Just got home from watching this. Guy Martin is mad. Off his head. Saw Conor Cummins crash for the first time, it was all going well as he descended the mountain minus bike at 160mph until he hit that dry stone wall and did a triple salko.Heartbreaking to see Paul Dobbs widow putting on a brave face. The other 2010 fatality Martin Loicht received a brief voiceover mention. As it happens I spoke with the incident car driver who attended his Quarry Bends crash. He was lucid at the scene and puzzled as to the cause of the accident. Sadly he died later of internal bleeding. Turns out that his chain came off and jammed the back wheel on this series of flat out knee down bends.
Overall an ok flick with stunning bike coverage but I could have done without Martin doing slow speed posing stuff on the bike like shots from the Honda Impossible Dream ad.
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Saturday 30 April 2011
Monday 25 April 2011
Riding along on Ethel again
What a lovely old bus she is to ride. As Santa Pod is about 7 miles away I just went for a trundle to enjoy the ride. Very pleased that all the tidied up wiring and the newly regrommetted tank and radiator cowl did not go bang/leak/fall off. Quizzed a Santa Pod stallholder on how HID kits actually fit on bikes. He was pissed, yup drunk, but together we managed to work it out so I fancy treating Ethel as the headlight is feeble. Trouble is I really new a new Airhawk seat more - at least I've got a headlight.
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Santa Pod Easter Monday 2011
Went to Santa Pod today courtesy of tickets won in a Cancer Care
raffle at ASDA !
It's the first time I've been back there in years and I was struck by
how much it has been improved. The wooden open barn directly behind
the start has gone, replaced by a modern unit with roller shutter
doors. Way back you could stand in the barn and watch the races
straight down the strip. It was always amusing to see people refusing
to listen to requests to leave the barn before the jet car went down
the strip and to see the singed results as it was flooded with a
sudden gush of flame.
The jet car was there today too. This time in the guise of a Funny Car
and very well turned out . The old jet car resembled a hospital bed
with a jet engine in it. Wonder what happened to that. Also Eric the
Frenchman had his rocket bike. Now that was something to see. Great
bursts of white smoke then swoosh until he went over the line at 217
mph in 5.4 seconds.
All this made me hungry. Mindful of the usual shit catering at UK
tracks I was not surprised that the only hot food available in the
grandstand area was fried chicken and chips so I made do with that.
Having got bored with saloon cars and other oddball 4 wheeled vehicles
conking out on the line or blowing up after 50 yards I went for a
wander around.
What an odd world the drag racing scene is. There were loads of stalls
selling all sorts of gear to turn English Joe Public into Southern
States White Cracker Pig Fucker. All you could ever want to go to a
Dukes of Hazard reunion gig. No end of T shirts and jackets in primary
colours plastered with American brand names. And then, miles away from
the grandstand, nice permanent facilities selling real food, yes,
vegetables and a healthy variety of good things to eat. Chicken man
and SSWCPF supplies need to be dumped at the end of the strip and this
lot switched to the Grandstand area where all the ordinary people have
money to spend.
Back on the track an ordinary looking VW beetle with a Rolls Royce jet
engine sticking out of the back was trundling back and forth at a
steady pace looking like our Weedwand gas burner stick on 4 wheels.
At last some bikes and an end to the circus acts. The Top Fuel bikes
sounded different. They used to make distinctive explosions on every
tickover stroke and go off the line sounding like a hundred road
whackers in a tin shed. Now they howl down the strip like anything
else. Standing at the finishing line when 2 of these go by you cannot
turn your head quick enough to see them. Street bikes looked like
variations on a Busa theme.
Best entertainment of the day was the kids races. Dunno how old they
are, the ones interviewed sounded very young but no one said. Anyway
they went down the track in miniaturised Funny Cars, Dragsters and
Street bike variants. All very professional and well controlled too.
" Oh yes " cooed one of them in an interview " I love my dragster and
I am so looking forward to racing in Tennessee with Daddy ".
raffle at ASDA !
It's the first time I've been back there in years and I was struck by
how much it has been improved. The wooden open barn directly behind
the start has gone, replaced by a modern unit with roller shutter
doors. Way back you could stand in the barn and watch the races
straight down the strip. It was always amusing to see people refusing
to listen to requests to leave the barn before the jet car went down
the strip and to see the singed results as it was flooded with a
sudden gush of flame.
The jet car was there today too. This time in the guise of a Funny Car
and very well turned out . The old jet car resembled a hospital bed
with a jet engine in it. Wonder what happened to that. Also Eric the
Frenchman had his rocket bike. Now that was something to see. Great
bursts of white smoke then swoosh until he went over the line at 217
mph in 5.4 seconds.
All this made me hungry. Mindful of the usual shit catering at UK
tracks I was not surprised that the only hot food available in the
grandstand area was fried chicken and chips so I made do with that.
Having got bored with saloon cars and other oddball 4 wheeled vehicles
conking out on the line or blowing up after 50 yards I went for a
wander around.
What an odd world the drag racing scene is. There were loads of stalls
selling all sorts of gear to turn English Joe Public into Southern
States White Cracker Pig Fucker. All you could ever want to go to a
Dukes of Hazard reunion gig. No end of T shirts and jackets in primary
colours plastered with American brand names. And then, miles away from
the grandstand, nice permanent facilities selling real food, yes,
vegetables and a healthy variety of good things to eat. Chicken man
and SSWCPF supplies need to be dumped at the end of the strip and this
lot switched to the Grandstand area where all the ordinary people have
money to spend.
Back on the track an ordinary looking VW beetle with a Rolls Royce jet
engine sticking out of the back was trundling back and forth at a
steady pace looking like our Weedwand gas burner stick on 4 wheels.
At last some bikes and an end to the circus acts. The Top Fuel bikes
sounded different. They used to make distinctive explosions on every
tickover stroke and go off the line sounding like a hundred road
whackers in a tin shed. Now they howl down the strip like anything
else. Standing at the finishing line when 2 of these go by you cannot
turn your head quick enough to see them. Street bikes looked like
variations on a Busa theme.
Best entertainment of the day was the kids races. Dunno how old they
are, the ones interviewed sounded very young but no one said. Anyway
they went down the track in miniaturised Funny Cars, Dragsters and
Street bike variants. All very professional and well controlled too.
" Oh yes " cooed one of them in an interview " I love my dragster and
I am so looking forward to racing in Tennessee with Daddy ".
Sunday 17 April 2011
Why Ks are so top heavy
I am doing some work on Ethel to tidy up the electrics and finish up coolant work. For the first time ever I took the fuel tank off and was surprised at the difference this made when wheeling the bike around, even though the tank is only a quarter full. Suddenly I realised why Ks need alloy tanks, it's not just a good idea to have a rustproof tank but someone must have twigged that the tank sits high and causes the top heavy feel and sensation of weight around the headstock.
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Tuesday 12 April 2011
Monday 11 April 2011
Ethel returns
Ethel is due back this evening all running again and with e fresh new MOT. Hope she likes her refurbished surroundings as the garage has had the mother of all clearouts.
Temptation has arrived again in the form of a business trip all the way to the Leipzig area of what was East Germany at the end of May. Mmm why fly when you've got Ethel. All she needs is a new Airhawk seat, the cheapo plastic one punctured at 20k miles and has defeated all attempts at repairing it, and away we go !
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Temptation has arrived again in the form of a business trip all the way to the Leipzig area of what was East Germany at the end of May. Mmm why fly when you've got Ethel. All she needs is a new Airhawk seat, the cheapo plastic one punctured at 20k miles and has defeated all attempts at repairing it, and away we go !
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Wednesday 6 April 2011
Ethel lives !
The abrupt demise of Ethel has been traced back to a cracked electrical connection that took ages to find. Old bike woes I suppose.
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