First test day of the season.

Brilliant! That about sums up the first test session at Jurby on Feb 22nd. It just couldn't have gone better!

I arrived late on Saturday but in time for a lovely Lasagne dinner with the rest of the team and an evening of nervous chatter about the test day. Neil and John had been working hard in the week getting the bike prepped and had even tried some home grown porting in a test engine before fitting it into a working 'mule', just in-case....

The day dawned mainly dry with a few damp patches drying. Jurby however has a micro-climate all of it's own and the morning session was wet and slippy, just as well we'd only booked the afternoon session! We arrived early so we could make sure we had everything and deal with any unforeseen circumstances, there weren''t any which is a good start...:o)

I was rattling a bit as I hadn't even touched a bike since TT 2006 (2.5 years) and I was doubting if I'd even remember how to ride a bike let alone a pristine little classic!

A quick dry run along the entry paddock helped me settle but highlighted a slipping clutch..head scratching ensued, and was quickly identified as a little too much pre-load on the adjuster. Another quick 'squirt' up the paddock showed this had cured it..

The first session was a bit wobbly and showed I had guessed completely wrongly with the gearing, it turned out to be the same as the original TT bike. John and Neil were a blur of spanners and before I could say, 'I've finished my pasta', they had changed the front sprocket to give an equivalent increase of 2 teeth on the rear. this did the trick and got us on par with some of the novice 600's (not bad for a deficit of 100hp!)

As speed increased I noticed that there was a delayed pickup from lower revs which, 'felt rich'. I suggested a leaner pilot jet but as we didn't have any we decided on lifting the needle jet a notch which had the desired effect. It also stopped a disconcerting 'hunting' sensation that seemed to occur on the bumpier parts of the circuit at speed...

Best time of the day was a 1.26 but I had to admit to cutting the chicane to dispatch a novice who was a little reticent in the corners but not short of speed on the straights. Quite the opposite of my repertoire...:o)

Best 'real time' of the day was a 1.28 which I'm happy with but as yet have nothing to benchmark against with a classic Benelli on Jurby GP circuit..

The photo's might give some indication of how much fun I was having, roll on March 15th first race of the season!...:o)

Right then! I have in my sweaty little palm a newly issued 2009 National ACU racing licence! It seems my Renal consultant and the ACU decided it was entirely correct that I should be able to race motorcycles, something I've been telling them for years but they still insist on making life difficult...

So! We're all systems go! I've managed to cram my leathers, gloves and name tags into an unfeasibly small case that just about conforms to Flybe's draconian hand-luggage spec's. This is because that although I'm only heading over to the Isle of Man for an afternoon's testing I intend to leave my gear over there to help with baggage costs and general ease of travel. I wont be racing in England this year. The caveat being that if we are 100% confirmed for the Manx GP I may need to do a few club rounds to top up my signatures for the Mountain course licence (6! needed this year..)

The action begins on Sunday afternoon at Jurby Airfield where hopefully all the keen young things on 600s will have finished throwing their steeds enthusiastically at the Manx scenery and we can start setting a good baseline for the little post classics's season data. The little Benelli 2C is a parallel 2 stroke twin with fairly basic technology so hopefully wont be to much of a challenge for a first seasons racing for the TS//2C racing team. The biggest challenge, as I see it will be keeping abreast of the complex regulations for whatever class the Benelli's manufacture date straddles, with whichever classic club we happen to be riding with.

Fairly loose targets for this year are to get 'reasonable' finishes for the bikes class in the classic championship on the Airfield circuit, attend the two closed road races on the Jurby South circuit. And if things are going well it would be rude not to enter the Pre-TT classic at Billown and the Southern 100 Classic races. The Manx GP would be a really good score but realistically in our first year with me having no signatures for the season start it will be a bit of a stretch...

I'll report back after the testing on Sunday...