Snetterton looming closer!

So Im getting excited about Snetterton, I've made a huge list of things to take, more than the test weekend. I've done a few things to the bike, not all good, like snap a disc bolt, still waiting for my new bolts to come through the post, managed to calm myself down and drill out the remains, took some nerve cos I couldnt make a mistake and damage the wheel rim thread. I just hope they arrive before thursday. Its not the end of the world because I just have to take the wheel with my slicks on and not have a spare front wheel.
Next job was to make a shark fin, found some 3.5 mm AL plate, cut it then heated it up a little and bent it so it could attach to a chain cover bolt hole on the swingarm and bend in under it so its about a cm from the chain and sprocket.
Lastly Ive drilled 2 22 mm holes in the airbox lid, just to try and get a little more air flow in. Advice from vfrdiscussion forum under carburation/airbox stuff. Will try it out on friday, if its too week Ive got some bungs for the holes.

changed the front sprocket from 14 to 16 teeth, left the rear at 45.

My new race license turned up today, this weekend I'm going to make the shark fin for the rear sprocket, think I'll change over the rear sprocket ready for Snetterton, for brands the 14 45 seamed to do alright , maybe could go 1 tooth up on the rear, maybe Snetterton could go to 43 at the rear and 15 but I'll have to ask around. Doing the Friday practice on the 23rd. Snetterton looks like its got some long bits. Watching trackway you tube clips is pointless unless its a pro, most of the lines people take are all over the place so Ill get an instructor to help on the Friday.

Brake discs warped

I've taken the brakes apart, cleaned them, made shore all pistons were pushing out and not sticking. Put the wheel back on, brake mounting bolts on , then lower the front so the wheel could settle torqued the axle, then tightened the pinch bolts brake side did then left side. Raised the front on the paddock stand and spun the wheel but it dragged again.looking closely the disc actually wobbled from side to side about 5 mm, this is why it's dragging they are warped! Now I had ruled that out from my firsts juddering under braking, other things like the head stock was loose. The brake pistons on the inner side on both fronts were sticking. Really annoying as I assumed the discs were straight.....I should have checked, seems an obvious thing to do. Dodgy breakers yard again....I can't remember where they came from now but it was the same that supplied the forks saying they were 929 forks but were 954. So took wheel out put the spare on with new discs and the wheel spins fine. On to the carburation. Really difficult to know without spending money on a dyno and someone who knows what to do. At brands it seemed to go ok, it didn't bog and had progressive acceleration. The plugs were a good light browny colour on the electrode, and that's just after full throttle around brands. But The engine note sounded wrong compared to before.

Brands Hatch Acu license test completed!

Finally made it, great 2 days I really enjoyed it. Got back sunday totally knackered. The written test was easy and the whole of saturday went well. I had to weight until 6pm to get the bike to the garages as there was a car track day happening.....unfortunately a porsche gt3 dumped oil all round druids so on sunday we had to take care because there was oil still left. The marshals did a good job cleaning it the best they could.

On sunday had an early start going through the scrutineering, few things to tweak, like add a sharks fin under the rear sprocket, I thought it would be ok because the exhaust comes up under there and would stop any flailing hands getting caught. Still have to do it though...job 1, then I should also grind off some casting webs the are on the frame which stick up, could be dangerous. The bike passed anyhow. It past the noise meter test but I only had to hold it to 5000, I thought it was higher as in the acu manual.

Tyre warmers on! First outing Dave Harviek our instructor led us around to get the feel of the track and see how druids looked...it was still slippery right on the racing line. I noticed straight away the juddering effect on braking... after 20 mins back to the pits. Another thunderbiker Colin helped me through the suspension, he noticed the back rebound was too quick so slowed it down with a few clicks, Then set the front to have stiffer compression....2nd session was annoying I was really getting good, my entry speed in the corners was fast and so I could carry the speed in the corners. Some 600's were too slow going in so would hold me up...tried going round them some of the time, they would get passed me on the straight. I'm not saying Im good but i was trying to keep flowing. My brakes still juddering and spongy..not happy braking. Back in after the session Colin looked at the calipers and noticed that 2 pistons on the 4 pot calipers were not moving! causing drag on the discs...both sides. I tried cleaning one pair and accidently pumped one of the pistons out!!! disaster....fluid leaking...bit of a bummer, had to push it back in and bleed the front brakes...by this time I could'nt do the other side as it was time to go out again. I just took it careful on the brakes and spent the rest of the sessions working on my lines and style, I had to really hang off the bike round clearways as the right side would ground out.

On the last session my kneeslider unstuck itself, not the velcro part but the glue holding it onto the velcro pad. My right boot ground away too.

The bike seem to go ok, it pulled to the redline and didnt miss a beat. Just the carburation need looking at. The power was'nt arm wrenching but progressive. The gearing worked well for the short circuit. Handling..apart from the juddering front, grounding out it held its line, was smooth and I'm juffed the way it behaved.

Dave the instructor said I was doing well and my lines were fine. Overtaking wasnt dangerous, kept my distance but he said I just have to be more forceful. Thats true and I can work on that.

I'm waiting for the on-track pictures.

Ready For brands!

Entry forms have arrived!

Received the Bmcrc entry forms today.

So I've filled in he first 2 rounds, Snetterton 300 24th 25th March, Brands Hatch 14th 15th April. I'm also going to do the Snetterton test day but will have to book a day off work( I'm allowed 10 personal days a year so most of the test days will be personal days!) . Roll on next weekend should be fun but I hope the weather is reasonable. Bike is already on the trailer as I won't have much time next week to get ready.

Bit cold in the shed now.

Today Ive really done nothing but check a few things, stuck a very small foam pad on the seat, can't raise the seat height any more.....it will have to do until I can fabricate a new rear frame, which if I could run without a battery then that would save space and weight. No time now to change things around. I weighed the bike using the bathroom scales method, it came to 202kg wet weight....a touch heavy...which is disappointing...the fairing alone weighed 6 kg so thats 208Kg....power yet to be determined but a dont think it will be above 95bhp because its only had minor work this is only what I can work out from examples on the vfr discussion forum and the type of jetting.......not sure if I want to take it to a dyno until after the bemsee race school not much time left to start fiddling.......unless it warms up by 10 degrees in the shed.

My small bullet camera that I bought a couple of weeks ago ....I kind of lost it! cant find where i put it....anyhow I got another one from china, this time it was 16.25 not 14 quid. Im going to test it on my road bike later in -6 degrees...