NOISE: Part 1 – We’re losing, and so we should be.

By Toosmooth April 4th, 2013, under Bikes, Musings, Out and About
Pipewerx baffle on Visorvision's 750 SRAD race bike.

101dB with Baffle – work of the Devil or the Saviour of Motorcycling as know it?

It’s time – we’re losing battle after battle on the issue, and we keep leaning on the same ineffective arguments; Motorcycling (and that’s ALL of us) finally has to address the issue of noise.

It’s the bit of our culture that affects most people – they can be miles away, minding their own business in their own back yard and still manage to generate a negative opinion of what we do. And here’s the really hard part to take on-board – truthfully, they’re not always doing so unfairly.

From racetrack owners to road-bike owners, to motocrossers – we are fast reaching a point where we can’t just keep recycling “NIMBYism”* as an argument to tackle the people who get pissed off with the noise our bikes make.

They will win almost every argument they create; who amongst us can stand up for the right to use really loud exhausts, simply because “we like the noise”?!

*for the uninitiated to the phrase  “NIMBY ” is an acronym for someone that uses the argument “Not In My Back Yard” – it’s become a popular term for folk that complain about any changes to their environment, sometimes justly, sometimes not.

Sanctioned and legal use on a track or other venue is one thing, but then busting through the sanctions that are in place i.e. taking your baffle out after noise testing, or the circuit running on more days than allowed,  just kill our ability to make any kind of effective argument.

Both are happening. All the time.

Noise limits at tracks are on the slide – most trackdays I go to now are down from 105dB of the past and now stand at 102dB statically tested. Most days now also implement continual “drive-by testing”.

This issue isn’t going away, it’s only getting bigger. The NIMBY’s are winning across the board – with such wholesale success why wouldn’t they try and make even more arguments?

Now don’t let all this make you think I’ve given in. I think there are parts of NIMBYism that need to be stood up to. Move next to a track and then complain about noise? – Mmmm, well, if that circuit plays ball with it’s rules, then that’s not the kind of person I have much time for.

The problem is when we break the rules that are in place, either excess days, or excess noise on those days – regardless of when they moved in, who can argue that they’re actually not right to do so?! We have rules to play by, then choose to ignore them – because we like noise and because we don’t like being told what to do. Well, carry on like that, and we’ll have even more to worry about….

How do we fight back? – well, time and time again, we trot out the “well, they’re just bloody NIMBY’s” as our sole defence when it comes to noise. We need to move on – and fast. If we get our house in order, we have a position to argue from. We currently have nothing. Zilch. Nada. Oh, except calling them NIMBY’s of course….

It’s a complex issue, but it’s one where our own biggest crime is that we fail to address it by self-policing.

Any of you been on a trackday where someone has removed their baffle after testing? Did you just chuckle to yourself, or did you tell that rider to put it back in?… confession time, I’m guilty of both taking it out, and seeing other people take them out without offering reproach.

I’ve spent the last few months watching my local MX track get shut down, and watching the complex issue of Mallory Park’s battle unfold. And I look at my actions and think “am I actually part of the problem?” – if my actions remain to do as I did above, then the answer, sadly, is yes.

I’m not alone. Lot’s of us have done it, are doing it, and will continue to do it. It’s naughty. It feels like fun. It makes the bike run better. It makes the bike SOUND better. What’s not to like? Well, there’s a clear answer to that; it’s when they shut circuits, or impose even lower limits on us. But because it doesn’t happen on the day (although with shutting circuits it actually could) we swipe it away as an unimportant side-effect of our actions.

What if the road out of here requires us to do some stuff we’ve never done before – accept that noise limits are here to stay, and to manage that ourselves?

Are we capable of that?

Could we do such a good job of it, that they stop seeking to impose lower and lower limits on us?

We may appear to have an anti-authoritarian bent as bikers, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait to be be told what to do….

In Part 2 (Thu 11 April)
NOISE: Why the Circuits don’t help.

In Part 3. (Thu 18 April)
NOISE: Finding the road out of here.

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So, I had this little “chat” with a Policeman….

By Toosmooth March 21st, 2013, under Out and About, People, Podcasts

Our first podcast! (the embedded Podcast player is at bottom of post)

Whilst dropping off some new stock of V2 Sponges to BikeSafe London, I pulled up a chair and had a coffee with long time Met Police Motorcyclist and BikeSafe London co-ordinator Sgt Mick Cheeseman.

The questions I asked:

  1. Does the ever harder Bike Licence test actually make better riders?
  2. Have you ever been surprised at the lack of skills shown to you on a BikeSafe training day?
  3. What are the aims of BikeSafe?
  4. Is there a point at which Motorcyclists don’t need to learn any more?
  5. Does riding on track perform a role in enhancing skills?
  6. Have you ridden an Electric bike – and what do you think of them?
  7. London; what are the specific problems for bikers?
  8. The Law; what’s coming next we should look out for as bikers?
  9. Mind Control – what would you make car drivers do!?
  10. Mind Control – what would you make bikers do!?

Mick, like all the BikeSafe team, like to be thought of as bikers first and policemen second. I can’t deny that the passion for motorcycles, and for sharing potentially life saving skills are obvious in abundance amongst their team.

To learn more about Bikesafe London, or to book a course checkout their website:

www.bikesafe-london.co.uk

If you book a ride, you’ll probably also get a free V2 Sponge in your goody bag!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Is it any wonder it’s hard to sell an Anti-Fog product?

By Toosmooth March 21st, 2013, under Funny that!, Musings, Out and About, Products in the real world, Surely not?!!

There is a real feeling amongst the masses of the kit buying public that “anti-fog solutions are all rubbish”

Recently I have seen the same demonstration at 3 shows which sells the anti-fog properties of a new product and then when the demonstrator huffs on the visor, it mists up.

Each time (usually stifling a chuckle) I offer the observation “errr, that doesn’t work does it?” That is met with “well, you’ll never get rid of that…”

the pain of anti fog sales

Another oversold anti-fog product comes to market

Anyway, today I found myself trawling eBay, seeing what’s going on in the world of visor care. I ran across an advert for the same product. If I hadn’t already used a facepalm animation, I’d be using it again now.

“The product has got anti fog/mist characteristics but as you are aware it is not possible to eliminate fogging entirely” (we say, err, actually – it is! see this video for something approaching proof of that)

“XXX is a new product manufactured in the UK. I am sure you will agree that it makes a change not to be made in China, all be the cloth is manufactured in China” (well, unlike the anti-fog claim, at least they’re honest….)

I’d say this mistrust of people selling “miracle cures” is the hardest barrier to break down, and I get why. I tried every available anti-fog on the market to resell with the V2 Sponge when I started. I knew then it was a problem without a solution (sic). Everything I tried was rubbish or at best, mediocre – I got the sense most of it was just rebadged cleaning product.

So, when it comes to buying anti-fog, choose carefully. Try and pick things that have either been recommended by people you know and trust, or that you have at least seen working with your own eyes.

And if you’re ever at a show and you are shown something that doesn’t do what it is supposed to – don’t just nod, tell them “that doesn’t work…”

Fogtech – score 14/15 “a great product, worked in all conditions we tested”

 

 

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Brand New Visorvision website!

By Toosmooth March 20th, 2013, under Discount Codes and Offers

After 7 years and nearly 8,000 orders we’ve killed our old faithful original Visorvision website.

To celebrate the fact we’ve replaced it with something a lot more 21st Century, we’re quietly giving 10% off of everything until 31 March 2013 if you use the following code at checkout – GLITCHFREE

If you have any problems using the new website, or suggestions as to how we could make it even better than it now is, get in touch!

cheers!

Paul – Visorvision

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Ron Haslam – not as harmless as he looks….

By Toosmooth March 20th, 2013, under Bikes, Out and About, People, Racing

4 laps on the back of Ron Haslam. On a Fireblade, around the better half of Silverstone’s brilliant new F1/MotoGP/WSB track; Sound like fun? Well, I think it’s worth you realising what it feels like, just in case you ever get the chance to do it! Truth is, it gave me a restless night…

So, I’ve seen Ron do countless pillion laps from the perch on my Fireblade as I instruct at his School. What could possibly surprise me? Sure many of those laps had me chuckling to myself as I saw the poor pillion hanging onto a scolded Fireblade moving at “remarkable” speeds, but surely, with all that experience I’d be able to deal with that?

After all it’s fair to say after 2 full years of coaching there, and what must be thousands of laps, I know what a Fireblade around this half of Silverstone feels like when it’s going quickly.

Or at least that’s what I thought. Oh, how very wrong.

Ron Haslam Pillion equipped Fireblade

Fireblade with pillion handles – Ron Haslam’s terror weapon of choice

Fireblades; utterly brilliant Motorcycles – the smoothest and easiest way to go mentally fast. But don’t ever get the idea they had “high-speed pillion comfort” on the design checklist! Ron’s bike has a  concessionary tank mounted handle for the pillion’s extra grip and security. The passenger seat is a long way up, and not very big. The pegs are high and honestly without the handles you’d really not feel much like going through what comes next!

We had a chat about what to expect, which was primarily about observing the different lines he uses and the braking forces, which I was assured would be more than I was used to.

Now, it’d be easy to get upset when it was suggested you were about to be shown how to use brakes properly by a 55 year old bloke with a pillion clinging on! Unwritten school rules mean even as an instructor, you can’t let yourself think you’re good enough to not learn from the guys you work with; Ron, Leon and a good smattering of WSB, BSB level riders will soon bring you back to earth with a bump if you get above your station about what “fast” really is.

Open-minded then, I climbed aboard and made a very conscious decision that this ride was to be conducted without fear of my own personal safety – I call it my Airliner mode; you’re a passenger in the hands of a professional who also has an interest in not crashing. I’m happy to say whatever you think of that, it was good enough to create genuine calmness in my head!

Lap 1 was allegedly a “warm up” lap. Mmmmm, not sure I was getting that feeling!

We were polite to school traffic but utterly decisive in overtaking, and we scythed through all we came across in moments. I could feel the ‘faster laps’ were going to be tough – this was already what could only be described as brutal.

Getting to the end of the 170mph Hangar Straight on Lap 1 proved to be the beginning of the lesson in braking I had been promised. I’m not exaggerating when I say we flew past my usual last-ditch braking marker with the throttle still pinned, and still pinned, and BBBRRRAAAAKKKKEEEE!!! Hmmm, I’d have to say I didn’t expect that, or what happened next.

The reason I wouldn’t choose to brake that late is because in my world it’s good to retain some semblance of a smooth line and a controlled entry speed into the corner.

Now, don’t get the idea I’m rubbish on the brakes. I’m happy calling myself a late-braker, and history proves I’m not easily passed at club racing level in a braking zone. But there is a limit set in my head here which I hadn’t realised was so far away from what true speed requires.

Following on from the super-late, super-hard braking, Ron smashes apart my desire for constant radius smooth turns and aims into a single point which he attacks flat out, straight lining towards it on the brakes. The bike drops rapidly on it’s side in the mid-corner, almost immediately getting from zero to full throttle to accelerate away at maximum possible pace.

I witnessed no desire to retain corner speed, no desire to be smooth, only maximum speed for as long as possible. Totally and utterly B R U T A L!

Even from the pillion seat it was easy enough to feel the slides out of corners, which on some of them transition quite nicely from slide into wheelie (airliner mode was really helping me at these points – I should have been screaming)

The next few laps (and at many many points I wished there were less of them) the pace just built and built. There were what I would call “recreational wheelies” thrown into the mix (that’s a wheelie you don’t need to do in pursuit of speed, it purely for fun!).

I only looked at the speedo during one of the several dozen wheelies, it was reading 136mph…and we still hadn’t landed it.

I have described it since like being strapped to a post and beaten around the head by 2 men with baseball bats – one of them you can see, the other you can’t. You’re taking a merciless beating and you only see half the shots coming!; there are some obvious points where you know it’s going to get edgy, but there are other bits you incorrectly surmise are going to be straightforward. Ron’s brutal dissection of the lap into so few points joined up with maximum braking and acceleration do mean you’re off-balance mentally and often shocked at the sequence and voracity of whats happening.

I really expected smooth, I really didn’t get that. Just an utterly un-natural way to ride. If I’d been left alone with a Fireblade and an empty racetrack for infinity, I can’t think I’d ever have put a lap together like he does.

After 4 laps we thankfully returned to the pits. I had been offered the chance of tapping his shoulder if I wanted to bale early, but really – pride and all that; I’d decided it was never going to happen! But honestly after 4 rounds I was damn well ready to tap if we’d passed the pits again, my hands were really feeling it and I felt as a “learning experience” he’d made the points he set out to quite bloody well!

Certainly braking everywhere was done so hard it was to the point where I had to take conscious action to not fly over the top of him. And I couldn’t disagree that his lines resembled nothing like I expected. I have seen him do these laps dozens of times before from on and off track, we had spoken about what would happen before, and yet I was still blown away about how it felt. I was, and in fact remain, utterly amazed!

I do recall that getting off felt really nice, but my head was spinning with the recalibration of what’s not only possible, but what makes “quick” happen. My head honestly didn’t stop all night – restless sleep ensued as it sank in. I found it inspiring and depressing all in one; Being shown the truth served as a guide to what’s actually possible and a pointed reminder you haven’t ever been doing it right. It’s like being told you’ve held a pen wrong all your life!

As an illustration of the much talked about “point to point” style adopted when racing a modern 1000, you’ll never ever beat this for an experience. I can honestly say it has changed the way I ride on racetracks, and for the better.

Would I recommend it? Well, it’s immensely brutal, fast and brilliant, but it’s really up to your desire to experience a look inside a proper racers world. It’s a dark place with sharp edges! Thankfully you’ll have someone making it just about as safe as it’s possible to make it to get you through it.

The good news!; For about £80 it’s possible for you to do this yourself.

Pillion rides don’t run every school day, and they’re not for sale on the website. But if you happen to be at the reception area at the school in the afternoon, the weather is good enough, Ron feels up for it and the schedule allows it, then a pillion ride could be yours….

So, if you think can pretend you’re on an airliner, think you’d like to really know about braking and acceleration (and wheelies) and you have the minerals to book this, then do it.

Bear in mind you only live once, and you’ll never want to do this twice!

www.ronhaslamraceschool.com

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1998 R1 – the best colour; Blue or Red and White?

By Toosmooth October 7th, 2012, under Bikes, Musings

Owners of these blather on about this forever and a day. As the owner of a Red and White version, I have noticed the Blue owners are always the ones saying that their colour is better.

So, as a definitive end to the argument, here is a specially commissioned Visorvision image.

If you can’t see the image animating between the 2 colour versions, then click on the image and it will open in a new window, it should then animate!

Want to post your opinion? go to our Facebook page and vote!

http://www.facebook.com/visorvision

Blue or Red and White? the 1998 R1 decider!

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Donington Park GP Circuit – Classic Superbike Races Hottrax 25/26 August 2012

By Toosmooth August 27th, 2012, under Bikes, Out and About, Racing

I’ve been building the Visorvision SRAD for about a year, maybe even more, and the sole aim was to get it on the grid in this series. Old stuff floats my boat, I raced the K5 1000 last year and man, it rocks, but it’s not got that little bit of extra character that makes me go gooey. I’m like a Womble, I like things everyday folk leave behind. Like old SRAD’s!

The Visorvision SRAD in late build stage.

Finally finished about 3 weeks ago, happily it made 25bhp more than when I first got it – now a healthy 137bhp on the Dyno. It did however have some major teething problems after a test at Donington 2 weeks ago – it was overheating badly and it snapped a weld on the cam sprocket, which made it run like a sick 250 with an 8,000 rpm redline!

TIG welding the cam and sticking a brand new 750 K2 radiator on sorted that out.

So, finally, we were ready to race.

2 small practice sessions were all I had to get up to pace on the day, which went alright – apart from the new Gear position indicator and ultra-slick HM Quickshifter not working (there’s always something going bandy when you’ve just finished a build isn’t there?!) Quickshifter was a linkage rose joint problem, which was soon replaced. The Gear indicator we suspect is a problem with the sensor in the gearbox, so we left it alone as we didn’t have a spare.

Qualifying practice

I rolled down pitlane in the sunshine. Held at the gate before we went out, a “summer shower” appeared and turned a dry warm track into a wet and greasy one. Brilliant. The only thing that I can find to love about slicks in the wet is I have done far too many laps like that* and am uncomfortably comfortable riding on them

*thanks to running in Endurance last year

The track was invisibly wet down Craner, and the shift from right to left was sketchy – the bike was moving around all on it’s own, and on a track that looked dry – miserable. You couldn’t really tell what was wet and what was dry so I decided that I needed to pop a banker in and then exit stage left. I was behind Mark Dicken (Dicko) who runs at the front of the championship, so my plan was simple; catch him, pass him, complete the lap, pull in.

I accomplished that mission and rolled into pitlane in P1. It was a gamble because the track was drying, but I had hoped the pace wouldn’t get that much hotter (Qualifying only had the time for a few more laps). I ended the session in P7 with just the 1 lap (2’10″) banked. Fair I thought – 2nd row and importantly, on the inside run to the first corner. Again the Quickshifter wasn’t working properly. This was fixed again with a tweak to the other end of the linkage

Race 1 (Saturday 4pm ish)

This was eye opening – I had no idea how good me or the bike were against the opposition, and I’d never done a race start on it (not even in practice). The 2 guys who run at the front of the series were in front of me on the grid. It was also my first proper race for over a year.

The warm-up lap gave me a good (and only) chance to get a practice start in. I applied mid revs (about noise test level, not massively high) and let the clutch go asap whilst winding up to full throttle. It flew. I have never got a bike off the grid as easily or as well!

The warm up lap was conducted behind Dean Skipper and Mark Dicken – the fast guys. I hadn’t seen Dean out on track before and the warm up lap was an early look at them both. I was happily surprised that I could see we were all trying and I wasn’t being dropped. The only obvious downer was in spite of the repair we’d made the Quickshifter still wasn’t working!

The real race start needed to be as good as the practice one, so I put the same revs/clutch plan into action at the lights and bang! – even better than the practice start, I flew past all of the front row barring Dean and Mark.

What followed was 5 laps of following these guys and watching them have a right ding-dong. They’ve ridden together all year and you could see Mark (99 R6) and Dean (GSXR750 K2) swapping places really closely but really competently (without anything to grumble about).

I was kind of surprised to be tagging along so comfortably, there were bits of the track I felt the bike and I were much stronger, and there were some bits which stretched me to hang on, but overall I was always there or there abouts (timesheets show we were within a second at the line on every lap)

5 laps into the 7 lap race I had a thought…. “you don’t just have to watch this any more, you can get involved” – I can’t remember exactly how the passing panned out but I found myself in front on the last lap.

I knew they were right with me so I hit the “wide mode” button in my head. Attacks on the last lap at Donington are standard issue because of the 3 braking zones that end the lap. I defended the Esses, then the loop. Just Goddards to go.

I got a good drive out of the loop and then took the fighting line into Goddards, if they were going to beat me to the line then they’d have to go around the outside, and I was happy that was a defendable position.

I rolled into the corner on the tighter line and was happy that

a) no passing move had come

b) no one was going around the outside AND

c) the front wasn’t overloaded.

I enjoyed a quarter of a moment of thinking “I’ve won this…”

Then I crashed.

I fell onto my front and skidded to the grass on the outside of the track.

Bollocks.

It’s really easy to get too upset about shit like this. Sometimes I’m really happy I’m laid back, and this was one of them. If you think too hard about taking a year to get a bike to the grid and then lobbing it 4 seconds from a race win on it’s debut, you’d get really upset. So I didn’t.

Kick it straight and go again.

consolation – fastest lap in class at 1’42.6″

Race 2 (Sunday 2.30 pm 10 laps)

I had spent the evening thinking about the way to run the next race, and had settled on a different plan than just watch them for so long. I thought if I could get in front, then I’d have the pace to bugger off. Conditional to this plan working was to get a decent start and try and break asap.

Patched up with a new clutch lever the SRAD passed re-scrutineering. Race 2 was on Sunday and I’d had just 3 laps to test the bike, but joy of joys, it worked fine and the Quickshifter was finally working thanks to fixing a loose wire we’d found in the connector block to the PC3.

7th on the grid again it was another belter of a start using the same technique, made even better by having a seamless shift from 1st to 2nd with the shifter back in play. I was 2nd into the first corner behind Dean.

Out of the Melbourne Hairpin

Being 2nd to the first corner was ideal, passing Dean before the lap ended was even better. I led across the line on lap 1. Immediately after that I saw Dean’s front wheel come up the inside into Redgate and I’ll be honest I made sure I shut the door quite forcefully and immediately. I was surprised and gutted in equal measure that I hadn’t “buggered off” in line with plan A.

It turned out that Dean harried me constantly on this lap and I think I lost the lead at the Melbourne loop (I say I think…in a busy race some of the exact details are washed away as soon as they arrive!)

Once he’d passed I couldn’t hang onto him. Yesterday’s ease of running at his pace was gone – inch by inch at every corner I lost ground and I couldn’t get back on terms. I had spent a lot of time with pen and paper working on sharpening up my braking markers and gear positions, and I felt my rhythm was better because of this, but the results weren’t good enough to deliver me up to Dean’s pace. Bugger.

So, with the battle for the lead dissipating I looked over my shoulder on the Dunlop Straight to see where Dicko was.

There are few things more disappointing in racing than looking over your shoulder hoping to see nothing and seeing a bike so close that you could extend a leg backwards and kick it. I was in a race alright.

The way the class structure works in this race is that Dean and Mark are in different classes, and my class was the same as Mark’s (Classic Superbike). So, to still get a class win, I just needed to beat Mark.

I hit the “wide mode” button in my head again and held him off for lap after lap of the 10 lap race. He made one pass on me at the Esses, but he ran wider and slower on entry than he would have wanted so I undercut him and took the lead straight back at the exit.

Every time I looked behind he was there. Right there. “GO AWAY!!!” I kept thinking. Now let’s be 100% fair, Mark is on an R6, and I’m on an SRAD 750 with a good chunk more torque and power. So I’m expecting to be able to break away down the straights and it just wasn’t happening, he must have been ringing the living daylights out of it coming out of corners and was playing to it’s strengths everywhere else. Mr Dicken, I salute your talent, perseverance and speed. Bloody annoying though!

Mark Dicken – annoyingly fast and likely to pass you with a back wheel a foot out of line!

Dean had moved about 5 seconds up the road come the last lap, so I only had the attack from behind to worry about.

Approaching the last corner here’s what my brain is thinking;

1) He’s right behind me
2) He’s NOT going to NOT attack (i.e he WILL!)
3) Take a tight line, defend it
4) Don’t be a twat, you crashed doing that yesterday
5) Ok, run in “very slightly” tighter and concentrate on drive to the line
6) Don’t crash. Please don’t crash.

Point 5 carried out perfectly and a 0.6 second lead to the line meant 2nd overall and a class win. Better!

Other consolation – fastest lap in class at 1’41.8

Race 3 (Sunday 6pm 10 laps)

My last chance to get the Flag to Flag overall win I really wanted.

I’d worked again on my markers and gears and I’d thrown a better (but not new) tyre in the rear.

In Race 2 down Craner in 5th gear the back end had felt less “sucked in” than I felt comfortable with. It’s a bumpy bit of track as you roll through the left at the bottom of Craner and if you’re not happy with grip with your knee on the deck at 120mph plus, it’s really not the happiest of places!

I hadn’t made a bad start on either the warm up lap or the races all weekend, and this one needed to be the same. Most unusually, it was again perfect! I was second behind Dean into the first corner.

Dicko was behind, Dean was in front – this was a re-run of race 2.

This time things were different – I was able to stick with him and wasn’t even close to dropping off. I’d tidied up my lines, my markers and I hit a really good rhythm from the start. It felt really fast, yet really controlled and if it is actually possible to enjoy a race when you’re in it, then I was enjoying this!

Craner felt better with the newer rear tyre and I had much stronger pace all around the section from Redgate to the Dunlop Straight. That section makes your hair stand on end if you think about it too hard, because you’re on the edge of the tyre for the whole lot, with masses of acceleration, braking and direction changes thrown in. Top, top fun to ride, and probably the best (and most challenging) 3/4 mile of track I’ve ever ridden.

So anyway, coming out of the Melbourne loop hairpin a few laps in I saw the outline of a bike braking going into the loop (a few seconds down) – it was Dicko! This was great – I had none of the Race 2 worries from behind this time, it was a straight fight between Dean and I.

I sat behind Dean and watched and waited. Every once in a while he’d look over his shoulder and I’d be there. I’d have waved if he’d looked for long enough!

The first time I took the lead I didn’t mean to; I was braking behind him into the Melbourne Loop and he did what he always did and peeled away into a wide entry, this time I was closer and more committed to a tighter line, it was 95% easier to just go past than to try and pull it up behind him, so I slipped through. I’d wanted to keep my powder dry and bounce him on the later laps, but whatever, now in front I thought I’d have a go at breaking him.

A battle ensued for the next few laps, we were strung together and neither of us was dropping the other. I remember coming out of Coppice right behind Dean, like within 4 feet, he was laying a Darky, I had the bike in a drift and the sun was setting at the end of the straight – I like moments like that which your mind takes a snapshot of.

We reached some backmarkers with me in front, at Craner, I had to cut it fine to keep the pace up. Passing another bike by inches, and I do mean inches, whilst you execute a big direction change, carrying a closing speed of 40mph or more is something you could and would only do in a race. The power of the plastic trophy can never be under-estimated.

It came down to the last 2 corners with Dean in front, there was a mess of backmarkers at the Melbourne Hairpin – Dean went wide, I went tight, we were metres apart. I nearly lost the front on the way in, the bike jerked up and flopped down again without a crash, I gassed it and the back then went as wild as the front had just been…not the drive I needed or wanted.

The last corner approached and I wasn’t close enough to make the pass on the way in, all I could do was concentrate on good drive. I got in and out of the corner cleanly, but it wasn’t to be, just 0.25 seconds behind at the line – 2nd again, Class win again.

Other consolation – fastest lap of the weekend across all classes at 1’40.778 Well happy with that! The only person who has set a faster Race lap at Donington this year, in both Thundersports GB or Hottrax’s version of this Classic Superbike series is Ian Simpson on an RC45 – for my 2012 debut and the bikes full debut, I’ll take that!

The bike fits me like a glove, it goes like buggery and stops, and corners exactly as I’d hoped it would. The harder you ride it, the better it gets.

IMG_0307

Awesome piece of work from MSG Racing – and thanks so much to those guys. If you have a GSXR and you want it fast, for reasonable money, then take it to MSG Racing – they rock. They’re near Aylesbury and within 30 mins of 3 motorways the M25 (J20) M40 (J6) M1 (J8,9,11,12) ring 01296 632009 ask for Gav and say Paul Berryman sent you!

Thanks also to the guys at Pipewerx who made me a custom silencer to fit my Hindle Header pipes in 2 days flat for the NEC show last year. Not only is the can technically road legal with the slick fitting baffle installed, but it sounds as fruity as hell when it’s taken out! More than a handful of people over the weekend commented how good the bike sounded when on full chat!

Thanks to Neil Spalding at Sigma Performance for the slipper clutch which totally transformed the bike’s handling and contributed to it’s ability to get off the line like a whippet on Amphetamines. I was told you couldn’t get a slipper clutch to work on an SRAD. Good job I listened to Neil Spalding, because that was wrong. :-)

Thanks to Dave Carnell at HM Racing for the Quickshifter, which only gave the amount of grief it did because Mr. Banana fingers here had removed the socket by pulling on the wires (and not the block itself) some weeks previously when disconnecting the unit in the middle of a track session….lesson – remove things properly, then they won’t break. When it was working it made the business of shifting without upsetting the handling easy. People think Quickshifters are about speed on the straights, but I’d say their biggest influence is actually getting snappy shifts made without shutting the throttle when you’re cranked over.

Thanks also to my other half, who I know hates the danger of this sport, but understands that I have an itch that occasionally needs scratching and gives me 100% of her support. If I didn’t already love you for a million other reasons, I’d love you for this alone x

Thanks for reading!

Paul Berryman

Director – Visorvision Ltd

 

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UK Flat Track – Proper Blokes racing.

By Toosmooth June 9th, 2012, under Bikes, Out and About, Racing

Forget Poncey Brolly Girls, Motorhomes, Corporate Endorsement and Baseball hats that don’t fit. UK Flat Track is quietly going about giving the UK race-goer a proper series based on values less to do with the usual off-track distractions and more to do with awesome, accessible racing! Oh, and you can get in for a Tenner too…

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I’d never even been to a Speedway track, so when a good mate of mine Peter Boast (Bike Magazine road tester, long time Racer, Ron Haslam school stalwart and organiser of the UK Flat Track series) told me they had a round of the UK Flat Track series at Coventry in May, I couldn’t wait to pop in to see what going sideways with no brakes was all about.

Now let’s clarify – Flat Track is a US inspired form of racing that really isn’t the same as Speedway. The fundamental difference is in the bikes, which in Flat Track are (mainly) modified dirt bikes which retain a rear brake. A speedway bike is fixed gear, has no brakes and was designed solely for the purpose of negotiating a slippery track which only turns left! The biggest visual difference with the actual racing is that Flat Track races contain 12 not 4 bikes – there’s a lot to be looking at.

Flat track UK splits it’s racing into 2 main classes; Open and Thunder Bike. The Open Class is where the expert riders and machines end up to contest the UK Grand National Championship, the Thunder Bikes class contain a collection of machines which could be best defined as “raw”. As well as the wide variety of bikes, there are riders of all ages and seemingly skill levels.

A full programme of 27 races builds through heats into semi-finals and the Grand final, the cream rises to the top and as the evening rolls on, the speed and quality is distilled towards a gripping finale.

From the first moment I clamped eyes on the track, which is rich in the patina of decades of hard, basic racing, I found I was mesmerised. It was like being dropped back into the 1960′s, in the best possible way. This is one race event that has no time to dwell on glossy presentation and other modern bullshit, it simply delivers by rolling out race after race of jaw dropping excitement. I’m no fan of the crash, but for sure, you’re going to see spills, and hopefully as on the night I visited, you’ll see everyone leave the track with nothing more than the odd tweak.

I found something to love about every race. The Youth race proved physical size is no indicator of the likely result with a couple of small but mega-fast kids bashing up much bigger racers. The Thunder Bikes collect together such a wide variety of bikes and riders that they always prove hugely eventful, as well as running at a pace which you have to be in awe of.

The Open class is the front line for sheer quality at the event. The fight to get 12 bikes under control and to the front on a sopping wet strip of dirt without front brakes is so good to watch! Sometimes it’s all gathered up and made to look easy, other times it’s amazingly wild where the bikes buck and weave and try to dump their jockeys over the side – you just don’t know. MotoGP levels of predictability aren’t to be expected!

Scrabbling for grip

I had a thoroughly enjoyable night, and as well as going to more rounds, I’ll be taking on some training at Peter Boast’s Flat Track training School in Scunthorpe – I’m about 1,000,000 miles out of my comfort zone even thinking about getting the wheels out of line on a track with no grip, but having seen it done so well by so many people, I just can’t let it go without having a crack. On my Sofa as I write this it all makes sense, but I can already guess I’ll want to go home for a cuddle the first time I bolt a steel shoe on and sit atop a Flat tracker on a dirt Oval…!

The next round is also £10 to get into and is at Oxford Speedway on Friday 15th June 2012, from 7pm onwards – full details from www.shorttrackuk.com

 

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Zolder – No Budget Cup 2010 3 part Blog

By Toosmooth August 8th, 2011, under Uncategorized

If you’re interested in Endurance Racing, Free Beer, The Prodigy (yes really) or The No Budget Cup, then reading this might be something you enjoy. Although longer than a usual blog, the event deserved a little more detail. Split into 3 parts thus;

(click on the titles below to go to each blog)

Part 1 -It’s called Endurance for a Reason…

Part 2 -The start of the race

Part 3 – The race to the line

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Raincoat visor water repellent – what an unbiased top race team think about it….

By Toosmooth July 21st, 2011, under People, Products in the real world, Racing

We first met Paul from Visorvision at Silverstone in 2010. The team were taking part in the test day just prior to the third round of the National Endurance Championship.

I had already been using the V2 Sponge for years to clean my visor and when I got talking to Paul, realised that it was his company that supplied the product. If you’ve never tried it then I recommend it, it’s the easiest way to clean a visor that I know of. Jonty and I both use it as it’s a quick and easy way to clean our visors between sessions.

The test day was a gorgeous day, clear blue skies with a warm and dry track. After we talked, Paul gave us some other products to try, with no pressure other than “give it a go and let me know what you think”. We parted company on Friday night as he wasn’t going to race on the Saturday.

Race day turned out to be a little different from the test day! Practice was in the dry but right at the start of qualifying the heavens opened and it started to bucket down with rain and it didn’t stop all day.

Jonty and I tried the Raincoat product Paul had left with us to see if it would make a difference and I have to say that both of us were stunned!

The treatment that it gives to your visor means that you don’t get that annoying layer of droplets on the outside of the visor as the moisture builds up. The compound means that water simply balls up and runs off. You don’t even have to do that really annoying “turn your head sideways into the wind stream” malarkey that I’m sure you are all familiar with to clear your visor.

Jonty Dixon battles with the wet, but at least he can see.

Endurance racing doesn’t stop when it rains…

Not once did I have to wipe a finger over the visor or even consider moving out into clear air to improve my vision. I simply put the bike where I wanted to and Raincoat took care of the rest. The result was a second place on the day and lap times as quick as Steven Neate, BSB National Superstock rider.

Personally I think that there’s a tremendous amount of cack around product endorsements. Most of the crap you see from the professional riders is based on how much dosh a company is prepared to spend on them and how available the rider is to receive that dosh!!! ; TM72 Racing is an amateur team. We make our money through normal jobs so we don’t have any self-interested commercial agenda to follow.

You can’t race if you can’t see and wet conditions present enough challenges to a rider without having your visibility compromised. When you race in endurance and the conditions are changing it becomes even more important. Every race is declared a wet race so, if it does start raining the clock doesn’t stop, you just have to deal with the conditions.

In my view Raincoat is one of the best products that I have ever used, simple in its execution but effective in its impact. If you value your vision in wet weather conditions I wouldn’t hesitate to use Raincoat.

Andy McKnight
TM72 Racing
UK National Endurance champions 2010

Shop for Raincoat direct from the importers

Silverstone 2010

Andy McKnight TM72 – UK National Endurance Champions 2010

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