Thursday 7 May 2015

Mallory 11/12th April 2015

So much for keeping the blog going through the winter!
It has been a lot of work for all of us to get ready for this season. I have built a completely new engine for the Daytona Matisse and I have also fitted a new engine and gearbox the the BAT outfit. The outfit now boasts a norton crank triumph engine with a five speed box and belt drive. Both Phil and Chris have worked through the winter getting their respective bikes ready, with Chris now riding a pre war Triumph 350 Tiger 80 as well as Ming the Triumph 750 outfit.
We all made it to Mallory practice with varying degrees of success.   The Daytona ran OK but there were a lot of settings to get right. The BAT had teething problems as well. A leaking fuel pump, a badly fitted gear change lever and a poorly charged interspan ignition made for a stop start practice.
Chris had a few problems with Ming  and also seized the 350. Phil's 350 ran fine as usual.

Back home before first race at Mallory has seen a lot of prep work. I have stripped the new Daytona engine and changed a few settings. I changed the gear change on the BAT as well as fixing a few exhaust holes.
Chris had the 350 re-bored and put it back together. He also fitted a new ignition system on the Ming.

So to the first race of the season at Mallory Park. The three of us travelled up together in my luton sprinter with the two outfits and three bikes in the back. We met Colin in the paddock and the team were together and ready to go.
I was on crutches for the weekend due to a torn knee ligament so wasn't fully up to race speed but did my best with the help of the rest of the team. The BAT was suffering from interspan problems, it wouldn't hold a charge so we only went out on a couple of occasions for a few laps. It turned out that the battery pack was faulty and I have now fitted a new one ready for Anglesea.
The Daytona was getting better but was overgeared. The clutch nut came loose  and caused me to miss one race. We only had one race on the Sunday and I managed to get a 1m 10s which was my target for that meeting.
Chris had some great races on the Ming but suffered with ignition problems on the 350.
Phil had his usual success story on the 350 and went well all weekend.
We are all off to Anglesea next week in the luton. I will get some photos to post here from Anglesea.
Voting has just finished as I write this so I wonder who our glorious leader will be tomorrow? I hope they abolish noise testing as their first act as prime minister!