News 2011
|
News 2011 |
|
18th October Last Saturday was the final outing for 'Team Fang' in the 2011 season, and having just finished his PhD, Bryony's brother Dominic was coming along for some track time. Promising to beat his 10.70 @ 133 from earlier in the year. Despite Dominic's friend and personal crew chief Chris arriving at Shakespeare County Raceway on time, his rider did not so Bryony was able to put in 3 consecutive runs, with a best of 11.0. Conditions were perfect; mild weather, hot track, and rapid on track action clearing the fire up lane. There was lots of action too, with plenty of bikes including the National Sprint Association out in force. If you want a display of rider skill these are the guys and girls to watch! At this point Dominic arrived brimming with confidence, only to be caught out straight away by the amazing traction offered by our Shinko drag tyre. Run number 5 for Dominic was an improvement at 11.0 and he was much happier, though I was beginning to wonder just how long the clutch would last! Joe made the excellent suggestion that we stop burning out as there was obviously plenty of grip, and shortly afterwards I increased the tyre pressure from 16 to 26 psi. Determined to improve, Bryony put in her best 60' to date only to miss the change into 2nd as the front end came down, damn! It was about this time that I happened to glance towards the top end of the track just in time to see a rider cart wheeling through the air. Joe said the rider got into a terrific tank slapper before loosing the bike in a bad way, fortunately the rider was up and walking almost immediately. Bryony arrived at the head of the fire up lane for a bye run just as the track closed for 15 minutes. The track team wanted to seal the track with glue to prevent an evening dew getting under the surface rubber. The down side was that Bryony would be the first vehicle onto the now evostick like surface, I very nearly lost a trainer testing the start line! This really seemed to focus Bryony's mind on the clutch, resulting in the smoothest ever launch! Time was running out now as the air and track temperature started to drop rapidly. Acting upon Joe's advice a return to burn outs allowed Bryony to run a 10.88 and Dominic a 10.54. Unsurprisingly the Blackbird didn't get much rest during the day with a total of 18 runs and I was pretty relieved to park the poor thing up at 5 o'clock after a good day of on track action from both riders. A big thank you to all the team at Shakespeare County Racewayand to Joe Bond for his invaluable advice and video camera operation. Time to head to the workshop.......
|
|
4th October Last weekend was hectic to say the least with Sharon at the NSA Weston Zoyland sprint on Saturday and Bryony at Shakespeare County Raceway on Sunday. Beginning with Saturday, this was the last race for 'The Fanglet' in 2011 and it was tempting to fit my new low profile ignition pickup mounting. However Sharon was keen to improve her Personal Best time and I thought it better to leave any modifications for winter dyno setup. Ha ha I thought, this is it, the day I can raise the gearing and improve the ET at last. Oddly enough the warm breeze seemed not to help at all and by mid afternoon had moved to the South and become a cross wind anyhow. Lots of nice machinery on display as usual and the riders of a couple of nice Velocette singles turned up to spectate. On the first run Sharon made her usual spirited, wheelie-ing launch and howled through the gears to a 17.8 @ 76 mph, 1.5 seconds off the pace, how very odd. The next run was near identical and Sharon was looking very mean by now. I was perplexed to say the least, as the engine sounded fine and had lots of compression. Fortunately I told Sharon to cut the ignition as she returned to the pits after the next run to conserve the battery. Sharon did as instructed and the bike nearly stopped in it's tracks, yes the front brake was dragging, indeed I nearly burnt my hand on the disc and the caliper was too hot to touch. Right, now we were back in the 16's though the speed was still below par at around 79 mph and caliper piston retraction was necessary between runs, at least it gave time for the poor engine to cool off in the blistering heat. It was rather odd to say the least to endure such heat with the Sun's low altitude at this time of year. Sharon was in determined mood by now and run 4 was a superb 16.11, we could have retired for the year happy there but no; 'I can go quicker' says she. And so she did; run 5 was a truly amazing 16.05! To put this time in context it is considerably quicker than any 4 stroke 250cc twin of the late 70's, never mind 125cc bikes. Indeed the CB250N Superdream could only manage 17.3 seconds for the 1/4 in Bike magazine's contemporary road test!
Bryony and Fuel Altered driver Joe Bond had arranged to meet us at Shakespeare County Raceway so with the Blackbird loaded in the van I headed North for what turned out to be an even more unseasonably hot day than Saturday. For once I was able to park at the track end of the pits and close to our sponsors Tim Blakemore Racing By now a huge queue of cars had formed right up the pit lane so we were in for a bit of a wait and a last minute run and bump. Everything went according to plan apart from a certain person forgetting to turn the ignition on! I dived for the key as Joe continued doing the hard work and off she went for the first blast. There was a bit of confusion as the guy in the other lane sort of half set off as the his stage lights lit, as a result Bryony eased the throttle a little just as the Blackbird began to roll. 11.031 seconds later we were grinning with satisfaction, not a bad start to the day. I had asked Bryony to run on to the 2nd turn off in an attempt to put more charge in the battery, but to no avail, although Bryony confessed to seeing 160 mph on the speedo not far after the finish. Strangely on subsequent runs we seemed to be getting quite a bit of wheel spin, but times stayed in the very low 11 second zone. With his experience, Joe began to examine the track in order to select just the right spot, the resulting run 4 was massive; At the hit the rear tyre gripped then broke loose, the bike stood still momentarily then blasted to a new PB of 10.79 @ 135.69. I'd guess that Bryony lost as much as 0.3 seconds in that moment. Next run, more wheel spin followed by a wheelie to another high 10. Back in the fire up lane whilst checking the bike over I noticed that the twistgrip switch block was able to rotate slightly. Thanks to Steve Wood of Motoshack for the loan of a screwdriver saving me a long walk! Meanwhile there was no want of advice from fellow racers including new ACU Top Fuel Champion and joker Kev Charman Despite my explaining that we had lashed out most of our 2011 tuning budget on an aerosol of expanding foam to modify the seat pad step, Kev insisted that the seat needed to be much lower. He managed to persuade Bryony to remove the seat for a look whereupon Kev dashed off through the crowd complete with seat. I'm glad Bryony was chasing after him in that heat! On the next run the wheel spin problem was so bad the bike actually stood still so long I thought it would keel over, the extra 0.7 on the 60 foot bare's this out! By now Bryony was getting pretty frustrated and tired, as besides the heat she was suffering from a cold, so we decided to try just one more blast. This resulted in another low 11 @ 135.89 mph and what appeared to be the evidence of tyre shake on the track, as the tyre gripped and broke loose several times, not that you can get tyre shake with a conventional tyre of course. I was pretty shattered by this point and still had to drive home, it really was time to pack up. Not that Team Fang can complain. What a weekend, with both mother and daughter making new personal best times. Sharon can retire for the winter happy in the knowledge that she has achieved far, far more than I could have ever dreamt of from 'The Fanglet'. Meanwhile Bryony is sooo close to achieving the level of clutch control necessary to make some really dramatic gains, maybe later this month if the weather behaves itself. There are two more RWYB events at Shakespeare County Raceway in 2011 so my priority is to sort out the mystery non electric starter. Initial investigation seems to point to the motor as the battery checked out OK with my equipment. |
Photo above by Julie Steele.
Photo above by Julie Steele.
Photo above by Lizz McCarthy.
Bryony on the way to a new PB of 10.79 @ 135.64 mph, but for initial wheel spin a 10.5 I reckon.....
|
21st August Only a week after Weston Zoyland we are rolling into Wroughton and it looks good; dry and a following breeze, nearly perfect (more later). Wroughton is organized by the VMCC Sprint Section and though there are plenty of familiar faces, there are also quite a few who seem to appear only at Wroughton. And the bikes, what can I say, an overwhelming selection of unusual and exotic machinery along with some very famous names from the past. This was going to be good! Here are just a few of the machines that caught my eye: Among the sprinting and record breaking legends present were Jim Reynolds and Shelagh Neale. I could go on but perhaps you had better go next year and see for yourself. More details of events here: VMCC Of course being Team Fang we had a cunning plan for the day; 3 runs on the gearing used so successfully in the past to assess conditions, then drop 1 tooth on the rear sprocket for a new PB (Personal Best time to the none sprinters). Over lunch the gearing and battery were changed. I really thought the Fanglet would hurtle to a new best terminal speed aided by the following wind, but no, it was a tooth too far. The speed crept over 80 but the ET was back in the 17's, damn, back to the pits for another sprocket changing session. We really need another gear in the box, 5 just aren't enough. Due to the start line and timing arrangements, riders were being held for a long time in stage and in gear, causing a number of problems including overheated clutches. I noticed blown methanol/nitro Triumph rider Justin Newall repeatedly holding his right hand over the carb mouth to enrichen the mixture. (methanol runs very cool and can cause the carb to ice up freezing the slide in place). Aside from this minor problem, things ran very smoothly and it was great to see Justin and Ray run side by side, video here Law/Newall Back on The Fanglet, though the terminals stayed stubbornly around 79.9 mph, Sharon was chipping away at her ET. I gave up taking photos so I could watch for any way of improving the launch. Another brilliant day out thanks to the VMCC Sprint Section team, and remember you don't need a vintage bike to participate; just turn up on the day on your road bike to join in the fun.
|
Thanks to Annie Lee for the above photo of Sharon's last run. |
17th August We arrived at Weston Zoyland last Sunday equipped with a new rear sprocket one tooth smaller, and my latest secret weapon; titanium sprocket retaining pins and nuts. The latter saved 100gm on the rear wheel, and the former would hopefully keep the rev counter in the red, rather than beyond it, in top gear. As it transpired we didn't get the opportunity to try the sprocket due to a stiff headwind.The wind caused problems for most riders especially those with smaller machines. The high humidity also seemed to be causing serious problems for our 2 stroke specialists too, with one early retirement due to engine damage and another baffled by mysterious plug readings. It was nice to see plenty of entries and among these lots of the more traditional Hagon style bikes and John Clift framed jobs, along with plenty of spectators. As soon as the 'Fanglet' was unloaded the questions began, quite a few over a certain age recognised the CB125T engine. I suppose the massive cam cover gives it away a bit. On to the racing,and Sharon was disappointed with her first run which had seemed pretty good to her, but the speed was down 12 mph and ET by over a second. Run 2 with more determination and a small wheelie produced a minor improvement, it was quite obvious there would be no new PB today. With each subsequent run the wheelies became more pronounced and longer, yet still barely an improvement in the ET and the terminals were stuck around 74 mph. If anything the wind was getting stronger. Off again and whoa! Big wheelie off the line and more pattering before the change to 2nd. If only we had 60' data, Sharon's must have been pretty impressive by now, still no improvement in the ET! Despite the headwind, a number of riders managed new PB's including Justin Newall on his blown Triumph, which sounds superb. Although Sharon was disappointed not to get near her PB she was pretty pleased with the wheelies, even better I caught them on camera. Another brilliant day out with such a friendly bunch from the National Sprint Association Next stop for 'The Fanglet' is Wroughton on 21st August, hopefully with a following gale!
Meanwhile back at the ranch.... Whilst we were having fun at Weston Zoyland, daughter Bryony was crewing for Funny Bike racer Lizz McCarthy and her Top Fuel bike riding partner Kev Charman at the Bulldog Bash. Bryony really enjoyed the experience and will be making more appearances helping out the team. Check out Lizz and Kev's site here: Nitrous Junkie |
Photo above by Roy Fursman of 'Fire Injun' fame.
Photo above taken at the 25th Bulldog Bash by Martin Chesworth. |
1st August |
|
 |
|
Well, as you can see from the above montage Bryony is considering a new career as a stunt rider after the last event at Shakespeare County Raceway on 23/24th July. As it was the re-scheduled running of the 2011 'Ladies That Launch' event, I agreed to camp one more time. During the previous week there had been much discussion of clutch and throttle control
for the launch. Practising on her road bike doesn't seem to help too much, as it hits peak revs at 10mph in first rather than around 75mph! Saturday evening provided some bizarre entertainment in the club house with the appearance of not only Spiderman, but also 'Delvis', complete with inflatable guitar. Perhaps I should cut back on the homebrew consumption.... Retiring some time after midnight, I dozed off to the sound of creatures of the night scuttling around, and the occasional fart from nearby tents. Sunday got off to a promising start with warm sunshine and a surprisingly good veggie burger from the food stand, swilled down with a litre of pure pineapple juice. I'm not good at full on engine rebuilds in the pits, so bike preparation consisted of topping up with a gallon of unleaded and handing Bryony the ignition key; my kind of race bike. All in all a brilliant weekend, best of the year for us. Thank you to all those who complimented Bryony on her riding ability, it's not for want of effort and it means a lot to get some feedback. Thanks to all the staff at Shakespeare County Raceway who made it such a great event, and commiserations to fellow racer Steve Vardy, whose Kawasaki H2 let go big time on his first run of the weekend. Hope to see you back out soon Steve. |
Speedo is reading 65mph at this point.
Good job I didn't lower the bike any more! Photo courtesy Ingrid Chesworth. |
3rd June Yesterday was my wife Sharon's first outing of the year on the CB125T 'Fanglet'. Based on the increase in power, and the fact that the bike was reaching peak revs in top gear way before the finish last year, I raised the gearing by 3 teeth on the rear sprocket. Perhaps the elusive 80mph barrier would be broken. Weather conditions were near perfect, if a little hot, as we rolled up to the pits at Weston Zoyland. The only problem was a nagging headache for Sharon, but she was determined to try her best. Henry Body and his team of stalwarts at the National Sprint Association had done a great job of preparing the track in the week before, and there was a healthy day entry of enthusiastic riders. A wander around the pits revealed some fascinating machines, including possibly the World's lowest Velocette. It's great to see all these old bikes being used (hard) rather than gathering dust. Shortly after midday things got under way; Sharon's terminals were just on 80mph, but the times were all over the place and barely in the 16's at best. Sharon said the engine was nice and crisp, and put the disappointing times down to feeling a bit under the weather and lack of practice. However on most runs the front tyre was firmly on the track, and changing the battery made no difference. I began to suspect the gearing, perhaps with the high ambient temperature the power was a little off . Eventually late in the afternoon I decided to go back to what we knew worked. With the engine screaming near the red line she shot off the line, each clutchless change snicked through perfectly with a shudder from the bike as Sharon hurtled towards the finish making a glorious sound that must have carried for miles. I envied the top end marshals who would have been treated the full effect! Rushing around to the other side of the timing caravan I was greeted with astonishing figures: 16.26 @ 83.3 mph! Was I happy, and of course my lovely wife was over the Moon. 'Did you manage to clock the revs as you crossed the line I asked?' 'Err....well the needle came out on the other side of the red...' The rev counter ends at 13,000rpm, Sharon indicated roughly where the needle reached in top gear. Gulp! About 13,800rpm, ooer...... Slightly reassuringly, when I drained the oil today it looked fine, well fine bits of aluminium anyway. Perhaps I had better get on with that spare engine! Another great day out with a great bunch of people, many thanks to all those who make these events possible and so much fun.
|
Is this a Velowcette? Groan...
Woombah, woombah, woombah....Photo by Annie Lee
|
16th June Last weekend was to be the 2nd annual For Ladies that Launch event at Shakespeare County Raceway , this prompted feverish cake making from Bryony and scanning of weather forecasts from me. It didn't look good. A couple of weeks back, aided by a cash injection from Grandma and Granddad, Bryony purchased a 180/55 Shinko drag rear and Michelin Pilot Sport front tyres for the bike. I didn't know what to expect fro the Shinko, but it had to be better than the touring Avon rear which seemed near indestructible. The pits at SCR were absolutely packed when we arrived as besides all the regular RWYB bikes and cars; the National Sprint Association and National Association of Supertwin bikes, Outlaw Anglia's, Junior Drag cars and bikes, and tractor pull were all in attendance. When I reached Bryony in the fire up lane she said that she could already tell some difference with the rear tyre, so we prepared for a steady run; ha! Almost instantly the front end came up on the launch and Bryony had to back off a little. The good news is that the run was arrow straight, as were all subsequent ones; a big improvement on the old Avon touring tyre. Back to the line 1/2 hour later, a more controlled run with the front tyre skipping across the track resulted in a new PB: The next run was another 10, but then the rain which had threatened for some time called a halt to proceedings, a satisfying if short day. |
Photo: Ingrid Chesworth
Photo: Dave Derry
|
5th June Well, this should have been a report on today's race outing for the CB125T at Wroughton, but due to rain and strong winds we decided to give it a miss. It's a great shame as we really wanted to see how the latest updates to the engine would shape up. During the winter months I spent many hours reshaping the cylinder head ports, and whilst doing this I noticed there was an appreciable step between the exhaust ports and the pipes. The remedy was to machine out both ports to take a sleeve with an internal taper to match the diameters. Sounds simple, and the machining time was mere minutes, but setting up for each port took a long time. The sleeves are retained with a couple of M4 screws, and the exhaust is now sealed with a smear of high temperature sealer rather than the copper gasket. To complement the porting I made some cutters to re-shape the inlet valve seats, sadly the exhausts are too hard and would need carbide tipped cutters. I had also decided it was about time the engine was treated to a re-bore and new pistons. This proved to entail a lot of work, as genuine Honda pistons are no longer available and the alternatives proved to be much heavier than standard ones. The engine finally went back together last Tuesday and by the next evening was running again. Good job as the bike was booked in to Tim Blakemore Racing on the Friday morning to check jetting. Seeing your newly built engine screaming up to 13,000 rpm is an alarming experience, but ensures the bores don't become glazed! After the initial test Tim said that it was running a little weak at the top end, though he thought it would be safe, he recommended going up to 130 main jets. After 30 minutes of fumbling in the confined space behind the head we were ready to go again; 13,000 again, and again. Tim let the engine tick over for a moment and then switched her off and gave me a look of disbelief 'What did you say you did to it'? It transpired that all that work had been worth it: 16.49 hp! A 10% increase on what I already considered to be close to the maximum we could hope for. So now you know how disappointed we were this morning, better luck next month perhaps.
|
|
18th May The Shakespeare County Raceway RWYB weekend of 30th April/1st May included Bryony's birthday, so there was much consulting of seaweed, barometers and the now notoriously inaccurate UK weather forecasts in the preceding week. By Friday morning it looked pretty promising so Bryony and an old school friend (drafted in as pit crew and chaperone) headed off to the track. There was no way I was camping again after the last event's arctic conditions, so Sharon and I brought the bike along on Saturday just in time for the track opening. Unfortunately there was a stiff headwind of around 30mph, which didn't bode well for achieving Bryony's target of a run in the 10's. Apart from the wind, conditions were near perfect with a particularly good entry of bikes, including the Suzuki Bandit Owners Club and Dave Branch with his bang up-to-date blown methanol Triumph. During the previous week Bryony had been practicing launches on her road bike in an effort to become more consistent, and get in the 10's of course. The trouble was a gutless road bike on a country lane wasn't much preparation for nearly 160hp on the drag strip: Run 1 saw the rear tyre spinning frantically for most of the 60' and another trip sideways. Run 2 was fine until about 60' when once again wheel spin and more sideways action saw things get a bit out of shape. As she approached the 1/8 mile the back stepped out again at what must have been 90+mph, really do need a nice Shinko drag tyre on the back! Gradually Bryony backed off the throttle in the 60' throughout the day, achieving the desired consistency but still not the 10's. Though getting close, I doubted it would happen anyway given the strong headwind: Speaking to other regular racers, it seemed most were 3 tenths off their best. Never mind we had a great day, including a break for birthday cake of course! Best time of the day was a relatively slow 11.60, but all the times were pretty close and Bryony's launches were becoming much smoother and a little less dramatic. Unfortunately during the course of the day a fellow racer decided that Bryony needed some advice on equipment and technique. If that wasn't bad enough, the advice was delivered in a annoying, sexist, 'I know what I'm talking about' style. Despite Bryony clearly indicating she is quite clear about how SHE wants to run and ride the bike he even came back later for another try. I have to say this was a totally unrepresentative incident. And in general, other male competitors have gone out of their way to treat Bryony as just another biker, which is how it should be. Sharon and I returned to the comfort of home for Saturday night and missed out on a great night in the Club House, featuring the partying Suzuki Bandit club. Judging by the videos there were a few sore heads on Sunday morning! Sunday dawned with cloudless skies and the head wind even stronger than Saturday, that 10 was looking even more unlikely. Things started well though, with a first run of 11.23 @ 132.3 mph followed by a couple of 11.4's. The wind was getting stronger but terminal speeds seemed little influenced by this, staying firmly in the 133.5 mph range. Just as I was beginning to think we might have to call it a day Bryony achieved her goal with a 10.9 @ 133.3 mph. The bike bogged down very slightly initially, then hurtled away arrow straight. Was she a happy girl! It was now midday and the wind was beginning to swing around to cross the track. One more run confirmed it was time to stop, no point taking any risks. To finish off a great day we returned to the fire up lane to watch the fabulous show put on by the Supercharged Outlaws. A brilliant weekend Shakespeare County Raceway at it's best!
|
Bryony on her way to the 10.9, the B-King with extended swinging arm in the other lane nearly got a surprise; as despite giving away 0.5 on the tree, Bryony's loosing margin was only 0.2! |
18th April Against my better judgement I agreed to camp overnight at Shakespeare County Raceway so that Bryony could get in some serious track time. My judgement being that it might be a teeny bit cold overnight, being far wiser, my wife decided to rely on the comfort of our wood burning stove at home. Everything went fine on Saturday morning until we were about 10 miles from home and found that the road North was closed! Not a good start as the resulting detour made us an hour late arriving. This was followed by a serious oil down just as we arrived in the fire up lane, I began to suspect it was going to be one of those days. It wasn't long before it really became just that for Ian Norman, who had an horrific crash at the top end in his Outlaw Anglia. Amazingly Ian wasn't seriously injured, though it really took the shine off his car and mangled the track side armco. The track crew really had a job on their hands to repair this little lot, so it was quite something that we got running again. Well done guys and a big thank you due to Jerry Collier who provided the welding skills required. Due to all this we only managed 4 runs, but great fun and so nice to see the win light come on in our lane. An R1 and Hayabusa being overcome as Bryony got back into the groove.The 4th run was an 11.2 @ 132mph, so we retired to assemble the tent in a jolly mood whilst consuming a few alcoholic beverages. Things livened up a bit around 10pm when some twit sat on the the ignition key of his Renault Clio causing the engine to start. Worse, he had left it in reverse so it careened across the pits into poor Martin Holgate's motor home. I knew my neo - Luddite stance was correct, bring back the starting handle. Fortunately Sunday dawned with clear skies and plenty of sunshine and that's how the day continued. In complete contrast to Saturday everything went very smoothly, and by 10:04 Bryony was on her way to another 11.4 despite a missed gear. The bike sounds glorious with it's new Turnertech exhaust, and we also now have swish graphics for Tim Blakemore Racing who are helping us out a little, thanks guys! Bryony's brother Dominic arrived just in time to see her get way out of shape about 100' out, with a real wriggle on and a far from straight line on the track. The touring tyre fitted is just rock hard and has an alarming tendency to break loose rather suddenly. I feel a pair of those nice Shinko drag tyres coming on soon. From now on things got slightly confusing for me and the track staff as Bryony and Dominic took alternate runs with different race numbers. The poor bike was mercilessly thrashed down the track preceded by huge burnouts in a futile attempt to achieve some grip. In fact at the end of the day the rear tyre still looked like new, not what we need unfortunately. Befitting his status as a theoretical physicist, Dominic had spent the preceding week practicing his launch technique from traffic lights in Birmingham on his CG125! Not to mention numerous burnouts, and hours studying videos of Rickey Gadson. On his 3rd run he blasted his way to a stunning 10.7 @ 133 mph! See this run here: YouTube The Fang Needless to say we have now adopted the same technique for Bryony, the clutch of the monkey bike having succumbed to a thrashing on Monday lunchtime. Later this week Bryony's Hyosung 125 will become the next test bed. Brimming with confidence, Dominic attempted to push things further on his next run, a little too far as it transpired. About 30' out the tyre broke loose with serious wheelspin, smoke and chunks of rubber flying off the track, all accompanied by flailing legs! He still managed to run an 11.8 @ 130 mph and claimed to be totally unflustered by the whole thing. In all we managed 14 runs, but towards the end we were all visibly wilting and both riders were unable to repeat their earlier form. Bryony was so knackered by the end Dominic had to push her back into the bleach box, so at 4pm I called a halt to proceedings. All in all a very satisfying weekend, more please!
|
|
29th March Today was the D-Day for the Blackbird, as in dyno day over at Tim Blakemore Racing in Bristol. Tim and Wendy had ordered the Dynojet Power Commander and had a K&N air filter in stock to replace the filthy one on the bike. In no time everything was hooked up and we were ready to go, I retired to the relative quiet of the office and Tim began to work his magic. Despite been a bit of a neo - Luddite I have to admit this fuel injection/Power Commander malarkey is far better than swapping jets in carbs, especially on a red hot engine. Just removing the tank on the Blackbird is a pain as Honda don't provide a quick release fitting. Despite a few cool down periods for Tim and the bike, it wasn't too long before Tim emerged from the dyno room smiling and pronounced 'job done'. Tim showed me the fuel/air ratio curve which is astonishingly flat, no way you could ever get this with carbs. More importantly for Bryony, the power and torque curves give the following: Many, many thanks to Tim and Wendy for a fabulous service as usual: Tim Blakemore Racing |
Though I've had to squeeze this image up a bit to make it fit the page you can see in what a mild state of tune the engine is, with it's gently climbing horse power curve and broad peak. |
March 23rd The next problem to tackle was Honda's ridiculous CBS linked braking system. After careful study of the workshop manual I realised that it was possible to circumvent the system with a simple bracket, however this would still leave the huge 3 piston rear caliper in place. After a while spent sitting looking at the bike dreading removing the back wheel to make a new bracket, it occurred to me that a cranked bolt would solve the problem. After a minor bit of swarf creation in the workshop I was soon admiring the tiny Fireblade caliper securely attached to the bike. Now to the messy bit. It took a couple of hours to remove all the unnecessary hoses, master cylinder, proportioning valve and junction boxes but it was well worth it. The new Fireblade hose connected to the rear master cylinder with enough length to accommodate extending the swinging arm 100mm. Finally a simple bracket replaced the auxiliary fork mounted master cylinder and the job was done, total cost to me under £10. I had hoped the 2 redundant rear brake hoses would be long enough to replace the complex system of hoses and hard lines to the front calipers, unfortunately one is a bit too short so we will save up for a couple of braided ones. Most importantly burnouts are now On! Next step is installation and set up of the Power Commander.
|
Cranked sliding pin compared with standard one.
|
16th February After last year's mid season volte-face, perhaps it's best if I keep my philosophical opinions to myself, so rapidly moving on: What happened to January? Well it was too damn cold for me to venture out into the workshop in the evenings and weekends, so no progress on the Blackbird. A bit of warm weather finally lured me out to begin work on the exhaust last week, a piece of cake I thought only one megaphone to make. How wrong can you be? Taking the down pipes off was a nightmare; 7 of the 8 studs wound out of the head with the nuts firmly seized on, fortunately nothing snapped off in the head. I then made up a jig to hold the pipes in there correct location while I sawed off the 4-2-1 collector box and built a new 4-1 collector. I was looking forward to hydro forming the megaphone, but this was where things really went pear shaped. I couldn't get any 24 gauge steel sheet so had to settle for 22 gauge, little did I know that actually it was nearer 20 gauge. This became apparent when I began pumping up the megaphone; narrow parts refused to inflate and creases appeared everywhere. It was pretty heavy too. Eventually after many hours even I had to admit it wasn't going to work, so in the scrap bin it went. This was a bit of a low point, especially after I managed to whack the side of my knee with the useless and improbably shaped steel balloon I'd created. Can anything else go wrong; off course. It was around this time that my elderly neighbor stamped on the throttle of his automatic, as he drove into the garage next to ours. He succeeded in demolishing the rear walls of both garages and a garden shed built on the back! Time for a beer! The next evening scouting around my stocks of sheet metal off cuts, I found a few 24 gauge pieces left over from the CB125T megaphones, so Plan B was invoked. Sections were rolled up and welded end to end into a passable race megaphone in pretty short order, with the finishing touch a 3mm round beading on the business end. Although it's not quite the sinuous, organic concept I had in mind I'm quite pleased with the result, lets hope it produces more power than the standard exhaust.
|
The short strips welded to the pipes held everything in position
Nearly done! |
 |
|
