Picked up Frankencane (The CBR400 with 600 engine) from Hampton Downs after marshalling at the Barry Sheene Memorial last weekend.  I was umming and awwing about doing the final round on her.  The mis-fire, stuffed tyres and fairing rubbing against the oil cooler had me doubting. Final straw was misplacing the key and then the girlfriend telling me the tow-mobile was being used that weekend for a horse show. I’d resigned myself to a dreadful weekend doing chores in Te Love.

Friday, well after 7pm whilst at friends house contemplating a whisky or two, the girlfriend tells me that her horse show isn’t on until Sunday. Of course she’s told me this already and it’s my own fault cos I never listen to her properly.  Women!  Frantic texting to Clive Banks and Skunk and one late entry on a mate’s ex-missus’ bike that happens to be in my garage is placed.  Car hastily packed with leathers, helmet, tools and other junk.  New gel battery in the RG150 and the rev counter now works….yay. Steal a couple of litres of gogo juice from girlfriends lawn mower supply. The bike fires up 2nd kick. Oil light stays on. Drat…2 stroke is low and I can’t get any out in the wop wops at night. There’s no way in hell I’m driving 2 hours to Taupo without a test ride (albeit in the pitch dark on a racebike). A cup full of “top cook salad and cooking oil” and I’m away. The smell makes me hungry and the bike no longer has a huge flat spot (new battery reed valves or summit). Load bike on trailer and do tie downs. 1am and I hit the sack. 1.30am and I remember to plug in the transponder charger.

Saturday 5:30am – Shower, decaf, grab transponder and I’m away. BP in Tokoroa has 98 and 2 stroke oil..yay. Sign in, unloading bike, changing leathers etc all done in a blur. The more Im rushing, the more I’m stuffing things up. Fuel is spilt all over the bike and then I over-fill the 2 stroke bottle resulting in oil all over rear brake disk and tyre. Great. I realise on the dummy grid that I’ve not checked the tyre pressure. Before I know it I’m on the track. Almost 2 years since I’ve been at Taupo and I have a huuuuge grin.

Qualifying - Hmm…black shiny bits everywhere…..hmm…they seem grippy. Short track with funny cone chicane. I follow some bikes for a warm up lap. Bike feels kinda squidgy….like when you ride full wets on a bone dry track. Brakes are excellent. She won’t run properly under 8K RPM and is hesitant to rev to the red line. When the power does kick in…it’s pretty fast. NICE! Follow bikes for another lap to try remembering the track and by lap 3 I go for a decent qualifying lap. Seem to be passing lots of bikes which is good. 11th on the grid (4th in SS150) with a 1.311. Taupo is a fun track on a wee bike.

Rear tyre is DAMN HOT. I put it up from 22 to to 28psi. The front is barely warm. It goes from 14psi (DOH!) to 26psi. I’m barely getting 5th gear but don’t have other sprockets.

Race 1 - Ok start….but the lighter kids (a.k.a. everyone else) and the 250′s all get in front of me. Not confident on brakes on this bike so I lose a lot of places into turn 1. Group of 3 bikes in front of me having a dice so I take chase. Lap 2 and bike pretty much cuts out through turn 3. I’m about to put my hand up and it splutters into life again. Hmm. I’m catching the group ahead on the brakes and through the faster corners but they gain about 3 bike lengths through the chicane. Front end is sliding a bit on fast corners towards end. This is fun. Stupid bike keeps spluttering at 3rd gear left handers turn 3 and turn 6. Finish 11th with a 1.278.

I go see Graeme Billington who pretty much takes the carb apart in next to no time and he reckons the float level is way too high. Beardy nice geezer called Mike offers me a spark plug (cos I’m too stupid to have one spare for my 2 stroke) but Billy advises just changing one thing at a time. The rear is still DAMN HOT. Front goes to 28psi and I put 30psi in rear. Mike reckons on a dry track that a large fellow like moi should run a 120 rear on the bike.

Race 2 - Better start. The bike seems better. She’s cutting out a bit, but nowhere near as bad. Seems to be getting worse as the race goes on. Couple of 2 wheel slides….would be scary on a big bike. I take it a bit easier as she aint my bike. Doing quite well but I have a big woopse in lap 5 forgetting I’m running race shift through turn 6. Least I didn’t highside. Zane passes me and I can’t close the gap. Finish 12th with a 1.274 in lap 3.

Hmm…bike still cutting out a bit. I stick a LOT more fuel in and turn the tap from “reserve” to “on”. Tyres up to 30/32 psi.

Race 3 - Much more revs….great start. Up the inside. Someone right in front goes proper sideways into turn one….somehow they stay on and carnage does not ensue. I’m in the middle of another 4 bikes (Rogan, Zane, Jamie, AAron) and it’s a bit mental. Turn 6 on lap 2 and the bike starts cutting out again. 3 of the lads ahead go into the cone chicane and I honestly don’t know how they squeezed through at the last minute. Fun. Anways….the rest of the race the bike runs worse and worse and I just nurse her home. Finish 10th with a 1.279 on lap 2.

Stupid call not changing the plug for race 3 the bike was awful. Possibly jets but I reckon simply a spark plug or ignition lead as it wouldn’t rev past 11.5K on the dummy grid (under zero load) before race 3 . Rear tyre is pretty poked as I’m a fat pie. The right gearing, cutting-out sorted, ROAD shift and a 120 rear tyre and I think she’ll be a cracking little bike.

I’m kinda hooked, maybe I should buy the RG150. Still….why buy your own cow when you can jump over the fence and milk someone elses?

It started with a message from Clive the previous Friday evening.
Clive – “you bringing that SS150 bike down for next round?”
Steevie – “It’s not mine, it’s not running right and I won’t have space to take Frankencane back to Te Love”
Clive – “I have a spare Kawasaki KR150 you can use”
Thus, with absolutely no excuses left I entered my first race for nigh on two years.

Sat Qualifying: ERm…kinda wobbled around. Tried (and failed) following some of the other kiddies around. All over the shot really. Mid 1:39 put me middle of streetstock 150 and 11th on the grid. Bike roomier than Frankencane.

Sat Race 1: Ok start but cagey at first turn. Meekly followed everyone around before the gap in front of me started increasing. High 1.36’s most of the race. Ben Carter passed me on his 250 after 3 or 4 laps. Tried following him to get lines. Had better corner speed. Decided his lines were weird and his bike merely faster. Not confident in skinny tyres. A sniff under 1:35 on final lap. Finished 11th (or 2nd last) and I’m panting and sweating like a Jimmy Savile at a high school. Clive’s daughter Mihi was well in front of me. Much mickey taking in pits ensued from a 15 year old girl.  Bummer.

Sat Race 2: Good start again. Passed Mihi at hairpin. She passed me back a couple of laps later and wasn’t seen again. Worked on braking points for rest of the race. A low 1:34. 11th again. More mickey taking from Mihi in pits. I thank Mihi for telling me to put in enough fuel in the bike before qualifying to last the whole day.

Sat Race 3: Cracking start….wish I’d qualified higher! Start turning in later and taking swoopier lines more akin to my old 400 as point and squirt isn’t working on the wee bike. Mid 1:34 again but consistent . 9th. Mihi had face like a spanked arse in the pits….blamed her bike not running right or some rubbish. Yay!!

Sun Race 1: 12 lapper….wondering if I’ll tire. Same strategy as yesterday, go for consistency. Banging in 1.34’s and Mihi passes me on lap 5. No way Jose, I’d rather crash than let Clive’s daughter beat me and besides, it’s his bike. I start throwing the bike in later and faster on the faster corners. I’m faster on the infield so pull a couple of block passes at the hairpin. Mihi’s way faster through T1 and Higgins as the sparks coming off her sliders testify. I don’t gain from slipstreaming as I’m taller and erm….fatter. Lap 9, I’m faster on final fast sweeper so punt it up the inside, but she either doesn’t notice me or closes the door on me. I decide against colliding with her and a sphincter tightening ride on the paint ensues. I catch up with her on the infield again and decide to just pressure her and formulate a plan to go under her on the final lap sweeper (this time I’ll be closer). Mihi runs too hot into Higgins on lap 10 and slides off at a fair pace. I ease off for remainder of race. I finish 9th and our dicing has dropped my time to a flat 1:32.0 (paintwork and all). Planned victory dance falls flat and I feel the tiniest wee twinge of guilt as Mihi returns to pits crying like an erm…girl. I give her the “chin up that’s racing” pep talk and point out some better lines for her on the infield.

Sun Race 2: Caffeine withdrawal kicking in. I put on my ear plugs and took a nana-nap in the pits before one of the kiddies (Rogan??) smacked me with their oversized skateboard. Lil git….why can’t you hit kids anymore? Couldn’t punt him off on the track either as couldn’t catch him. Anyway; the race. Good start. By lap 5 I’ve got quite a few seconds gap on Mihi until someone on a 250 passes me into Higgins and then pretty much comes to stop mid-corner right in front of me. I presume they’d missed a gear or two. Soooooo….this lets Mihi catchup and we spend the next 4 laps passing each other. Wish I hadn’t given her the advice about lines on the infield.  As I’m too tall to properly crouch on the wee 150, the strong headwind on back straight isn’t working in my favour (piss weak excuse!). I stuffup on lap 8 and spend next 2 laps playing catchup. El Dumbarseo misses the white flag. I think Mihi would have had it on pure determination anyway. 11th again. 1.32:9

I’d had a pre-conceived notion that streetstock 150 would be awful on a power track like Mansfield. Not the case at all, much fun and the same amount of “racing” as on a bigger bike. Sure, you’re not worrying about losing the rear on the gas but things like lines and corner entry are far more challenging as you lose so much time on the wee bikes if you muck it up. I’d hate to say MNZ Roadrace Commissioner Billy is correct but his mantra of “learning how to corner before going on a thou” seems to make a bit of sense.  All I can say to the haterz is don’t knock it until you try it. Cracking weekend.

Ta muchy to :

Marcus and Dom (www.bigglesracingprocuts.co.nz) for the lift.

Drew Mair for yakking with me so much.

Neil Chappell Nick Dorman for letting me crash at their respective houses.

Most of all Clive Banks for loaning me the bike.

Thanks also to Andrew “Skunk” Peasant for allowing my late entry.

 

Monday
Pinged $80 for doing 105 with trailer….doh. Stinking hot sun. Luckily Paul Duncan let me use his ghezebo.

First PC89 practice. Bumpety bump…..front end vibrating like hell. Come in after first lap. Run out on Dunlop slick really bad. Suspect faulty tyre or it’s just came off bead. Grab cash out wallet but Kerry tells me tyre is rogered. Bugger. Stick spare rim wiht GPR a10 on front. Brakes start leaking.
Second PC89 practise. Warmup lap…hmm…Taupo is bumpier than I recall. Oh dear, I haven’t bled brakes properly and it’s nearly coming back to the bar. 2nd lap, someone’s on their arse and session is red-flagged. No more practice. Great…mega early start for 3 laps. Haven’t done Taupo short track for well over a year.
Watch the endurance race and get in a hump because I couldn’t afford it. Everyone has a ball Overall a pretty pants day.

Franz “Frenchy” Schuler again helps me (ok…pretty much does it) rip off the slicks and bung wets on the rims. Some grub and a few beers and I’m feeling better. Empty pit garage found and I get a great night sleep.

Tuesday.

Weather forecast holds true and it’s raining. At least I won’t get sunburnt and there’s no hassle of generators and tyre warmers.

PC89 qualifying. The bike feels “nervous”. I’m nervous as I’m not sure if the runout on the front rim will cause problems. Whole session stuck behind 500CC big single engined KR250 (Robert Grover?). He’s on road tyres and I’m the one who’s spinning up. Must be the extra weight. Scary white line moment at turn 5. More scary moments at final corner painted lines. Yikes. Qualify 5th wiht a 1.47.

Bump up tyre pressure by 5psi to 36(f)/32(r) as per the clever Mr Duncan’s advice.

Pc89 Race 1. Decent start. I follow Patric Nassbaum (ZX10) but can’t keep with him. Michael Webster (ZXR750) soon passes me. I give up chasing him after lap 2. Bike feels 100 times better, the tyres are now working properly but I’m not confident with so much standing water. Look behind me after 4 laps and nobody to be seen. Very lonely race. Patric laps me on lap 10. Finish 3rd, best lap 1.39. Peter Ellis has fantastic race (RD350) on road tyres and comes in 4th.

PC89 Race 2. Peter parks his bike on warmup lap….bloody 2 strokes. Track not as wet but still lots of standing water on back straight. Tried relaxing grip on inner bar and taking Paul Martindale’s advice of sitting back in the seat. Felt better when I remembered to do it but it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Pretty much a repeat of first race. Finish 3rd, best lap 1.35 but I don’t get lapped.

Happy to discover a hot shower at the track as my leathers are now saturated. Prize giving…I’m even happier to discover they split the class into senior and junior so I’m err, first on the day. Bloody nice trophy too.

The sun partially came out for 10 minutes during the prize giving and I discover my face and arms are a nice red colour when I arrive home.

Thanks

• Phil “toast” Endean – Compressor
• Anthony Montgomery / Drew Mair – Both donated free NSR250 calipers
• Neil Gow of On Time Mobile Services – Fitted stainless brake hoses
• Piako Stanless & Alloy Specialists – Created brackets for NSR calipers
• Te Aroha Panel Beaters – Repaired and reinforced holed fairing after my wee off at Hampton Downs.
• PMCC for taking the mantle and running the Taupo Road Race Spectacular.
• The Marshalls for what must have been a bloody awful day in the wet.
• Graham Billington – Fairings still look great
• Paul Martindale – Stuffing the CBR600 motor in the 400 frame..
• Robert Taylor – Ohlins and emulators….one day the track will be dry and we’ll get it setup properly
• Frenchy – Owe you a few beers
• Pipson – I’ve nicked your photos again. Keep up the good work.

Test day Saturday. Felt OK. Sun finally came out and on went the Dunlop slicks. 
Sooooo much grip.  Handling all to pot as profile of the tyres so different from the Dunlop GPR A12′s I’m used to. Much more acceleration, must be the less weight and I basically spent the rest of the day and race day braking far too early. Drunk far too much untll Billy kicked me out his garage at 1am and back to my freezing tent.

Sunday Racing….well I canned F2 as I was loaded with man flu and didn’t feel up to it.
Pre89 qualifying: Followed Webster’s ZXR750 for about 3 laps and got a decent tow on the final one. Felt pretty good speedwise.  Pulled in as feeling exhausted as unable to breathe in through my nose.  7th on grid. 2nd pre89 junior

Race 1: Held on final light for ages. Everyone crept. Terrible start, wheelied, wheelied again, hooked 2nd, it jumped out, hooked 2nd again, jumped out again, FFS. First couple of laps battling the traffic that had passed moi. Ant Montgomery (bloody fast and well presented VFR450) flipped me the bird as he passed me. This upset Frankencane so the old beast bounced off the rev limiter a few times thus allowing me to reciprocate a lap later….good times. Pushed on past George Gaisford’s KR250. Ernie Cudby’s FZR6/4 was within sight but unable to close gap the whole race. 1.20.4 best lap and 2nd in Pre89 Junior.

Popped over to Ant’s garage to do a victory dance. Neil Chappel arrived with 45 tooth sprocket that Paul Martindale had machined and loaned me to try. Franzy “Frenchy” Schuler very kindly swapped my slick onto the better rim.

Race 2. Heck, going from 42 to 45 teeth was making it wheelie badly. Major difference in gearing meant I was hooking 6th and took a few laps to figure out I was gonna have to drop down 4 gears instead of 3 on some of the corners. Better start but Ant and George were going hell for leather having just came in from an F3 race. Reeled em in again and got George by sliding it up the inside of Splash. Spent next 2 laps “breaking” them. Lapped traffic taking bizzarre lines meant they caught up with me a few laps later so I had it all to do again. Again 1.20.4 best lap but wasn’t pushing as hard due to light rain. 2nd in Pre89 junior, again behind Ernie Cudby’s FZR6/4 .

Bike feeling “wooly” after a few laps and getting worse as race continued. Coolant OK. Suspect either fuel pump issue or more likely simply running lean. Handling munteded by the slicks (so much grip but making everything shake when pushing) so it’d be a tough choice between what to fix first were it not for the face I’m totally skint. No PB’s today then but the bike was certainly capable of it, even with the above issues. Need to get head around being able to brake about 0.25s later on every corner.

Lot of racing for a measly $150, free camping…..keep up the good work PMCC.

1st round of Auckland Motorcycle Club series at the new(ish) Hampton Downs short circuit.

I’d been looking forward to this. I’d had a trackday at HD on the ZX6rr when it first opened but hadn’t had the money to do it again. Yee har.

Swaped wets with GPR’s on good rims on Saturday. Obviously on Sunday morning it was bone flipping dry…grr.

Posties qualifying.
Everyone seemed to be going backwards which was bizzarre. Did they know something I didn’t? Turned out they did. Few minor spots of rain after about 2 laps. Lap 6, just tipped into final turn and the back end came round on me. I dismounted gracefully. At that speed I thought at best my day was over, at worst my season. Due where it’s due to Billy (racefairings.co.nz) and Johnny Wagner’s home spun crash bungs but I was able to pick up the bike, start it and bar a holed fairing it had no damage….not even to bar ends. Anyhoo…qualified 5th (3rd in PC89 Junior) with a 1.21. Gobsmacked how quickly HD went off with so little rain.

Posties Race 1
The heavens opened. Took it easy after my off. Didn’t want to repeat my “2 crashes in one meet” effort. Very heavy rain during race meant poor visibility and combined with my lack of track knowledge and HD’s “blind” turn in points I was just happy to finish. 5th (3rd PC Junior) with a 1.33.

Posties Race 2
Big black clouds but track dried out in under 15 minutes and I was on full wets. Prayed for rain but it stayed dry. Majority of field also in wets. Maybe club racing should have a 20 minute “meeting declared dry” rule? Did 1 lap and pulled out of race. Reckon I could have diced with Anthony for 2nd but I couldn’t afford destroying nearly new wets for the privalege.

After all the prep, it’s disappointing when a day ends like this but that’s racing.  Boots and leathers gonna cost far more than the damage the bike sustained.

Well, after a long trip down, round 5 was cancelled due to truly torrential rain.

Arrived at track. Told there were only 2 races per class (20 minute then 10 minute). Yeehah…I could now go hell for leather as Frenchy couldn’t make up the 68 points or whatever I was ahead.

F1 Qualifying :- Fannied about a bit in the wet…..1.25, 15th on the grid.

Posties Qualifying :- Wet. Did a 1.26. A whole 3s slower than Frenchy and Ernie Cudby…yikes. 5th on grid. Strange as felt like I was pushing harder.

F1 Race 1:- Track drying so go out for about 6 laps to scrub in new rear Dunlop GPR A12. 1.23 but I’m on wrong tyres…

Posties Race 1:- Jump start by Ernie…. Frenchy gets a flyer. Decent start by moi. Red flagged after a couple of laps. Restart. Frenchy literally bolts into the distance and I’m towing along behind him. I start getting reeled in by the big boys but after 2 laps Frenchy is still in the lead and it’s awesome to watch. I’m (very) slowly reeling him in but Dave Freeman falls off in front of him at lap 7 so I take anothe fine opportunity and bugger off  Superb battle with Peter Sales on his XR(500??) motardy thingie and I just get the edgle on him by about lap 14. A 1.19.3 and 5th (2nd Pre89 Junior behind Ernie).

Paul moans at me for short-shifting and my “gp lines” and calls me a pussy so I go out in F1 for a couple of laps to try out the new tactics.

F1 Race 2: I work on what Paul said. Slower best lap of 1.20, but much more consistant as every lap is 1.20 and I’m not having to push. I have too much fun and actually stay out for the whole race. Lonley race for moi as most of the 600 kids decide to wimp out. But I didn’t get lapped and didn’t finish last!

Posties Race 2: Last race of Winter Series for me and I’m an angry man on a mission. Frenchy is dispatched with in lap 3 and I get the head down so he can’t reply. I spent the whole race dicing with Pete’s XR thingie again, damn that thing’s got squirt and can brake but loses ground on the faster corners. Final lap and I make a scary pass around the outside of Pete on the fast bit of turn 2 and stick it in front of Michael Webster’s ZXR750 through turn 4. Talk about do or die. Awesome race. Less than a handful of people in the crowd, their loss as they missed one of the best races of the season. Again I finish in 5th (2nd Pre89 Junior) behind Ernie. A 1.19.05 gives me a new PB.

I’ve WON the Pre89 Junior class.  Awesome day, awesome series.

Thanks
•Forbes & Davies – Be it cold, warm, wet or dry, the Dunlop GPR’s have not let me down.
•Paul “Roadracingoldfart” Martin – Team manager extrordinare. Building FrankenCane. I haven’t had a CBR with a mechanical DNF for 4 years. Looking forward to Mark II.
•Graeme “Billy” Billington at www.racefairings.co.nz – Making the bike look stunning. l WILL punch out Sketchy next time he makes cheeky comments about the bike.
•Robert “DR Ohlins” Taylor – Shoehorning my 748r shock onto the bike, putting in the correct yellow spring and emulators, actually getting the thing handling.www.crownkiwi.co.nz
•Nick “Mumbles” – Beer, bed, talking tough. See ya next year in posties !!
•Petra – My long suffering girlfriend.
•Neil Chappel – For NOT racing. For the Dunlop slicks….shame it’s been too wet to get them out yet
•Martin Peck – I’ve stashed the bike there at least once this year!
•VMCC – Another great year of racing.

Also a special thanks to the number of guys out there posting up free photos this year. Your work is appreciated.

Well sorry to say, not a vintage round.    Manfeild long track for a change

Pre89 Qualifying
Miserable weather meant it was wets for the day. Qualifying, the bike felt great. So great that I wondered if Graeme at Racefairings.co.nz had played with my engine, but it was merely the new fairing he’d fitted creating noticably less air resistance. As he’s handy in the wet, I followed Frenchy for the whole session. 2.26 put me 4th on the grid (2nd in junior) a whole 3s behind Frenchy. Wasn’t too worried as I don’t push much in qualifying. Tim Baker and the Wagners put in very respectible sub 2.30′s on their 400s. Wet wheel rim gearing was miles out and I was barely hooking 5th. Different wheel rim types meant I couldn’t change sprockets either. The bike had enough torque that it wasn’t causing big problems in the wet.

F1 Qualifying
Track was drying out but you couldn’t say a dry line had yet formed. Went for it on the final lap but an utter arsehole (I can’t be any politer about it and was spitting tacks when I came in) decided to just suddenly slow right down on the final corner, ran wide right in front of me, then at the corner exit he decided to stick his hand up to indicate he was coming off the track, just before he erm, came off the track. Twat. 2.20 put me 22nd out of 26 riders
but I was guessing a 2.18 had been on the cards and that was similar to Frenchy’s F2 qualifying time. Game on!!!

Pre89 Race 1.
I realised my main points contender Ernie Cudby wasn’t in attendance so in a sudden change of plans, I decided to take it easy and bang in points. This resulted in a very boring race for both Frenchy and I. I just kept the gap behind me (Tim and the Wagners I think) at about 6 seconds. A fairly reasonable dry line had appeared. Scary moment as the bloody bike jumped out of gear going into higgins on Final lap and Tim ended up right behind me. Gapped him again but sods law meant I came across backmarker Skunk going into the right hand
hairpin. 50/50 guess so I went in tight. Unfortunatly so did he so again Tim was right up my chuff.

Fortunatly the 600 had so much squirt I was able to bugger off around the long left hander and came in 2nd (4th overall) with a slow 2.26.

F1 Race 1.
As F1 was only 2 races prior to Pre89 I decided to go out and assess the grip. Dry line had grown and bar a couple of big puddles on the circuit extension the track was just damp. Big slide coming out of right hand hairpin so I decided to come in. Looked over my shoulder going into final turn and too many bikes near me so for safety sake decided to do one more lap. Wary of the slide on previous lap I was a lot gentler on the gas at the right hand hairpin, but it still slid. This time I was thrown out the seat and it was one of these “where am I gonna land and bye bye championship” moments. Somehow the bike caught itself (can’t say it was skill) and I carried on to pull off the circuit at the end of the lap. 2.23 from standing start.

Examined the rear wet and although there was a tread, a triangle kinda thing was happening towards its edges. Plan was now to fit a new Dunlop GPR on the rear and kick Frenchy’s arse in the second race. However, about 2 minutes after I got off the track the heavens opened. Great….

Pre89 Race 2.
Damage limitation time. I was more worried about beating Tim and the Wagners than chasing Frenchy. Tim however hadn’t made the start…lucky me. Over 10s gap behind me at end of the 1st lap. Super boring race and I was taking the right handers very gingerly. 2nd in class (4th overall) again. Best time another 2.26.

Paul didn’t seem to thrilled about my performance in the 2nd race and compared to our usual dicing, I’m pretty sure it was boring for the spectators. I would however, have felt a right dick had I chased down Frenchy and crashed. 2 meetings to go and the gap to Frenchy is 68 points. I suspect I’ll be a boring fart until the championship is sewn up which will hopefully be by the end of the next meeting (round 5). Roll on round 6.

Paintjob, crash protection, shorter gearing and braided brake lines are on the cards. Oh…and new tyres

Thanks:
Paul Martindale – bike spannering
Graeme “Billy” Billington – racefairings and transporting bike
Clive Banks – transporting my $hit to track
Nick “mumbles” – no1 groupie and photos
Malcolm Nabbs and Alan Denovan for calming down my panic mechanics when trying to fit these bloody wet rims.

Long story but after leaving at 1.30am I eventually got down to the track at 7am care of Billy from www.racefairings.co.nz. Clive Banks brought the bike up from Paul Martindale’s place. Slicky slidy track. Not wet enough to destroy a set of wets (I’m Scottish). Kept the Dunlop GPR’s on and the extensive tyre cutting drew had performed on the rear at the last round seemed to work really well. Thanks Drew.

Pre89 qualifying.  Track was horrible to be honest. Tried following Frenchy around for the whole session as he’s pretty handy in the wet. It must have worked as qualified 7th (3rd in class)…over 1s behind Frenchy and 3 behind Ernie Cudby. 1.28.8 .

F1 Qualifying. I took advantage and went out in F2 qualifying to get more track time and adjust my breathing as one of my nostrils totally blocked. It worked and I just repeated in F2 and did a 1.25.

Pre89 race 1. It was a blur. Average start. Luckily for once Frenchy has a pants start. Ernie has buggered off. Ho hum. Battle up to 4th place but am stuck behind Darren Calder’s fizzy though. No way past. Lose too much time trying block passes but of course he farks off past me on the straights. This lets Frenchy catch up on the 2nd last lap. He passes me on the slower stuff but I’m passing him on the faster stuff. I don’t expect him to come around my outside on the final corner. I think we touch. “Sod it…if I crash he’s going with me.” I come off the brakes much earlier, go in much faster and fire on the gas way earlier. The bike sticks and I pass him back. What a race. 1.22.1 I finish 1st in class as Ernie had a wee off road excursion care of another in lap 4. Lucky break.

F1 Race 1 . – I pass thanks Track dried out a bit around lunchtime but wasn’t brave enough to try out the slicks as they’ve a slightly different profile. The wear on the GPR’s doesn’t look too bad.

Pre89 Race 2. Opposite of race 1 really. I get a totally boxed in by a wobbly bike. Watch Frenchy having a tussle with Ernie for a couple of laps which surprises me. Spend pretty much the whole race reeling in Frenchy but am one lap too short. Finish 3rd in class. 1.20.5 — a new PB for me in posties.

F1 Race 2. – Bloody good start. Goal is to not get lapped and not finish last. Cane arse off bike. Last lap, braking into higgins I pass some old geezer on a trumpy ha ha….mission accomplished. 1.20.3 – PB dropped again

Pre89 Race 3. – OK start. Pass the Frenchmeister through splash and cock up his entry into the hairpin. I go hard to drop Frenchy and chase down Ernie for 2 laps. I have him on brakes and corner speed but his fizzy has serious squirt on the straights. To be honest, I reckon he’s got another 2s in the bag and just hasn’t noticed me (sigh). I back off a little in the middle of the race but Frenchy keeps me honest in the last 2 laps. I have a big moment going over the outside white line into turn 2 but the Ohlins thing pays for itself again. 1.19.7 on the 2nd lap – PB dropped again but Frenchy is 0.5s faster from trying to catch me!

2nd F1 Race 3. – nope…pass…the beer is too tempting and my nose is totally blocked…still…beats snot running all over visor.

1st overall on the day. 3 out of 3 rounds but the lead is only 38 points and Ernie is gunning for me. 1 DNF and I’m stuffed. Must practise the starts on the bike. Back home at 1am.

A long long Saturday.

• Paul – thanks for your work – bike felt more stable on the brakes, probably should change the GPRs
• Robert – thanks for the offer – if we ever get dry sticky weather I’ll adjust the suspenders to suit.
• Clive – thanks for shifting bike and umm…taking most of my shit home.
• Billy – thanks for all the driving. Listening to my banter and hopefully making Frankencane look purty for next round.
• Missed my one and only groupie….you know who you are

Manfeild full track…YAY

Friday

Frankencane arrived a wee while later sporting sorted forks and a yellow ohlins sticker. First session…..soaking wet. Bike felt better handling but hard to tell as the brakes were just simply awful. Right hand clipon wobbly. Spent morning stripping and cleaning brake calipers. Chris Osborne fixed the right clipon. Afternoon session. Brakes slightly less crap. Track dry. Bike felt fantastic, turn in much quicker, transition smoother and more importantly, I could actually feel the back tyre misbehaving before it got out of control. Back end a bit loose under hard braking. Robert Taylor twiddled something 4 clicks. Back end sorted. Frenchy was out on his GSX600 and looking slow. I’m a happy bunny so a late night drinking with Darrin and Phil ensues. Marcus “biggles” and his girlfriend wisely wimp out at 10pm and I regret the late Chinese meal in the morning.

Saturday

Track is soaking. @#*%socks. I’m average at Manfield full track and everyone knows I’m awful in the wet.

F2 Practice:- Track is wet. I go out on the trusty Dunlop GPR’s as figure it’s going to dry . Putted around. Just trying to get my head around the track. Chris Osborne decided to smack into my left clipon at about 180 clicks just before I tip into Dunlop. I think he likes running into the back of my bike as he’s done this before.  I wobble round for a few more laps.

F1 Qualifying:- It’s raining a bit but track is just damp . Good to be following fast guys but I’ve gotta remember I’m lacking on grip. Qualify 19th (3rd last) with a 2.20 Bike obviously sliding around but it’s the tyres.

Pre89 Qualifying :- Ho hum. Full track not my bag baby so I’m going for a crashless top 5 this weekend. I qualify 2nd in the juniors with a 2.14 but it’s miles behind Ernie Cudby’s (FZR 6/4) 2.11. Still, Frenchy and the rest of the juniors are 4s or more behind me.

F1 Race 1 :- Track is dry. I have slicks but consider the temperature too low so keep with the GPR’s. Awful start, need to work on them. Lonely race but I work on my lines. I finish 17th (ok, 2nd last) and get pipped on the line by race winner Sloan Frost as he laps me. Hopefully a good photo LOL. I’m stoked with the 2.11

Pre89 Race 1 :- Full off confidence after my 2.11 in F1 I’m a happy bunny. Last race of the day. The heavens open at the 2nd call to the grid and we convince Dee Wintle (CoC) to declare it a wet meeting. We’ve got 20 minutes to change rubber. Jimmy changes the front in a jiffy. At this point Drew discovers the spare rear wheel has a spacer/sleeving mismatch and can’t be used. I have a bright idea and sprint across in full leathers to borrow Billy’s tyre groover. I’m VERY nervous as he’s never used one before but Drew sets to work and does a sterling job of modifying the rear GPR.

Decent start, Ernie Cudby leaves me for dead. I’m keeping a constant gap behind Frenchy. Red flag at lap 2. Drew takes some air out the front. Restart and Frenchy is gone. The grooved GPR isn’t actually too bad but bizarrely the front feels like a balloon (later discover it’s something to do with the 20psi!). The sun is low and the heavy rain and reflection makes the track very difficult to see. I’d by lying if I said I wasn’t happy to see Frenchy’s bike parked up on the 2nd last lap but I didn’t want to beat him like this. I push just enough to gap a ZZR600 behind me for the whole race but I’m about a minute behind the next bike by the race end. 7th overall and 2nd in my class with a 2.30. Ernie pulls a 2.13, I’m guttered.

Sunday

F1 Race 2 :- Soaking wet track, some of it with deep puddles. As I’d missed scrub-in and having never used a wet rear tyre I thought it wise to get a feel. WOW. LOTS OF GRIP. I gingerly applied more throttle coming out of corners and it didn’t let go. Came off track after 3 laps as want to get refuelled and head sorted before posties race. 2.29

Pre89 Race 2 :- Rain rain go away. This time I’ve got wets. I’m about a second behind Frenchy and stick to him for 2 laps. We get stuck behind Michael Webster’s ZXR750. After a couple of failed attempts, Frenchy loses his patience and pulls a crazy pass into the right hand hairpin. It sticks. I unfortunately keep getting passed back by the 750 on the straights and am stuck. Frenchy disappears. The ZXR750 blocks me a lap later and George Gaisford (KR250) takes the opportunity and buggers off past us both. This infuriates me but I don’t want to risk throwing the bike away for the sake of 2 measly points. Should have just cruised as about a minute ahead of the next junior bike. A best lap of 2.22 on lap 2….grrr. 9th overall and 4th in my class.

F1 Race 3 :- Decent dry line but it’ll take balls/skill to keep pushing on it. Went out to practise my start and assess the grip of the track. Diced with a repsol CBR6 and a Daytona 675. Really enjoying myself but came in after 2 laps as I didn’t want to stuff up my wet tyres like Frenchy has just done in F2. 2.26

Pre89 Race 3 :- Track dry with the odd wet patch. Wrong tyre choice I think but it’s too late now. I’m under instructions to ignore Ernie and Frenchy and just beat George Gaisford. Ernie’s on dry tyres….damn. Frenchy gets a minter of a start. I’m up Ernie’s chuff. Out of Higgins he has a huge slide and I take the opportunity to fire up the inside the fast left hander. At that moment it dawns on me that even though I’m slightly ahead of him he might not expect this so I slam on the brakes. I miss his rear by a few inches. George Gaisford pounces. I try the same manoeuvre at the next right hander and by the hairpin I think Ernie’s got the message that I want past badly so he leaves me a gap. I pull the pin, reel in George. Pass in Murray Cross (FZR1000) and reel in Frenchy who this time is the one stuck behind Michael’s ZXR750.

Lap 4 and it starts raining heavily. A proper dogfight ensues and it’s reminiscent of the previous year on the 400’s….only a lot faster. Visibility is again difficult, the track is getting slippier (or the tyres are going off), we’re going faster and faster and I’m beginning to lose my bottle. I’m passing him on the faster corners but twice I overcook it on the brakes into the right hand hairpin letting him through. Although he’s mine on the final corner, Frenchy has the upper hand braking into turn 1. Lap 6, left hander after Higgins and Frenchy has what can only be described as a HUGE MOMENT. I pounce, put the head down and pull a decent gap. He gives up…phew. I finish 2nd overall with a 2.16 and 1st in my class. 1st overall on the day…woohoo. Shame the Mairs have drunk all the beer in the pits though

Thanks to:

• Dunlop Tyres – Sticky black things
• Paul Martindale – For building Frankencane.
• Luke, Drew & Jimmy Mair – Tyre changing, spannering, storing gear, encouragement.
• Graham Billington – Squaring off my naughty pointy tail section and loan of tyre groover.
• Franz “Frenchy” Schuler/Nicky Smith – Taking the CBR to Crown Kiwi Technical in New Plymouth.
• Chris Osborne – Fixing broken right clipon on Friday test-day.
• Pipson for the photos http://picasaweb.google.com/pipsons5
• Robert Taylor (Crown Kiwi Technical) – Fitting Emulators, springs and shoehorning my old 748r rear shock onto the CBR.  Also took the CBR to track and offered continuous assistance throughout the weekend.

See ya’ll at rounds 3, 4, 5 and 6 !

Ok, I’ll get the excuses in first. Bar half an hour on each bike at the CMCDC trackday I hadn’t ridden since the TRSS at Christmas.

Friday Practise

Too much work and insomnia on Thursday meant I drove down from “the love” through the night. A quick 3 hours kip in the CRV at the Vinegar Hill lookout and I was at the test day feeling remarkably refreshed. Deano and Luke Mair arrived with Frankencane. The Kawasaki ZX-6rr showed 118C on the first warmup lap and the fault was tracked to simply a faulty radiator cap. That alone made the test day worthwhile. Boy did I feel rusty and the oil that’d been spat all over the track didn’t help. However, I guess it’s like erm…riding a bike so by the end of the day I didn’t feel too bad.
On to Frankencane. I felt so at home with her and so I should as she’s basically the same CBR400 I’ve been riding for 4 years with a bigger motor. The new 17” rear just worked; pure and simple. One thing lacking was the brakes as the 600cc certainly was too much for the stock NC23 calipers and suspension. Still as bleedin cramped as ever! Intense soccer playing has me fitter than I’ve been for years. I left the practise day feeling that a podium was now at least possible and that I might not let Paul down too much.

Race Day
I had an epiphany at 6am, remembered where I’d left my ZX-6rr wets and nipped into Palmerston North to grab them. This made me a little late, thus pre-race preparation went in a blur of signing on and fitting wets. Luke Mair (who was also riding my ZX-6rr) decided to swap classes as F2 was right before my main Pre89 class.

Pre 89 qualifying
Hmm…seemed to keep getting stuck in traffic. Unsure how much grip the Dunlop GPR would give. The track was very wet. Had managed to grab a front wet from Clive Banks….they’re amazing. I wobbled around the corners and blasted on the straights. Seemed to be getting better drive out of Higgins than everyone…then Glen Williams passed me on his FZR1000 like I was going backwards. 1.35 put me 9th on the grid of 24 bikes. Of the Juniors (Sub 600cc) bikes, I figured no way I’d catch Ernie Cudby (FZR 6/4) but Abby Mes (VFR400) and Nigel Jones (ZXR400) were doable. George Gaisford had managed a 1.27 on his KR250….freak. Oh well….3rd was my goal.

F1 qualifying
Would have been useful to get some extra F2 practise. Remember I said rusty? I’ve never ridden on wets and couldn’t get my head around how much grip was available. Ok, poor excuses: I sucked badly and ended up following a posties FZR1000 to get a 1.28 which put me 19th (or 5th from the back) on the grid.

Posties Race 1
Drying track meant my wet front and road legal GPR rear were ideal. Short wheelbase, 600cc = monster wheelie on start. Still….the bike had legs and I buggered off past the 400’s & 250’s. How I normally go hard from the start and eventually get reeled in. I got the head down to hopefully head off the competition for as long as possible before the inevitable happened. It never did. Held up on the infield for a few laps by Murray Cross (ZXR750) before he got his act together. Gap check after crossing line and nobody behind me. 10s gap. Slippy track meant best lap 1.23. Congratulated Ernie Cudby for his win on the infield park up area. He didn’t seem to take it gracefully. Found out later his bike had died. I’d WON!! Posties junior and got 5th overall behind the big bikes.

F1 Race 1
Well, despite my advice Luke had went out in the first F2 race on wets and there simply wasn’t enough time to change them before the first F1 race. As the track was no bone dry, I didn’t fancy destroying $600 worth of rubber to wobble around the back of the pack. Did not start!

Posties Race 2.
Dunlop GPR’s fitted front and back. A better launch put me behind Ernie Cudby and George Gaisford’s KR250. Ernie is gone. The KR250 leaves me for dead on the corners. That thing has obviously got more squirt this year but 600cc’s made it my bitch on the straights. Decent battle ensues with good racing for a couple of laps. Lap 3, George makes a pretty stupid (IMHO) move cutting across me on the outside of the hairpin, I JUST manage to avoid his rear tyre. De Ja Vu as I’m sure he did exactly the same stupid overtake last year. You want to play rough? Ok, say hello to my little friend! Start of lap 4, I uncharacteristically park my bike in front of him braking into turn 1. I look back and it’s obvious he’s stalled his motor. I feel a twang of guilt when a lap later I realise that he’s out of the race. Well he started it. I maintain a small gap between John Carter, who due where it’s due, had an exceptional ride on his pre82 GSX400.
1.22 as I don’t have to push it for the rest of the race. That’s slower than with the 400 motor in it so this bike has soooo much more in the bag. 6th overall and 1st again as Ernie Cudby got pinged for a jump start.

F1 Race 2
Gah…I do exactly what Luke had done in F2. Bloody thing will not shift up to 2nd gear. I cockup the hairpin during the race and it does the same thing (not) coming out of 1st again. Anyhoo….2nd last into the first corner…doh. Most of the field have had at least 1 other race and I’m so out of it for the first 3 laps it’s not funny. I pull my finger out in lap 3 and make a couple of places and am up behind Wharfy and Ross McKeague. Lap 4 I park it in front of them into T1. Not deliberately but the normally excellent brakes on the ZX-6rr are wallowing…..the suspenders are far too soft. I’m blaming Luke ? Anyway, I don’t expect this so the two of them just bugger off past me into T2. Lap 5 and I do exactly the same again. This time I’ve banged it down to 2nd gear and say bye bye. This must truly have given Wharfy a rush to the head as he had a sudden unexpected burst of speed and I narrowly avoid him tipping into splash. I pass him back braking into Higgins and chase Michael Hardy. His erm…changing line means I’m held up big style on the final sweeper and I just lose out on the drag to finish 13th with a 1.17.5 Hardly a fast pace but practise makes perfect….and lack of practise makes…anyhoo. I enjoyed it so that’s all that matters.

F1 Race 3
Pitter patter of rain again. I’d had a good day and for once listened to my spidey sense. A red flag incident proved my decision to not go out was a good one.

Conclusion
For her maiden voyage, the fruits of Paul Martindale’s labour have certainly been unleashed. As I’ve never had a podium since Clubmans back in 2007, I was stoked. Sure, Ernie gifted me it. Sure, Frenchy’s GSXF600 isn’t ready. Sure, Neil Chappel & Chris Sales aren’t racing. I don’t care….I’ll take the wins when I can get them.
Project Frankencane development continues and Ohlins goodies are expected for round 2.

Credits

• Dunlop – The GPRs worked nicely in all conditions.  Perhaps slicks next round!
• Deano & Luke for spannering, bike shifting, arranging garage.
• Chopper – can’t thank you enough for the replacement ZX-6rr motor.
• Drew Mair for fitting the replacement ZX-6rr motor.
• Yellow Transit van man (who to my shame I’ve forgotten his name) who picked up the ZX-6rr.
• Martin Peck for storing the ZX-6rr and his brother Gary for letting me in to pick the bike up.
• Chris Ozborne for the radiator cap and also Ivan Juggins for bringing one with him.
• Nick “mumbles” for storing my wets, breakfast on Saturday and being my no1 groupie.
• Paul Martindale for cobbling together Frankencane.