track day

[beeman]

Going to cadwell Tuesday from 4pm for a track day, never been on one before (might not get there if new racing clutch not fitted tomorrow) If anyone is passing cadwell feel free to call in and laugh at me trying to hustle the srx around the track. It was advertised as a sports bike event so it might be interesting but not on the straights.
Incidentally it only cost £30 as it is run by the police and involves some training etc.
try looking on www.redroutes.co.UK(or is it .com) for further dates.

[SteveLL]

Have fun, would love to come, but work calls unfortunately. I'm gong to the Classic bike track day on the 12th Sept at cadwell. There's still places available if anyone is interested.

Hope the weather is better tomorrow, looks like it might be ok, cadwell suits the srx better than most circuits 'cos there's only two straights, and not very long ones at that.

[Steve H]

Very timely POTD

[Paulgertie]

Did the theory test and reaction test on that site, unfortunately no results from reaction test but 21 out of 20 for theory, now either they or I have failed the maths test. ?
Paul

[Paulgertie]

Went back and did the car theory, that was harder 18 out of 20, on the motorcycle page it states "Motorcycling injuries are rising every year", I'm sure this is wrong, anyone know of anywhere with statistics?
Paul

[andy230]

Hi beeman

Would love to come but sadly no cash.  Shame, the boss is off this week, so work wouldn't be a problem!

Cadwell is great, and the srx will be good round there.  Just after Dent I had the skorpion round it.  (rev limiters can be good things!!)  Yeah, the srx may be a wee bit underpowered, so you'll be flat out in top for a wee while on the straights (possibly dependant on gearing...).  But great on the twisties.  Watch out for getting airbourne over the crest of the mountain.  (I can hear my old man:  "A wheel that doesn't roll doesn't have control"....)

And the left hander at the end of the start-finish straight is ace! .....  

Anyway, I'll stop pontificating! Enjoy!  

andy

[Paulgertie]

In attempting to find an answer to my question on statistics I acme across this report http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_rdsafety/documents/page/dft_rdsafety_035422.pdf
Very long, but interesting reading. Some unexpected conclusions in LBDNS (looked but did not see) accidents. The likelyhood that the LBDNS is more likely to be experienced driver is unexpected, as is the fact that drivers can look directly at a rider, or even a car, and be less likely to see them than if they saw them in peripheral vision. This they put down to "inattentive blindness" where they seem to be not expecting a motorcycle and therefore don't see it. Another conclusion is that speeding above limits  is not a major factor, but inappropriate speed is a large factor, especially with regards to bends. Nothing surprising there, just a shame that no-one appears to have taken note of this in law-making and even more proof that cameras are just revenue earners, not there for safety. In their conclusion they say that drivers in "at fault" accidents appear to show some evidence of increasing global vision failures with age (no surprise) and these drivers had less of a visual search component, not heard that one before and that "think bike" campaigns are still relevant. Hopefully placing less emphasis on the rider being hit at fault, than the driver who turns right and hits them, as I saw in an advert I saw put out by Mayor of Londons office which I complained to them about. Bloody annoyed me that one, appeared to show the rider was at fault just for being there and driver shouldn't be blamed. "Born again" riders seem to be responsible for high fatality/injury accidents on rural bends and training has good/bad results in that urban speeds drop, but rural speeds increase due to over confidence. "As a large proportion of fatal/serious accidents happen in rural areas it is far from clear that increasing riders confidence in this area would be productive" Drivers also fail to take account of the fact that although car and lorry drivers may not be able to pass, motorcycles being smaller can and therefore do not look for them.
They also concede that travelling in excess of the speed limit was a factor in a minority of accidents, while inappropriate speed for conditions accounted for a greater number of accidents. Nearly 80% of  motorcyclists in a survey considered observing the speed limit as one of the least important safety measures a motorcyclist can take, I think a survey of drivers would show similar and actually think this is lower than I would expect.
Overall I thought this was a fairly balanced report and should be read by law makers and such like, I may even email it to my MP.
Paul

[andy230]

Paul,

I agree with that in principle.  But (and this is only my belief, please feel free to contradict!!) that generally, if you have an accident, it was probably avoidable, even if someone else was at fault.

ie.  I went over an unlit traffic island in the middle of the night.  After a while and a lot of hassle, the council paid out.  They were at fauilt, it should have been lit, what I pay my road and countil taxes for.

BUT!!

Had I been paying more attention (I've ridden that junction lots of times), I wouldn't have hit it/ come off.  Thus it could have been avoided.

Another incident:

Guy *nearly* pulls out in front of me (you know, pulls out 2 feet, worryingly looking the OTHER way!!).  I lock the front (crap on road at entry to building site) and dump the bike.  Had I been going a little more sedately (I was genuinely doing about 30) I'd not have thrown it away.  Avoidable.

I feel that every time I've come off, there are things I could have done to save it, whether or not I was at fault.  And I accept this.  I feel that very few accident involving motorcyclists can truely apply the "theres nothing I could have done" statement. 

"yes there is, you could have slowed down 50 yards earlier, or looked better, or expected the drunk gy to pull out, or kept out while filtering etc"....

Do I sound unsympathertic??  When I came off on an empty roundabout on my 5th "lap" the observing tramp looked up from his can at me on the road and said

"Are you alright son??  What did you do that for?"

Never a truer word said!!

Cheers

a

[beeman]

New clutch in but had to use old gasket as "filed" new one in the garage and now can't find it.
Also heavy duty spings etc hope this clutch lasts a bit longer than the last two.
Apparently the guy at Keldo said it was a weak link when tuning srx's, has anyone else had any problems. Admitedly I have been trying standing starts incase I ever get a weekend free to go sprinting with Martin and his Enfield.

[andy230]

Hey Beeman-

In the racer I have uprated springs (I think from the 660 motor? They're red painted/coated; ask martin sweet!) and Barnett Heavy duty plates.  Its a "man's clutch" (!) but it certainly doesn't slip!!  And I didn't have any problem with it till it broke a plate in the last real race. 

I'm no great shakes at starts either, but so far the routine has been hold it at 5 and a half thou (max torque) for a second or so (while the lights come on- I really can't bring myself to do it any longer!), climb *right* over the tank (!), and when they go out dump the clutch with only the slightest of feathering just to take up the drive.

Not very kind I know!!  Should I be surprised at broken plates?!

andy

[SteveLL]

It's a bugger!, just in the process of selling No3, and the clutch is starting to slip. so opened it up tonight, (breaking gasket in process), and found that the clutch basket has rather a lot of 'play' on its spindle, the plates look well worn and the springs are all different lengths. also noted that the nut holding the gears on the crankshaft was loose! and would almost certainly come off had the tab washer opened up any more. Not sure what play is acceptable on the clutch, but it can be rocked quite a bit, so, off to Denver Motorcycles tomorrow and find out what I can do (more bluddy expense no doubt)

[andy230]

Steve-

I have a basket (I'm sure) and enough plates to make a functioning clutch if you need.  Think I have (used but ok) springs too.

Drop me a line if you're needing stuff, they'll be horrifically expensive I'd imagine!

Cheers for now

a

ps.  Your old 400 is looking lovely!  It has passed to another mate.  Pics to follow shortly...

[beeman]

Back from cadwell, bootiful day sun was even shining. Good session for beginners with plenty of instruction. 1 hours practical teaching session on braking how to and how not to lock the brakes and emergency stops. the new brakes certainly held their own with all the modern bikes.
Didn't quite get to the edge of the tread but was slowly working my way their before light stopped play. The srx managed 90-95 on the straights and never felt out of shape was passed by 3 bikes in the final session and managed to pass 3 myself. otherwise no traffic to speak of. Managed to get the front wheel airborn on the mountain with the following wiggle from the front wheel when it touched down. Not recommended on the road!
Spent all my money so no track days this year but would recommend this one to anyone.

PS Also ran around with John in our group, a journalist from TWO, so I might appear in an article sometime as they were doing a feature of the course for the magazine.

[Steve Lake]

Great! knew you'd enjoy it