Cadwell 11/06/04

[Stew]

Today at Cadwell was fantastic .
Loads of BCF had planned this trackday for a shortwhile and had managed to get themselves some places booked. I left it too late and was unable to book for either the daytime session and the evening session (I blame M as she didn’t want me to do the trackday until the beginning of this week). M and myself decided we would go along and watch anyway and cheer some bcf members on.

M, Keith and myself left the house pretty early (7am) due to my insistence as I was hoping that if I was there early enough I might get a cancellation or something but it wasn’t to be. However I could be placed on the reserve list, which I did. Unfortunately all the groups filled up and I watched the first session, wishing I could get out there on my bike too. Mau decided that he was going to change the clutch plates on his NC30, I had nothing better to do so decided I would try to help him. As the riders went on and off the track we messed about with nuts and bolts getting oily and managed to get the bike back together. We were just fiddling with the clutch cable to set it up properly when there was a call over the tannoy speakers, “Stewart Bloomfield to the paddock office”. Needless to say I ran straight there with a big grin on my face and was told I could have the rest of the day for £60. Bargain. I had just managed to get my flouro wristbands in time for the next Novice session. No time to take the mirrors off, just fold ‘em back. Wahoo I was on Cadwell Park again and what fun it was, although very slow and I settled for just following some guy in grey leathers around the track, when he overtook I overtook.

Then it was Lunchtime, an hours break. Some people were ready for a break I think having done four(?) morning sessions, Laura had an intake of some Red Bull.

After lunch everyone seemed ready to start all over again and we all rolled out onto track for some more fun. Everyone’s confidence was growing and we all started to increase out track speed, I got the YZF’s right peg down for the first time since the hero blobs had been removed but for some reason still didn’t feel like I was riding as fast as I had been on the NC30 (Cadwell in April). I obviously was riding at least as fast but this time round I didn’t seem to get the ‘frights’ that I had done previously. The first time I had ridden Cadwell there were numerous occasions where I had a thought run through my head that I was going too fast to make the corner but had none of these this time.

In the afternoon we managed to get 3 track sessions in and for the last 2 Keith lent me his video camera which was rigged upto the fairings on my bike. Unfortunately the set up didn’t work for the first of these rides and there was no footage which is unfortunate as I thought that we would have Col’s mishap on tape (I will let Mcjam tell you all about that one ). This session was probably my fastest (I was probably trying to impress for the camera ). The final session was just as fun but perhaps not quite as quick, I was stuck behind a green kwak for some time but eventually got past and followed some guy on a Flouro-orange and white R6 (I think) who had decided to use sparky kneesliders for the final outing. This time the video worked.

That was my trackday (cheers track time promotions) at Cadwell Park 11/06/04, the others can all add their comments from their perspective. Anyway, fantastic day for me, good to see the BCF regulars again and good to meet some new faces too .

Stew.

(wow, probably my longest post to date, I feel like a cross between Marjay and NSR125Kid )
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"Unlike public school you don't need to have your arse up and your head down to go a long way...."

[Laura]

Well what can I say amazing day.
I enjoyed this day the most I have done for a very long time. Poppy has just passed her 53,000 miles birthday and have to say the old girl did me proud wheelie anyone?
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Good girls ride motorcycles bad girls thrash them.

[McJamweasel]

I will go into more detail about my, er... 'incident' later - for now I'll simply apologise to the rest of the Novices for cutting their session short!

Anyway - heres a piccy to get your teeth into:
____________________
BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[Bendy]

I'll write something tomorrow... it's 23:57 and I just got home - bloody trailers.

By the way Colin, what *were* you and Keith doing sitting in that layby?

[Kickstart]

Hi

Well, just got back. Dropped Col off with his bike in Stoke. Long slow journey.

First incident Col had was breaking down in one session. After much head scratching we figured out that the fuel pump wasn't. All the fuses were OK, but nothing seemed to be going through the filter. We rerouted the pipes to put the filter before the pump, and fixed the pump by smacking it with a pair of pliers which scared it into life.

Weather was good. Company was good, and I have just realised I screwed up with the camera having left it set at ISO800 so the pics are quite grainey . Some of the video came out ok though, but I need to work out what I am doing before I can post that!

Here are a couple of pics:-

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Img_5359.jpg

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Img_5343.jpg

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Img_5554.jpg

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/Img_5536.jpg

https://www.alfa-pages.co.uk/TempPicture/MOV00003.MPG

We left just after Mike and Maurice, who turned out to be waiting at the gate trying to work out which direction to go in. They followed us to the Lincoln road and then took off. We headed on slowly to Lincoln and dived into the McDonalds to get some food. Parking with a trailer was not going to be possible so we went through the drive through and then went to a lay bye to eat it.
Just as we finished Bendy came past so we landed up in a semi convoy to Nottingham area, then headed off through Nottingham, onto the M1 for a mile or 2 and then onto the Stoke road. About 10 miles down there Mike and Maurice overtook us again .

Thanks to Stew and M for putting me up on Thursday night.

All the best

Keith
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Traxpics, track day and racing photographs - Bimota Forum - Bike performance / thrust graphs for choosing gearing

[M1ke]

[karen_moomin]

[M1ke]

They aren't bad really. Its just the fact he scuffed his mint boots!

[jay12329]

A great day all round then! Even though my hornet is 33bhp and unfaired, I still had a great time and managed a couple of overtakes too! (Bendy on a yellow flag I didn’t see it till I’d passed!)
It was good to meet everyone. I'm looking at booking my next track day I cant wait!
J

[Stew]

Ahhh, so thats who you were. Introductions never have been a BCF strong point .
____________________
"Unlike public school you don't need to have your arse up and your head down to go a long way...."

[McJamweasel]

Right then. What a day...

First session - behind the instructor all the way first at 50ish then up to about 80~90. Didn't really enjoy it that much., I think its cos I couldn't go at my own pace and I was pretty nervous anyway.

Lining up for the second session and I was still nervous - not really looking forward to it that much as I'd not enjoyed the first. Anyway - out I go, again behind the instructor at 80~90 but just for one lap this time then its a free for all. Not feeling great for a couple of laps but then it really started to flow and I got into the swing of things. I got a few overtakes in and was definitely not the slowest out there which pleased me. I came in from that session with a massive grin.

Next session I was really looking forward to. Out I go and was getting into the swing of it, I was definitely getting faster and moving around on the bike more. Then about 4 laps in I just came out of the start/finish straight into Coppice, a fast left. I just got back on the power on the way out of there except...the wasn't any. Dang. It cut out on me. So I rolled onto the grass and waited for a marshall to come and give me a push. End of the session came and I got a lift back to the paddock and proceeded to get the bike stripped down with help from Korn and Keith (thanks guys) and Keith traced the problem to the fuel pump - one hit with pliers and a missed session later and it was working again.

So - session 5. This time I'd got Keiths bullet cam on the bike(video to follow). I got into the swing of it really quickly this time. I was getting faster and definitely feeling more at home on it. I got in from that session and I was dripping sweat and absolutely knackered.

Session 6 - Again, I was itching to get out but was tired. I took it easy for a few laps before getting into it properly. At one point Korn overtook me after I missed a gear on the straight and I really had to slow myself down and not chase him. It was towards the end of the session when things took a turn for the worst. Mansfield is a tight, downhill left hander and I'd been really confident there, overtaking lots on the brakes on the way in. This time It didn't quite work out so well. I was just on the way out getting on the power when I went down, I think I was doing around 40mph.

The back end just gave up, a combination of (I think) peg down, chain lube on the edge of the tyre (according to MarJay) and a bit too much gas. So, I was sliding down the track and had time to think "Bollocks" when I started to roll and bounce. Thats when I closed my eyes and waited for the pain. I stopped rolling and slid a bit more on my arse and caught sight of the bike still sliding down the track, a fountain of sparks coming from it. I really did think it was going to catch fire. I stopped, and realising that i was sat in the track got up and legged in onto the grass where i promptly sat down again to get on with shaking lots. A Marshall came over to check I was ok and told me to stay where I was as the session had been red flagged (sorry guys). It was pretty hairy to see some of them coming round mansfield pretty quickly then seeing my bike in the middle of the track - its a good job no-one was closer behind me otherwise they may well of hit it/me.

So - recovery truck come over and take me and the bike back to the paddock. Damage report time. The crash bung did its job VERY well and certainly took the brunt of it. Theres only one relatively small patch on the fairing thats taken a beating - and thats just scraped. However - the bung didn't keep the crank case off the deck. That'll be a new one of those please - theres a small hole in it. The rear spindle is also worn - getting the back wheel out will be fun now. Other than that the bike is unharmed.

As for me? Well, I'm a bit achy and there is a sore patch on my back where my leathers have moved - nowt serious tho. My new boots (about 250 miles plus the track day) are tatered tho. Sorry Karen.

So - thanks to, Steve for the tent space, Korn for his help in taking my bike apart and Keith for fixing and towing my bike.

Anyway - sorry for the length of this post, I think I must of spent too much time with MarJay this weekend.
____________________
BCF: Be yourself, just don't be an arse.

[Bendy]

Cracking day at Cadwell!

Great organisation at the start... we wanted to leave early on Thursday morning so on the Wednesday night I hopped over to Reading with the big bike trailer to collect the G's RS250 and Alex's Thundercat and drag them back here. So far, so good (apart from the new tie downs turning out to be shit and me nearly losing the 'cat on the M4).

All goes a bit to pot the next day when Alex's promised shock didn't arrive in the early post... anyway about 1ish the G-Wagon turns up at mine with Steve's (Harman) bike trailer which we're putting mine and his CBR6s on (balance and stuff). So, after loading that, we're on the road at about 2pm.

Pretty dull drive up as towing's never the most exciting driving you can do. Stop at good old Leicester Forrest services for a bite, on to Lincoln and into the countryside, pointing out local places of interest like the cafe with the space capsule outside it and the skid marks from the Peugeot crash which are still on the road 2 months on... and into Cadwell where we're greeted by the guys who have ridden up and have already started on their tents. 30 mins later, G and Alex turn up, having made a detour to the salvage place to pick up G's poncy CD player. BCF is 'in da house'!

There's quite a bit of spannering to do, as the RS throttle has broken on the journey and Alex's shock needs changed for one that Colin picked up for him in Stoke. So G makes a big puddle of oil in the middle of the paddock road while Korn and Alex improvise a paddock stand and set about the Thundercat.

https://www.evilbendy.co.uk/gallery/albums/cadwelll3/normal_PICT0008.JPG

By the time everything's working, it's about 10pm so me, G, Laura and Mike pile into my Golf and head to Louth in search of sustinance. Spotting a chinese takeaway, we go in and confuse the poor woman by ordering complex variations of the meal-deals and come away £80 lighter with 2 boxes crammed with chinese goodness - to feed eleven people. An impromptu picnic is arranged around a camping light and then it's bedtime.


Morning. Proper morning. Early.
Time to sign on and get our shit together. Nobody's sure if they'll actually let Alex ride, given that he's still on crutches, but they're cool about it so everyone is good to go.

https://www.evilbendy.co.uk/gallery/albums/cadwelll3/normal_PICT0043.JPG

Novices are up first so we stick out bikes in the collection area and head over to the cafe for the (very long) rider briefing. And then it's time to get onto the track.

Now I remember why it's worth all the effort getting here. Riding around a track as fast as you can go, no worries about potholes, diesel spills, oncoming traffic, blue flashing lights... just giving it everything you can and getting that little bit better each time you go round. Ownage.

And yes, much to the amusement of those who know me well, the usually well hidden 'Bendy Competitive Streak' came to the fore (I don't think it's been seen since the last time we went karting).

https://www.evilbendy.co.uk/gallery/albums/cadwelll3/normal_PICT0087.JPG

During the day, we gain Jay12345 and his boss (Jay riding a 33bhp Hornet and doing bloody well in novices), Adam_P comes over to say hello, Keith comes with a car full of tools and an empty bike trailer and Stew 'n' M. Although you've got about a 30-40 minute wait between your sessions on track, it doesn't seem that long when there's lot of people hanging about and inevitable spannering to be done, as well as fiddling with cameras and general 'stuff'.

Seven sessions on track later, our time is up and it's load everything and drive home time. I think we left Cadwell by about seven, trundled back down the motorway and got to Slough just before midnight. Pooped.

So. I ache everywhere, I've got mild sunburn, a massive pile of stuff to unpack and a clutch that's gone 300 miles over it's 500 mile 'very important check'. When can we go again?

Lots of people with cameras, so keep an eye on https://www.bikechatforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=26783 for more pics.

[G]

G's trackday report:

Morning, frustrating.
Afternoon, fun.

[Laura]

Following on with it being the day after.

I started of on thursday for a trip to mars bar house to pick up a set of bcf decals for poppy.After a while they are done and top job to mark. I then set of to meet colin, mike and maurice, phase one complete. We then travel to meet korn and mark bye the time we arrive we are all hot, very hot.

So now we have all met up we carry on to Cadwell. Once arriving at Cadwell at about 6pm we start setting up tents etc. We then see bendy and steve shortly followed bye G and alex. The rest you have heard off bendy.

Seven am arrives and I am awake (sort of) I am at this point starting to get nervous, we go and sign in etc then head down with bikes to the briefing.

After gaining the appropriate stickers and knowledge we were off. Bye this point I was really nervous and kept asking sarah stupid questions.

The first session I was not sure whether I enjoyed it or not so for the seconf one I enlisted the help of a instructor which did me loads of good and by the third was loving it.

At lunch I was falling asleep, so I had to force myself to drink some red bull.

After lunch I managed to scare myself senseless with my wheelie.
By the the end ofthe day I was well and truley knakerd me and korn then set of back for reading.

We went through wind and rain and when we stopped at the services and to have help getting of my bike. but a few sleepy hours later we arrived back.

What can I say amazing few days.

[Korn]

Left home at around 1 o'clock to meet up with Mark at the M1 services for 2, got there about 15 minutes early due to the M1 having absolutely no traffic on it from Brent Cross to the M25 intersection. Once Mark arrived we headed on up to the Watford Gap for another rest stop, where we were overflown by a ruddy great Tornado going full chat about 50 feet off the ground . On past Leicester and on to the A46 to arrive at our Little Chef randezvous and wait for Colin and Laura. A few minutes later they arrived with Mike and Maurice in tow.

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Cadwell/t1.jpg

Since the cage posse was going to be well late we scrapped the straight forward route and took Colin's more interesting twisties, which proved far less strain on the 'ol wrists than the motorway and dual carrigeways had been. After an hour or so we sped up the 'big hill' and turned into Cadwell, where we started pitching tents.

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Cadwell/t2.jpg

We had about 45 minutes to wait until Bendy and Harman arrived, so we took a wander down to the circuit with the intention of walking around some of the perimeter paths, but these were signposted as 'closed' so not wanting to get into any trouble we just spent a few minutes looking out over the mountain from the Cafe. First impression: bloody 'ell, bit narrow innit?

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Cadwell/t3.jpg

The cagers arrived in due course, and we set about pitching the rest of the tents that they'd brought and unloading the bikes. Much bodging was needed to fix G's RS250 which when first started spat out a plume of two stroke oil 12 feet behind it, and Alex's Thundercat which needed the shock changing. A search party was dispatched to find food while the rest of us hung around, then helped Ben who had just arrived pitch his tent before getting a phone call from G threatening that if we didn't also put his tent up he wasn't coming back with the grub . Both tents went up fairly quickly and before long the food wagon had returned bringing a massive stack of Chinese.

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Cadwell/t4.jpg

The next day we awoke to find the paddock had filled up somewhat during the night, and after a few nervous moments while Alex signed on (doing his best "I'm fit to ride, honest" act ) we were all sorted and ready to go. After a briefing the first Novices session was out and we had 6 laps following the instructors at slow speed. The second session was better and after 1 sighting lap the instructors pulled away and left us to it. By lunch time I had got the hang of most of the corners, apart from the hairpin and the new chicane coming up to the mountain and felt myself getting faster as I settled into a good rhythm.

The afternoon sessions were even better, and I worked on my wheelie-over-the-mountain technique much to the bemusement of the marshall standing just past it, who kept giving me looks of "silly boy ". In the last 3 sessions I'd set my best lap time of 2:01 (thanks Mike), but didn't think I was riding as well as I could (or rather, should, given the bike I was on) due to still not finding a consistently fast line through the hairpin - I hate that bend - and generally not holding the pace all the way around the circuit. After speaking to Dusty at the end of the day I reckon I would have gone quicker had I had somebody faster in front to chase and learn from, so next time I'm going to book myself into inters.

https://www.kornel.com/pics/Cadwell/t5.jpg

After the day's racing was over we packed our stuff and me and Laura set off back down south. We rode straight through a big rainstorm and arrived at the M1 services stuck fast to our bikes. After levering ourselves off we waddled to the toilets and I spent a good 15 minutes abusing the hand dryers to dry off my gear - to the annoyance of the other customers . After some food and chilling out for half an hour we got back on our bikes and proceeded South, the M1 was flowing at around 90mph in the fast lane with fairly light traffic so pretty soon, and after another stop at the services, we were on the M25 which was also suprisingly empty for 9:30 on a Friday evening. I split from Laura at the M4 and headed home, with a brief detour past Stockley to see if anything was happening - it wasn't.

So in summary a faaking brilliant day's racing! I was happy with my performance and with the R1 for it's first trackday, and very happy that the suspension settings I'd spent ages researching the weekend before actually made it feel really stable, oh - and it didn't blow any headlight bulbs

Summary of the summary: faaking brilliant!
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3516 Miles, 11 Countries

[Dusty]

[Luke_Retrofly]

Hi
Glad you had a good one guys looked like excellent fun.

Consider me pissed for not going .

Looks like Collin kept up the BCF tradition of crashing at a TD, good boy .

Luke
____________________
Flounced - Long overdue
Fuck you bitch I'm in the top 10 list I can do the what the fuck I want!

[jay12329]

[G]

[G]

To add to my detailed account:

Evening; toolbox disappears.



So... does anyone remember seeing it; it was used when Maurice and Phoenix were doing Maurice's brakes, but was not by the bike later. This was probably around the penultimate session.

So if anyone saw what happened to it or remembers it sitting somewhere I'd be grateful if you could tell me where it was last seen at least.

[Korn]

The big yellow thing on wheels?

I remember getting a socket out of it to put my mirrors back on before leaving, it that helps
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3516 Miles, 11 Countries

[G]

Yea, the big yellow thing with wheels (but not the one with the 600cc honda engine, which we did bring back ).

Do you remember where it was when you got a socket out of it?

[M1ke]

Track times -

I timed a few generic bikes to see how our lot compared.

A fully kitted cbr600 in the fast group (and he looked the fastest there) = 1.50 and 1.51 (thats one minute fifty seconds to do a complete lap)

There was another (tuned) RS250 there which i timed to compare to G = 1.59, 2.00

Now forum members :

Laura = 2.39, 2.37, 2.37, 2.42, 2.41
G = 2.10, 2.08, 2.20, 2.03, 1.58, 1.59, 1.59
Colin = 2.16, 2.15, 2.13, 2.10
Korn = 2.01, 2.05, 2.23, 2.01, 2.21, 2.03, 2.10, 2.04
Marjay = 2.30, 2.33, 2.33, 2.35, 2.39, 2.39
Stoo = 2.21, 2.32, 2.27, 2.19, 2.25, 2.10, 2.05
Dusty = 2.10, 2.11, 2.07, 1.59, 2.03, 2.04, 2.04, 1.58
Bendy = 2.28, 2.29, 2.33, 2.30,

I had a few more times for some people but a certain someone crashed and in the confusion they got wiped!

Times are in no particular order, however its a safe bet the slower laps for people are either warm up laps or from early on in the day.

[MarJay]

What a cracking weekend!

Basically I started off by meeting Korn at Toddington services on the M1. I wasn't too sure about riding in convoy on the motorway because I have had a bad experience with it before, but it turned out I had nothing to worry about. Despite us both having to stretch to stay sane and the low flying tornado incident, the first leg of the journey was pretty uneventful.

We met Laura, McJam Maurice and M1ke at the little chef on the A46. God knows how that worked, there are about fifty little chefs along that road! We headed off in convoy to cadwell. Colin (McJam) had chosen for us a nicer route than the one we originally had planned, which was a nice change, despite me turning the wrong way at the first roundabout we came to. Luckily M1ke was in front of me and saw where both the others and myself had gone, and came to tell me that I had cocked up.

After a shower of loose chippings in Horncastle, I took the lead as the only one who had been to cadwell before. We entered the circuit and pitched our tents etc. involving much cursing, swearing and photo taking of those people small enough to lie down flat in the smaller tents!

Bendy and Harman arrived later along with Dusty and G's bikes... (its a long story!) then a few minutes later G and dusty arrived.

After we had unloaded the bikes, M1ike started poking at G's RS250 and commented that the throttle grip was stiff. SNAP. Now the throttle grip was very lose indeed! After some minor mechanical faffing including G's bike spraying flammable liquids, and replacing a thundercat shock with the aid of two wheelie bins, we got chinese food, and then retired for the evening.

in the morning I awoke to find that mornings, even at track days, are always still quite unpleasant. After signing on and some minor bike preparation the nervous anticipation had started to wake us all up. After the briefing the novices were the first group out on track and we had a session with no overtaking in order to get used to the circuit. This worried me, because no one was pushing it, and I still got left behind! I felt really slow.

The next session was better, and the third better again as I gained my confidence. Between sessions Jay12345 came to introduce himself to our group and we messed around with tyre pressures and chewed the fat about lap times and corner speed and racing lines.

As the fourth session began, I felt lots and lots more confident and began to hang off of the bike more and relax. I felt fast. Despite three bandit riders riding up each others chuffs and the last one taking me on the inside to keep up with his mates, I was really beginning to enjoy myself.

I especially enjoyed the mountain segment, where I felt really quick. I felt quite slow between the back straight and the gooseneck. Its basically one long right hander, and it scared me.

After lunch and fuel, we headed back out on track. I was attempting to observe the adage "After lunch, cold tyres, cold brain, don't be a fool!". Unfortunately no one else seemed to have heard this and I observed three crashes in this session, which shook me up a bit. One was an R6 which I thought "Wow he's quick, I'll never be that quick!" before seeing him slide off into the kitty litter.

the second afternoon session I was getting faster again, and was just getting into my stride when it was red-flagged. Turns out some bloke on a blue ZX6R had come a cropper on a tight left hander! *cough*McJam *cough*.

I spoke to Steve (Harman) before this session, and he mentioned that he might not ride the last session for fear of pushing too hard and coming a cropper. I knew how he felt, but figured I was having too much fun to waste a session that I had paid for. I believe that Steve had the same idea too.

It turns out that my fears were in a way correct. I was FAST on the last session, and even overtook a few people. I managed to keep up with Bendy - and a couple of places I almost overtook but decided against it. Mainly so A) I didn't crash and more importantly B) I didn't make her crash! I didn't want the day to end, but it was probably good that it did, because I think my rear tyre is now beyond sensible use.

The only downer on the day was that I took an hour longer than expected to get to Telford, where I was meeting my GF. It would have been quicker but the combination of an unexpected downpour, a diesel flooded road, diesel coated visor, and no headlight fuse meant I had to take it easy.

besides that, it was a cracking day and I wanna go again!
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Bendy]

Ah Marky, I'm still kicking myself for not having the balls to stuff it round the outside of you coming down the hill.

There's that damn competitive streak again. Down boy!