2015 AMCC Round 2 @ Hampton Downs
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, 4th November 2015 at 21:29 (9558 Views)
Last time out didn’t go well so this time I was looking to have a much better day. I’d identified the problems and had come up with a solution, namely lowering the footpegs and putting a seat on the bike to give me a lot more room for my legs.
Making the bike more comfortable means less effort to move around so I’d use less energy and wouldn’t get worn out, both of which will be very important for the upcoming 6 hour endurance race. Round 2 of the AMCC series was going to be a test day for me, both for the improved ergonomics and also for my first time racing my bike as a 600.
During the week I’d converted it back to 4 cylinders, put new brake pads in and cleaned the brake pistons. However, while I was doing the brake pistons the piece of wood I had between the pistons to stop them from popping out too far fell out while I wasn’t looking and one of the brake pistons came out. Instant puddle of fluid on the ground and lots of swearing. It took an hour to sort it out. On the bright side I’m sure it was well overdue for a change of brake fluid anyway.
At the track I was feeling pretty nervous. I had no idea how different it would be racing, as opposed to just riding, a 600. Because I’d never ridden a 600 at Hampton Downs I decided I’d enter Clubmans, figure out how to ride the bike and then move up to F2 if I made enough progress.
Climbing onto the bike it immediately felt weird because of the new seat but also because I could only touch the ground with one foot. I guess that’s what it’s like to be short. However, I don’t need both feet on the ground so I ignored the problem.
Out for Qualifying I head down pit lane exit, give it some gas and immediately find out just how much difference a single cylinder makes, the bike is a lunatic now. Turn 2 I brake early but it seems like it’s too late and the bike feels out of control. I remember not to gas it when I normally do, waiting until I’m upright and pointed roughly in the right direction before opening the throttle again.
I manage 4 laps before the flag comes out, none of which are remotely fast as I’m still figuring out where to brake, I’m very cautious with the throttle and the bike feels like it’s out of control anytime the throttle’s closed.
Before this meeting I knew that it’d be braking that I’d have the most trouble with. I didn’t realise quite how much of a problem braking would be as the bike was lifting the back and bouncing on the brakes in the slower corners and shuddering a hell of a lot into the fast corners.
Sitting down and thinking about things I added a full turn of preload to the forks. The damping was fine and the air gap at the top of the forks is perfect but I needed to get some weight off the front so it wouldn’t dive so quickly. I wasn’t going to move the forks just yet so a bit more preload should help.
Lining up on the grid I’ve got Nick Olsen to the right and Tony Hoghedge to my left who is lining up on the car grid instead of the staggered bike grid.
The lights come up and we’re off …. nice and cautiously. I’ve never done a race start on the 600 and don’t want to loop it. It felt fine until the front came up very suddenly and I slammed the throttle shut, instantly losing some vital ground to the others. Into turn 1 I’ve got Paul Garrett taking the inside line and I end up ninth.
Taking it easy I fall in behind the pack but Varun Kohli passes me on the inside into Turn 2. I get him back on the exit of Turn 6 and set off after Nick Olsen and Simon Ramsdale as well.
Turn 1 is surprisingly easy to figure out as it’s exactly the same as on the 450, just braking about 80m earlier, so I bang it down 2 gears, let the brakes off and sail around the outside of somebody. The only problem is the bike is not behaving itself on the brakes, shuddering at Turn 1 and at other places it’s constantly lifting the back end off the ground.
Into Turn 5 I’m on the brakes late and the back comes up way more than it has been so I ease off then get on the the brakes again, only to have the back end come up once again. I ease off once more and have a third go at slowing down. By this time I’m almost off the end of Turn 5 so let the brakes go and turn it, getting around the corner but losing plenty of ground, although nobody behind me is able to take advantage.
I quickly find myself behind Anas Matar who pulls a gap up the hill but I’m braking way later than him and use lots of corner speed to get around him at Turn 1 for sixth place. Now I’ve got Douglas Oxenham and Paul Garrett off in the distance.
I try to settle down but braking is still a big problem and making any ground on the other two is very difficult. I pull some ground back but in the end I’m across the line in sixth place.
Despite the problems with braking my lap timer shows I was getting faster and faster each lap, knocking over 3.5 seconds off my Qualifying time. Fix the braking and things should improve quite a bit.
To do that I need to lift the front a little to stop so much weight going forward. Seeing as dropping the forks down through the yokes is a bit of a mission I opted for adding some more preload again. If that didn’t work I’d have to suck it up and lower the forks. I also added a bit more air to the front tyre so that it’s a bit more rigid.
Race 2 and Tony has decided to line up in the correct place this time.
Off the line and I get a better start than earlier. However, so does everyone else and I head into Turn 1 with Paul Garrett charging up the inside of me. Into Turn 2 I follow Paul up the inside of Nick Olsen and start looking for a way past Paul, but there aren’t any opportunities up the inside as he takes a tight line into every corner, braking all the way, turning quickly and using the low end and mid range acceleration of the Triumph. So I’m going to have to find a way around the outside of him but before we get to my strong parts of the track he overtakes Douglas Oxenham on the inside of Turn 5. Paul almost loses out to him in Turn 6 as Douglas tries to go around the outside but doesn’t quite make it.
Into Turn 1 I go for the outside of Douglas but don’t make it. I’m looking up the inside and outside to try and find a way past but it isn’t until we’re back around to Turn 1 where I again go around the outside and this time I make it easily. I should be behind Paul again but he’s snuck past Anas Matar (Nas) so I pull back the gap to Nas and I’m all over him out of Turn 6 but the power of the litre bike has me losing plenty of ground. However, into Turn 1 I go even later and faster than usual and exit the corner ahead of Nas. Funnily enough I don’t even notice that the braking is now significantly improved and almost all of the problems have gone away.
This time I’m definitely behind Paul so I have to figure out the tricky problem of where to get around him. I can’t at the slow corners because the 675 has too much low and mid range for me to do it. I could at Turn 6 but I’d have to make sure I was well past him in the first third of the corner as he’s always accelerating more than everyone else from there on so if I haven’t made it in the first third I won’t make it at all.
In the end I can’t do anything until Turn 1 again. The biggest problem for Paul is since he doesn’t have the use of anything below his rib cage turning the bike at high speeds is really difficult so he has to slow it a lot before turning. This leaves an opportunity on the outside of him.
After getting past Paul I go hard to close the gap to Damian France. For someone wearing a newbies vest he’s fast and it’s not all bike.
By Turn 1 I’m close enough to Damian but he’s dragging everything on the ground to stay in front of me so I don’t make it around him. I close back up into Turn 2 and ride around the outside of him at Turn 3 to set up a block pass on the inside of Turn 4.
Out of Turn 5 I’m slow because of the defensive line I take but he’s fast, able to drive past me on the run to Turn 6. Out of 6 and up the hill I’m not able to pull it back so Damian takes a very good third place with me in fourth.
This time the bike was much more settled and only lifted the back a couple of times so I added another turn of preload on the forks so it sits a little higher. The magic change that sorted it all was adding another psi to the front tyre. Because I’d changed to using an actual seat instead of a thin piece of rubber on top of the fairing I was sitting up a lot higher. Under braking this threw more weight to the front, making the tyre collapse and the front end would do crazy things. Adding a bit more air made the tyre stronger so it didn’t collapse.
Lining up for the third and final race I’m keen to have a good one as the bike felt great.
I get the best start yet, making it to Turn 1 ahead of most of the row in front of me, exiting Turn 1 in fifth place. The front four are setting a good pace but I’m slowly clawing back the gap to Douglas Oxenham until Turn 1 where I make up a heap of ground on him and go right around the outside into fourth place behind Nas. He’s using the power of the litre bike so he gaps me out of corners and I can’t make up the gap on the brakes and also pass him, so we get the concertina effect every corner. Out of Turn 6 I’m all over the back of Nas and the power difference is less pronounced at higher speeds so he doesn’t pull away as much as you’d think. I go for the outside of Turn 1 again but don’t make it past him and have to tuck in behind.
I line up on the outside of Nas around Turn 3, driving hard to get the inside line for Turn 4. Braking nice and late I stuff it into Turn 4 for a block pass, accelerating hard up the hill. Now I’m in third and Paul has been riding my coat tails the whole way, taking advantage of the gaps I’m creating to get past others and he’s up to fourth. Meantime I’m all over Damian France. I try to push around the outside of him at Turn 1 again but, like previous efforts with Damian, I can’t get past him there. Tucking in behind him I’m looking for gaps but it isn’t until Turn 6 that I stuff it up the inside on the brakes. I’m too deep though and run a little wide, leaving an opportunity for Damian to take the place back.
Into Turn 1 and I run the wide line again, carrying a lot of speed that I use out of Turn 1 on the inside line so that we’re side by side heading for Turn 2. I’ve got the line so Damian has to accept third place for now.
The gap to Derrick Zhu is around 8 seconds and it’s now the last lap but I’ve got some clear track; I’m flying.
Into Turn 2 I make a slight mistake, getting into the corner too early and having to stand it up which runs me wide for 3. I’m offline and running wide out of Turn 3 so try to make it up into 4, but make an even bigger mess of it all, running very wide and gifting Des Berghan second. Getting it all back together I aim for the inside line into Turn 5 but I’m too far back so I have to get out of the throttle and Des gets some free meters on the exit. Turn 6 I’m trying to make up the ground but Des has too much of a lead and I’m not able to get close enough to him before the finish line. However, even though I made mistakes over half of the lap it was still my fastest lap of the day, dipping under the 1:15 cut off for Clubmans.
A great day’s riding and most of it was because I’d fitted a seat and lowered the footpegs. Now the bike feels positively luxurious and moving around is no longer an effort. Even changing gears is much easier now I don’t have to twist my leg around to find the gear lever.
Most people find it hard to step up to a 600 but because I’ve already done tons of laps on it and had the chassis and suspension well sorted adding the extra power didn’t cause me any problems. Every lap was faster than the previous and I dropped almost 6 seconds off my Qualifying time so I’m confident I would’ve gotten down to a time that would’ve had me kicked out of Clubmans.
Next up is the practice day and 6 Hour Endurance race, after which I put the bike back to a 450 for the Suzuki Series race at Hampton Downs.
- my wife
- Cherie for all the help in the pits
- Stefan @ DL Consulting
- Tony, Diane, Boaz and Eve for looking after my bike
- Craig @ Grey Street Motors
- Dusty @ Leda Leathers for the awesome custom race suit
- Steve @ SPJ Art and Design for painting my helmets