Just booked this - one of those real gambles - me and a mate will drive down with bikes on trailer in the morning from Manchester - its a social day out. Yes it could be wet , cold etc. but could also be dry, bright and 5 - 8' - who knows! At least the Blade has got heated grips to keep me going - think the Aldi Thermals will def. be in use! The bike rebuild / repairs can wait a bit longer (it looks a right mess anyway!)
I usualy fancy this but for the past 10 years it seems like it is full on sleet or ice .I am hoping to get over to the Pondarosea cafe in Wales which will be open as i did it last year they had snow in the week but on Boxing daty no snow and it was fine so fingers x If its iffy then no big deal i will sit by the fire and roast my chestnuts .
I was thinking of trying this one but not sure if the exhaust will get through sound testing. I've got a quiet baffle fitted, but it's hard to say how quiet it actually makes it. I remember being turned away from Castle Coombe many years ago with a standard R1.
Well, the day is almost sold out, and the weather forecast for tomorrow is about as good it could be - Leicester Weather: 5 Day Forecast - Met Office If that link works, for 12:00 it shows full sunshine! Will post up report - bike got baffle in for the 98db limit - sounds silent! Not looking forward to early start mind!
I was thinking of going along and getting the bike noise tested before commiting myself, I'm not sure if it's going to be inside the noise limit. However it looks like the day is almost fully booked so I've paid upfront. Fingers crossed the exhaust gets through okay. I had planned to enter in the novice group as I've not yet ridden the bike... (it's not moved under it's own power since I've owned it.) My very first ride will be down the pit lane and as the novice and Inter groups are full, I'm in the fast group! It's been almost 10 years since I've worn my leathers, so I'm looking forward to this. Pete
Pete - Only just seen your reply, I'd have come and said hello if I knew you were down. For me the day was OK, first session very wet and cold track somebody binned just after Gerrards and put oil on track - while lined up said to mate - 'Its gonna be a short session, its soaking wet , we've not got wets on lets get a brew' After about 20 mins they got a full session! Next was still damp but drying track in Sunshine - then it stopped for lunch at 12:30 and Inters were first out at 13:00 to a track with a dry line ALL THE WAY ROUND - it was dry for Novice but then it rained when Fast were out. For next session track still damp when a lad on a mint 2008 Green ZX6 dropped it just before Edwinas - guess he turned in while still braking - I watched his bike go spinning round and session red flagged. Sat in pit lane waiting for re-start I thought 'I'll pass on this again' and went for a brew. Rain stopped so for final session I went back out and there was dry line again round 'most' of the track - Gerrards esp was dry. All in all for £45 with a decent lunch I had a good value day - early start as drove down with mate with both bikes on trailer - minimal fuel used and £20 in diesel each to get there. Almost all track bikes had wets on and they were having a ball. I rode like captain slow - chap on a CBR600F passed me and I could not keep up, but hey ho, bikes intact and so is pride - on back of today going to book Oulton on the 15th Feb at £55 and hope for similar type of day.
When you go to Oulton just watch the back end of the track after the second chicane as it's slippy when dry, let alone when it's cold or wet!
Well that was about as perfect a day as I could have hoped for in December at Mallory Park with No Limits. Arrived before 8am and set up near the top of the paddock near to the track. The wind was blowing strongly accross the lake from the directions of Gerrards and anchoring the awning was going to be a challenge. Thankfully another rider with a 2011 CBR1000RR came over as my pal Neil and I were setting up and suggested I parked nearer to him and used his van to tie one side to. This worked a treat and I was really glad of the protection the now secure awning provided throughout the day. Once set-up and with the tyre warmers fitted, I walked down to the Paddock Cafe where Clare from No Limits was signing riders on. This process only took a few minutes and went smoothly despite only booking in using the excellent on-line facility on Saturday evening. When I mentioned that I only entered in the fast group as the other groups were full, Clare offered me a place in the Novice group, I was tempted but something made me stay in the fast group which turned out to be a good move. Following the rider briefing, riders made their way to the noise testing. This was a nervous moment as I had no idea how noisy the bike was. I'd learnt inthe past that it was a good move to be near the front of the queue so that background noise was kept to a minimum. Fortunately this paid-off and the result was just 91dba with the baffle fitted (I tried again later with the baffle out and the result was still only 97dba.) The Fast group was out first and I was near the front. Following the Instructors, we completed two or three sighting laps at a steady pace. Despite having owned my 05 CBR for a couple of months, (and taking most of it apart) this was my first ride on the bike. Fortunatley it behaved just as you would expect (hope) a Honda Fireblade to and did just what it said onthe box. It felt strange to be back in my old racing leathers after a nine year lay-off, so I went faster.... slowly! Getting a feel for the conditions, the first session passed without incident for me, although one rider did touch the white line and slide off at the esses. Each of the three groups had 20 minutes on track, the down-time passed quickly. Visor cleaned, bike refuelled, tyres warmed and before I knew it, the fast group was being called for the second session. This time I was keen to start reducing the lap times and pressed on a little harder. Even though I was starting to try, I was still amazed how fast the Instructors were going. It made me realise that I was well within my limits. I had no excuse, my bike was good, my tyres were good, yet I couldn't keep up with the fast guys. Room for improvement still! I wasn't being timed (as that's not premitted on track days) but it 'felt' like 1'11" laps. Everyone was really friendly although rather cold, there was a real mixture of machines and abilities in the paddock and quite a number of riders who had ridden to the track on the road. I have to say that would have been beyond the call of duty on such a cold day in December, hats off to those riders. The thrid session and the one just before lunch came round and a dry line was forming. I almost switched to dry tyres but chose to stay on wets and ride off-line where I could, this proved the right move. This was to be my fastest session of the day, with a best guess lap of 1'06.2". The rear wet did start to move around towards the end and showed some sign of wear. During the lunch break I swapped to the dry Pirelli tyres and took the chance to get out of my leathers, they still fit me but I brough them in 2000 so they're not as comfortable as they once were, now middle age spread has set in. Changing to dry tyres turned out to be the wrong move as three laps into first afternoon session the rain returned and the lovely dry line disappeared. It just about gave me time to scrub in the tyres before it came down but not set any decent lap times. The rear was spinning coming out of the esses upto the hairpin and my limited ability suddenly seemed.... limited! Back in the paddock, many riders were calling it a day, but despite the wet I was having a great time, it was like putting back the clock 20 years. Suddenly I was convinced I was in my 30's again. I could have gone on all day, but all too soon the call for the final session of the day came out over the pa system and we were on the track for the last time. As I had been accustomed to, the Instructors were still circulating as fast as before. For a brief moment I considered giving it a huge effort to keep up, and pulled along side two of them into the hairpin. It was three abreast into the bus-stop chicane but not suprisingly it was me that came out third! Great fun but I had to tell myself that I needed to be at work Monday morning and not to do anything silly in the last session of the day. I was content to finish the day by chasing down another rider on a new shape R1, he took some catching as we were evenly matched. It took me three or four laps to close on him making my move into Edwina's bend. I was grinning from ear to ear inside my helmet, but he got his own back a few moments later as we came down Devils Elbow for the final time, with the chequered flag in sight, my CBR started to misfire and run out of fuel and he pipped me to the line. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun! Thanks a million to No Limits for a great day out, £45 including a meal is a bargain, thanks to Mallory Park for providing such a friendly circuit (even if the facilities remain unchanged in the last 30 years) and a big thank you to my pal Neil who helped me out on the day. Incidentally I used £20 of fuel and completed 70 laps inthe five sessions, my fastest lap was a steady -only a guess you understand ;-) one minute six seconds on a drying track using wets. I went home safe and my CBR1000RR survived to star another day. I'm really looking forward to the next event with No Limits. Yours in Sport. Pete
