Bens Race Bike Build / 2015 race season

[CMSMJ1]

Did you get some lovely lockwiring sorted? grips too? all bolts are nice and tight?

Looks really nice..I'll try to get out to see a local race this year. Bring my boy!

[ChowderV4]

Did you get some lovely lockwiring sorted? grips too? all bolts are nice and tight?

Looks really nice..I'll try to get out to see a local race this year. Bring my boy!

Yeah lockwired sump, oil filter, oil filler cap. not done grips but they are very secure unless its mandatory then i will get it done.
will double and triple check before i leave
Thanks im so happy with it, just hope it goes as well as it looks. had 62hp before the system and air filter was fitted so its going for a dyno session and possible re-jet after the test, will get a printout up when i do it.

Just bought a clear screen too.

[ChowderV4]

Well practically a superstar now, made it into the local paper haha

[Cammo]

Haha nice one!

[CMSMJ1]

"Biker Ben"

Love it..

I'd want VIP paddock access for a tenner donation to the fund :) or I'll get myself a ticket and come and steal a brew from you.

Get the dates you are racing up and we'll have to try and arrange some summer racing 400GB style

[Tim400GB]

Got a link to the formula 400 series and the race dates?
Do you come to brands?

I wouldn't mind coming to make a nuisance of myself in the paddock

[ChowderV4]

Got a link to the formula 400 series and the race dates?
Do you come to brands?

I wouldn't mind coming to make a nuisance of myself in the paddock

Yep brands is the first race of the season, 16th/17th of march :) and i'll be there ready to go!

http://www.ngroadracing.org/results_data/2013/diary.htm

thats the season diary

[ChowderV4]

Pembrey NG Road Racing Test 2013

We arrived at the track at 11:30 friday evening with everyone else all set up in their motorhomes and caravans, we found a space and started setting up the tent....only to discover no tent pegs!!
Thanks to Theo's scrapheap challenge style quick thinking he striped out some wire out of an old burnt out car and fashioned some tent pegs, with those plus some hefty rocks we were all set up and got our heads down for an early start the next morning.

Saturday:
After a stupidly cold nights sleep (-1!!!) we had a quick breakfast of toast and tea and headed over to the media center for the ACU licence training course, after 3 hours of information and a 2 minute multiple choice test i had my race licence! Theo my chief mechanic for the day sat in to get a bit of info in case the racing bug bit him too.
The rest of the day was spent checking out the riders on track and changing from wets to dry tyres, ( i did expect rain all weekend ) and a quick chat with scrutineering and the sound tests to know what to look out for when preparing your bike.
we had an early night sleep because it was track time the next day!

Sunday:
Woke up to what i can only describe as Siberia! Frost everywhere, and an indicated -2 in the car! It wasn't looking very promising considering we were told that we may be one of the first sessions out.
Headed down to the race office at 9:00am to sign on and get my novice orange bib, then met in the race cafe to have a quick briefing before we got ready and waited for out session to be called. With everyone else in the whole paddock having tyre warmers i felt a little un easy going out on cold tires but as soon as i heard the green session being called i got suited up and warmed the bike up, after the third call i made my way up to the assembly area greeted by a mix of 125's, 400's, 600's, 650's and even 1000's!
For the first few laps we were lead around by an instructor to show us the general lines of the track, but after 3 laps we were going incredibly slow and i didn't feel like my tires were going to warm up at all. Suddenly i had 2 or 3 bikes shoot past me and the instructor so i followed suit and immediately felt more comfortable taking the corners at more speed and getting heat into the tyres.
The next session i took a few laps to get heat into the tyres then started tyres to get quicker lap by lap, and it was working i was learning the track very quickly and finding better and better lines each lap, this continued for 2 more sessions until we broke for lunch.
After lunch we were scheduled to be dropped into one of the quicker groups and have some practice grip starts, i found myself on the front row for the practice start, which was a bit daunting with 20+ bikes behind me shooting for the first corner. The start went great and i only had 1 bike in front of me into the first corner :)
Due to some sidecar crashes and retirements there ended up being only 2 sessions being run so i was getting out on track every ten minutes which meant i kept some head in the tyres and got a lot more track time and confidence. Theo set about timing some laps and i was improving lap by lap with consistent lap times ending up with a best of 1:11.4 which is a very good time considering how cold it was and my first time on track!!
After a long days riding i was knackered, the bike ran perfectly and looked awesome, i learnt so much and came out with a lot of confidence. Im buzzing on a high now which should carry me through to the first round at Brands Hatch in 2 weeks time!

#41

[marcus57]

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

[micpec]

Nice article in that paper, and nice write up of your first experiences! Keep up the spirit for the races to come!