2010?

A seasons racing is very unlikely this year due to a lack of funds to compete. Bike preparation will continue in the hope of a miracle, but the least I will do is some trackdays on it. An odd round or two maybe possible but but it is very hard to be competitive in an one off race.
Alan will be hoping to compete for the entire season this year, so I will definately be taking on the team manager role at some of the meetings.
My next visit to Brands Hatch will be on the 14th February to help and advise Boris, who is doing the Bemsee ACU race school on my old R6. Should be an entertaining day!

a pile of bling

The list of parts has now been made and the buying process has began. On the pile so far is some fully adjustable Gilles rearsets, Active quick action throttle, carbon fibre frame and swing arm protectors, Renthal race chain and sprockets, Renthal clip ons, GB Racing engine case protectors and Hel race brake lines.
All of this kit will be needed to be fitted soon along with any additional parts that are bound to come along.

fairings to fit and finish

The next job on the list was to strip off the road fairings and equipment and fit the race seat unit and fairings. These things never fit first time and always require a bit of 'Dremmel surgery'.
Once fitted a colour scheme has to be designed (definately incorporating green) and the bodywork is prepared and made ready for paint.
Leewards are kindly helping me out again with the painting and Subway Exhibitions will be printing and supplying the vinyls and numbers.

a trip to the 'bling' shop

Now that the old R6 race bike had been sold, work could be started on the Kawasaki ZX6-R to get it as prepared as I could for 2010 season. My origanal plan had been to keep it as stock as I possible could to have the option of doing either the 600 supersport or stock class. That plan has changed some what, with the help of Alan 'you need more bling' Lau.
First on the list was to get the front and rear suspension upgraded - Ohlins TTX shock for the rear and a 25mm K-tech cartridge kit for the front, so I went to see Steve and Sarah Jordan to have the parts fitted. The rear shock was no problem but having removed and stripped the front forks , Steve discovered that the wrong parts had been sent and he was going to be unable to fit them.
The only solution was to leave the zed there and borrow a bike for the trip home - oh is that Alans R1 I see sitting there, loaded with lots of trick parts!? One quick call and it was sorted, Alan kindly let me borrow his 'bling mobile' but only after a panic call from him to remind me it was set for race shift not road shift pattern.
After a fun trip home I decided to call on a friend to show the R1 to him. I pulled into the concrete road, passing over wet and dark liquid - an oil spillage apparently!!
Half hour later it was time to leave. Moving carefully over the damp slippery stuff and then pulling sharp right on to the concrete road, I accelarated modestly but not modestly enough, the rear span up and slewed sideways attempting to flick me out of the seat all in slow motion. Fortunately it came back under my control and allowed me to sit back down but not before i had added up exactly how much that could have cost me!
3 days later the Kwak was ready and the next stage was complete.

R6 race bike for sale

The R6 Supersport bike is now sold

Download the attached pdf for complete details

An angry sounding Kawasaki...

with next season in mind, the Kawasaki ZX6-R is slowly taking shape. At this stage it will either be a very tricked up road bike, a fancy track bike or full blown race bike depending on funds for next season.
The Yoshimura full race system has been fitted for sometime, and the brand new Dynapro Interceptor fueling box has been available for a while but the hold up was the wiring loom, which was making its way from Australia. I finally had the call that it was going to be fitted and a loom was going to be custom made by Mark from Dynapro at Steve Jordan Motorcycles. Steve then spent 4 hours mapping the device on the dyno with a final result of more power and torque, plus a very raucous sound!

The Yamaha R6 race bike is now up for sale - more details to follow soon.

Brands Hatch GP lives up to its promise

September the 9th is now not only my wedding anniversary, but the date I first went around the famous Brands Hatch Grand Prix circuit. It didn't disappoint and will certainly be in my diary for next season, wether it is another trackday or, with luck, a race weekend.
After some thought and advice from Sarah Jordan, I managed to reduce my lap times but a lot more practise is needed before I could contemplate racing around there.

Download the videos:

first trackday of the year and it's August!