k14
11th June 2008, 16:02
I made the long five and a half hour drive up on Friday afternoon. I was delayed in departure because after finishing work at 1300 I spent till 1530 stuffing around with the bike trying to get it running. After 2 hours of running up and down the street trying to get the beast started, I swapped over the carbs and eventually got it back up and running. This was only the second time I had started it since I did a full rebuild the week before and I was slightly nervous seeing as it was the first time I’d done any work on a 4 stroke.
Anyway, I arrived at the track early Sat morning and got sign in all sorted. I stumbled upon my first problem when I went to start the beast again. Something was stopping the float needle from closing and the float bowl was overflowing. F5 dave came over to lend a hand and after 10 mins of cleaning the fuel inlet out the carb was sealed and bike fired straight up.
We lined up for our first practice and I just took it quite easily for the first 2 or 3 laps, having new pistons and rings to bed in. I could notice the difference in power quite quickly, but along with this I realised how massively under-geared the bike was. I was only using 3rd gear for the hairpin and everywhere I was in 5th. So back in after the session and a quick run around the pits to try source another front sprocket. Eventually I managed to track down a 16 tooth front sprocket which would increase my gearing by a small amount and give the engine a bit of an easier time.
I did encounter another problem now though; I had to extend the chain by one link so again I had to venture around the pits to source another link and a joining link. This meant I missed the first of the day’s races but I wasn’t too worried, I knew I had a few more races to get the bike sorted. I took it down the pit lane and back to check everything was ok and it seemed to be. Just when I got the bike back on the stand Dangerous came over and told me that the Battle of the Buckets 55 min endurance race had been moved forward due to the impending rough weather and we were up next. Ok, so that meant that the second time the bike had been ridden since the rebuild was for the race.
I could see that the wind had changed direction to a southerly and I decided it was time for the full thermals and winter gloves for riding. I ate a few bananas and a bread roll to try get some sustenance for the long race ahead of us. We were called up to the grid just as I could see the black threatening clouds closing in on us. A few spits whilst on the dummy grid indicated the forecasted weather was fast approaching. We went out for the warm-up lap and by now the few spits had turned into a light drizzle. The track was starting to get wet but I wasn’t too worried even though I was on 7 or 8 year old slicks. I lined up on the front row ready for the start and I could see someone had fallen at the kink.
We had to wait a few minutes for them to clean it up and then we were sent off on another warm-up lap. The track had gotten even more wet now and coming out of the hairpin I see F5 dave trying to inspect one of the fxr’s front wheels from ground level. Although he wasn’t alone, there were a few other pavement inspectors and this bought the red flag out. So I headed back to my van to wait for us to be called up again.
Ten mins later we headed out for our third warm-up lap and what would hopefully be the start of the race. The rain had well and truly set in by this stage and puddles were starting to form on the track. I lined up on the second row and got a pretty average start. I was a lot more comfortable than a few of the other riders for the first lap and took advantage of this at the hairpin. Riding around 2 or 3 and then going up the inside of another 2 going into the right hander.
I kept my head down and after about 5 laps got into a good rhythm. The bike felt good, the carburetion down low wasn’t perfect but due to the weather and track condition it didn’t matter too much. I just tried to keep smooth and make sure I kept my concentration. I caught up to a guy on a CBR150 and had a good tussle with him for 4 or 5 laps. I got in front of him and then was borked by some lapped riders when I approached a group of 4 coming into the twisty section. I didn’t go for the big move and then lost ground with the CBR150 guy.
After that the race was pretty uneventful apart from a few front end slides, nothing too scary though. I lapped Dangerous, Buddha, Kickaha and plenty of other regulars so knew I was going ok. Bren and Diesel Pig lapped me after about 30 laps so thought I was doing pretty good to resist them for that long and thought that the end must be close. At about the same time my fingers started to go numb, the rain was atrocious. The standing water on the track was starting to become a problem too. Even though I had a clear visor with anti-fog insert I still was unable to see the track surface very well. I worked out the main places of standing water and tried to avoid as best as possible.
Seeing as I had no feeling at all in my fingers on both hands it was just faith that assured me I was using the brake lever. On a few occasions I had to look down just to double check that my fingers were in fact squeezing the lever. I slowed down quite a bit after this and was just concentrating on getting past the lapped riders efficiently and keeping my mind on the job. I was praying for the end to hurry up and arrive, I was starting to shiver just a fraction too. I came across the line to see the flag marshal holding both his hands above his head with 10 fingers showing, ok ten mins to go, roughly 10 laps. Just had to keep the mind on the job. Next lap round I saw the white flag held out, yippee I though, last lap! Just for good measure I lapped Dangerous one more time and came across the line totally exhausted.
I quickly made it back to the pits and attempted to warm up. By now I was fully shivering and freezing cold. I got changed as soon as possible and was just relieved that the race was finally over. The bike had made it and I had achieved an acceptable result.
Even though the results haven’t been released yet I think I finished around 5th to 7th, and along with that was the first old school bucket home and the only twin cylinder to finish. Pretty happy about all of them, next year with a few more mods to the mighty CB I’ll be ready to take the whole thing out.
Anyway, I arrived at the track early Sat morning and got sign in all sorted. I stumbled upon my first problem when I went to start the beast again. Something was stopping the float needle from closing and the float bowl was overflowing. F5 dave came over to lend a hand and after 10 mins of cleaning the fuel inlet out the carb was sealed and bike fired straight up.
We lined up for our first practice and I just took it quite easily for the first 2 or 3 laps, having new pistons and rings to bed in. I could notice the difference in power quite quickly, but along with this I realised how massively under-geared the bike was. I was only using 3rd gear for the hairpin and everywhere I was in 5th. So back in after the session and a quick run around the pits to try source another front sprocket. Eventually I managed to track down a 16 tooth front sprocket which would increase my gearing by a small amount and give the engine a bit of an easier time.
I did encounter another problem now though; I had to extend the chain by one link so again I had to venture around the pits to source another link and a joining link. This meant I missed the first of the day’s races but I wasn’t too worried, I knew I had a few more races to get the bike sorted. I took it down the pit lane and back to check everything was ok and it seemed to be. Just when I got the bike back on the stand Dangerous came over and told me that the Battle of the Buckets 55 min endurance race had been moved forward due to the impending rough weather and we were up next. Ok, so that meant that the second time the bike had been ridden since the rebuild was for the race.
I could see that the wind had changed direction to a southerly and I decided it was time for the full thermals and winter gloves for riding. I ate a few bananas and a bread roll to try get some sustenance for the long race ahead of us. We were called up to the grid just as I could see the black threatening clouds closing in on us. A few spits whilst on the dummy grid indicated the forecasted weather was fast approaching. We went out for the warm-up lap and by now the few spits had turned into a light drizzle. The track was starting to get wet but I wasn’t too worried even though I was on 7 or 8 year old slicks. I lined up on the front row ready for the start and I could see someone had fallen at the kink.
We had to wait a few minutes for them to clean it up and then we were sent off on another warm-up lap. The track had gotten even more wet now and coming out of the hairpin I see F5 dave trying to inspect one of the fxr’s front wheels from ground level. Although he wasn’t alone, there were a few other pavement inspectors and this bought the red flag out. So I headed back to my van to wait for us to be called up again.
Ten mins later we headed out for our third warm-up lap and what would hopefully be the start of the race. The rain had well and truly set in by this stage and puddles were starting to form on the track. I lined up on the second row and got a pretty average start. I was a lot more comfortable than a few of the other riders for the first lap and took advantage of this at the hairpin. Riding around 2 or 3 and then going up the inside of another 2 going into the right hander.
I kept my head down and after about 5 laps got into a good rhythm. The bike felt good, the carburetion down low wasn’t perfect but due to the weather and track condition it didn’t matter too much. I just tried to keep smooth and make sure I kept my concentration. I caught up to a guy on a CBR150 and had a good tussle with him for 4 or 5 laps. I got in front of him and then was borked by some lapped riders when I approached a group of 4 coming into the twisty section. I didn’t go for the big move and then lost ground with the CBR150 guy.
After that the race was pretty uneventful apart from a few front end slides, nothing too scary though. I lapped Dangerous, Buddha, Kickaha and plenty of other regulars so knew I was going ok. Bren and Diesel Pig lapped me after about 30 laps so thought I was doing pretty good to resist them for that long and thought that the end must be close. At about the same time my fingers started to go numb, the rain was atrocious. The standing water on the track was starting to become a problem too. Even though I had a clear visor with anti-fog insert I still was unable to see the track surface very well. I worked out the main places of standing water and tried to avoid as best as possible.
Seeing as I had no feeling at all in my fingers on both hands it was just faith that assured me I was using the brake lever. On a few occasions I had to look down just to double check that my fingers were in fact squeezing the lever. I slowed down quite a bit after this and was just concentrating on getting past the lapped riders efficiently and keeping my mind on the job. I was praying for the end to hurry up and arrive, I was starting to shiver just a fraction too. I came across the line to see the flag marshal holding both his hands above his head with 10 fingers showing, ok ten mins to go, roughly 10 laps. Just had to keep the mind on the job. Next lap round I saw the white flag held out, yippee I though, last lap! Just for good measure I lapped Dangerous one more time and came across the line totally exhausted.
I quickly made it back to the pits and attempted to warm up. By now I was fully shivering and freezing cold. I got changed as soon as possible and was just relieved that the race was finally over. The bike had made it and I had achieved an acceptable result.
Even though the results haven’t been released yet I think I finished around 5th to 7th, and along with that was the first old school bucket home and the only twin cylinder to finish. Pretty happy about all of them, next year with a few more mods to the mighty CB I’ll be ready to take the whole thing out.