other end of the frikkin' island. So no more 04h00 starts for me! It was overcast and a bit breezy up in the Peak district... and the rain held off.

 The Team Co-Built 'garage' - Factory! 

Cool flattracker

The Duke II flattracker is continuously morphing... I got the trick Talon rear wheel and proper dirt track tyre sorted. A couple of clearance issues to sort out (and new battery-box to build!)... but worked like a charm! The bike got sideways much easier... and it was much easier to hold a controlled slide :-) Also fitted a quick-action throttle... mabe too quick, so I'll tone it down for the next meeting. But I could now get on the gas and open her to the stops in one motion.

Check out the difference between 17" roadie wheel and tyre on the front and a pukka dirt-track wheel and tyre on the rear - thanks Talon (one of my sponsors) for the sick wheel!

 Not even a season over and my ill-fitting steel shoe already has a hole worn in it!

I went ok in the heats. They over-watered the track before the practice and that non-dirttrack 17 incher is awful in the wet. I got a 5th and 6th in the first two Thunderbike heats... so needed at least another 6th to make the final - the day's objective. I didn't deliver. :-( Got pipped on the second-last lap and missed the final by one place. Shit! I got a helmet-cam vid of that heat and will post it soon... 

Learnin' to go sidee-ways

 The Cain and Brown show nattering with Dan Walsh - the author of the brilliant book These are the Days That Must Happen to You. Buy it - read it. Julian Ryder was around the paddock too.

Slidey-slidey-sidee-ways!

Wilky brings on the oranges at half-time...

I was a bit angry at myself for not making the Thunderbike final... but was still having a whale of a time getting the old girl sideways. So... I channelled that anger and energy into the Thunderbike 'B' final.

I was on pole and got the holeshot off the line... sliding her into the first turn with just a clear track of dirt ahead. Man, that felt good! I had no idea how close the pack was so just pinned my ears back and attacked! No mistakes... lots of slides!

Turn 1 - Yeah boy! Get in!

Geoffo and the lovely Cassinia (apologies if I've got the spelling wrong...) 

I just focused on the clear track ahead and rode that flattracker with more agression than I ever have. I wanted the win!

The last few laps I was feeling really tired... all that crossin' down the field the day before and the 6 heats and Shorttrack 'B' final were taking it's toll. I gee'd myself up... shouting encouragement to myslef. "C'mon Paul!"... "Fight!"... "Keep it going!"

Team Zaeta - Marco Belli and the team owner (is it Paolo? I forget...) drive out from Italy for every ShorttrackUK meeting (Jacopo Monti too!). Now that's dedi-fuckin-cation!

I had no idea how close the others were till I crossed the line under the checquered flag. Yeah! My first win!

I'm so happy that I overdo things a little on the cool-down lap - I almost take Gary out as my bike cuts out mid-slide. Outta gas! Gotta push her back home. A marshal tells me on the way: "I don't know what you were shouting, but it sure worked!" 

Geoffo looking for a way past

1st place brings that kind of grin to one's mug!

Ok... only the 'B' final... but a win! With riders behind me that normally whoop my ass.  :-)  Geoffo, Gary and Wilky were breathing down my neck the whole race... but I made no mistakes and they couldn't get a wheel in on the very short and dry track.

I won a helmet for my efforts - thanks Helmets4U. It was a great day on the clay at the most picturesque of British tracks. The bike development is coming along nicely and I'm learning loads. Looking forward to sorting out my new front end for the next round!

Flattracker got a new number-board... with some fresh pin-up art! 

Flattrack photographer Stephen Baldock had a good day too - finishing 3rd in the minibikes. Smiley-time! Thanks for the race pics dood!

:-)

Crossin' Down the Field

After working on the flattracker and SV all day Saturday. I needed a break. I packed my shit, loaded the KTM and headed down to see Ant at the farm.

It was a glorious evening on the Planet of the Apes

We raced around the overgrown track in the warm evening light. I got knackered quick... the first time I've been on a bike since Erzberg - almost 2 months. "Man. I'm just about done...", "Nah... we just started" with which Ant fires up his CRF and hoons down the lane for some off-piste cross-country. I wasn't going to just sit on the log panting... I chase.

The fastest lines around Ant's 'home' track explained...

What awesome fun! All the paths are overgrown and we were riding blind most of the time. It was so dry and dusty too - brilliant!

By the time it was getting dark, I was truly cream-crackered!
A great few hours down the field getting fit for the Manx - thanks Ant!

Converting Bikes and Manx-proofing

Been a lot of motor-sicle activity happening since my house move 2 weeks ago. I was racing flattrack at Buxton yesterday... loads of pics and a few vids to show... but first things first so I'll run some chronological posts.

Not many posts lately because I don't have internet or phone at my new house yet... and still working oooop north and not spending much time there. Besides, when I've been there between unpacking some cups and a plate and searching for my iron, I've been working flat-out on the bikes...

I converted the Duke II Flattracker from a MOT-friendly streetbike back to a dirt machine...

Looking prettier in race trim... 1970 BSA A65 Thunderbolt 'Dick Mann' streettracker lurking in the background... looking even prettier!

Got the sick talon 19" rear wheel fitted... just slotted straight in. Waiting for a steering stem (yolk spindle) to fit the flattrack front-end.

That 17" front looks teeny compared to the pukka flattrack rear.

As soon as the Flattracker was done and ready to race, I continued Manx-proofing the SV MiniTwin...

Any critical bolt that work loose and cause disaster is drilled and lockwired. It's a pain in the arse with a 1.5mm drill bit through stainless steel... uses quite a few of those wee bits. It's mandatory for the daily scrootineering, but more importantly: peace of mind. Good to know that at 140mph over the jumps your brake calliper bolt won't work loose    :-)

 The bike may not look much different to when I got it back in December... but I've spent many hours prepping it. She just needs some vinyl number-boards, numbers and some sponsor's decals... then she's ready to plummet down Bray hill on the adventure of her lifetime!

Got wisteria growing in my garage roof cavity... an autumn project... we've got bikes to prep and race!

Mike 'the Bike' Hailwood at Spa

Found this great clip of Mike Hailwood on a lap of old Spa. Never heard him speak before - a treat!



Love the leathers that are as thick as my tee-shirt, pudding bowl helmet and no gloves! So... according to Mike 'the Bike', when you come of a motorsickle you just lose a bit of skin here and there. Where can I get some of those super-protective leathers and invisible gloves?

Awsome Paintjob

Check out this stunning paintjob:

Pity the bike's only made out of cardboard...

Thanks Alen of Cro-moto for the link.

Manx GP - Never Easy

This is the 6th year I'm going for the Manx GP. Every year I've done it has had it's challenges... and those years that I haven't managed to get to that first lap on closed roads (2007 & 2008) the challenges just were just too great.

This year is no different - work has been a bit of a bastard the last few weeks... I'm away from home 5 days in 7 and have just moved. The moving part is positive... but has sucked the last 3 weekends (and some of this coming weekend) away. The folks at work are still not allowing me to take unpaid time off for the Manx. They don't realize that I work so that I can do the Manx. Screw them - I'm doing it. 

The good news is the Ultralightweight bike (Bazooki SV) and the Senior bike (BAMF/Candy) are both just about ready. The Bazooki just needs a few things like fitting brake pads, a soopa-doopa Durbahn battery, a bit of paint (too much red!), numberboards and a gearing change... oh... and lots of lockwire. The BAMF just needs a dB killer. A couple hours on each and they'll be good to go.

Flattracker Build - Tasty Bits

The Duke II Flattracker is currently in MOT trim. Believe it or not, I got another year of street legality with this morphing machine.

Due to my house move, all bikey activities have been on hold. But there is some activity... been collecting some tasty bits...

Those Talon wheels and Co-Built yolks are absolutely gorgeous! Works of art! I wanted black-on-black-on-black. Sick!

Bars and clamps arrived last week (black too... mabe too much black...). Can't wait to spend a little time in my new garage and get all of this stuff fitted. Having it all done in time for the next round at Buxton in 10 days might be a bridge too far... especially as I can only work on teh bikes for part of this weekend. We'll see...

American Muscle Racing

Wow! Found a brilliant clip on Church of Chopper blog - classic American racing:



Pontiac GTOs, Firebirds, AMX Javelin, Mustangs, Challengers and some beeee-atchin' Comaros! Check out these muscle cars driftin', big Vee eights roarring, girls in wee clothes, a hot-rod and kid on a Monkey-bike! Gotta love it!

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.