Well, the first race of the season finally arrived at the weekend , i had picked up a heavy cold , chest infection and felt crap! But no way could i let the Berg stay in the garage, so sunday morning, i loaded up and off i went.
Its a club championship that covers mainly south east UK, usually 150 to 250 riders depending on the size of the venue.
Always 4 hours, usually with a break midway to grab a sandwich, work on the bike and fuel up. Every lap is timed through gates with penalties for overtime.
The weather was blue sky & sun, 50+ F, the best weve had for over six months.
This is my bike.
Even though it was dry , i knew the conditions would be pretty slippery on this course as its made up of an old MX track and tends to fill up with water, having some short little hill climbs and some jumpable mounds , this section was mainly tight trials with near vertical 6-8ft mud walls, pivot on top and drop down the otherside then 180' turn and the same again with high banked berms.
Consequently i set the berg up on the soft mapping, rders sag 120+, back to standard on rebound and softer than standard on comp, damper turned right down. The front tyre is trelleborg Maxigrip (red band , hard rubber) at 12psi. The rear tyre is a Mitas et-01 trials tyre on 9/10 psi, (some were running 4/5psi but i did not want a flat)
The course was 3.6 miles, well laid out and varied with a short run from the gates into cuople of inclines, ont the old mx sections, back out onto open grass track set in loops in a field then back into the mx track for the trials type bits. You then went into a small river crossing abot 3ft deepest with rocks in the bottom to trial over.
Out of the river led you into fairly dense woods section, then into a more open plantation, sapling type woods, across a wooden bridge onto a 60mph grass straight, a few turns and back to the timers.
I waited at the start for my turn to go through the timers, 10 riders at a time through 3 gates and the berg fired uip on one push of the button, great start.
Here are a few pics of the first sections,
This is not the river crossing, just a part of the track where water has laid.
This section is more flowing.
Yuo can see how slippery the harder mud is in places.
The higher open areas had good traction though.
This is one of the more trickier inclines with a sharp right at the top. I think this guy is attempting to escape and try his own route!
A few boggy bits.
A few taking the term drop offs literally.
These wer the bits catching the berg out in the first lap.I was getting across all the terrain and up the slippery climbs fine but wher you had these vertical drop offs(you cant see it so well in the pic) you had to blip the throttle before the front forks buried right in when the front wheel hit the ground, otherwise you would be over the bars, and then snap the throttle to keep momentum to drive up the other side. The EFI did not like this and it cut out 4 times in 1st lap on these bits, the cutout threw me off twice, once straight over the bars and i did a face plant in the deepst muddy water :lol: , so had to ride two hours soaked in wet mud. I had already turned up the idle before this race and it was working fine, it was just these vertical bits that seemed to catch it out. Anyhow , iturned the idle up a few more clicks, did the rest of the lap and noticed you could snap the throttle fine out of berms , on the flat or up climbs, so i learnt to be a lot smoother the second time round rolling on and off throttle, not so violent with those particular sections and no probs, the race was still on.
Is he going to make it?
What a place to take a nap!
Ok mate, you made it to the top, so pick your own bike up, we're busy.
At the start of the race, quite a few racers came over to look at the berg, it was the only 09 there, they were all intrigued by the engine. A few then realized it was not a 450 but a 570 and asked why? in the uk? I just said i liked the big bore 4 st.
The comments were, 'you must be either brave or stupid to be doing this course on a 570'.
How did they know iwas stupid? :lol:
As you can see from the pics the majority of bikes were a sea of orange 125exc, 200exc 2 st but mainly ktm250 4st and a few 450exc, honda & kawi 250, gasgas 200 & 300, quite a few yam 250 4st, acouple of the oler model fe400 &450 husabergs which still look great and wer going really well. Otherwise the biggest cc out there was two 530exc.
Apart from the flame outs in the first two laps, it didnt bother me, as the bike ran hotter, it got better, it was the opposite for my 530. By the second half , it only popped out once when i snapped the throttle at the top of an incline.
Anyway, back to the race, the berg 570 trialled around those sections better than my 530, better than the 450 and as well if not better than my mates 250xcrw, so far so good.
The next section was the little river crossing and into the woods.
This was trickier than it looked as the water was up to 3ft deep where the back wheels had spun the rocks and boulders forming a crater to trial over. On one lap i was side by side with another riderand both our front wheels stopped dead in the hole and down i went , the whole bike was submerged. I got it upright as quick as i could, sat on in the river, pressed the button once and the beauty fired up instantly, i then added another ft to the depth of the hole while the 570 dug its own path out.
This is where we came out of the river and into the woods. Now this section was really slippery for about 500yds in until you could find traction again, riders were doing 360s all ove rthe place. I think this is where the soft mapping and quarter throttle with rekluse in a tall gear really excelled.
Once into the woods, wow! what can i say, this bike is so agile and flickable at speed and so accurate , you can half clip branches on tight bits withthe bars and get thro, it tracks superbly, where the front goes the back follows, no stepping out ,no front wheel deflection and iwas comfortable sat down the whole time on the woods sections, except the whoopy bits where i would half stand. I sit a little towards the front , not right on the tank, back a bit, one leg out loose, like going into a berm on sx track. The berg is like a snomobile on a slalom course!
Once out of the woods, its wheelie time as you find traction on the grasstrack again and turn the corner into the only shortish straight on the course where you can exploit the power of the 570, click into 3rd & pin the throttle, 4th, 5th 60+mph then start braking and cog down again into a right hander for the end of a lap.
The mitas trials tyre was brilliant, i'm sure i didnt do it justice, the harder you ride it , the more it digs in.
As for the bike, i am a clubman rider, and i think it will do a lot more than i am feeding into it. I would love to have seen an expert or pro rider win on a 570 berg on that course, cos they would have done.
I even found the bike ok to pick up when the adrenaline is flowing, and i didnt pick it up from the back but from the front, foot by the back wheel and yank it up pulling on the bars furthest from you and it just stands up a lot easier than hauling the back around, did the same in the river.
I would be 100% happy if the berg had a warning light or reserve built in for fuel. They could have easily put a sensor in to flash a warning light when theres 1.5 litres left. At least then you could complet a lap and do a splash and dash.
Great stuff, the berg has exceeded my expectations and my riding ability, but i can work on that!
Cheers,
Nick
Its a club championship that covers mainly south east UK, usually 150 to 250 riders depending on the size of the venue.
Always 4 hours, usually with a break midway to grab a sandwich, work on the bike and fuel up. Every lap is timed through gates with penalties for overtime.
The weather was blue sky & sun, 50+ F, the best weve had for over six months.
This is my bike.
Even though it was dry , i knew the conditions would be pretty slippery on this course as its made up of an old MX track and tends to fill up with water, having some short little hill climbs and some jumpable mounds , this section was mainly tight trials with near vertical 6-8ft mud walls, pivot on top and drop down the otherside then 180' turn and the same again with high banked berms.
Consequently i set the berg up on the soft mapping, rders sag 120+, back to standard on rebound and softer than standard on comp, damper turned right down. The front tyre is trelleborg Maxigrip (red band , hard rubber) at 12psi. The rear tyre is a Mitas et-01 trials tyre on 9/10 psi, (some were running 4/5psi but i did not want a flat)
The course was 3.6 miles, well laid out and varied with a short run from the gates into cuople of inclines, ont the old mx sections, back out onto open grass track set in loops in a field then back into the mx track for the trials type bits. You then went into a small river crossing abot 3ft deepest with rocks in the bottom to trial over.
Out of the river led you into fairly dense woods section, then into a more open plantation, sapling type woods, across a wooden bridge onto a 60mph grass straight, a few turns and back to the timers.
I waited at the start for my turn to go through the timers, 10 riders at a time through 3 gates and the berg fired uip on one push of the button, great start.
Here are a few pics of the first sections,
This is not the river crossing, just a part of the track where water has laid.
This section is more flowing.
Yuo can see how slippery the harder mud is in places.
The higher open areas had good traction though.
This is one of the more trickier inclines with a sharp right at the top. I think this guy is attempting to escape and try his own route!
A few boggy bits.
A few taking the term drop offs literally.
These wer the bits catching the berg out in the first lap.I was getting across all the terrain and up the slippery climbs fine but wher you had these vertical drop offs(you cant see it so well in the pic) you had to blip the throttle before the front forks buried right in when the front wheel hit the ground, otherwise you would be over the bars, and then snap the throttle to keep momentum to drive up the other side. The EFI did not like this and it cut out 4 times in 1st lap on these bits, the cutout threw me off twice, once straight over the bars and i did a face plant in the deepst muddy water :lol: , so had to ride two hours soaked in wet mud. I had already turned up the idle before this race and it was working fine, it was just these vertical bits that seemed to catch it out. Anyhow , iturned the idle up a few more clicks, did the rest of the lap and noticed you could snap the throttle fine out of berms , on the flat or up climbs, so i learnt to be a lot smoother the second time round rolling on and off throttle, not so violent with those particular sections and no probs, the race was still on.
Is he going to make it?
What a place to take a nap!
Ok mate, you made it to the top, so pick your own bike up, we're busy.
At the start of the race, quite a few racers came over to look at the berg, it was the only 09 there, they were all intrigued by the engine. A few then realized it was not a 450 but a 570 and asked why? in the uk? I just said i liked the big bore 4 st.
The comments were, 'you must be either brave or stupid to be doing this course on a 570'.
How did they know iwas stupid? :lol:
As you can see from the pics the majority of bikes were a sea of orange 125exc, 200exc 2 st but mainly ktm250 4st and a few 450exc, honda & kawi 250, gasgas 200 & 300, quite a few yam 250 4st, acouple of the oler model fe400 &450 husabergs which still look great and wer going really well. Otherwise the biggest cc out there was two 530exc.
Apart from the flame outs in the first two laps, it didnt bother me, as the bike ran hotter, it got better, it was the opposite for my 530. By the second half , it only popped out once when i snapped the throttle at the top of an incline.
Anyway, back to the race, the berg 570 trialled around those sections better than my 530, better than the 450 and as well if not better than my mates 250xcrw, so far so good.
The next section was the little river crossing and into the woods.
This was trickier than it looked as the water was up to 3ft deep where the back wheels had spun the rocks and boulders forming a crater to trial over. On one lap i was side by side with another riderand both our front wheels stopped dead in the hole and down i went , the whole bike was submerged. I got it upright as quick as i could, sat on in the river, pressed the button once and the beauty fired up instantly, i then added another ft to the depth of the hole while the 570 dug its own path out.
This is where we came out of the river and into the woods. Now this section was really slippery for about 500yds in until you could find traction again, riders were doing 360s all ove rthe place. I think this is where the soft mapping and quarter throttle with rekluse in a tall gear really excelled.
Once into the woods, wow! what can i say, this bike is so agile and flickable at speed and so accurate , you can half clip branches on tight bits withthe bars and get thro, it tracks superbly, where the front goes the back follows, no stepping out ,no front wheel deflection and iwas comfortable sat down the whole time on the woods sections, except the whoopy bits where i would half stand. I sit a little towards the front , not right on the tank, back a bit, one leg out loose, like going into a berm on sx track. The berg is like a snomobile on a slalom course!
Once out of the woods, its wheelie time as you find traction on the grasstrack again and turn the corner into the only shortish straight on the course where you can exploit the power of the 570, click into 3rd & pin the throttle, 4th, 5th 60+mph then start braking and cog down again into a right hander for the end of a lap.
The mitas trials tyre was brilliant, i'm sure i didnt do it justice, the harder you ride it , the more it digs in.
As for the bike, i am a clubman rider, and i think it will do a lot more than i am feeding into it. I would love to have seen an expert or pro rider win on a 570 berg on that course, cos they would have done.
I even found the bike ok to pick up when the adrenaline is flowing, and i didnt pick it up from the back but from the front, foot by the back wheel and yank it up pulling on the bars furthest from you and it just stands up a lot easier than hauling the back around, did the same in the river.
I would be 100% happy if the berg had a warning light or reserve built in for fuel. They could have easily put a sensor in to flash a warning light when theres 1.5 litres left. At least then you could complet a lap and do a splash and dash.
Great stuff, the berg has exceeded my expectations and my riding ability, but i can work on that!
Cheers,
Nick
