Front Brake Plate

Hello everybody, A plea from Ted Smith. I need a D1/D3 front brake plate, either to borrow until Oulten Park meeting, or to buy. If I cannot get this a complete bantam front end on the same basis.

Bloody hell Ted, you learnt how to use a computer How are ya old chap?

Sorry you two -- got you mixed up. Eastern Centre BRC sometime when I was in Canada. Ted Smith is the one with dark hair, specs and moustache, dressed in dark leathers and Mick Jones is the tall one, white fronted leathers, hair looks fairer and has hands in front... in protection-mode.
I had visualised the other way around.
You are tall Mick -- Mr Scutt looks to be a head shorter and even Keith Webb is shorter than you - and I'd always thought Keith was tall.
....
Ok - ok! So I'm taking up valuable space prattling on but that is what CLUBS are all about -- and I can add:
Ey oop! Ted Smith needs a front brake plate.
To the rest of BRC lads -- all the best at Mallory races!

Aye! JayBee.

I can see it's hard to tell me and Ted apart Ye John, i must have been the tallest bantam rider, or any rider around, 6'4" and 12.5 stone. Didn't stop me winning thank god or winning two BRC championships. Funnily enough, i never really found it to be a hindrance and those knees and elbows were really handy in the headbangers class(250 proddy).

Take care

Hi Mick!
You were both on a picture without names so I didn't know which was which.
You must have been a hard... (rider!?) to make the Champ points because tall blokes automatically have a higher Drag-Factor than the little blokes: that is getting all that length tucked in behind the fairing. (Must be a pain...). (Pun...??) The fairing has to be bigger hence 'A', the frontal area is larger... On top of which, is that the rider cannot be all-times squeezed up in that uncomfortable riding position hence 'Lofty' has more time of his body acting like a parachute to the 'bullet shape' time that 'Tich' has.
You can see both these factors in the pic at the top of this site. The tall bloke is definitely at an enormous disadvantage...
The Drag Factor is based on a flat plate, square onto the air-flow, by definition has DF = 1.1 and a parachute has a 1.4 DF...
It's about time a new reg was brought in: little blokes should be banned from ussing a fairing or any for of streamlining...

Ted! Sorry! I really thought you wuz tall and skinny. Why do you need a D1/D3 plate? Pretty ancient ain't they...?
Surely you could knock one up yourself out of an old aluminium frying pan...
Take care and keep well,
Aye! JayBee.

Drag factors? we never worried about that stuff mate, you should know that Just a matter of braking later at the end of the straight and carrying speed. It served me well enough to dice for 3rd's in champ races. 250 proddy was a true headbangers class in those days and no fairings so again it was a matter of "race craft" and muscle. Even in 250 open, i really didn't feel at a disadvantage because of my demon late braking which hauled back whatever i might have lost on the straight. I was also a good wet weather man and won alot of races in those adverse conditions. The 1,000 Kawasaki was a doddle after that, i had more power than i could shake a stick at and alot of big blokes to race against. I kept my old riding style though and would regularly wave my rear wheel at people when braking at the end of the Revetts straight. Funnily enough, i never used my back brake in all my years racing, hard to believe i know but true, it just didn't agree with my riding style.

Take care

Mick!
I was just making the point that on a Bantam the Drag Factor is of utmost interest because the tall bloke, as shown in the picture above this site - #160, is going to need (at least) 15%more torque than Tich, #26 to stay with him (#26).

One thing going for BR Champ Mike Powell is his low DF -- even with his head on backwards -- and when testing & racing borrowed machines. Two pics I've seen -- on an Ariel and a Norton you can hardly see Mike,
he is so well tucked in.
I hated fairings. Felt hemmed in and the engine noises were accentuated.
I was constantly stripping the engine unnecessarilly --always seemed as if the small end was too loose.

Ted! Sorry about the facetious remark re your brake plate --I hope by now you've located one.

Stay cool and keep well!
Aye! JayBee.

Mick I ain't saying you did and I ain't saying you didn't. BUT when I was riding loads of racers told me they never used their back brake so I made a point of feeling their rear hubs after a race. The usual response when I pointed out that the hub was warm, was "I don't really use it, I just feather it to keep the bike in line"
I think most riders use it subconsciously without thinking about it. If you want a good example of how many riders use the back brake. Follow a pack into Mansfield and see all those back wheels skipping. NED

Hi Ned!
So you are still kicking. Good 'un yer mate! Hadn't heard from you for some time -- wuz getting worried...
I was practising at Brands on a Boxíng Day (must have been '67). Both hands were so cold I could barely use the clutch much less the front brake --crazy days! Yeah! I used the back brake a lot -- slid the corners a lot, was never really meant to be a road racer -- got into it by accident anyway...
Back braking: NEVER on Mansfield it was where I passed Tex ... (leave out the surname) every lap and every time in the Club Hairpin he stuck his knee into my thigh -- spitefully.
With Andy's 250 Alpha I had to use both brakes hard because in spite of it being a British Special (mustn't say BITSA) it was very quick.
Of course, because of decelerating weight transfer the back wheel was sometimes off the deck (by three inches...) and the wheel was locked when it got back to the road -- just added to the fun! Bill Lawrence reckoned it was Speedway type riding on road.
Never back-braking in the wet also: just chuck it down and scrub away the speed.
Hey! If you'd got to Nottingham on 17th Feb ... I'd haave bought you that pint I promised in 1981 -- honest!
Good club -- the BRC -- in the old days, weren't it!
Stay cool (was 33°c here yesterday...) and keep well,
Aye, John-Boy.

Yo Ned mate. Honestly mate, hand on my heart, I never used the back brake in eleven seasons. It was like I just didn't accept it was there. If it hadn't have been for scrutineering I probably would have shed some weight and got rid of it altogether.