Ethel ready to roll again + dead battery

Shock horror - Ethel refuses to start

All geared up yesterday for a day's business then Ethel refused to start ! Swore loudly and abused her verbally but it made no difference.
All dash lights come on, kill switch off, whirring from starter motor but no dumpf kerdumpf of pistons going up and down. Never did trust the battery fitted a while back when Orbit Tyres killed the bike at MOT, it does not spin up like the Odyssey battery. So 1st step will be to check that. Got until next Wednesdays Sussex trip to get her started.

Leathers are ready !

Picked up the leathers from Rachel at Dobbs Leathers.
She has done a neat job of adding gussets to the sides, crutch and shoulders. The suit is now a snug fit with Forcefield back protector on. A clever touch is the addition of leather loops inside the cuffs to aid removal. Hook them over a door handle 1 after another and the suit comes off easily. Great ! Another bonus is that with the crutch no longer tight and pulling the legs up the knee armour sits where it should and no longer digs in under the knees.
Of course with all this armour it is still a battle to pull it on at the top of the back so wondering about some loops there too.

Mallory Festival of 1000 bikes entry is go !

Yeehar ! We got in. Rider number 641 on Sat 6 July in 15 minute sessions 3 and 24.
Even better Rachel says leathers are ready.
Best get suspension sorted then.
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ZX6R suspension the story continues...

Took a look at the old shock on the bike and noticed that the preload is screwed down about 15 threads. The new Hagon shows 5. Aha ! That would explain concrete rear end then.
Of course similar feeling front end as yet not explained but 16 year old / non existant fork oil is prime suspect.
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Where grown men fear to tread

At the VJMC last night bumped into Ian Joyce of Bright Motor Works who pointed out what is needed to remove zx6r rear shock. Aargh ! So I'll give it to him to do + fork oil while he's at it.
Have to content myself with fitting new seat cover to Ethel.

Still more stuff to do

Having said all jobs completed I've bought a Hagon shock for the ZX6R and a new seat cover for Ethel. That'll be back into the garage then.
Also got another Hit Air buckle connector so each bike has one. Felt a bit apprehensive about buying a spare C02 bottle in case it tempts fate but got one anyway.

Jenny Tinmouth - fastest lady ever around TT course at 119+ mph

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New boots and panties

Well, not quite. It's great to get all those jobs done on the bikes and have time to twiddle about with small stuff that makes a big difference when you ride. I treated my trusty 25000 miles old Buffalo gloves to some industrial Velcro on the straps and also added some to the neck closure of the Hit Air jacket thus making it long enough for my fat neck !

We really are looking good to go now, come on March 25th - return of British summer time with 1 hour more light in the evenings.

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Croix En Tournois 2011 Edited At Last

Check out this video on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFpKUTv-GO8&feature=youtube_gdata_player

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HID headlight + 90% brighter spotlights

So that's what happened then

Macabre as it may sound I came across inquest results for incidents at the Manx that have bothered me. It turns out that at the 2011 Manx GP Wayne Hamilton lost control at Westwood, the last part of the 13th milestone section, which is tree lined. A marshal stated that he put the speed at circa 120 mph and was the fastest he had seen anyone go through there on his previous lap.
This would tie in with my observation on that lap that WH arrived where I was at the flag station on the right before Douglas Rd corner carrying a lot of speed. He moved away from the bank on the left before this corner to the centre of the road then back to the bank before peeling into the corner and away through Kirk Michael. Sadly he did not come around again.
In 2010 at Windy Corner I noticed Jamie Adam and Chris Bradshaw circulating together then not reappear next time around. It turns out that JA touched the kerb at flat out Bishopscourt and was flicked off with his bike unfortunately collecting CB with fatal results for both.

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