First off, BIG thanks to Deano. Without him, I would not have made it on Saturday. Deano's positive attitude, energy and unrestrained enthusiasm made it all possible and I am forever in his debt. Deano is a king among men, take a bow mate!! You deserve better than crap asses like myself relying on your help.
So yeah, we were doing stuff till 11:30 on Friday. Well, by we I mean I dithered around while Deano did stuff.
First race ever: Clubmans B it was then.
Qualifying wasn't much fun. It was the first time I had ridden the RVF in over a year, and the last bike I rode was my DR-Z, so I it was all a little confusing for awile. I wondered how in the fuck I ever changed gears on this bike and I can bearly get my boot under the gear shift. Next problem was the new tyres that had not done a single rotation under engine power before. I managed to powerslide it through the esses a couple of times. It wasn't scary, in fact my reaction was more sigh of despair like "Is my whole day going to be like this?!" And I just went so slow as everyone blew past me down the straights. Even Nicksta on her 400 on a straight made me feel like I was standing still. And my visor kept shutting and my glasses were fogging up all the time. I was thinking I had qualfied last and this whole racing thing was a shit idea and a waste of time and money.
But infact I qualified 19th out of 26, so not last. In front of people that had raced before. That managed a smile.
First race, I was a bit nervous over the start. WTF was going to happen at the first corner? It all worked out okay though. I can't quite remember what happened, but it went something along the lines of:
The toes of my boots are grinding away on every corner. Shit.
My footpegs are coming down every corner. Shit.
And I was all ragged and stupid.
My glasses are fogging up at the ends of the straights because my visor is slamming shut from the wind blast. I couldn't see anything and it wasn't only dangerous, it was frustrating. Shit.
And everyone was blowing past me and leaving me behind. Shit.
And a shitty start because at the last second I was thinking "Hey wait, how do the flags work at the point..?"
Best time 1:32.253.
So it was shit, but I had finished my first race upright and not last. And infront of some in Clubmans A. But I think they had had a few runs off the track
Next race I had some tape on my helmet to stop it shutting completely and some advice to concentrate on one thing to work on rather than fix all the problems. So I worked on hanging off more. A lot more so my pegs and boots didn't come down and I could go faster around corners. This time there was less scraping and less fogging of the glasses. Everything was not shit. I got a better start, but I let out the clutch a bit quick and my little engine went off the boil and everyone roared ahead, oh poos. And everyone fucked off the straights. So I was out there pretty much all by myself the whole time until I got LAPPED out of the sweeper by some guy on a ZX-10 as he was heading for the checkered, and I was heading for the white.
But that was not shit, best time 1:31.413 . I was feeling happy. Still second to last, and in front of some in Clubmans A again.
Last race was fun. I got a slightly better start, but the engine still bogged. I managed to go around some people into the first corner, pass some others through the esses, passed Nicksta out of the hairpin and then.... Everyone fucked off down the straight again. At some point I think I got passed by (Who I think was) dhunt, or I caught him, can't remember. Anyway, I had about 3 laps of following him and getting past him once or twice. It could have been 3 times past if I had not fucked up my gearchange into the first corner at some point. Anyway, on the last lap he fucked off down the front straight and I finished second to last again.
Best time 1:30.592. I see a pattern forming.
The bike is running great, after 9k on the tach it's just smooth power right around to the redline, good stuff Mr Honda. Was a bit grumbly first thing in the morning, but the solid thrashing seems to have made it happier. The front brakes are just awesome, I should be braking harder and later. Even though the fluid is probably 15 years old the brakes are strong and fade free. Maybe the suspension is a bit soft at the rear. I am not hitting 6th anywhere, so I'll be looking at gearing. And that stock muffler can be changed. I've got a jet kit already, but it is not in.
Big thanks to Deano, again, he's awesome. And his wife, who is too pregnant to actually be helping out, but she does anyway because she's all good. Big thanks to the spannery types at TSS for going that extra mile last thing on friday to finish off my bike. And thanks Skelstar for helping out with taping up my visor when my were too greasy to use tape and doing up adjusters.
And of course those who run the events!!!!
Anyway, I had fun. Lots of fun. And that's what matters.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by limbimtimwim
Bookmarks