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)

I'm going through the usual ACU licence woes again. The ACU have returned my app' asking for a full medical from my Renal Consultant.

It seems things have moved on somewhat since my last application, last time (2006) my Consultant was happy to tick boxes and send the form, this time she wants ECG, bloods the lot....

It's a bloody pain in the arse to be honest, it's just another level of stress to contend with and (in my opinion) wholly unnecessary! Any fule can see I'm as fit as a butchers dog!

I've still got to jump through the hoops tho'. :o( Pitting the two most sluggish bureaucracies in Christendom (NHS and ACU) means I'm going to be cutting it really fine for the test day at Jurby on the 22nd! (Licence holders only!)

This was one of the things I really didn't miss during my 2 years off, bloody jobsworths round every corner, all I want to do is race a motorbike for heavens sake! It's not like it's rocket science!

Just setting a blog up for now, ready for the 2009 season, to keep all followers and sponsors of Team TS//2C racing informed on our progress and results for 2009.

Testing starts on Jurby Airfield on 22nd Feb. Where the 'little pretty' (Benelli 250 2C) gets her first outing.

Training started this week with some gentle cycling to ease myself back in to the regimen... i'll be ramping it up as the weeks progress..