Bit of a report on the TD and the current status of this project - the first race for it is a month away...
14th June was roistering hot, I had the FZR and the NC in the van and cruised to Cadwell on the Saturday to have a BBQ and a few ales and catch up with a few guys off another forum (traitor!)
The TD was a last minute affair and so the only space left for me was in Novice group
I have done probably 13 or 14 TD at Cadwell alone now...so I get the idea of the place..but it had been 18 months since my lat ride there..
Got both bikes out and tyre warmers on, like a proper TD merchant, and went for noise testing. The Hiperform system and the stubby little can I got from Challymo was too loud - 106.9dB. They pulled faces and told me to sort it out. I had a baffle in my pocket, like you do, so I pushed the bike off and fitted it. Brought it back down and it was no different..lol
They pulled faces again but I told them the bike was cold so would quieten down over time..they gave me a 105dB sticker and bad me to feck off..
The FZR, being a good lad was only 99dB!
Anyways, first session, I was ummming and aaaahing about which bike to take out. I chose the NC and rolled into the holding area feeling very excited at the prospect of using the bike that Mark built in anger. I got out onto the track, the bike pulling very well and so I went through all the gars, grabbed the brakes a lot and cruised about at the back - this was a novice session and so it was 15m of sighting laps......oh joy. I did the first 3 laps and the bike started to feel strange - like it was loose and pulling to the left. I could turn left and it flopped over too fast and when turning right it didn't want it and felt if you got it to turn it would highside you off. I tried a lap to see if it was somehting with me - but it was getting worse..so I pulled in.
Game over. I checked everything I could think of - nothing was loose, as far as I could see, the pressures were right...it was just not behaving. So, with a heavy heart I put it back in the van. I did the rest of the day on the FZR and by the end of the day I was enjoying it a lot.
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