Mallory 23rd March

Unfortunatley I am unable to race this Sunday but should be out at Donington (corrected).

I am however hoping to spectate you will be able to spot me I will be wrapped in Tyre warmers and pulling a generator.

Might be a day to remember your thermals, forecast link follows;

http://www.mallorypark.co.uk/CircuitMap/Weather/tabid/424/Default.aspx

James

Hi James,

You are not the only one by any means - Donington Park, as in race circuit near east Midlands Airport, has only one "n" in the centre of the word.

www.donington-park.co.uk/

yours pedantically,

Pete

I may be there with or without kids (we now have another boy born 7 weeks ago 10lb 8.5oz). Busy digging out tennis racquets for snow boots

Not sure if Ray will or not make yet, doing his best to get out though, can someone let me know if it's cancelled due to snow/weather.

Hope to see some of you on Sunday

Tony

Guys,

For those of you not at Mallory, this is what I recollect happened:-

At 11:19 a riders meeting was held, here Clerk of Course informed us that oil had been spilt on track during the latter part of practice, and that it would take a hour or so to clear up, so we would take a lunch break then. Plus on re-start we would get just one Championship race per class, of 8 laps, as opposed to the 4 or 5 lap distance in the programme.

At approx 14:00 a final track inspection was made by a competitor circulating in a morgan. Shortly afterwards the COC announced that racing was cancelled due to the track being unsafe.

Much the same thing happened with CRMC a couple of years ago - but we did get about half a program in....... I was 'lucky' - couldn't make it due to a blown head gasket on way back from test day! Let's hope the next one goes better.

Damn, I got back from Germany hoping to see how everyone got on and it gets cancelled. Oh well, till next time chaps.

Just got back from the Isle of Man -- last night! Good to see that the officials are taking safety seriously... but a disappointment for you lads who´d practised. A fatality at the August `81 Oulton Park meeting need never have happened. Sufficient straw bales in front of the armco barrier -- or a few old tyres -- and that rider might have been reading this crap I´m waffling here. Saw Slick´s workshop for the first time. Its on the old (WW2) RAF airfield at Andreas which looks a real neglected mess. Sorted his lathe. Seized pinion in the gear box. Same lathe on which I showed him how to screw cut a thread in Wobbley´s days of living at Bride. Was shown some new bits of the TT course which have increased lap speeds, saw where Niffy bought it and the memorial-rain- shelter Wobbly had erected in Niff´s memory, saw where Robert Dunlop´s back wheel exploded*** and met Dave Monyhan(spelling?) who saw pics of racing Bantams and was impressed...! (Truly!) He is going for the 120mph SIDECAR lap this year and Slick is to prepare 5 engines for Dave. Can´t understand anyone wanting to race on those roads -- but that is what it is all about I suppose. Slick reckons Dave gives the engines a harder working life than solo riders because he mostly power slides the bends and is consequently on full revs longer than the solos.
For half the stay I had Digs in a farmhouse whose lady owner had been mechanic for her Dad´s road racer. Good feeling to chat about those good old days. About all those top riders we´d both brushed shoulders with, about the hard graft for no reward and then the fun times. She too was impressed with the Bantam pics -- 3 gears and racing on the Island --- wow! .
***Robert Dunlop was awarded 700,000 pounds damages in compensation (so it was said...).
A claim which Slick reckoned Robert Dunlop was forced into by the chain of responsibilty involved, such that by the end Robert´s share would have been considerably diminished. Seems that under a new EU law Robert was forced into suing the owner of the bike who then sued the seller who then sued the factory which then sued the wheel manufacturer...
Insidiously within that EU law is that even in a Parade the borrower of a bike who proves negligence on the part of the owner means that the bike-lender drops deep into the smelly stuff if proved he lent a duff machine. Seems I could have sued good old Ned for lending me his bike for the '81 Snetters Parade: a night in Norwich hospital and several days of disability -- and then Ned could have sued me -- for him losing points in the BRC championship. I´m not sure of what happened. Ned says it nipped up. That it would seize if I let the revs drop below 9000... (Icarus-1 peaked at 8400, wind behind!). I think I snatched at the front (disc) brake (Icarus-1 had had an inneffectual drum ...) on the unfamiliar sharpness of the left before the bridge... But then the ACU Steward could have been sued for letting me ride without a licence -- earlier I had done 2 laps of practice preparatory to ride in a Bantam race --without a competition licence that day.
Oh, those good old days! Ten Bob for 1/2 hour practice at Brands: made Icarus-2 for 40 quid and bought 2nd-hand leathers for 25....
Better stop -- Sorry! I could go on for ever ...
Go well and keep well -- you Bantam ravers (oops! I mean racers).
Aye, JayBee.

Thank God for gravity -- without it we´d never stop moving...

PSssss on yesterday!
Tired after the day´s travel day before... Left Digs at 9 and Ronaldsway at 11 -- got here at 20.oo hours. Actual flying time: 28 mins, IoM to Newcastle, then 1 hour Newcastle to Düsseldorf. 4.8 hours between the flights and all the aggro... taxi travel and waiting time before and after and waiting-waiting in between.
...
PS. Notice the deliberate mistake yesterday?
Molyneux the name of the TT Sidecar champ. It was my first day at Andreas Field Workshops when Dave Molyneux arrived. I thought Dave was a mechanic buddy of Slick´s so when Dave came in and Slick told me to get up and make a place for The Champ I didn´t... I told them he was younger than me and could find his own place. Slick threw him several photos of me grasstracking and Bantam racing. Dave really was impressed with the fact that with only 3 gears and a narrow power band anyone could race Bantams and even beat pukka racing 250s. I quoted Walsh and Powell -- as decades apart, having done so -- and there must be several others... Then when I told him of Mick Scutt and other Bantam racers doing the 125 TT -- still with 3 gears -- his mouth dropped open. Impossible! he told me.
It came back to me that Dave Molyneux had won both the sidecar races in 1996 at an average speed of over 109 (or more) mph. Now, 12 years later intends to make the magic 120mph for sidecars!
Wow!
Go well & keep well,
Aye!
JayBee.
Proper PS: anyone know anyone who has lathe spares? -- particularly
for a Boxford. Although it is working the lay-shaft in Slick´s lathe is almost done for!
JB.

John, look on e-bay for Boxford spares - should be able to find some within a few miles - if not try 'Griffiths Engineering' Ken

Thanks Ken!
Willco! Shall try both...
Last day I was in the IoM a bloke came in wanting to sell Slick a Myford (7") with all singing-dancing attachments, for 850 quid. Since I´m quite ignorant of modern pricing (haven´t got used to the Euro yet) I insisted on getting the Boxford working. I have used a small Myford and wonder if the offer was a good one.
Take care!

Aye! John B...

I wonder what might have happened to Gravity if Newton had missed discovering it? JB.

Hi Pushrod!
Just got 9 pages of info on Boxford lathes ... Griffiths are loaded woth Boxford...
Thanks again,
Watch out that gravity don´t gettcha!
All the best, JayBee.

Hi John, Glad I could help. Myfords are good, but so are Boxfords - so if you can keep it going it saves you money!
Re gravity: If it hadn't been discovered I think it would have FORCEd itself on our attention by now....

John just as a mater of interest or useless information. Did you know the lathe Tom Miller has in his work shop is the one he served his apprenticeship on. When his company folded and he was made redundant.
The company sold it's stock off and Tom purchased the lathe he worked on as a kid. Don't ask me the make I ain't got a clue.

Hi Ned!
I think we sort of get a liking for some of the lathes we´ve used. The one Slick has was at Wobbleyman´s place at Bride when I showed Slick how to screwcut a thread, in 1987. Really easy to use. I have several stories about Colchester lathes which I really liked. One at Walthamstow Tech when I was a lab technician there. Made loads of things on it for my scrambles and grass bikes. An unused Colchester( identical to the Walthamstow Techs´...) I found in a workshops in Blantyre, Malawi enabled me to get three U/S Datsun saloon cars back on the road in one weekend when they´d been waiting on new spares (from South Africa) for 6 months...!
Uh oh! the stories are too many for here -- but I must include the German (really big sensored!) `Mauser´, it was/is a killer... on one occasion I had a chuck jaw whistle past my left cheek at ' inching´...
What´s with Tom -- is he OK?
Take care -- mind the step, on the way out of the pub...
Cheers!
Aye! JayBee.