At last

[Davw]

Manged to get to my first meet at Knockhill on 4/5 October. The whole weekend was a challenge (pissig wet qualifting , freezing ocld night in the van, changing to wets for quali and then back to drys for a brilliant day on the sunday and trying to shelter from the rain under my pathetic excuse for a canopy .

Unfortunatley only two races on the sunday but great great great (cheshire cat grins at the end and shitting myself throughout). To make life interesting the F400's went out with the GP125's, the Minitwins and the SS600 nonqualifiers. Out of the 4 F400's I was last (twice) but by then second race lap times down to 1:06 (slow for KH but quick enough for novice me).

Result - 2 signatures on the license and all in one piece afterwards - objective achieved. One thing I aint doing again is sleeping in the van!! Serious sponsorship effort in progress for next year!!!

Thanks to all for the help on the day - you know who you are, Photo taken by Bob who advised that he has a 2 sec shutter speed - this will give a feel for pedestrain progress through the haipin but I do have the excuse that my bruising has only just gone down from my July highside on the hairpin exit

[zimm]

nice one !

hope the bike lived up to expectations

i am now horribly addicted to this racing lark, even considering buying a transporter and living in it full time so i dont have rent to find each month

3 months to recover from a highside ! pah .. try 12 hours ! lol

i havent got any signatures on my card .. i keep forgetting to take it with me ! doh !

[jake]

nice one mate, are you out again this year, or have you go to wait till next year now?
. We used to sleep in the van...and it does get to you eventually! a caravan may be a luxury item, but i could'nt go racing without one now! In fact mine will be available very soon after oulton, free of course!

[leon#51]

Well done mate i will be out with you next year as the production class is no more, see you next season leon #51.

[Davw]

zimm - your just showing off you hard b*******. I read your post - sounds like an interesting weekend.

Can wait for next season - am busy trying to work out what engine mods will get me a result. I dynod the set up (standard engine - BEET pipes_ and got 67bhp so am looking at a decent ram air, strip all the weight I can get off the bike (total loss, no starter, etc etc) and a bit of top end work. some of the potential power gains look pretty marginal but I guess it is adding them all totgether that makes the difference.

Roll on next season - will see you on the grid Leon

[-GQ-]

Hi Davw

I had my first race almost exactly a year ago, then did this year with Bemsee, and am totally hooked. Sounds like you had a good time; it'll get even better when you start beating people . (I was last too in both my first races last year...)

Don't worry too much about the cold van. I sleep in my marquee, next to my bike . It is only really right at the beginning and right at the end of the season where cold is a problem.

As with all advice, take this with a pinch of salt, but seriously consider not spending too much money on getting that extra 10bhp out of your bike. In my humble opinion, you'll be better off getting seconds off your time by learning how to catch the guy in front of you. Then the guy in front of him... until, eventually, bhp really becomes an issue. To put it in perspective, Mike Edwards (ok, bit of a legend, but still) rode on his standard engine Yamaha at Brands with Bemsee at the end of September, starting from the back in race 2 (they had been changing engines since qualifying, when the tuned engine gave up, and missed race 1), to finish third, less than a second behind the winner, breaking the alltime 400cc (including SuperSport) laptime in the process. The bhp on that standard engine? Same as yours...

Have fun mate, and maybe bump into you next year.

GQ

[Davw]

Hi GQ - hooked is exactly the word. I am resisting as best I can all the possible mods but I thiink ram air and a decent rear shock are a must. As the engine has not had any recent work I am going to do a top end rebuild and camchain not so much for more power as to be confident that it isnt going to let go at a bad moment!!

The real money is going on a box trailer and a decent marquee to keep of the rain!! I worked out the budget last week and immedialtey wished I hadnt I am now clearing all the crap out of my garage and have a steady stream of bikes/ parts and general unused stuff heading for e-bay. If anyone feels the need for a non racing winter project I can provide a very good deal on any of the follwing a GT370, an xs750 a xs650 a GSXR400 (in bits) and a seriously thrashed klr600

Thanks for the advise - much appreciated

cheers

[zimm]

zimm - your just showing off you hard b*******. I read your post - sounds like an interesting weekend.

lol, just joking mate .. i'll bet your highside was at a little more than 20mph ?

Can wait for next season - am busy trying to work out what engine mods will get me a result. I dynod the set up (standard engine - BEET pipes_ and got 67bhp so am looking at a decent ram air, strip all the weight I can get off the bike (total loss, no starter, etc etc) and a bit of top end work. some of the potential power gains look pretty marginal but I guess it is adding them all totgether that makes the difference.

67's good for an almost stock bike.. mine was about the same, and is significantly quicker now after the addition of SP cams.. it was almost embarrassing the ease with which i could pass people on the straights yesterday .. embarrassing because they mainly came charging past on the brakes 3 seconds later .. only to be passed like they were stood still on the next straight bit .. oh im glad i havent got an NC30 .. LOL .. im blaming the corner speed on a knackered OE shock and tyres that have done 10 races (ok, and a lack of balls)

does show that more bhp doesnt cut your laptimes though .. first time at oulton park, best lap 2:10.8, on 65.8bhp, 2nd time out with err, dunno.. more probably 72 ish ? and a whole lot more revs to play with plus a better frontend setup.. 2:10.2 .... 0.6 seconds faster .. which is nothing when im still 10 seconds off a respectable laptime, and 18 off a winning one.

[cbr chris]

Well done Dave M8, don't worry about finishing last, I did'nt (and don't sometimes) if it was'nt for us there would be no backmarkers??

Racing kills trackdays and is uber addictive, ask my bank manager!!

[Davw]

Seriously addicitive - the missus thinks the cash is going on wild nights out on the town.

Surprisingly women dont seem able to get their heads round the concept of a £400 second hand rear shock as being a "great deal" and my efforts to put it into the context of a £500 designer handbag which would be ok for this year but out of fashion next backfired when she reminded me that she hasnt managed to buy a £500 handbag but that I have managed to buy a a shock (SP cams and a few other essentials are on the way) - Bank account seriosuly hammered but - needs must . As a result of the budget for next year being a scary number I have dropped the idea of running a dry and wet bike (nice in theory but just too scary on the costs). So all the cash goes on one bike and a plentiful supply of spares - roll on next year - cant wait.

Zimm - know what you mean about the braking - I have been busy upgrading the brakes but I overlooked the fact that also I need the "stainless steel balls" upgrade which seems a bit harder to install. Hopefully with practice!!!!!!

Chris - I am amazed at how easlly I fess up to coming last. Normally at any sporting "thing" I would curl up and die if I trotted in anywhere near last but for me the achievement of getting out there and doing it and realising (I suspect as most people do only when they try it) how f****** difficult it is in comparison to say a track day was just great. I am like a kid waiting for Xmas - marking off the days to next season!!

[zimm]

Zimm - know what you mean about the braking - I have been busy upgrading the brakes but I overlooked the fact that also I need the "stainless steel balls" upgrade which seems a bit harder to install. Hopefully with practice!!!!!!

LOL.. so so true .. i actually brake harder on the road ... my fear being running in too hot or turning in too late and losing it mid-corner.. i really ought to get some contact lenses so i can see where the f*** im going..

failing that im thinking cocaine may assist with the installation of the "stainless steel balls" upgrade.

[Scott221]

I think I'll be joining you racing crowd next year. Will hopefully send off for my license in Jan and get a few cheap trackdays in the winter months. Transport is gonna be an issue though.

[-GQ-]

WARNING: THREAD HIGHJACK

first time at oulton park, best lap 2:10.8, on 65.8bhp, 2nd time out with err, dunno.. more probably 72 ish ? and a whole lot more revs to play with plus a better frontend setup.. 2:10.2 .... 0.6 seconds faster .. which is nothing when im still 10 seconds off a respectable laptime, and 18 off a winning one.

Hey Zimm, who do you race with? I managed a 1:57.8 at Oulton this year and only got 16th... . Was a mixed grid with Thunderbikes, but still only just scraped top 10 in a diminised F400 lineup...

BTW, Davw, Mike Edwards' performance at Brands GP is even more depressing than I thought for us mortals - he had only 61bhp... see here.

[Fatspanner #44]

Hi Davw


Don't worry too much about the cold van. I sleep in my marquee, next to my bike . It is only really right at the beginning and right at the end of the season where cold is a problem.

GQ

Try this at Knockhill and you will most likely die of frostbite

[zimm]

WARNING: THREAD HIGHJACK

first time at oulton park, best lap 2:10.8, on 65.8bhp, 2nd time out with err, dunno.. more probably 72 ish ? and a whole lot more revs to play with plus a better frontend setup.. 2:10.2 .... 0.6 seconds faster .. which is nothing when im still 10 seconds off a respectable laptime, and 18 off a winning one.

Hey Zimm, who do you race with? I managed a 1:57.8 at Oulton this year and only got 16th... . Was a mixed grid with Thunderbikes, but still only just scraped top 10 in a diminised F400 lineup...

BTW, Davw, Mike Edwards' performance at Brands GP is even more depressing than I thought for us mortals - he had only 61bhp... see here.

1st meet was with NG, 2nd was w100, was out in f400 races so only 400's and the odd 250, also the w100 "forgotten era" class, which is a very mixed grid, basically anything pre 1990.. like fzr1000 exup's .. which won naturally, but its two classes, upto 500cc, and over 500cc.

if i could do a 1:57 i'd be happy as f*** ! im consoling myself with the idea that 15 years of roadridng takes some "un-learning"