RearShocks

No problem Ed hopefully we'll see your dad springing around on them at Mallory )

Hi Mike,


The wobbling round on that one will probably be next year, dad is going to send the registration off for the red one in the week but will miss mallory due to cut off date this year.


Regards


Eddie

Ed, what do you mean by cut off date ? If you mean the bike's not been given it's eligibility cert in time or anything else come to that, it should not stop you entering and your dad riding ?? You would be welcomed by the club and all the current Bantam crew whatsoever your status

Hi Mike,


Well we dont know about these things, only going on what the form says that we are filling in and as the bike has never been registered before it says we cannot race without being issued a number so havent entered it for mallory but we are gonna go there to test.



Kind Regards



Eddie

Hi edd
You don't have to have the card to be able to enter or race just hand/email/post the form off to Gerry and put a note in with the regs. They won't stop u riding

Ian

Hi Ian/Mike/All,


Dad has made the decision not to enter at mallory, im sure that it would be nice to get another bantam out on the grid (even if it is so that you can all practice your overtaking ). We want to be safe for ourselves and other riders and as dad has never raced, ridden a circuit and the fact the bike has never been run properly whilst with us we want to test it first and be confident that both are able to do so.


Kind Regards


Eddie

Sound thinking Eddie. It would be good to see more Bantams out there but it's better that your not letting your hearts rule your heads.

Best to practice first Ed...
...
When I first road-raced I realised how completely different it was from previous scramble, grass-track racing and Speedway practice.

For one thing I felt really uncomfortable*** and that was even though I´d put in a good hundred laps at Brands Hatch on Practice Days. Thing was I had no intention, when building Icarus-One, of actually racing it. I went practising to get the exhaust pipe right, the pistons the right shape (I´d run-in two pistons during 4 half-hour sessions --of so called practice) and getting other things right and it was only when we couldn´t get a `jockey´ that I decided to have a go.

Even then my first experience of being second from last and feeling really odd on that weird little machine -- frightfully uncomfortable, bumping along that horrible Snetterton ex-airfield surface -- with that gutless little machine, which needed excessively high revs and much clutch slip to get it even moving at a respectable speed -- nearly finished it off ...

The other riders might seem nice blokes in the beer tent but out on the race track they are beastly animals -- pushing and shoving, even kicking ... -- So rather than put yourselves OFF by getting into the mellee of a race I´d advise a bit of practice first....

*** Narrow bars, (clip-ons as they are known) and perched high on high footrests
in the frog-like pose -- awful!!

Very sensible decision we all look forward to seeing you out when the time
is right for you Ed

It's good that you going to practice first get all the little probs that will appear on a new build out the way first so when race day comes around you know it's sorted and can enjoy the ride

Good Morning Gents,


Thanks for the kind words and support, we are gonna use the red one (stop laughing nick & james ) so that dad can get used to riding and being on a track on a test day and hopefully get it in a race whilst trying to finish the real project.


Kind Regards



Eddie

At the beginning I wondered why I´d bothered ...

Bantam racing, I mean...

Riding a 3-speed Bantam with it power-band beginning at 5,500 rpm and ending -- positivly ending, that is -- at 8,400rpm seemed an almost impossible task... And to remotely think of being competitive a sort of weird (unreal) dream.
It took some time for me to get used to the idea that keeping the revs in that power-band was the most important aspect of all....

...and there I was complaining when other folk had a narrower power band -- higher up than mine and not so much torque....

It all came together nicely in the end part of the first season. We had a second go at Thruxton and that was marvellous.
I really enjoyed Bnatam Racing after that but sadly we never had Thruxton again....

Forget to do it earlier: Congratulations to Ian on 4 wins at Lydden and that cliff-hanger of a battle with Nick B in the Fred Launchberry race: I keep playing it again, just to see if Nick really stays on after hitting the gravel....

Cheers!

Well it certainly will all be a learning curve to us but i think that will be part of the fun of it.



Eddie