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| #1  06-Jun-2005, 19:45 | ||||
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| Domski\'s CC thesis Intro Well, following on from a disastrous start at Cadwell, we would be competing at Castle Combe with yet another incarnation of our DD racer, a partially healed radius and 2 boxes of painkillers. Louigi had been working his nuts off to get the bike ready following my spill at Cadwell, he also fitted a 620 engine and got it running on carbs! The bike was finished late on Thursday night, and whisked off to Pembrey for a trackday the following day, on which Louigi instructed. This was the only chance we had to run the bike before Castle Combe, and we weren’t even sure if it would work – It did, but it had issues. The engine was running very lean and not revving. We only had the carbs off the old engine, and they were set-up to run on the 675. Meanwhile, my brother Dan and I had spent 4 hours doing an 80 min journey! The M5 was a car park and it took us an hour to do our first 8 miles!! We finally arrived at 5pm and parked up next to CK and AK. I really wasn’t in the mood to get the marquee set-up after our journey, so thought I’d wait for the posse to arrive (tee hee). Ali and Sara were first in, followed soon after by Phil, Kelly and Fordie. We got the marquee up (with help from loads of other peeps too – thank you all) and Fordie got his industrial BBQ out. Before you could say “grubs up” we were surrounded by fellow DD’ers and the evening passed by quite nicely. Louigi dropped the bike off late on Friday night, and decided to come back early on race day to fit larger main jets in the hope we could get the new motor singing. I woke up at 6.45am (urgh!) and dragged myself out of the van to get the bike scrutineered before Louigi arrived to fiddle with the carbs. I made a mental note to keep an eye on Mr Payne for the remainder of the day, as he was suspiciously fast to scrutineering and was about the first one through  Half an hour later we were finally scrute’d and then only had to stand around for another 15 mins to be noise tested – who said it was all champagne and roses  Louigi then fitted the only jets he had for the carbs and we were off for un-timed practice. Free Practice The first lap out I knew we would be up against it  the bike wouldn’t rev at all, and I had to short shift everywhere. The bike was also popping and banging all the way round, so I came in after 3 laps so Louigi could have a look and hopefully sort something out for the very next session on track which was Sound of Thunder practice.A quick plug change helped with the popping and farting, but the bike still didn’t rev and the gearing was wrong also. I was getting demoralised quickly as I was hoping for a good weekend and a couple of top 6 finishes with the new engine. My arm was holding up fairly well and was only an issue on the brakes and into Quarry, where a lot of weight is on your left arm. Qualifying We changed the gearing in the short break before qualifying, and it helped a lot. I was still in top gear before the start/finish line, and losing so much time on the run down to Avon Rise and Quarry. I was struggling to stay with Kev Ellis in a straight line on his 583. At least the bike handled perfectly and I didn’t notice any of the bumps that others were complaining about. I qualified in 15th spot, which was disappointing. In the SoT session I only did 4 laps just to get a grid slot and my time was 2 seconds faster without trying!! (Which would have put me on row 2) Bloody racing. Race 1 I got my customary good start and was up in to about 10th place through the kink (on the straight), but got totally mullered on the drag to Quarry, where the under revving 620 just got gobbled up be everyone. I came around in 15th place and in a gaggle of about 8 riders. I was just about able to hang on to my place down the straight, although I’d often have a bike or two run along side me. I was held up in the corners and getting frustrated. Then it got a bit silly with Antony E deciding he’d had enough and ejected coming out of Camp corner, the same lap I overdid it into the second chicane and launched the rear end in to the air and had to go straight on, losing 4 places and 2 corners later Tony tried to shortcut Camp corner and I thought he was going to have a quick one, but managed to hold on to the bike and not even lose a place – top save big man I struggled to make an impression on anyone around me, and just yo-yoed between the bike in front and the bike behind as we went though corners and straights. I finished in 14th spot and wanted to go home. I think I moaned too much at Louigi and to be fair it wasn’t his fault, he didn’t have time to set the bike up and it’s taking up way too much of his time at the moment. It’s just the competitive spirit in me wanting to win. I felt like a boxer with one arm. We’ll get it sorted before Snett. Race 2 If race one was a disaster then race two was off the scale. I missed the warm up lap and had to start from row 9!! I took it steady on the first lap, coz I would have really looked like a right arse if I fallen off on cold tyres having missed the warm up lap. I just took it steady and worked my way through the field until I got to a huge gap and rode around in 20th place for the last six laps. What next? The bike gets dyno’d on Thursday and if it revs to 9000 and makes 60bhp then I’ll be retiring I’ll let you guys know – unless it makes 70bhp by the end of the dyno session, and then I’ll tell you different :P See you all at Snett – You’re all superstars!!  |
| #3 06-Jun-2005, 20:38 | ||||
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| Don't get too concerned dude, you'll have plenty of time to get on the pace, but this season may have to be treated as a setup season. I'll certainly be treating it that way after leapfrogging my way down the standings! You're also likely to end up with the best prepared bike in the pits, tailored to your needs by one of the most imaginative mechanics in the country. I'd give my eye teeth and various other body parts to start next season with a well setup Louigi bike. So don't worry, it's not a question of if, just when.  Nick; the carbs are the only option unless you have the full loom, ignition barrel, ecu, coils, etc, etc, etc..... the list is endless and expensive, and that engine didn't come with any of the above! Cheers, Ali |
| #4 06-Jun-2005, 22:00 | ||||
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| Thanks guys. Louigi and I have talked at length about this, and it would be easy to drop this bike and go buy a new 620, but both of us agreed that we want to stick with the hybrid and conquer all... how amazing would that be!! I think that's more in keeping with the spirit of the series too. Louigi is a genius with the spanners, and we've only been let down by parts that he hasn't built. If I hadn't chucked it down the track at Cadwell, he would have had time to sort things out, so it's my fault really - t wat! If it never works out, then I can make a fortune by writing an excuse book :P  |
| #5 06-Jun-2005, 22:44 | ||||
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| Quote:
exactly AK's comments. I suggested to him about the 'full monty 620' but he wants to adapt & progress the 600  looks like more home alone nights for muggins if he gets to do it C |
domski
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