Old as you feel ?

Only the names have been changed , to protect the innocent !

Overheard in the paddock at a recent BSB meeting .

" Hey Darren , we`re practicing on Wednesday , you coming .... " Nah , can`t , got school , besides too young to drive the van " !

Overheard in the paddock at a recent Bantam meeting.

" Hey Darren , we`re practicing on Wednesday , you coming .... " nah can`t , that`s the day i collect me pension and get the eyes tested " !

What is happening to the world ?!

Don't know.

Sometimes I feel like a 40 year old, problem is I can't get my hands on one !

Ain`t that the truth John !!

The confluence of spirit and flesh is exemplified in those young bloods , going to do battle on their RS Hondas , and the homeguard Bantam boys doing their bit
and rekindling past glories ! Trouble is , i never really had any past glories , so perhaps my epitaph could suggest.........." Well at least he tried " !
But i do have to say that the Bantam Forum does provide a persuasive reason to , keep thinking .

Yours in memorium ? Trevor

Well I am currently dating an eighteen year old!! My mates tell me it could be fatal. But at my age I figure if she dies she dies.

Way to go Ted , way to go , but retain a little energy for racing !!

When a race date is coming up I use a yonger man and some jumb leads.

Careful with the voltage input , you don`t want to blow the old pacemaker , especially with Cadwell coming up !

This last trip to Blighty -- I was on parade at my old army technical school -- weekend before last -- and with the sound of the pipes I was ready to re-enlist. Andy Boyle took us down to Maldon on Saturday last and I saw some blokes renovating boats and wanted to build another ... and at Cadwell on Sunday I was all for doing a remount job... My missus reckons I should see a Shrink -- ASAP!!

Go for it Ted!
CheerS!

I am going for it john, sorry we did not get to chat at Cadwell. I was so happy to be back racing (well it was racing to me) that I was more than likely insufferably happy. I am sorry if I was to over the top but after all that has happened over the last few years it was fantastic to race again.

Wow Ted! A leg-over job again and wonderful resurrection -- we have to give a cheer to medical science...! Congratulations mate!
I too was resurrected long ago -- well, it was several times.
It seems most successful, WORTHWHILE science goes in the medical direction.
We see the same clever stuff in race Bantam preparation and tuning -- too.

I must get back into proper PT training again and re-forge my birth certificate to join you. Pity I didn´t get around enough at Cadwell to see you (and others) but the rumbling gut (why am I all-times hungry?) had me seeking those big greasy chips and the desire to see all those ancient machines in action and the dutiful attendance to the other-half*** -- used up all the available short time we were there.

It was fantastic to be chauffeured to Cadwell from Chelmsford by Sir Andrew Boyle himself -- to be be met and guided by Sir Peter Tibbitts to the Essex lads (we include Ian & the Browns in this because they really belong to our lot...) to have 44 YEARS drop away as Sticky Mick greeted me. The grey hair and wrinkles (mine as well) vanished with the sight of bright eyes sparkling as he squatted by a Bantam and looked up at me with that huge grin which instantly generated the memory of Sticky squatting in my Barking garage way back in the past of Robbie Winston´s time. The enthusiasm was overwhelming -- I felt the need to borrow leathers, crash hat and a bike -- and then saw the Ned querying JayBee again -- looking at me with the suspicion of a grin and that fatherly look he often gives me, that says, "Remember the ides of Snetterton '81 Parade, John-Boy....?!" I still haven´t bought Ned that pint I owe him.

Mick was so uplifted by his Bantam engine´s performance I thought for a moment I´d have to be jumping up and down with him. I´ll not mention the power he reckons he´s getting because of possible rhetorical reactions and all that sort of thing -- and we all agreed that computer simulation is possibly far better than my cruddy theortetical outbursts which very few understand. Then somehow we slipped into "the theory of clutch-slip, torque-multiplication ... which had me thinking 'Cheessuss JayBee you are giving them the old Bullshine again..."

But it is true. If the engine is running at a speed on the pipe where it gives its maximum torque -- be it many thousands of revolution per minute -- and the cltuch is slipped there is a torque (or Tractive Effort at the rear wheel) multiplication that is similar to a fluid flywheel (automatic transmission) effect. The latter is the reason for automatic transmission cars being heavier on fuel consumption than manual transmission cars.
If you look at the torque curve of an automatic transmission car you´ll see that at the low speeds the torque is higher than the torque curve´s maximum torque as it slips during the transmission take-up to solid drive within the fluid flywheel.

Its all to do with `Conservation of energy (Sir Andrew Boyle)´ and mechanical advantage of variable-ratio transmission which ignore economical fuel consumption....

I always get the feeling I am in a different world when I am at Cadwell ... Its going from the flatland of Cambridge and the Fens to suddenly having hills rolling into each other and I have the feeling of rushing down from Park to Mansfield -- my favourite corner of all race tracks -- to scrub away speed and really feel the g force trying to defeat me -- just as if I am really racing....

*** I thought I´d done enough by publicly shouting at Irmy, "I love you" thinking the effect would last a good 24 hours and found the reality was about a tenth of that! But she was very understanding about us... She said, "It is a marvellous thing to see: these middle-aged men getting so seriously enthusiastic about their precious machines and frantically working on them with loving care." It was the cold windy shower that really got to her... She really loves the smell of unburnt methanol on the air -- Come to think of it -- so do I.

Sorry this is so long,

Take care!
Cheers!

BSB, meeting at Silverstone .

One of the young , schoolboy bloods of 14 yrs old was timed on his RS Honda at 123mph !
The fastest RS , with all of the trick ( expensive ) add ons , was 126mph .

At my sedentary , pensionable age i`ll stick to Bantam tinkering !