The bike finally went onto the dyno after some engine work we did whilst we missed Snetterton Rd3. Work was mainly increasing the compression and we made two vernier cam pulleys from four solid standard ones. It can now be timed correctly instead of being more than half a tooth out.
The dyno showed 104hp and as its a Fuchs dyno, that equated to 95 at the wheel. Not too bad I suppose, I dont know how different a Dynojet is but we tried a few things like ignition timing and jetting and came away with a best of 35 advance and 270MJ, but we took it back to 33 degrees just to give the little end an easier time. It only lost about half a brake horse anyway. Really should have changed the supersoft supermoto slick, it transformed into chewing gum...oh well !
The Bridgestone R10's went on the bike for the race weekend.
Cadwell Park was round 4 and even though I didnt crash this weekend has got to be up there in the stress-o-meter.
At best I dont like Cadwell, Ive never got on with it, ever, so I can take it or leave it really.
Sat afternoon Practice went OK, we tried a few things and found that the bike was still running wide on the quick turns and felt very nervous changing direction. We lowered the rear which helped then we realized by dropping the front of the bike as we had been doing had altered the trial too much.
We raised the forks eventually 20mm from what they were and the bike feels much more planted now.
Ian Simpson (ex-British Champ) was there on his RC45...guess who did all the winning, haha.
Qualifying - 10th
FL = 1min 41.5
Was up to 2nd at one point early on, but pulled in to do some changes and then noticed the last lap flag, doh! Should have stayed out on that quick lap...
First Race - 8th overall, 6th Superbike
FL = 1min 40.6
Bit of a bad start but made my way through. Bike is struggling against the quicker bikes but it is what it is.
Went up on compression on the forks to stop it diving a bit.
Second Race - 7th overall, 7th Superbike
FL = 1min 39.03
Again, bit naff but the bike was more stable on the brakes. 15th first lap I think as I get mugged down the straights and cant outbrake a gaggle of riders when we all bunch up, made it through to 7th in the end. Awesome last lap where I got someone at bottom of the Mountain and the next rider going into the hairpin on the same lap. Bang bang I was on a roll, haha.
Pretty sure I got some sick air over the Mountain, rear wheel must have been all of 50mm and truly worthy of Nitro Circus...will have to give Josh Brookes some pointers...or not.
Monday - warm up - 1st
FL = 1min 40.6
Thought I would treat the bike to a new front tyre was still the one on it I had virtually fished out of a skip at Mallory last year and it was by now goosed and slightly scalloped.
30 mins before the Warm Up session, I started the bike but as it was cold it stalled before I could blip the throttle as I had taken it off choke too early. It back-fired and lit the fuel which sprayed out. The bike went up in flames, they got hold fairly quickly and I ripped the fairing off and before I could reach the fire extiungiusher the lad next door was already there with his.
Melted most of the wiring, bike was black with the soot, fairing had melted and set where I had ripped it off....not good and very VERY scary. Open carbs look cool but I suppose they have a downside.
Managed to clean it up and went out on track.
Came back in to find an oil line which I had noticed a trace of oil around the connection had gotten worse but it wasnt fire damage. It has the Torques made fittings on which clamp the braiding to stop the pipe pulling out. We took it off and rebuilt it, but when I started the bike to check it burst off and covered me in hot oil which as I had my top off may have looked great to any nearby totty, but not good to me. Great
We rebuilt again, but we could still pull it off, we realized that the nut was bottoming out before it could get a decent hold on the braiding so we took a bit off the back face of the nut and rebuilt. We couldnt pull it off by hand and it didnt fly apart when I started the bike. Its OK now, but I may change them for some Earls pieces as I have lost confidence in the fittings.
Monday 1st race - DNF
FL = 1min 42.8
I was a bag of nerves and had a lot of worries as you can imagine. I went backwards, couldnt get into a rythme at all, braking too early and every slide I thought I had, I assumed was because of leaking oil even though in reality it wasnt sliding at all. Crap.
I pulled in as I had no confidence at all and I also could feel the throttle a bit notchy.
The bike was fine, the oil line was fine, no leaks, nothing. We checked the bike over and found the carb cable cover had melted so we changed it and it was all good again.
I very nearly called it a day to be honest and had started to pack my things away, but decided not to in the end.
Monday 2nd race - 7th overall, 5th Superbike
FL = 1min 39.8
Not too bad of a start, spent the end of the race having a bit of a dice with an R6 and I got past on the Mountain into Hall Bends, but he came past me down the start finish straight and thats where it ended up. Quite enjoyable though and he was riding pretty good, but darn his top speed advantage !
The rear had also started sliding around, we turned the back tyre round as it was getting worn on the RH side but really it had lost its edge and I could feel it breaking away earlier than it did the day before. Its all down to money at the end of the day, new tyres on every day if I could afford it (like a lot of others do it seemed).
Was slower than the day before, but I just wanted to ride round and get it over and done with.
We were glad to get this weekend out of the way, it doesnt rank high up there and I didnt sleep last night thinking about what could have been.
Oulton Park is next, our local-ish track and a track I know well so I am aiming for a decent result and am really looking forward to it...I wanna get this bike on the podium and I reckon this is my best chance as I love Oulton.
Rockingham is the one after followed by Anglesey so some interesting tracks in the next few months and Bridgestone may have some of their latest V Slicks as well, which could give me an advantage??
Pre-fire picture...