Well after a bit of mickey mousing i finally got my new bike, reason i missed the rather wet round 2 was coz i had no bike to ride, so i pulled a lot of strings to get to round 3, but i had to do it.
Having never ridden the bike before (apart from pulling wheelies to and from work and a half hearted coro loop) i was keen to get onto the track to put it through it's paces before race day, see what i can learn and improve (just as well i did!)
Arriving at Manfeild on friday morning weather was good and track was drying so i got set up and tootled off for my first session, track was well damp in most areas but rideable, bike felt quite unstable under full power on the straights, didn't really think too much of it, until the 2nd sesson when at 220kph in 3rd with full throttle i adjusted my weight to set up for braking into higgins when the Gix took to a massive lock to lock slapper, fuck me! I almost considered jumping off the back of the bike it was that violents, watched my braking marker sail past and i still fighting the bike, oh crap, managed to get it under control it was quite surreal for something so extreme it all seemed to be happening in slow motion, went to grab the front brake, fuck nothing there! The slapper had forced the pistons back into the callipers, pumped the brakes up and started braking waiting to hit the grass where i stamped on the back and let off the front, i came to a stop in the deep gravel and somehow was still upright, shaken none the less, trying to figure out what the fuck just happened! Back to pits and scratching my head a few calls to Shaun Harris and Ray Clee, i came down to the tyres being my problem, i changed some set up of the bike with the time i had and it made it better, but not 100% couldn't get to full throttle on the front straight! Hmm i cant race liek this so a quick call around saw Nicko to the rescue who brought a set of differnt profile tyres down for me, huge thanks mate, you da man.
So glad to of come accros the issue on test day and not race day.
Got a mint nights sleep for once (thanks Graham for putting the boys and me up) And to the track where Mikey had secured us a pit box, on ya bro!
Me and Fuzzy Bear (daryl) got our shit together and were well orgainsed i had my new rear tyre on left the front and thought i'd do the scrub in session and see how that went, the bike had a slight hint of a slap but nothing to write home about, problem sorted.
Went out in F2 practice and tailed Shirrefs around in traffic, he laid a 2.04 down so i knew i was around that, Nicko had said his best ever time was 2.00 flat on his 600 so that was my aim for the day, oh and to stay on the bike as well!
Went out in F1 being sure to get out the front to get some clear laps in which paid off for me, still feeling like i can improve but set a 2.00.500(ish) which saw me on the front row in 4th place with Rob, Ant and Shirrefs along side, so i was well happy with that.
Race One
Fuck i have to get to the drag strip and work on my starts (so does poo's lol) both of us had shockers, i bogged down something horrid and it felt like everyone got past me, i put my head down and went for it, i managed just to latch on to the lead group of 6 riders me being the 6th, closing in on 4th and 5th but run out of laps, bummer! 6th place it was but alas timing showed i had set the 2nd fastest lap of the race with a 1.59.108 just over 0.2 seconds slower than shirrefs best lap, so i was encouraged by this and wondered what could've been if i got off the line a bit better?
Race Two
Some shitbox start, fuck it, even worse this time, didn't feel very comfy for some reason and got stuck behind Nicko and made my pass on the outside of the lefthand sweeper coming back onto the short cricut, then was faced with Troy on his 250cc GP bike, fuck does that haul some arse, he was using very different lines to me and i was running out of laps going into the last lap i braked as late as i dared i rolled up the inside of him, and stopped the bike mid turn causing him to basiclly lose the corner speed he would normal carry and managed to pull enough of a gap to hold onto 7th place, little disspointed but again i know why, Jared Love cam from no where to take the race win on a Ducati 996R, he run a 1.56.7, suddenly my low 59 didn't look that great, plus Rob, Ant an Co had started breaking into the 58's, damn got some work to do.
Race Three
Had to get a good start and with Ross King out due to a crash in F2 and Shirrefs and Love not starting i knew i could get a good placing if i could get off the line, this time not a bad one, Nicko came past on the outside, fuck can you get off the line Nick, wanna share some tips mate? I was in 5th with Nicko in front, i could see Ant just up ahead pulling a gap, i had to get past Nick so did it in the same place on the outside of the left hand sweeper and took the inside run into Dunlop, seemed to work quite well for me, by this time the front 3 of Jay, Rob and Ant had a decent size gap, not one i was gonna pull back in a 4 lap race, and with the sun playing a part in my vison for some braking markers i was struggling putting a fast time down, i knew someone was behind me and i thought this was Nicko, i rode reasonably defensively and never saw a challenge from the rider, crossed the line in 4th place, happy with that to end the day.
Now for muppet moment of the week, going into turn 1 on the warm down lap i turned to see who was behind me, my god it was fuzzy bear who had decided to join the party at last, fuzzy bear gave me the fingers i gave him the bout fkn time thumbs up only to turn around to see where i was going which just so happened to be straight off the track and into the mud, oh you cock, and dropped the bike rather un stylishly, im surprised fuzzy bear didn't fall of laughing, i couldn't fucken believe it haha, my god, so i did the ride of shame back to the pits, no damage to the bike just a new colour scheme, i'm not going to live this one down for a while.................
All in All a bloody good weekend, i finsihed all the races and finished well enough i set and bettered my goal times, and know where i can improve in areas, i got some points finally and am looking forward to round 4, big ups to the following:
Texmo: for turning round a shitty day on friday into a good perfomrance on race day, well done mate, you did well, plus someone that highsides a 250cc fourstorke deserves a mention.
Suglitie: As always mate top riding, hopefully i can get my shit together and get up there and dice with you soon.
Cowpoos: Mate top effort bro, you done yourself well proud, wanna come to the strip with me and practice starts sometime lol.
Fuzzy Bear: Still loved telling you the test day was long track bahahahaha, glad to see you got your shit together by the end of the day.
Mieky, Aira and KickingZebra, on ya guys for getting out there and ripping up, well done all of you.
There are others but i gotta get back to work.
Till round 4
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SENSEI PERFORMANCE TUNING 
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Originally Posted by loosebruce
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