Thursday 6 November 2008

cadwell (end of season)







Hello Tightwad enthusiasts,




The last time we met I had just finished a successful meeting at Lydden and before long we all arrived at Cadwell for the last race meeting for 2008. As Saturday broke it was not such a pleasant morning but managed to get the bike into the first practice session nice and early. As i was going round through the fog descended very quickly and it became so thick that you could not see your braking points. Never mind though, the few laps i did filled me with confidence in the engine after the seizure at Lydden.




Race one came about after a delay and that meant that we would only get one race that day. I got a good start but on such a long circuit i got swamped by most people going up the hill and settled into my usual slot mixing it with bullit and pellet. I was making good corner speed and my braking was fairly good but with two long straights per lap if anyone wanted to get past they just had to wait for one of them and straight line me on the power. This is a bit disheartening when all your good work is undone by nothing more than sitting there and twisting the throttle. The bike was working well though but was a bit loose on the high speed corners, more tyre pressure needed. Finished near the back but not anywhere near last.




Race one (Sunday), Made some adjustments to the tyre pressures and that made a big difference. The bike felt much more stable and that helped me reduce my lap times but i still faced the same problem of running out of engine before everyone else. The engine is not revving out enough yet and the carburation is still a long way off. But i was still having a ball and mixing it with the back end of the pack. I even managed to overtake a couple of people and had a good dice with pellet. Pretty much finished in the same position but by this time I am starting to get a bit frustrated with the lack of power and ground clearance.




Race three was a bit better and i was getting a bit more agresive which meant that i spent most of the corners hitting the exhaust on the floor and shitting myself. Even though my race position was similar i had a great time racing one of my favourite circuits and the esses into the woods is the best part of it.




So there you are three meetings gone and the bike has never come last. In fact I have come 11th in a class of twenty in three meetings with the lowest power out of the lot (by a long way). A good result really with an indian crank, piston and irol barrel. Over the winter i will be tuning the bike a bit more with the intention of getting ito the top ten. All tuning work will be on a budget and i need to get another 5hp out of it at least. A bit of a tall order i know but i will try my best to do it.




Can you help? Would you like to sponser my group 4 bike for 2009? if so contact me at siredward@btinternet.com or call 07751267711 anything you can do to help would be great.




Will update you all soon, so i am off to get the spanners out and dissapear into the garage for three months.




Tune in next time when i will be writing an article for scootering magazine which will feature unashamed arse kissing.