Help Support Husaberg:
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 17,028
- Location
- Ely, England
what an enjoyable day to day as i did a two-man'er with american mark. i went and fetched him and found another serviceman there named ryan who i may have persuaded to buy a 2003 FE400e quite cheaply.
he followed me all the way there on a DR350 (with CC gearing) flat out at 80MPH but because he was about 2" from my tailgate he did 200MPG. i braked violently hard four times but i must be 'readable' in my old age as he avoided me quite easily-little bugger!
mark said we hadn't time for breakfast but we got there and i stood with my thumb up my arse for over an hour as he was shocked to learn that we NEVER start meetings on time.
mark led off and came in after 30 minutes with 5-laps to his name, he was there right on the end of the minute but that's fine! i did 5 in 29 and mark then did 5 in 28 and i did 5 in 28 again as well. if we could have done 5 in 27 i think an attempt at a sixth lap might have been on. alas we tried again after lunch and he did 5 in 31 and a 5 in 30 whilst i did 5 in 28 and 28 again!
the bike was spot on and i learnt so much today about riding in the sand. it's the first time i've gone to a meeting in a positive frame and i was rewarded by riding quite quickly. i only tried a 'used' 52T rear to see if i could avoid first gear and bar once or twice i did! i think 14 x 53T would be perfic! didn't want to try the 'zorst or the lineweaver jetting as it was a 'mickey mouse circuit'.
'frosty' was the only other husey there. he hasn't touched his bike for 3-4 months and struggled a bit but he was all smiles afterwards which is what it's all about at the end of the day isn't it!
we even followed him to the nearest pub afterwards but i only did this you understand coz mark said he needed to be home early to watch the MX on TV.
well what else did you expect-i'd been denied my breakfast after all!
i'm out in three weeks and hope in between to do the following;
53 x 14T gearing
try the DL jetting
try the tailpipe
add another 1" to the (already) tall seat
try out my very secret ideas (which are a secret)
i also aim to purchase a set of TC's with less offset but the testing will be delicate!
regards
Taffy
footnote; came 9th from 38 teams with a metronom-like 10+10+10+10 laps and no time faults (their mistake!) for 40 lap total.
he followed me all the way there on a DR350 (with CC gearing) flat out at 80MPH but because he was about 2" from my tailgate he did 200MPG. i braked violently hard four times but i must be 'readable' in my old age as he avoided me quite easily-little bugger!
mark said we hadn't time for breakfast but we got there and i stood with my thumb up my arse for over an hour as he was shocked to learn that we NEVER start meetings on time.
mark led off and came in after 30 minutes with 5-laps to his name, he was there right on the end of the minute but that's fine! i did 5 in 29 and mark then did 5 in 28 and i did 5 in 28 again as well. if we could have done 5 in 27 i think an attempt at a sixth lap might have been on. alas we tried again after lunch and he did 5 in 31 and a 5 in 30 whilst i did 5 in 28 and 28 again!
the bike was spot on and i learnt so much today about riding in the sand. it's the first time i've gone to a meeting in a positive frame and i was rewarded by riding quite quickly. i only tried a 'used' 52T rear to see if i could avoid first gear and bar once or twice i did! i think 14 x 53T would be perfic! didn't want to try the 'zorst or the lineweaver jetting as it was a 'mickey mouse circuit'.
'frosty' was the only other husey there. he hasn't touched his bike for 3-4 months and struggled a bit but he was all smiles afterwards which is what it's all about at the end of the day isn't it!
we even followed him to the nearest pub afterwards but i only did this you understand coz mark said he needed to be home early to watch the MX on TV.
well what else did you expect-i'd been denied my breakfast after all!
i'm out in three weeks and hope in between to do the following;
53 x 14T gearing
try the DL jetting
try the tailpipe
add another 1" to the (already) tall seat
try out my very secret ideas (which are a secret)
i also aim to purchase a set of TC's with less offset but the testing will be delicate!
regards
Taffy
footnote; came 9th from 38 teams with a metronom-like 10+10+10+10 laps and no time faults (their mistake!) for 40 lap total.
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,142
- Location
- fallon nv
Do you quite enjoy that? the thumb up your arse? :bootyshake: you could have had porage and pie
good consistent lap times for you both I don't quite understand the two rider thing but I guess you have to be there and if your yank got it I bet I could also. You have too much fun my friend.
good consistent lap times for you both I don't quite understand the two rider thing but I guess you have to be there and if your yank got it I bet I could also. You have too much fun my friend.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 17,028
- Location
- Ely, England
well in the 21 days since i last raced i've been fairly busy modifying the bike in several whacky ways.
1) the lineweaver jetting has been fitted and an improvement at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle noted.
2) KTM 14mm offset yokes (triple clamps) have been fitted and tested. the steering is quicker in the woods however i found today that the front wheel didn't seem to be connected - so i have now dropped the forks through 15mm and the last 5mm today made a difference!
the fuel tank has been slimmed down using a heat gun and this was done with;
4) an even taller seat! the two together mean that i can now place my leg where i want to. also i feel sat on the steering head and at the same time-as i accelerate- i feel like i'm over the back wheel!
5) the rear wheel has come forward with the fitment of the 52T (53 not mass produced) with a resultant shortening of the wheel base.
6) i have removed the starter and battery, gears, sprague and solenoid to suit.
the racing
was at little hadham which is 30 miles from me and 30 miles north of london. it was a time card event run in warm weather and the times were slack. that and the fact that i'm far quicker this year meant that for the first time in 5 seasons of racing i did a timecard event and cleaned the sections with an easy 17/18 minute lap to finish ewven though i had an allowance of 20.
times allowed were 60 + 60 + 40 + 35 + 30 + 20. i got there early after being "on the sauce" last night at a beer festival! i woke at 4am and decided to have 'breckie' down at the local 'greasy spoon'. then on to the circuit where i met chris ginn and friends mark peachey and tiff (chris) nunn.
we walked the special test and noted immediately that the track was identical to last year! on having started my first ST i stalled it but the second one went better. i'm not the MX type that are needed for this type of racing so don't know where i'll finish what with the easy time allowances etc.
one thing i did notice was how knackered all the riders said they were and how easy and fit i felt. the reason is 99.99% the tall seat! it's that good!
i left the line with mark as well as TBEC regulars graham albrecht and his young friend ben illot. every time we set off for a lap mark would take his time and ben would ride his 18 YO *** off-hitting trees, falling, overshooting-you name it.
on the opening lap, with it having a ST half way round, ben and graham had got away. later, after the ST i found graham in the middle of the track injured. he had a broken wrist and a badly knocked about knee!
i went off to get the ambulance whilst young ben played spot the headless chicken. later it was revealed that ben had fallen so many times in his ST that graham had overtaken him and was leading the young lion.
however i got ben each and every time. the last lap-the one that matters!-was particularly vulgar! i went to move forward to have my card marked and ben blocked me and had his done instead! that meant i had nobody to sign my card and was 3/3 off on this the lap we'd all been waiting for!
i then couldn't get past mark anywhere and later, as he rode over a circuit rope it flicked up and went around my rear wheel to stop me.
this is normally a disaster because;
1) you can't find neutral
2) you stall it and it won't restart
but with the rekluse i just closed the throttle rolled back down the hill and the rope fell down, jumped on and we were off again!
anyway, first timecard event without being lapped or overtaken by anybody, first time i've done it all on time.
cheers!
Taffy
1) the lineweaver jetting has been fitted and an improvement at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle noted.
2) KTM 14mm offset yokes (triple clamps) have been fitted and tested. the steering is quicker in the woods however i found today that the front wheel didn't seem to be connected - so i have now dropped the forks through 15mm and the last 5mm today made a difference!
the fuel tank has been slimmed down using a heat gun and this was done with;
4) an even taller seat! the two together mean that i can now place my leg where i want to. also i feel sat on the steering head and at the same time-as i accelerate- i feel like i'm over the back wheel!
5) the rear wheel has come forward with the fitment of the 52T (53 not mass produced) with a resultant shortening of the wheel base.
6) i have removed the starter and battery, gears, sprague and solenoid to suit.
the racing
was at little hadham which is 30 miles from me and 30 miles north of london. it was a time card event run in warm weather and the times were slack. that and the fact that i'm far quicker this year meant that for the first time in 5 seasons of racing i did a timecard event and cleaned the sections with an easy 17/18 minute lap to finish ewven though i had an allowance of 20.
times allowed were 60 + 60 + 40 + 35 + 30 + 20. i got there early after being "on the sauce" last night at a beer festival! i woke at 4am and decided to have 'breckie' down at the local 'greasy spoon'. then on to the circuit where i met chris ginn and friends mark peachey and tiff (chris) nunn.
we walked the special test and noted immediately that the track was identical to last year! on having started my first ST i stalled it but the second one went better. i'm not the MX type that are needed for this type of racing so don't know where i'll finish what with the easy time allowances etc.
one thing i did notice was how knackered all the riders said they were and how easy and fit i felt. the reason is 99.99% the tall seat! it's that good!
i left the line with mark as well as TBEC regulars graham albrecht and his young friend ben illot. every time we set off for a lap mark would take his time and ben would ride his 18 YO *** off-hitting trees, falling, overshooting-you name it.
on the opening lap, with it having a ST half way round, ben and graham had got away. later, after the ST i found graham in the middle of the track injured. he had a broken wrist and a badly knocked about knee!
i went off to get the ambulance whilst young ben played spot the headless chicken. later it was revealed that ben had fallen so many times in his ST that graham had overtaken him and was leading the young lion.
however i got ben each and every time. the last lap-the one that matters!-was particularly vulgar! i went to move forward to have my card marked and ben blocked me and had his done instead! that meant i had nobody to sign my card and was 3/3 off on this the lap we'd all been waiting for!
i then couldn't get past mark anywhere and later, as he rode over a circuit rope it flicked up and went around my rear wheel to stop me.
this is normally a disaster because;
1) you can't find neutral
2) you stall it and it won't restart
but with the rekluse i just closed the throttle rolled back down the hill and the rope fell down, jumped on and we were off again!
anyway, first timecard event without being lapped or overtaken by anybody, first time i've done it all on time.
cheers!
Taffy
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 17,028
- Location
- Ely, England
OK this post should be linked to the thread i started named "what have i done?".
since last sunday i have been busy, as usual and had a fair bit done to the bike. new 52T stealth, rocker cover off and two new follower bearings, a lot of radiator work, new brake rubber kit fitted to the front end, trail tyre fitted after i had pulled every spoke out of the rear wheel and cleaned the threads, buffed the rim and then had it re-worked to spin nicely.
i was racing with chiltern hills, a club i never have any luck with. if i get a puncture-it's with them! if i ever ran out of fuel-it's with them! if i need a ****!.......
i was lucky to get #19-which is the second row. i turned up last this time and had to park 3/4 of a mile from the park ferme. after i got everything there i had a good dump and was ready for the day.
i spotted a husey rider i knew and he introduced me to gary grover, one of, if not thee #1 dealer in the UK after DCR. gary was on a sherco for the day so i hoped it broke down and left him (to rot in a small unknown corner of the woods...). PS-that was a joke ok?
there were about 6 bergs there and all of them i'm guessing bought from gary. colin spicer has his 400 still (don't know his nic and he doesn't leave much anyway) plus 'barry' who's husey wouldn't even start. there was a huge irishman on a 550e who i think should be in new zealand right now but missed the plane-and me!
i put my helmet on, jumped on and the race started for me about 20 seconds later. i lead off but there was no track to follow, got lost and #11 overtook me. i followed him-he got lost! my turn again!
second lap and i'm well clear and flying. the track is 80% in woods, in norfolk that means lines of pine, leylandia, spruce etc. but down here it means, huge open areas of wood, 300 year old trees, pits, jumps, fire tracks, hundreds of 4" silver birch branches laying at all angles and a great course. there was mud to slither through, logs to jump and old tree stumps to avoid. one of the best i've been on for a while.
i was on a real ego trip as i sliced and diced my way through the field, i loved it, i went up a couple of straights and was just able to pull the 450 huseys in but the 550 had a bit too much for me. the other bike i can't catch in a straight line is the WR450-a beast!!!
after 90 mins i stopped and the bike was in good nick, i gave her 5 litres of fuel which filled it to the brim and then set off in the afternoon. two falls all day; one when i tried to take a short cut and my wheels disappeared down between two trees and two, i did a 120d turn when a 90 was required and shot over a stump!
the bike was flying and without a hint of trouble!
i saw several riders that looked very hurt. they had used their stump locater and it had done an excellent job!
as i came around to start the last lap, the bike stalled. everytime i kickstarted it there was smoke coming out from the gearbox sprocket. it wouldn't restart.
so i called it a day. i still had about 8-9 minutes in hand so i could have done 1 more lap and may have been a minute maybe two over but the penalty would have been worth it.
why? well, the hose pipe came off the week before and also i found a load of "jelly" around the tampon filter. not good!!! i'm afraid that the bike was mortally wounded last sunday...
the bike has been due a rebuild for quite some time but now it has GOT to be done. i have less than 14 days to go to the 12-HOUR DAWN TO DUSK enduro.
ho-hum....broke with a broken engine....
regards
taffy
since last sunday i have been busy, as usual and had a fair bit done to the bike. new 52T stealth, rocker cover off and two new follower bearings, a lot of radiator work, new brake rubber kit fitted to the front end, trail tyre fitted after i had pulled every spoke out of the rear wheel and cleaned the threads, buffed the rim and then had it re-worked to spin nicely.
i was racing with chiltern hills, a club i never have any luck with. if i get a puncture-it's with them! if i ever ran out of fuel-it's with them! if i need a ****!.......
i was lucky to get #19-which is the second row. i turned up last this time and had to park 3/4 of a mile from the park ferme. after i got everything there i had a good dump and was ready for the day.
i spotted a husey rider i knew and he introduced me to gary grover, one of, if not thee #1 dealer in the UK after DCR. gary was on a sherco for the day so i hoped it broke down and left him (to rot in a small unknown corner of the woods...). PS-that was a joke ok?
there were about 6 bergs there and all of them i'm guessing bought from gary. colin spicer has his 400 still (don't know his nic and he doesn't leave much anyway) plus 'barry' who's husey wouldn't even start. there was a huge irishman on a 550e who i think should be in new zealand right now but missed the plane-and me!
i put my helmet on, jumped on and the race started for me about 20 seconds later. i lead off but there was no track to follow, got lost and #11 overtook me. i followed him-he got lost! my turn again!
second lap and i'm well clear and flying. the track is 80% in woods, in norfolk that means lines of pine, leylandia, spruce etc. but down here it means, huge open areas of wood, 300 year old trees, pits, jumps, fire tracks, hundreds of 4" silver birch branches laying at all angles and a great course. there was mud to slither through, logs to jump and old tree stumps to avoid. one of the best i've been on for a while.
i was on a real ego trip as i sliced and diced my way through the field, i loved it, i went up a couple of straights and was just able to pull the 450 huseys in but the 550 had a bit too much for me. the other bike i can't catch in a straight line is the WR450-a beast!!!
after 90 mins i stopped and the bike was in good nick, i gave her 5 litres of fuel which filled it to the brim and then set off in the afternoon. two falls all day; one when i tried to take a short cut and my wheels disappeared down between two trees and two, i did a 120d turn when a 90 was required and shot over a stump!
the bike was flying and without a hint of trouble!
i saw several riders that looked very hurt. they had used their stump locater and it had done an excellent job!
as i came around to start the last lap, the bike stalled. everytime i kickstarted it there was smoke coming out from the gearbox sprocket. it wouldn't restart.
so i called it a day. i still had about 8-9 minutes in hand so i could have done 1 more lap and may have been a minute maybe two over but the penalty would have been worth it.
why? well, the hose pipe came off the week before and also i found a load of "jelly" around the tampon filter. not good!!! i'm afraid that the bike was mortally wounded last sunday...
the bike has been due a rebuild for quite some time but now it has GOT to be done. i have less than 14 days to go to the 12-HOUR DAWN TO DUSK enduro.
ho-hum....broke with a broken engine....
regards
taffy
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,142
- Location
- fallon nv
Great result even with the penalty! Of course better without but what the f.
I know you are a good wrench so I hope the dealer has the parts in stock and now all you need to do is a few side jobs to make some coin and you will be in good shape for the 12 hour. Good luck!
Is the tampon the screen in the drain hole?
I know you are a good wrench so I hope the dealer has the parts in stock and now all you need to do is a few side jobs to make some coin and you will be in good shape for the 12 hour. Good luck!
Is the tampon the screen in the drain hole?
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 17,028
- Location
- Ely, England
http://www.chilternhills.info/pennwood%2005/index.html
2nd from 150-that ain't bad! first over 40!!!!!
i have to laugh, typical taffy! i'm kickstarting the phuq out of the bike trying to do another lap and actually, because i ran into lunchtime with an extra lap, i'm already on 2.58 hours and i should stop anyway. i never could count under pressure!
if anyone cares to study the times that the winner and i did you'll note that whereas on the opening lap he could go flat out (admittedly in traffic) i rode round-as in my report-like an old tart making mistakes, trying to follow arrows etc.
just like moab! hey!
he took 3-4 minutes out of me on the opening lap!
also it would appear that as i went around on my last lap there must have been an accident and the course shortened because the winner and third and gary grover all did very, very fast last laps.
gary grover is no slouch!!!! he did one unnecassary lap and got 'waisted' for it with penalties but he can hustle a sherco for sure!
regards
Taffy
2nd from 150-that ain't bad! first over 40!!!!!
i have to laugh, typical taffy! i'm kickstarting the phuq out of the bike trying to do another lap and actually, because i ran into lunchtime with an extra lap, i'm already on 2.58 hours and i should stop anyway. i never could count under pressure!
if anyone cares to study the times that the winner and i did you'll note that whereas on the opening lap he could go flat out (admittedly in traffic) i rode round-as in my report-like an old tart making mistakes, trying to follow arrows etc.
just like moab! hey!
he took 3-4 minutes out of me on the opening lap!
also it would appear that as i went around on my last lap there must have been an accident and the course shortened because the winner and third and gary grover all did very, very fast last laps.
gary grover is no slouch!!!! he did one unnecassary lap and got 'waisted' for it with penalties but he can hustle a sherco for sure!
regards
Taffy
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 17,028
- Location
- Ely, England
coming out of a pit over some roots
getting bye someone having to trust the lush grass for no stray babies. note how close my leg is to the tank now!
i use photos and stuff like this to help me work out how i sit, where my knees touch, balance etc.
i stole these so mum's the word right!
regards
taffy
NOTE; LAST EDITED BY TAFFY TODAY FOR THE UPTEENTH TIME GOD ALMIGHTY EVEN THE COMPUYTER HAS HAD ENOUGH!
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 17,028
- Location
- Ely, England
well folks this is the last fortnight for ya!
result of the previous event first. well i got demoted to third in the end coz they found a few stray laps and that upped somebody. i've been telling people i think i'm about to be declared a the winner but i was wrong. turns out that 3.08 hours is perfectly acceptable in a 3-hour race.
you see, you can ride into your lunchtime (even though the regs say that the lap won't count!) but come the second 1.5 hours then the penalties begin!
so yours truly stopped after 1.18 hours in the PM but could have slipped in another lap with at least 1-minute to spare. this really would have given me second. anyway, it's all done now. don't just read the regs-understand them is the rule!
it impressed 'gary grover racing' though and gary as you'll see is prepared to give me a bit of help.
anyway, engine came out and was finally stripped for the very first time. very few suprises; piston on the maximum, lots of wear in the gear selector bearing ressess on the r/h case, big end gone though and little end loose as well.
ordered lots of gear, got it all for friday 17th and took the new big end and roller bearing to be pressed in. alas it was from the pre-2001 engine and that was only sussed last thursday am. a quick call to the importer and they gave me some VIP help. sussing that they hadn't a complete con rod/b.e. assembly kit for a 400 they were sending me one for the newer 450. TNT couriers (tosspots) were told to get it here on friday before noon. alas TNT (bl.... wa.....) didn't get it here at all.
gary grover was doing the welsh two-day and was unavailable but he was my last chance. i left a message with him on his a/p and in the meantime DCR had called to ask if i'd recieved anything-thanks for the care guys!
saturday AM, half way through the lions v all blacks match i got a call from gary to say he had a 2002 FX470 i could borrow. i set off at about 11.30m and did 150 miles in 2-hours pulling a trailer. half way there TNT called me (F.... W.....s) and asked if they could leave the 450 kit with the neighbour?
anyway i got to gary's and had a chat with gary and wifey wifey and then who should turn up but simon. we had a fight, made up, fell out and... only joking!!!! warm and friendly, nice cuppa tea and then load up and set off PDQ!
took the bike home, swopped out the wheels, MX # plate for a headlamp (sic) and a taillight (sic) also dropped the floatbowl and used gary's sprockets. #s on, my very tall seat squeezed in, , undid all the comp clickers all the way to click 1 and then immediately loaded up and went and got all my sleeping gear etc ready. i had called american mark on the way home with exactly my ETA but he turned up until after i'd got everything ready-yeh right, thanks DUDE!!!! (PS he's not daft though is he!).
got there for scrutineering at 8pm and did that, i crossed my fingers that the scrutineer didn't know an MX from an enduro and sure enough i got away with it-oh the joy!
the joy of owning an obscure machine who's name nobody has even heard of before!
tent up and fitted out then off for a '******'. the zip had broken on my sleeping bag so mark said "there's plenty of room in MY sleeping bag david"!!
mark put up a parasol on the day, breakfast, dinner and tea was to be 'ambrosia creamed rice' out of an ice box. well we are 'blokes' after all'.
the bike was well prepped by gary and was immaculate. straight off his forecourt! what commitment is that! several new plastics and too clean to race! but it needed a good run because it's only done about 10-20 hours from new to look at it.
the bike wouldn't start! even when it started it stalled. (turned out we had some muck in the choke jet) but we got away after about 3 minutes.
the 470 had lots of power, real whallop and it would pull wheelies everywhere. it has more stomp than mine and you can definately got from A to B quicker on it. but it was also harder to ride than mine. it's set up for MX and the throttle is like a gun from closed. this wore me out as the day went on, as did the pita-pata of the stutter bumps which the MX can't cope so well with.
other than those two things the bike suited me! one advantage was climbing rock faces etc, the bike has enough whallop that it will plough through mistakes with the throttle to clutch ratio. my 400 (pre-rekluse) wouldn't do that!
the plan was to do 1.5 hours each for as long as we could and for the first two sessions i felt good, i knew the stutter bumps were going to get me though-not in the legs-oh no!-the tall seat had seen to that, but due to the lower bars and the 'spiking' it was the arms and shoulders.
i should have been ready for my third session but the bike wouldn't fire again and just as mark came around i waved him on for one more and about ten seconds later it fired! this made up for the end of my first session when i had pointed to say "one more lap"-next time round-he wasn't there! next time round and he's walking back from the loo so off i go again.
in my third session i came upon a narrow rut i had to follow but now somebody had put a deeper rut infront of it, i bounced to the left and carried on but this puddle was over 1' deep! zonk! the front wheel went in up to the spindle and i went over the bars.
but all i could here from next to me was "oh blowdy hell!" "oh blowdy
nora!". anyway, the racer took over in me and i pulled mine out for all i was worth, moving round the back of the machine though i could see that the rider that i had just overtaken had his machine in the bottom of a muddy bog exactly 180d the wrong way up! you couldn't see the tank or the seat-even the exhaust was under.
anyway three lads helped him but with bob's cry of "phuq ya!" i rode by so close that they all fell back in. **** would be so proud of me ye-ye-ye-ye ("mutley DO something!") :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
anyway that was my third and last fall, i'd rammed an innocent newcomner off earlier and got a caution which i thought was very fair given that it was my 6th offence.
then a lap later i had a rear wheel puncture-not sure why, anyway i did 9/10s of a lap like this and then went in the paddock where mark was asleep.
hello mark
yeh
could you wake up please. it's taffy, could you ride for a bit, only i've got a puncture
phu......!!!!!
he eventually went out whilst still yawning and i repaired the puncture as well as doing the spokes in 20 minutes. i was ready at the gate about 10 seconds before he came around.
by now the team of four next to us were having bets that we couldn't finish. we were finished, wasted. we just didn't want to quit though! i got on the bike for another hour and road like a zombie, i couldn't attack any of the rutted climbs, i just stood up and rolled over them at about 15mph. i would do anything to avoid the chisel edged stuff. my left elbow was screaming at me (thank god it wasn't my right huh!) i would completely change direction to avoid ruts. when i stood-i had to sit and when i sat i had to stand!
after that mark did his next stint and then i did 50 mins and so did he to bring it home! he came in dead on the minute which maybe makes up for 'something' we did wrong. midfield i hope.
i let the rebound off 7 on the front and put it in 5 on the rear. the bike was oil tight, and the tappets were spot on. a bike this age could still win races methinks.
as for my rebuild well that's another tail. enjoyed this but there was too much rushin round.
the result
we came 10th from 63 teams overall. 3rd from 22 teams aged 'over 40' with 49 laps. if you go here to - http://www.tbec.co.uk/results/whaddon260605/index.html you can see the result. click on my # (102) and you'll spot the lousy start lap time (4 mins longer than my next!) and then you can even guess the 'bike in the mud' followed by the puncture lap (lost 3 mins) and even the time it takes mark to put his best silk lace on (lost 8 mins). i guess we were good for 1, maybe 2 more laps but that's ENDURANCE racing for you!
regards
Taffy
result of the previous event first. well i got demoted to third in the end coz they found a few stray laps and that upped somebody. i've been telling people i think i'm about to be declared a the winner but i was wrong. turns out that 3.08 hours is perfectly acceptable in a 3-hour race.
you see, you can ride into your lunchtime (even though the regs say that the lap won't count!) but come the second 1.5 hours then the penalties begin!
so yours truly stopped after 1.18 hours in the PM but could have slipped in another lap with at least 1-minute to spare. this really would have given me second. anyway, it's all done now. don't just read the regs-understand them is the rule!
it impressed 'gary grover racing' though and gary as you'll see is prepared to give me a bit of help.
anyway, engine came out and was finally stripped for the very first time. very few suprises; piston on the maximum, lots of wear in the gear selector bearing ressess on the r/h case, big end gone though and little end loose as well.
ordered lots of gear, got it all for friday 17th and took the new big end and roller bearing to be pressed in. alas it was from the pre-2001 engine and that was only sussed last thursday am. a quick call to the importer and they gave me some VIP help. sussing that they hadn't a complete con rod/b.e. assembly kit for a 400 they were sending me one for the newer 450. TNT couriers (tosspots) were told to get it here on friday before noon. alas TNT (bl.... wa.....) didn't get it here at all.
gary grover was doing the welsh two-day and was unavailable but he was my last chance. i left a message with him on his a/p and in the meantime DCR had called to ask if i'd recieved anything-thanks for the care guys!
saturday AM, half way through the lions v all blacks match i got a call from gary to say he had a 2002 FX470 i could borrow. i set off at about 11.30m and did 150 miles in 2-hours pulling a trailer. half way there TNT called me (F.... W.....s) and asked if they could leave the 450 kit with the neighbour?
anyway i got to gary's and had a chat with gary and wifey wifey and then who should turn up but simon. we had a fight, made up, fell out and... only joking!!!! warm and friendly, nice cuppa tea and then load up and set off PDQ!
took the bike home, swopped out the wheels, MX # plate for a headlamp (sic) and a taillight (sic) also dropped the floatbowl and used gary's sprockets. #s on, my very tall seat squeezed in, , undid all the comp clickers all the way to click 1 and then immediately loaded up and went and got all my sleeping gear etc ready. i had called american mark on the way home with exactly my ETA but he turned up until after i'd got everything ready-yeh right, thanks DUDE!!!! (PS he's not daft though is he!).
got there for scrutineering at 8pm and did that, i crossed my fingers that the scrutineer didn't know an MX from an enduro and sure enough i got away with it-oh the joy!
the joy of owning an obscure machine who's name nobody has even heard of before!tent up and fitted out then off for a '******'. the zip had broken on my sleeping bag so mark said "there's plenty of room in MY sleeping bag david"!!
mark put up a parasol on the day, breakfast, dinner and tea was to be 'ambrosia creamed rice' out of an ice box. well we are 'blokes' after all'.
the bike was well prepped by gary and was immaculate. straight off his forecourt! what commitment is that! several new plastics and too clean to race! but it needed a good run because it's only done about 10-20 hours from new to look at it.
the bike wouldn't start! even when it started it stalled. (turned out we had some muck in the choke jet) but we got away after about 3 minutes.
the 470 had lots of power, real whallop and it would pull wheelies everywhere. it has more stomp than mine and you can definately got from A to B quicker on it. but it was also harder to ride than mine. it's set up for MX and the throttle is like a gun from closed. this wore me out as the day went on, as did the pita-pata of the stutter bumps which the MX can't cope so well with.
other than those two things the bike suited me! one advantage was climbing rock faces etc, the bike has enough whallop that it will plough through mistakes with the throttle to clutch ratio. my 400 (pre-rekluse) wouldn't do that!
the plan was to do 1.5 hours each for as long as we could and for the first two sessions i felt good, i knew the stutter bumps were going to get me though-not in the legs-oh no!-the tall seat had seen to that, but due to the lower bars and the 'spiking' it was the arms and shoulders.
i should have been ready for my third session but the bike wouldn't fire again and just as mark came around i waved him on for one more and about ten seconds later it fired! this made up for the end of my first session when i had pointed to say "one more lap"-next time round-he wasn't there! next time round and he's walking back from the loo so off i go again.
in my third session i came upon a narrow rut i had to follow but now somebody had put a deeper rut infront of it, i bounced to the left and carried on but this puddle was over 1' deep! zonk! the front wheel went in up to the spindle and i went over the bars.
but all i could here from next to me was "oh blowdy hell!" "oh blowdy
nora!". anyway, the racer took over in me and i pulled mine out for all i was worth, moving round the back of the machine though i could see that the rider that i had just overtaken had his machine in the bottom of a muddy bog exactly 180d the wrong way up! you couldn't see the tank or the seat-even the exhaust was under.
anyway three lads helped him but with bob's cry of "phuq ya!" i rode by so close that they all fell back in. **** would be so proud of me ye-ye-ye-ye ("mutley DO something!") :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
anyway that was my third and last fall, i'd rammed an innocent newcomner off earlier and got a caution which i thought was very fair given that it was my 6th offence.
then a lap later i had a rear wheel puncture-not sure why, anyway i did 9/10s of a lap like this and then went in the paddock where mark was asleep.
hello mark
yeh
could you wake up please. it's taffy, could you ride for a bit, only i've got a puncture
phu......!!!!!
he eventually went out whilst still yawning and i repaired the puncture as well as doing the spokes in 20 minutes. i was ready at the gate about 10 seconds before he came around.
by now the team of four next to us were having bets that we couldn't finish. we were finished, wasted. we just didn't want to quit though! i got on the bike for another hour and road like a zombie, i couldn't attack any of the rutted climbs, i just stood up and rolled over them at about 15mph. i would do anything to avoid the chisel edged stuff. my left elbow was screaming at me (thank god it wasn't my right huh!) i would completely change direction to avoid ruts. when i stood-i had to sit and when i sat i had to stand!
after that mark did his next stint and then i did 50 mins and so did he to bring it home! he came in dead on the minute which maybe makes up for 'something' we did wrong. midfield i hope.
i let the rebound off 7 on the front and put it in 5 on the rear. the bike was oil tight, and the tappets were spot on. a bike this age could still win races methinks.
as for my rebuild well that's another tail. enjoyed this but there was too much rushin round.
the result
we came 10th from 63 teams overall. 3rd from 22 teams aged 'over 40' with 49 laps. if you go here to - http://www.tbec.co.uk/results/whaddon260605/index.html you can see the result. click on my # (102) and you'll spot the lousy start lap time (4 mins longer than my next!) and then you can even guess the 'bike in the mud' followed by the puncture lap (lost 3 mins) and even the time it takes mark to put his best silk lace on (lost 8 mins). i guess we were good for 1, maybe 2 more laps but that's ENDURANCE racing for you!
regards
Taffy
- Joined
- Apr 21, 2002
- Messages
- 1,142
- Location
- fallon nv
I'm glad you are having a good season and having fun but for the life of me I cant figgure out WTF kind of racing that is. :shock: Over here we got about 4 kinds and all of them you do one thing . Ride as hard as you can and dont stop except for fuel until you either completed the time or the distance. Even in an Enduro I never look at the clock. I just enter "B" and ride as hard as I can and only burn a few checks but mostly I'm late anyway. Sounds like you boys get to have a cuppa and bowl of porage, puddin, and pie. If you was my partner and left me in the pits you may come back and find the beer all gone and me all sh*tty. :twisted:
BTW I cant belive you found sombody else to let you take a berg and thrash it
BTW I cant belive you found sombody else to let you take a berg and thrash it
Bobzilla said:BTW I cant belive you found sombody else to let you take a berg and thrash it
If they had seen what he did to bikes while in Utah, I am sure they would of insured through Lloyd's of London, using their largest coverage plan.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2001
- Messages
- 17,028
- Location
- Ely, England
i cleaned up gary grover's bike and took it back to him on wednesday and started rebuilding on friday so i lost two days work this week-not good.
see work done to bike in my new thread on "FE400e engine rebuild".
i arrived in good time and good cheer and looked forward to round 1 of the banovallum club championship. as usual i staretd on row 2 with the other enduro machines and was a little suprised when it started first time due to not getting a good feel for TDC. i went into the hedgerow in about 8th and started picking them off one by one and i guess i was in second from 30-40.
the bike was going well but i was being lazy. dusty straights (sat down) wet corners in the woods (again sat down) yet there was plenty of stuff i could have taken quicker stood up if i'd been grafting for it.
i then rolled down one slope and there was a "ppphhhiiit" from the bike and it stalled. however the kickstart had jammed and nothing would get it out again. and of course with the rekluse there is no bump start choice either!
so i got a tow back, watched the rest of the event and that was it.
kinda pleased that the engine was oil tight and that all that (may) be wrong is the kickstart mechanism.
bike was quicker from low mid revs but couldn't let it sit in second and lug from idle/tickover. feeling a bit miffed as i've worked bloody hard to get to here and there was no way i was going muck about with sidecovers and coolant etc again!
regards
Taffy
see work done to bike in my new thread on "FE400e engine rebuild".
i arrived in good time and good cheer and looked forward to round 1 of the banovallum club championship. as usual i staretd on row 2 with the other enduro machines and was a little suprised when it started first time due to not getting a good feel for TDC. i went into the hedgerow in about 8th and started picking them off one by one and i guess i was in second from 30-40.
the bike was going well but i was being lazy. dusty straights (sat down) wet corners in the woods (again sat down) yet there was plenty of stuff i could have taken quicker stood up if i'd been grafting for it.
i then rolled down one slope and there was a "ppphhhiiit" from the bike and it stalled. however the kickstart had jammed and nothing would get it out again. and of course with the rekluse there is no bump start choice either!
so i got a tow back, watched the rest of the event and that was it.
kinda pleased that the engine was oil tight and that all that (may) be wrong is the kickstart mechanism.
bike was quicker from low mid revs but couldn't let it sit in second and lug from idle/tickover. feeling a bit miffed as i've worked bloody hard to get to here and there was no way i was going muck about with sidecovers and coolant etc again!
regards
Taffy
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