Yesterday I took the BSA up to Steve Gagg's place in Nottingham for the finishing touches and again this left me without a bike for the BMCA championship round this weekend. (Note to self - don't rebuild bike mid season again!!!!)
I had been offered the loan of Alan's Greeves again, however since I last rode it the engine had been rebuilt and unfortunately the barrel had not returned from its re-bore so I had resigned myself to not riding.
Jim Pickering, the Midlands 'Bantam' man rides the majority of the BMCA events and so far this season had been riding his Royal Enfield in the over 350cc class in the BMCA championship so I asked if I could borrow his Bantam as he was not likely to be using it himself and he kindly agreed to being my sponsor for the day!!
Well, I must say that I was a little dubious about the BSA Bantam as even though Jim's bike was always going to be one of the best ones around (he does the engines for many Bantam riders including Peter Gaunt apparently)but even bored out to 180 or 190cc I couldn't really see it pulling my slender 17.5 stone up the muddy banks that were bound to be present after all the recent rain.
A few adjustments on the controls and half a turn on the tick over screw were all that was needed and off I went...First impressions were that it felt a little flat off the bottom but was quite clean through the rev range and pulled quite well in both 1st and 2nd gear.
So I was straight into the trial after 5 minutes of practice and section 1, on the side of a fairly steep bank with a tricky set of cambered turns up a sandy/muddy bank with a tricky steep exit where throttle control and low down power was required to get to the ends cards without either the front rearing up or breaking grip. I had a slack dab at the bottom (probably getting ready for the lack of power that I expected!) then the little bike pulled and pulled all the way to the top, never feeling like it was going to lose grip or want for power.
Now confident that it would drag me round I took a different level of confidence into the rest of the first lap which included muddy drops, banks and ruts as well as rocky streams and as the lap went on I began to really enjoy the bike and the trial, never ceasing to be amazed by the grip I was able to get and the power that was available. It turned out that where I thought the engine was flat, it was actually an engine characteristic that allows you to bring the power on nicely without spinning the back wheel and once I was used to it was finding grip anywhere I needed it..
I completed the 1st lap for 4 marks which consisted of 4 single dabs on sections 1, 5,7 and 9. The second lap was similar with another 4 marks lost with 2 on section 2 which has become slippery and took me by surprise and another 2 on section 9 when I knocked my foot off the footrest on the bank of the stream and took 2 marks to sort myself out. The last 2 laps went for another 3 marks with my best lap of 1 mark coming on the last lap when the sections were at their worst.
Overall a really enjoyable trial with good sections considering the conditions and a load of fun being a sponsored rider for the 2nd time in two trials... I was really pleased with how I rode too with no real mistakes, just dabs where I needed them and some really good and consistent rides.
I must say thanks to Jim for the loan of the bike - if you need anything to transform your Bantam, he's your Man! He can sort you out with everything from engines, exhausts and even the Drayton Bantam frame which is his baby - give him a call on 07850 836571 - see the pics of Jim's bike here - I can now vouch for the fact that it goes as well as it looks!!........advert over...!
Today's results will be posted as soon as I get them.
....Results just in....
Results
Experts Up to 350cc
1. Steve Hay 0
2. Dave Wood 1
3. Alan Nicklin 3
4. Dave Dawson 11
5. Nathan Jones 17
6. Gary Hawkins 18
7. Mick Parkes 22
8. Keith Gardiner 22
9. Alan Borton 34
10. Gerry Minshall 52
Experts Over 350cc
1. Jim Pickering 29
2. Peter Reed 38
3. Bob Greenhough 89
4. Steve Thompson 92
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