Bens Race Bike Build / 2015 race season

[ChowderV4]

sounds like you had an awsome time , really would like to give it a go at some point .

I've saved for so long and travelled so far and even if i crashed out and wrote the bike off in the first race it would still be worth it, get it done!

[ChowderV4]

some photos from the weekend including some i got of Skinnydog.






aha before & after








end of the weekend pack up

had to be done

[skinnydog0_0]

Hi Mate, Yes was good to meet up and really glad you had a good weekend. Shame the weather was so cold, but it was good you made it home in one piece and with the bike still looking spanking gorgeous :)
Will have to catch up again at one of the coming rounds. I won't be at Brands - but will try to get to a round early on. Good luck at Brands

[tmjns796]

I love that machine! the silver phase 1 406.... beauty!

seriously though, Nice pics sounds like you had a blast!

[ChowderV4]

I love that machine! the silver phase 1 406.... beauty!

seriously though, Nice pics sounds like you had a blast!

Actually is a champagne gold 306 phase 1 haha An absolute beast.

[ChowderV4]

Brands Hatch - NG Road Racing - A&R Racing Formula 400 Championship Round 1&2

Where to start! Well we arrived at the track at about 8:30pm Friday evening looking for somewhere to pitch our tent up, after driving round for 15 minutes checking both paddocks we had come to the conclusion that there was no grass! A quick phone call to Nino the course clerk and we managed to blag a night in the scrutineers garage which was inside, dry and most importantly...inside.
We set about changing over to wets for the next day and got an early night.

Saturday:
We got up nice and early to get the bike and me through scrutineering which it passed no problem, then we decided to try and set up the tent before my first race, what a huge mistake that was!
The only grassy area was as the highest point on the circuit and was being battered by the wind, after about an hour of heroic attempts to get the tent up we decided it wasn't going to happen, the 3/4 snapped tent poles and ripped guide ropes kinda confirmed that!
By now my first race was getting called so i got kitted up and got down to the paddock.
I lined up in the assembly area and then it hit me, this was my first race and i was going to be lining up on the grid at Brands Hatch!!! Holy Crap!!
We were guided onto the grid and i found my self lining up 19th out of 21 riders, after getting my grid slot we were started off on the warm up lap and i got a brief amount of time to assess the conditions and get an idea of the lines i wanted to take, by the time i even thought about a race plan we were back on the grid lining up for the start.
I kept my eyes on the light, red lights on.....Red lights out, pin the throttle, head down and fire it at the first corner!
I get a decent start and head round the first few corners with no incidents, riding on wets was all new to me so i just went how i felt was comfortable and smooth, smooth that was the key!
I started building pace lap after lap, my lap times were tumbling from a 1:12 down to 1:08 in about 4 laps!
I started passing riders and realizing i'm still catching the next one along, so i kept going and made up about 5-6 places.
I'd just set a 1:07 lap and had my eye on a couple of KTM's up ahead and then it happened.... Accelerating out of Graham hell bend i lose the front then quickly followed by the rear spitting me over the front of the bike!
As i was rolling along the ground i thought i had gone down on the racing line and was waiting to get hit! Luckily i got away with a few bruises and sore ribs, but i was OK.
The bike on the other hand didn't fair too well, it had ground through the engine casing dumping all the oil and had trashed my rear-set.
Game over, pack up and go home was my thoughts, but Chris seemed to be a bit more optimistic, which was lucky as i was lent a new engine casing and we got it all fixed up and ready for the next race :)

Sunday:

Unfortunately the crash may have unearthed some underlying problems and for the rest of the weekend i was plagued with electrical issues which forced me to retire from the other races, most entertaining was my throttle jamming wide open just as i was tipping into a corner, wet grass at 60 mph isn't fun!

All in all the weekend was a nightmare, I enjoyed almost all of it and its taught me some very good lessons, most importantly ALWAYS check your tyre pressures are correct!!!
I'll take everything I've learnt and use it to motivate me for the next round, the bikes getting a thorough check over to make sure i wont have any issues next round. :) Fingers Crossed!

Big thanks to Simon for helping with the bike and providing a nice dry garage!

[ChowderV4]

Well after the Brands nightmare the bikes getting some loving.
New casing, rotor and winding are installed, new oil/filter and spark plugs are ready for a service.
I have new coils on the way due to the old one's being the possible cause of the electrical issues, also have some hyperpro progressive springs on their way too :D so should have some decent suspension up front too :)

Apart from the its getting a good check over before the next round to make sure everythings is ready to go!

[ChowderV4]

Well i spend all of Saturday working on the bike with the hope of getting it started up and running again. I had a box of new parts to be fitted so got to it!

Dropped the sump off first to make sure there wasn't any debris in there from the crash....little to no metal = good .... lots of rubber/instant gasket = Bad! luckily none had got past the strainer.
Previous owners are frustrating!!
Cleaned all of that out, and then came across another foreign object......A VALVE SHIM!!!! = MEGA BAD (or so i thought)
Immediately i though thats it the engine done, but then as my father pointed out the engine was running fine after the crash and throughout the weekend (bar the missfire), so the shim couldn't have come from the bike.
So at some point in its previous life during a valve clearance some numpty dropped a valve shim in the engine and decided its fine and put it all back together!!
By some miracle it must have found its way down an oil way and to the sump

So once i had realized its not all fucked i refitted the sump, exhaust, changed the coil caps and made sure they were properly waterproofed , new spark plugs and she was ready to fire up....NAAAT!
Turns out one of the wires on the ignition connector block that feeds into the rest of the loom had corroded and broke, thinking about it that would be a very likely cause of the missfire/running issues at Brands.

So now it will be soldered and connected up and fingers crossed we will be ready to roll for the next race.
Due to the mass panic of what i found in the sump i kinda forgot to take photos, but it wasn't too pretty i can tell you.

[ChowderV4]

So bikes running perfect everything is ready to go, oh wait a caliper seal has gone, well i better do them all....oh no 2 pistons are damaged, better order some next day delivery as im running out of time.
Whats this?? "item is out of stock sorry for the confusion you have been refunded".....fantastic.

So i've had to order some pistons from wemoto not knowing if they will turn up in time, luckily found someone selling a spare set of calipers cheap and willing to do next day delivery. Fingers crossed the postie is nice to me and doesnt lose anything!

[ChowderV4]

Donington Park - NG Road Racing - A&R Formula 400 & 500 Newcomers Championship - Round 5 & 6

Finally back racing again after unfortunately missing Cadwell Park due to lack of funds, we headed off the Donington Park for round 5 & 6. Seemingly nothing i do goes without its fair share of drama and issues and this weekend was no exception!

So where do i start, funnily enough the problems started a week before the event actually happened! I had some issues with blown brake seals and expected to have some nice rebuilt calipers with new seals etc ready for the race....oh no its not that easy!
After numerous failed orders, wrong items sent and out of stock items i managed to get a spare set of calipers and we set off for a weekend of racing!

In the BH Racing crew for donington was my uncle Jamie Harrison and team photographer Lee Searle Photography, i have to say without their help the weekend would have been over before it even began.
We arrived at the track Friday evening set up base camp and got our heads down for an early start in the morning.

Saturday:

An early start was needed as a few unexpected issues popped up, most apparent was the fact that when i went to fit the front mudguard for scrutineering it just wouldn't fit however i offered it up......hmm those forks don't look right?
Turns out that when father rebuilt the forks he put them in the wrong way round!!!
A quick buzz round the paddock to borrow a head stock stand and we were sorted and passed scrutineering.

First practice soon came around and it was dry, Thank you weather gods. the session went great, Donington is an incredible track and i picked up the lines nice and quick.
Coming in after the practice i was on a huge high and ready for the race, and then it happened....
I was hit by some absolute mindless dumb ass in the paddock going way to fast, it left me with a severely damaged exhaust (as you may have seen from the photos!) and my front fairing in about 8 pieces.

I had had enough by then, nothing seemed to go right, i was pissed off like you wouldn't believe.
Luckily i had Jamie there and quick as a flash he was off round the paddock finding some way to sort it out and he delivered!
After only 3/4 of an hour i had the spare fairings fettled and fitted and ready for the race!

Qualifying Race 1, we were last minute changing to wets as the weather was all over the place meaning i had to start from the back of the grid. Red lights on.....and GO!
After My Last experiences in the wet i took it very easy for the first few laps but soon got into a rhythm, The new fork springs as well as having the correct pressures made the bike handle like it was on rails.
I managed to catch and pass a few people and bought it home in 10th.

Championship race 1, another wet race but i was feeling more confident and got a much better start, i tried to tag onto some riders in front for the first few laps and then started to close them down.
Coming into the last few laps i was closing down a big gap to a VFR in front, i got close enough to make a move and went for it....down craner curves!! We Passed and re passed a few times until i made it in front, i thought he was right behind me for the rest of the race, i was expecting a pass every corner. When i crossed the line and looked back i had pulled out about 4 seconds in the last few laps to finish 8th and claim my first championship points!!

Sunday:

The Newcomer race was first thing after practice and it stayed dry, my first dry race!
As the grid was mixed up of all the newcomers from all classes i was mixing it up with 600's 750's and 1000'2 as well as my own 400 class.
Start went well but as i haven't got any tyre warmers i couldn't push as much in the first few laps and had some people to catch!
I set about going after 2 600's in front of me, it was extremely frustrating as they were obviously faster in a straight line but very slow in the corners and i ended up getting help up for a few laps but managed to get past both (1 with a last second dive into the old hairpin) and claim 6th in my class and more championship points!!

The next two races didn't quite go to plan, in the second qualifying race i was having a great battle with a rgv250 and had got the better of him for 7th until i came down the back straight and ran out of fuel! ROOKIE MISTAKE DUHHHHHH!!!!
The second championship race was going great, i was having a fantastic battle with Simon on his cbr and had managed to get past him for 6th, but tipping into coppice the front just washed out and off into the gravel trap i went.
Fortunately no damage to me or the bike so i wasn't too down

Overall i had such an amazing weekend, it wasn't without its drama but i came away with race finishes, championship points, 2 signatures and a massive smile on my face!

Lets hope i can do even better at the next round in 3 weeks!
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