Bike back to Dublin and ridden home on slicks in November, what a time to be alive Tyres swapped out and the bike shoved down a lane under a cover for winter , took it out for a breif spin, 30 mins away, it doesn't restart . Hmmm Merde Lift home, back down the lane forget about it and do the man thing, ignore it and hopefully it heals itself Other than putting it on a trickle charger i can't remember looking at the bike over winter New year, the trackday company start arranging events, first up Monteblanco in March, I've done Monteblanco twice , 2018 and 2019 , its a grand track but nothing special , fantastic facility, track is great but nothing soul stirring about the place like Mugello or Andalucia. I don't want to go again. Portimao is the track i want to do, they release the dates , 1st weekend in June but the day they release the dates a lad in work has put in for the exact time off, ah well . They launch the date for Andalucia, October 2023, i provissionaly book a spot as i absolutely loved the track when i was there in October 2022 and i may aswell book something as i can't do Portimao as the dates don't suit and i don't want to do Monteblanco again. Middle of February i'm up in local bike shop, Nicole , a racer that works there asks am I doing Monteblanco, no, nope, nadda, neit been ther done that During that week i see nicole put a post up on her instagram, a spot for monteblanco has come up , I'm not doing Monteblanco, again i see Nicole, she asks would i not go? no been there done that, get home and get a text off the chap that runs Irelands bike mag and promotes the trackday company, a spot has come up for Monteblanco ( one of Nicoles spots, she and 3 junior riders were to go out for training, a junior has pulled out) at a very very cheap price I look at and book flights and take the spot for Monteblanco, the track i definitely was not going to Great , once again i'm under time pressure for tyres and pads, oh yeah and my bike isnt working, i had forgotten about that i better get looking at it
So with no idea what was wrong with the bike i just thought right this is electrical again, bike would start, not start turn over, try turn, cough splutter , i decided to look at all connections, all earths, anything and everything. For the most part everything plug wise was clean , the earths were clean and connected also , bike would struggle, vrrrt vrrt vrrr, leave it, it would start, try again, nowt, extremely infuriating, so i really went at it , removing battery box and finding two hidden relays that were manky, could this be the issue? no it wasn't. in frustration i went and bought a new battery even though the one onboard was less than a year old, there was no draw on it as such but i was clutching at straws, i did find the starter solenoid the live into it, the brass connector was swimming about internally/ externally , could this be my issue ? The bike started , tried it a few times, grand ride it up to the drop off point and hope for the best El papa, looking delighted with me as usual go on, off you fuck , see you in a week .
Monteblanco, a track I definitely, absolutely, positively was not going to go to again, lets be having you. On the road early and the sun is trying its best to break the horizon, those beautiful purples into orange into blue rising in the distance. I love this , from heading to the airport in Dublin, meeting other members of the group having a pint, the travel, the trip to your hotel to heading to the track for the first time, I adore this whole experience and I am blessed I am able to do it Frost covers the surrounding fields, we may be in the south of Spain but it is still early in the year. We arrive for set up, unpack the stillages, find space in garages, tighten up handlebars, refit screens, help each other where we can. We are told there will only be two groups for the regular track day goers as a 3rd group will be a VIP group, its Honda UK ( John McGuinness , Andrew Irwin , Tim Neave, Nathan Harrison ) , Dao Racing ( Dean Harrison ) , Ashcourt Racing (Lee Johnston), Padgetts ( Davey Todd) , FS3 Kawasaki , Marvel Racing ( Franco Bourne and @wavey) Tag racing ( Hector Barbera), LKR Racing ( Danny Kent) some German and other teams Lee Johnston Dave Hewson We were here to show them the way around the place. Give them some pointers (watch out that’s oil , this is a motorbike and other gems of knowledge )
Set up and we get ready for the day, bike on stands, warmers on, fueled . Try the bike, see if it starts it doesn't, it does, it doesn't it does...gahhhhhh 1st session is coming up, bike starts, let it warm up, check pressures head out. I'm a happy boy https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrjiAqXIoyGEa5uEthnYEgSXJUXRKWYhaWlsCg0/ I'm immediately at home on the track and on the bike and i'm knee down on the first lap , but unfortunately not only am i knee down but i'm also gear shifter down on one of the laps. I'm circulating and for some reason i find it hard to get my foot in position for a clean gear change, bloody odd. No idea where it happened but i come back in to find this banana . The sidestand has also worked its way loose, again, so i whip off the lower panels and take off the sidestand and the gear shift. One of the lads comes up with an idea, set the lever on two sockets and ratchet strap it onto on of the edges of a metal stillage, keep tightening it leave it a while and we hit it with a nylon hammer and rubber mallet, straightening it just enough. Put the bike back together, back on paddock stands warmers on and get ready for the next session. We get out for a second session, bike is flying, I'm loving it but thats it for the 1098 and Monteblanco, after the second session it will not start again. We go at the solenoid, swap that out but no bueno. i attacked it for a few hours, tried a few things but its brown bread. We look at the starter but thats all we can do, is look at it, its no plug and play system, 3 bolts hold it in place on the LHS, one outside the bike and two inside the alternator cover , alternator cvover is glued on and is easiest attacked with a specific tool.
It wasn't a problem, there are plenty of people to help in the pits, plenty of people to have the chats and craic with, paddock scooters to nick and pictures to be taken. I went at the Ducati for a few hours but no avail and no worries. Paul from the Bike magazine offers me a go on his MT-10 , with strcit instructions not to crash it i ask what pressures he has the tyres at " road pressures" says he, "WTF" says I. Can i change them? " no". Fair enough, I'll go easy I do not go easy i ride it in a manner that would suggest i have the bank account to pay for it should anything go awry. I lamp the bike around as quick as i can and on my last lap, and the reason i make it my last lap on it is i am coming out of the last turn and as i get on the gas i get a huge slide, thrown up and out of the seat its over as quick as it arrived , i laugh my head off and hammer down the straight, loooking behind me at a fella on a gsxr that had full view of the whole thing , i give him a wave and a sorry about that, circulate the lap and pull in https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqa2iu3ogGUm4u2PCnFbc_GFTLhtpxhEu9abvQ0/ it was a good laugh, one session won't give me much of an assesment of it but capable is one word. I liked how it made its power and laid it down to the tarmac. I come in, Paul is probably more than releived that i'm back in one piece as this is actually his own motorcycle and not a loaner I thank him and tell him about the big slide I'd had coming out of the last turn and I talk to him about pressures again, just because you are a journo doesn't mean you can ride fast, or know what you should know about tyres and pressures. Eventually convincing him to let me change the tyre pressures and when I check them the rear is sky high pressure wise this was about 20 minutes after i'd finished the session , it was at something north of 45psi but I can't remember correctly but I drop them to suitable road tyre being abused on track pressures . Then a chap called Dennis offered me a fireblade, i have to say i loved the brakes on this thing, they were like a hammer , instant and effective . A nice thing to ride, dropped into corners so quick , a very tall bike. Dennis offered me more sessions on it but lots of lads offered me goes on their bikes and i gratefully accepted them as the weekend went on
I only got one session on each bike and I was faster than the owners, trying to figure out gearboxes and brakes, a 20 minute session doesn't give much time to learn each bike but i gave it a bloody good go! I had one session on Fergus' ZX6R road bike, road as in complete road spec, tyres and pads, I did a fastest lap of 2.05 Liams Race ZX6r, Ohlins fore and aft etc first session on that i did a 2.07 fastest lap, second session with a new rear tyre in i did a 2.00.02 . A fantastic bike, if a ZX6r had come up for sale in right spec with reasonable asking price i'd have bought one, epic bikes. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cqvp304IYLd3wAuUw8frBHBQImg-IfMTIWxywU0/ A session on a Ktm 1290 with apparantly 195bhp, that was enjoyable and not as hairy as i thought it would be , again though using so many bikes and either road or race shift i found myself going the wrong way with gear selection when coming up on traffic and trying to get by them . A 2005 Honda cbr600rr was an absolute beaut of a machine , it felt so tight , like the engine and suspension was brand new, rear sets were a little high that was my only complaint. I told the owner i would buy it if he was selling, he said he wasn't and I'd already bought the beemer when he did put it up for sale a couple of months later . Bobby offered a go on his GSXR 750 and fuck me i had to literally fight the bike around the track and only managed a 2.05, every corner was a battle The bike would not trail brake, well it did but it was a fight, the front end juddering on the way in, off the brakes it would turn but run wide , it would however turn and tighten up when on the gas . The brakes, a full ISR set up would merely slow the bike, not stop it. I described it like biting into those foam floaters you'd find in a swimming pool, that was the feel and the stopping power. The bike also felt gutless, asthmatic on the throttle, quickshifter also only working at 14krpm and only twice on the main straight. When i came back into the bits i told Bobby my findings, the Motocraft team came over to have a look at his bike There was zero rebound in the front forks and the compression was maxed out, the guys worked on this . The Brakes were almost fully worn on one side and contaminated , the lads tried a swap of calipers from a bike that had broke down but it didn't work so a full clean of his system, pads fluids and discs and they were vastly improved. The rear shock was fucked, luckily there was an Ohlinsservice truck in the paddock there for the Pro teams, and Bobby went and asked could they assist, as they were doing sweet fuck all ( their words) they told him to bring it on down and they serviced it for him FOC, within 30 mins shock was out, serviced and back in. Bobby knocked 17 seconds off his laptimes from day one to day 3 , the bulk of time being knocked off after i pointed out the issues
Other bikes if i am not forgetting any were Ten Kate R6, ridiculously tall and cramped for me. I would have liked more time on it, it was stiff , the zx6r race bike felt more at home quicker , but a beautiful thing this bike, not myself but the owner on board Honda Cbr650r ex cup race bike, zero power, i actually thought it was a twin it had that little amount of power. Rattled its bolts apart ( gear selector) and the bars were far too close, the owner had left it with me and headed home early . Grateful for the use of it but glaciers move faster . Lovely looking road bike though. I was i offered a go on another Ten Kate R6 and a go on a 2018 Gsxr 1000 which for some reason i was apprehensive about, I'd had enough and I honestly had uised that many different road and race shifts I couldn't actually remember how when i got on the deauville for work in the morning what way i shifted the gearpeg into first. Bikedrunk Photodump Gavins brand new from Ten Kate r6 on its very first use John on his Gsxr1000, after a 20 year bike break getting a vespa in 2020, an 821 monster and then the Gsxr , getting his elbow down into turn one was an epic return to bikes James on his zx6r showing us how to do it in a less shouty manner A gaggle of gobshites, yesterday Bike got a prize, as did I . I came second in the Wes lookalike competition to another fella called Wes . The legend that is Mr John McGuiness who was talking to us for ages and going through what was what on the HRC bikes, an absolute Gentleman Mr Dani Pedrosa had a nice chat with us at the airport , he was flying to Barcelona for some testing Honda UK's Andrew Irwin with our Mark the joys of loading Gavin met Lorenzo on the other side of the airport again, Monteblanco , i definitely wasn't going, remember to sum it all up https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cpff8rsIPLCDvuu0eJ9LoW4Thm-eZw7MdV9svM0/
Back to Dublin and time to figure out whats up with the Ducati Kind of knew it was the Starter and the starter solenoid to be honest as on the starter motor side the brass screw that comes out of the starter was swinging around like a hula hula girl, pretty sure thats not meant to do that so we will start there but also on the starter solenoid side one of the brass screws was also moving about in the original, the replacment we put on in monteblanco i found the wire on one spade connector was actually not clamped home correctly, the bike was dead out in Spain, perhaps this connection was not connected out there and that was part of the issue. I got offered the use of a space in a private workshop where i could work on the bike myself instead of having to send it off to the local ducati specialist, its not a job i could have done on the driveway . The casing on the ducati is sealed with sealant as opposed to a gasket , theer isa specific tool you can use to help pry the case off the block , I didn't have this so i set at it with stanley blades, slowly working the blade around the sealent and between the faces and after a while, success , it came off. The casing itself was painted at some point in its past by Stevie wonder, i decided it could not go back on the bike as it was, that i would send it for powdercoat , One of the chaps that owns the workshop said to me why don't i use the blasting cabinet down the back of the workshop, i didn't realise they had one. Fantastic , and after it was blasted, use the spray booth. The place is heaven. The starter out, the brass peg that sticks out and the reason why, the plasitic or bakolite I'm informed inside that holds it in place is broken and bits of it went down the sides of the casing, stopping the component from spinning hence the sometimes would work sometimes wouldn't Before and after below, water pump case to be done All back together and i turn the key on the ignition, all seems well but i do have an engine management light on the dash, toggle through the onboard diagnostic on the dash and i get the error T.WAT 3.1 , the bike knows who owns it anyway a quick search and a twat error is something aalong the lines of a negative and a positive have touched somewhere along the way , i still have to resolve this issue but i touch the starter button and the bike fires immediatley, it never ever done that before so perhaps the bakolite being trapped has been an issue for a while . Fork seals have to be done, again, will be my 3rd time doing them and the fans come on straight away as the bike is not getting a temp reading so i'm reckoning a new sensor to go on. Anyway a spin out on it confirms its still epic and thats it so far apart from the odd spin and ride to work.
Thanks Paul A few pics didn't load but you get the idea I'm still in love with the 1098 but an S1000rr has been now bought for track duties and the 1098 can just have hard road days or nice gentle jaunts ( not) 1098 though is preferred over the bmw, using the Ducati is like being at an opera, the bmw is like being at work in terms of how they move the soul. 1098 is a dance whereas the bmw just gets on with the job
