The FINAL MGP blogg fom the Boss. :o( (I'll add my breakdown of the week when I've stopped sobbing!)

Sadly its all over for us as we haven't qualified on time - just outside the time tolerance by seconds and our appeal was unsuccessful.

So its time for reflection and learning - that's what its all about.

Anyway - here are some highlights of the week:-

We did manage 5 laps and a couple of half laps

We didn't have any mechanical / engine problems

We improved our speed trap time immensely and achieved 97mph through Sulby!

We used all three engines and followed our strategy

We did have a component failure and a couple of cases of - the TT Course does that to bikes type issues

We did rebuild the bike in a day and get out to record our fastest lap that very evening

We have endured poor weather

We had a brilliant lump of pork last night at our MGP BBQ!! Best ever!!

Above all - its been fun trying to compete at a class level which is for GP bikes - not road bikes such as ours and we must have seriously worried some of the boys out there with our speeds!!!

Looking forward we have the Jurby title to clinch, a two day festival at Cadwell and an endurance at Jurby to round off the season - so let's see what we can achieve/

That's it for now.

The Jurby Festival of Speed calls and Robert has a magnificent collection of MVs, a Brough and a Gilera 4 to go and watch perform.

The sun always shines in the North - or so they say!!

John

Boss 'early riser' mini-Blogg;

Good morning all from a sunny Isle of Man

Last nights practice saw us complete our required 5 laps for qualifying however we still need one lap at the required time of just under 85mph.

That said - it was wet and windy and generally awful conditions last night and we had a 80 plus mph lap from a standing start on rain soaked roads - so not a bad omen!

Second lap ended at Creg ny Baa with the gear level falling off! Ho hum!

Engine No 3 performed superbly well with bags of mid range combined with a close ration box giving Fozzy an excellent tool for the job and one which he is confident should allow him to achieve the required qualifying time.

His speed through the start / finish speed trap was 92.9mph last night - up almost 5mph on our previous best so a massive improvement.

We will now leave Engine No 3 in for practice tonight and the race on Monday.

For those interested in the tuning spec - here it is:-

2mm higher exhaust port and 1mm wider

Boost port added (this is the cunning bit!!!)

2mm off the skirt of the piston to increase inlet duration

1mm off the inside of the inlet manifolds

So as you can see - not a staggering amount of change but what a difference to Engine No 1 which is limited to the exhaust port modifications only.

The use of a boost port as prescribed by Walter Kaadan is a cunning way of increasing mid range power and cooling the underside of the piston at the same time. This technology actually dates back to the 20's - so nothing is new - just reused! The ex works TT bike uses the same approach and hence we have now adapted same for our bike.

All good fun and lets see what we can do tonight.

John

Update;

Good morning all

Last nights practice was cancelled due to bad weather / rain so we all had a well earned evening off.

However - yesterday was most exciting as the boys took the race bike along with engine no 3 up to Slick Bass to have it run in on the dyno and then put through its paces.

The results are brilliant and I am very pleased with my engine tuning work - porting all done by my own fair hands and the rest of it by friends like Gary who shortened the piston skirt and cut a slot in the piston and the barrel to create a boost port.

The engine produces a healthy 29.8 (so lets call it 30 eh!) BHP at 8,000 revs. Compared to engine no 1 which is our benchmark - it is making about the same power and at 750 less revs (important) with a whopping 7BHP more in the mid range just where it counts! Comparing the Dyno graphs is fascinating and engine no 3 should be a massive improvement for places like the mountain mile where its all about torque. So - combine these characteristics with our ex works close ration gearbox and we should have a real step change in this little bikes ability.

So - this morning the sun shines and let's see if practice goes ahead and what we can do this evening.

John

More famous last words from t'Boss;

Hi All,

A very wet day yesterday and the team pulled out of evening practice early to concentrate on readying engine no 3.

Practice did go ahead with much standing water and poor conditions - they got most people out for one lap untimed - so we didn't miss much!

Benelli Race HQ was again a hive of activity interspersed with T and Pastie / pie breaks.

I was working yesterday so it was left to Neil, Pat and Fozzy ably assisted by many drop ins to do the jobs of the day.

Engine no 3 was completed and installed at 12.05 last night after a 15 hour day for some.

She ran up fine and this morning it is off to Slick Bass and the dyno to run in and see what BHP we are getting and how good an engine I have built. If all goes well then we will be out with this engine tonight, if not then its back to either engine no 1 or 2.

Engine no 3 is essentially the ex works TT bikes engine with all the trick bits and close ratio box etc. The straight cut gears are magic to the ears as they whine away. Neils first impression was that something may be wrong when in fact all is well.

This morning we are greeted by the sun streaming in and dry roads.

Let us see what today brings.

As well as practice tonight - Jane gets to go round in the Roads Open car as I bought her a ride as part of her 50th birthday present

More tomorrow

The Bosses Blogg update, before you ask, I have no idea what it has to do with my'Loins' either, I hope to Ged that it's a typo!... :o)

Hi folks,

What a day was yesterday and such is racing for you!

Fozzy got checked out at Nobles first thing and luckily had no fractures or torn ligaments so its just bruising and hence he had a painful night.

We then started on the bike and with 9 hours to go before the end of scrutineering and start of our practice session managed to rebuild the bike and get it out again.

It had:-

New front end - forks, oils etc

New wheels and tyres

New swinging arm which was machined by Steve Moynahan for us (famous he is)

Footrest hanger and lots of other bits straightened

New screen

... and a pile of small bits sorted out

We rolled up around 6pm with an hour to spare and its with thanks for Pat, Eddie, Robert, Fozzy and others that we shared the tasks out and got the job done - and correctly to!

Fozzy did two complete timed laps so it with great joy that I can tell you that he put in a first lap 81mph and second of 82.33mph!! Great for a man with a duff shoulder!

So - we are back in the game and now its raining!

John

More Boss Mini Bloggage!;

Morning all

Just a quick update from yesterday.

As you know we stopped short on Saturdays practice at Governors Bridge with a loss of power which was suspected to be a broken ring.

Investigations yesterday revealed that mechanically all was fine and all it seems to have been was a dodgy ignition lead! Its the 10 penny items that cause so much grief!

We continued with our plan to swap engines and yesterday saw us:-

Swap engines

Re-spray the fairing

Swap out most of the electrics - coils, ignition box etc

Much testing including taking her for a run up on a private road

Collect the new built up crank and close ratio gearbox

Drink many cups of T

All this and it rained and rained and rained!

Today looks good weather wise and first up is more testing on a private road to make some detail crab changes and then its back here to fit the fairing and 'sticker' her up ready for scrutinizing this afternoon and out again this evening.

I hope to crack on later today with the build of engine no 3 - which will be our race engine for the day featuring the very best of everything!!!

Picks soon.

Take care all and here's to a good fast and safe practice tonight.

May the timings begin and lets see of we can crack an 80mph lap from the off!!!

John and TS//2C Racing

Mini Blogg from the Boss of Team TS//2C racing...;

Morning all

Just a quick update from yesterday.

As you know we stopped short on Saturdays practice at Governors Bridge with a loss of power which was suspected to be a broken ring.

Investigations yesterday revealed that mechanically all was fine and all it seems to have been was a dodgy ignition lead! Its the 10 penny items that cause so much grief!

We continued with our plan to swap engines and yesterday saw us:-

Swap engines

Re-spray the fairing

Swap out most of the electrics - coils, ignition box etc

Much testing including taking her for a run up on a private road

Collect the new built up crank and close ratio gearbox

Drink many cups of T

All this and it rained and rained and rained!

Today looks good weather wise and first up is more testing on a private road to make some detail crab changes and then its back here to fit the fairing and 'sticker' her up ready for scrutinizing this afternoon and out again this evening.

I hope to crack on later today with the build of engine no 3 - which will be our race engine for the day featuring the very best of everything!!!

Picks soon.

Take care all and here's to a good fast and safe practice tonight.

May the timings begin and lets see of we can crack an 80mph lap from the off!!!

John and TS//2C Racing