Bit hot for leathers this weekend but great weather for being out on the bikes nevertheless! Friday was an ACU test day on the Indy circuit, which was fine but I was gagging to get onto the GP layout Saturday and Sunday. It’s a rare opportunity to ride such an awesome circuit. Racing with my old club BEMSEE is always good. Lots of familiar faces and sharing the garage with friends means it is much more sociable than the BSB meetings. The downside is the 899 is a bit of an oddball when it comes to racing. It’s not allowed to run in the 600’s and it’s not fast enough to compete with the 1000’s. We had to run in Powerbikes (open class for stock and tuned 1000cc bikes), a field full of trick bikes, some with 200bhp+ and slicks. Being 60bhp down meant I was at a significant disadvantage but it made the racing fun. Out of a grid of 40 bikes, mine being the smallest; I had 4 race finishes 13th, 12th, 13th and 14th. Not bad but I was about a second off my times from last year in similar conditions. Still, the racing was really good fun, the hot conditions means the bike moves a lot more on the tyres – the tyres spinning and sliding as much as you’re willing to push it. It’s all good practice for the next round at Cadwell in 2 weeks’ time!
Exchange rate is pants, that **king euro ! But i've thrown in a few quid nonetheless.... Best of luck with it Nicky.
A big thanks to John Noble and Adam Warren for your donations. I'm putting your funds towards my latest major setback. I noticed at Brands two weeks ago that there was a small amount of fluid collecting on the generator cover after each run but I couldn't work out where is was coming from. Whatever it was got worse over the course of the weekend at Cadwell and now I've located the issue as a crack in the crank case. The crack is just below where the shock mounts to the engine. The engine is a wet liner design, and the crack has gone through enough for the fluid to leak. As to why this has happened is anyone's guess. I'm not going blame the design as it would be completely unfounded. But clearly this has left me with a huge issue. The casings are sold in pairs and cost over £2000. Not to mention the work to completely strip and rebuild the engine and get the bike back together. With only 2 weeks before we leave for Assen, we really are going to be up against it. WM Snells are being brilliant but there is only so much they can do to help with the costs so anything the Forum members can donate will help tremendously.
