Eventpost 23 - Central Wales Auto Club (Knighton, Powys)

I took the Fantic out for its first trial today and although things didn't go quite as well as planned, I was most impressed with the potential of the bike.

The trial was held in some great Welsh coutryside with rocky streams, roots and muddy climbs and cambers. The organisers put on some really good natural sections with challenges for even the best Experts on modern bikes, especially when a drop of rain after a couple of hours added a bit of a sting in some of the greasy banks.

There were 3 routes used, Red (Expert), Yellow (Clubman/O40, twinshock), White (non expert/pre65). I rode the yellow route and after a few months of riding BMCA pre 65 events it was a bit of a step up in levels of difficulty but the bike was well up to the challenge with grip and power in abundance, I certainly was not found wanting when it was clear that a lot of the more modern bikes were struggling.

The first 2 laps were pretty straight forward with a loss of 12 marks and I was getting used to the capability of the bike and the gears to use. I felt that I was on for a pretty good ride, however into the 3rd lap the bike started overheating, running very lumpy and became a dog to start.

Although, when running is was generally OK, it bogged a couple of times causing a couple of 5's and certainly disrupted the flow of the trial for me as it had to be cold again before it would start so I often had to wait for 10-15 mins before it would start.

My initial reckoning has me on about 37 marks at the end of the trial which probably puts me down the results a little more than I feel the quality of the ride would suggest, but it was an encouraging start and I feel that with a bit of work on the engine, we could be on to a winner with this bike.

The pictures from the trial were supplied by Keith Bowen at http://www.mx247.com/

Having now seen the results I am quite pleased to see that I wasn't to far off the mark, considering the two 5's through engine problems and the loss of momentum caused by waiting for the engine to cool down I am relatively pleased. The winning ride by Steve Plain was absolutely class, but after Steve I could have easily achieved 2nd on the day without the engine hiccups so I am pleased with the first outing and enthusiastic about the potential of the bike having never ridden it before.

I have now arranged for the engine to go to Bill Pye for a strip and rebuild to ensure that everything is as it should be and worn items replaced and renewed, it should be back in a couple of weeks so we can get down to the business of practicing on it and understanding what it can do.

Results

Twinshock Class

1. Steve Plain (Fantic) 7

2. Stuart Ruell (SWM) 29

3. Kevin Adams (Fantic) 33

4. Dave Dawson (Fantic) 39

5. Andy Pitt (Majesty) 50

Fanticpost 11

This weekend we're putting both the Fantic and the Sprite on show at the Classic Of Road show at Malvern.

As the Fantic is now complete and ready to ride I thought that I would post a couple of photos to show it in all it's glory.

Hope you like it!

Eventpost 22 - Martley BMCA

Today I had the unique opportunity to ride a trial at home! The farmer that owns the land that backs on to my home approached us to use his land as he is a classic bike enthusiast and fortunately there was planty of scope to lay out a really good trial with variation in types of sections including streams and banks, roots and climbs and also some wooded land.

We were blessed with a great day as the sun shone and gave everyone a really good day out.

The sections cut up to make them very challenging, especially the climbs out of the stream that provided some good ruts and became quite slippery.

I had one of the best rides that I have had for a few months, the bike went really well and I think that because I marked the sections out on the previous day and didnt need to walk them on the 1st lap, my knee stayed strong and that gave me the confidence to ride a little more agressively through the trial.

As it turned out I lost two fives that actually cost me the trial. The first when my chain came off and the second where I drowned the engine in the deep water, however even though I added 10 marks that I really shouldn't have done, the final result was good with 2nd overall to Steve Hay and 1st in my class.

The photos are from today

Results

2 Stroke

1. Dave Dawson 21

2. Nathan Jones 39

3. Steve Thompson 58

4. Steve Neale 61

5. Dave Jones 90

Unit 4 Stroke

1. Steve Hay 19

2. Keith Gardiner 34

3. Laurence Alden 61

4. Alan Borton 72

5. Gary Hawkins 82

Pre Unit 4 Stroke

1. Nick Wooley 52

2. Jim Pickering 64

3. Pete Reed 70

Eventpost 21 - Hodnet BMCA

Today was a BMCA event at Andy Onions' Farm near the famous Hawkstone Park motocross circuit near Hodnet.

I always enjoy riding here as the ground is not usually effected by the weather as it quite sandy and has some good scope for sections with rock slabs, bank and roots. The sections here are often quite tight too, which also suits me.

All started well today with 3 cleans on the first 3 sections, however some more electrical problems made the next hour quite frustrating. First the bike wouldnt start then after trying different plugs with a very weak spark the bike fired up but ran very inconsistently with the engine dieing then picking back up with no warning or reason.

This made the rest of the first lap and most of the 2nd lap more than a callenge, then for no apparent reason, it went away as quickly as it came on and it ran without missing a beat for the rest of the trial. I suppose it may have even been a blocked jet or carburation problem but I am glad to say that whatever it was now appears to have passed and the bike was fine for the second half of the trial.

Although my score was reflective of the day for me, I really enjoyed the trial and felt that I was actually riding well so I am not too dissappointed. After the last few muddy trials that I havent enjoyed, today was fun and that's what we all ride for isn't it???

Now I have a couple of weeks off, to give the dodgy knee a rest and also put a trial on near to home, so will give the bike a bit of a spit and polish in time for Wrighty's show at Malvern.

I am showing both the Sprite and the Fantic at the show so if you regularly read my updates, please come and say hi at the show. The challenge for me will be to come home with both bikes as everything has a price and I suppose that for the right price I could start over again with a new project???!!??

Results

2 Stroke

1. Nathan Jones 17

2. Dave Jones 22

3. Dave Dawson 33

Unit Construction

Alan Borton 23

2. Nick Wooley 30

3. Brian Dale 32

Pre Unit Construction

1. Bill Bourne 13

2. Jim Pickering 30

3. Pete Peed 50

Fanticpost 10

Here is a pic of the FANTIC with white side panels - a much better solution than the previous 2 tone red with different colours on the tank and side panels!

Now the question is whether we should have gone completely white and done a white tank too?

I hope to give it a try this weekend if the rain ever stops - I will update the blog with details of the test.

Fanticpost 9

Finally the wheels are in the bike and its rolling.

I dropped the side panels into the powder coaters today but have put the original red panels on for the photos.

I am really pleased with the way it looks and the white side panels wil be on next week.

We now need to give it a run out and see how it performs and understand if anything needs doing to the engine.

Let me know what you think!

Fanticpost 8

Over the last few weeks my Dad has been freshening up a 200 Fantic for himself.

Whilst doing my bike, dad suggested a different approach to the seat and side panels by making them all one unit. As I was set on the idea of using a 300 seat and separate side panels I didn't go with the idea, however whilst doing his own bike he tried it out and I think it came out quite well.

I thought you would like to see it.

Fanticpost 7

At last I got my wheels back today for the Fantic from Terry at M and B wheels.

The problem was has been in lacing the rear wheel as the holes were drilled in the rim for a much narrower rear hub and even though an attempt was made to re-drill the holes, the nipples would not seat correctly so a new rim was ordered from Central wheel which has taken weeks to be produced.

In the mean time, I got to thinking about the fact that the original side panels did not match the colour of the tank so I decided to try a different approach. We have made a set of side panels in alluminium, turned the studs for the inside to push into the original rubber grommets and held them in place with small dome head screws. These will then be powder coated white to go with the frame and will be re-stickered as per the originals so the only red part of the bike will be the tank.

Pics are of the side panels that are off to the powder coaters tomorrow. I will update the BLOG with more pics when the wheels are in the bike.

Eventpost 20 - BMCA Winter Charity Trial Mucklestone

Today was the Winter charity trial at Frank Bourne's farm. As you can imagine the going was pretty slick after the recent rain but the sections were quite good and gave opportunity to put some open sections on that gave opportunity to have a blast.

I dont feel that I had that bad a ride and after the second lap I had dropped only 4 marks which was in the running however I had a small problem when I caught my right footrest on a root and ripped the footrest out of it's mounting.

At first it was still rideable as it was hanging downwards at 45 degrees but then on the last lap it dropped off completely and although I was able to ride a few sections one footed I did lose two 3's where there was little option but to paddle along. In the end I rode my Dad's Fantic for the last 2 sections once he had finished the trial so I guess officially my result doesn't stand.

Still it was fun and after the last trial I was pleased that be finding some grip and at least being competitive.

Bill Bourne was the outright winner on 2. Not unexpected as he was riding his own land and is a bloody good rider but the rest of the results were pretty close and I ended up 5th overall and 2nd in my class so all in all not too disappointed, though some welding work for Dad this week!!

Pictures are from sections 3 and 4 today.

Results

2 Stroke

1. Nathan Jones 17

2. Dave Dawson 19

3, Steve Neale 53

Unit 4 Stroke

1. Jim Pickering 10

2. Alan Borton 18

3. Brian Dale 25

4. Gary Hawkins 26

Pre Unit 4 Stroke

1. Bill Bourne 2

2. Pete Reed 32

3. Bob Greenhough 33

Eventpost 19 - Heightington BMCA

A very strange trial on Sunday indeed. After all the recent rain the stream at Heightington was almost unuseable so the event was largely held on the surrounding banks. The venue is pretty slippery at the best of times but this weekend it was as greasy as it gets.

As this is normally my favourite going, I was looking forward to the trial. As this was the first time that I had ridden the Sprite in really muddy going I was looking forward to seing how it performed.

Unfortunately I struggled more than I ever have getting any grip and duly had my worst ever result in a trial since I began riding I think!!!!

I am not really sure what the problem was, it could have been me being heavy handed on the throttle, the gearing may be too low, the trials 2nd gear was useful but I could have made better use of a 3rd gear had we taken the decision to put one in, we have recently removed some flywheel weight and put a quick action throttle on the improve the bottom end pick up.

Indeed it could have been any one of these things or a mixture of all of them but the upshot was that I rode crap and couldn't have found grip if there was a million pounds on it.

The end result was 117 marks lost against a winning score in the 60's from Dave Wood and a finish right down the order in the Expert class.

I wont do anything hasty and plan to leave it as it is for the nest trial just incase it was just rider and conditions not getting on well together.

Still, I actually enjoyed the trial and had great fun even though most of the day was spent either with my feet down or on my ear and thats what we do it for at the end of the day isn't it??