Pembrey Rounds 1+2 preview

Well its Friday before Pembrey and again I'm stuck at work unable to get the time off,just spoke to Dazza at the track and its drying up nicely which would have been great for scrubbing in my new tyres,guess that will have to be done on the warm up lap!In a way I'm hoping for rain tom morrow so the guys who are testing today don't have too much advantage over me.I've decided not to worry about racing in the rain as its all down to confidence and not tensing up(apparently!!)with the wet tyres giving great grip its just a case of being smoother and not leaning the bike so much.That sounded so easy I've even convinced myself,time will tell.

Silverstone trackday

When I set off at 7am the sun was shining and it was looking like a lovely day,WRONG!! at Oxford the blizzard started and got worse all the way to the track.I was kind off hopeing for a cancellation but they pressed on and we were on track at 11 which was the worst track conditions I've ever riden on,not only wet,cold and greasy but also really strong winds,now I can understand why my team mate Darren went testing in Spain.
The bike went well down the straights though and the new quick throttle is excellent,giving full revs at 1/6th of a turn.
By 2pm I'd had enough of bimbling around and packed up,even though the track was drying it was still greasy and I could'nt risk crashing so soon to the start of the season.At least I know the bike is back to its best after the crash and my confidence is up for Pembrey next week.

This is me modelling my replacement helmet,after my little flying lesson at Pembrey I deceided not to go for a lesser helmet with a flashy paint job but one I know I can trust.
Those nice people at Phoenix NW give a great discount to ACU license holders,they charged me £137 delivered for this model but they give discount on all the flashy ones too.Give Alison in marketing a call on 01782 569800 option 2 then you have to e-mail pictures of both sides of your current license to alisonf@phoenixnw.co.uk
Just need a double bubble screen now and I'm ready for my hastily arranged trackday at Silverstone on Sunday.

Fings aint so bad

Underneath all these wires is the guru that is Brian Halford,we spent the day stripping out all the exsisting loom and fitting the new race loom and ECU.It was quite simple to fit but its a bloody clever bit of kit thats way beyond my limited knowledge,it works with the exsisting clocks but changes the readout completely with what we think is a button to change the mapping on the go! how cool is that?Massive thanks to Mick and Rich the sidecar dudes for the loom,Brian for fitting it and the Dayo Mob for spraying the fairings up.Looks like I'll be on the grid at Pembrey after all.

Pembrey test weekend

We finally set off at 7pm into hurricane force winds,it was so bad we had to open the windows to let the wind through the camper rather than blow it over!.The Dayo mob had save us a space near them so after doing some donuts in the camper on the wet grass we crashed out listening to the gentle roar of generators,AHH its good to be back!
Had great morning in the sunshine with lap times close to what I had at the end of last season,Bill from Whitecross sorted out my sliding rear with a few clicks of magic.It was all going great till dinner time when I started to feel really sick and dizzy.I tried riding on but was getting duffed up by everyone and just getting in the way.By the time Darren arrived at 7pm and helped him unload all I was good for was bed.Next thing I know its morning and the suns shining again.The lap times came down again and they were more consistent so everything is looking good? WRONG!!! At the dinner break I had a feeling it was time to put on a new rear tyre but deceided it would be OK if I took it steady and just learned the lines,what I didnt plan was having a great race with Tim Birt,Paul Jeffery and another guy on a GSXR,we all swapped positions for a good few laps and all worries about knackered tyres vanished.I managed to get to the front of the group for two corners until going down the gears into the old hairpin the back just slid out then came good then went again and highsided me through the air in what seemed like slow motion.Within seconds the marshals and medics were there telling me to keep still.I knew I was OK because I landed on my head and the Arai helmet did its job perfectly.
The bike was'nt to damaged considering,mainly bodywork,clip ons and bits and bobs.The one thing thats a bit concerning is the imobiliser fault code but I am speaking to Paul Johnson later so we shall see.
Bad news I'm afraid,the imobiliser is kaput and my two options are;getting a US ECU and getting Paul Johnson to convert my loom or waiting two months and forking out £650 for a YEC kit loom and ECU.Just to rub it in I've still got the shits! The lesson learned is DON'T USE KNACKERED TYRES!!!

Pembrey test day 08