On The Edge
Racing
02 April 2009 19:52 - Nick Robinson
We finished the rebuild in February, but were delayed in getting out to practice as we were waiting for the ignition modules to come back from being upgraded.
The rebuild was largely straightforward, other than bleeding the brakes. I guess that's a consequence of having 8 feet long brake lines that run horizontally! By the end of day two of brake bleeding, I was nearly suicidal, and Andy had taken to drink.
The bodywork was sprayed metallic black by a friend of the team, who happens to run a bus manufacturing company, I bet the sprayer found the job a little small after spending most day's painting double deckers!
When we got the bodywork back from the bus man, we sent it to Stuart at Coates Signs in Sheffield, who did a superb job of the stripes and lettering. I know it's in Yamaha livery, but Shelli wanted it that way, as it matches her favourite T Shirt.
When we tried fitting the, now pristine, bodywork, we discovered that we needed to cut away the bottom of the fairing in order to clear the new silencer, a titanium Micron race item kindly donated by Richard and Nick Davies. This was sorted with deft use of an angle grinder! The Micron is a little larger than the one fitted when we bought the bike, but it will keep the dreaded noise meter man happy.
When we got the ignition modules back, we attempted to fire the bike up by bump-starting it down the lane, but with a newly built engine this was highly unsuccessful. The ignition doesn't fire until the engine is turning over at 250 RPM, and we were never going to be able to achieve this by pushing alone, so we adjourned to the pub until we could purchase some starting rollers.
A couple of days later the bike was started using the new rollers and Andy's newly purchased car. I don't know who was more concerned, me about my newly rebuilt engine, or Andy, fretting about his car.
We ran the engine with the plugs out for about 10 minutes, just to pump the oil round and loosen up the engine as much as possible, then we fitted the plugs and went for it for real.
After a couple of large backfires and a bit of spitting and banging, the bike fired up cleanly, sending children, dogs and sheep running in all directions..........It's the most excitement Birley Edge has seen for years!
Once we were happy that the engine was OK, a test day was booked at Mallory Park for the following Wednesday.
We got down to Mallory Park in plenty of time to sign on and queue to get into the paddock, and then set about finding somewhere to park. We found an enclave of fellow classic sidecar teams parked at the top of the paddock and joined them. Grant and Ian Tapsell were their with the Triplebrew Trident, along with Andy and Chris with their newly acquired Triumph Twin and Mike Bellaby with his new Weslake outfit and equally new passenger (so new, in fact, that he doesn't have a name yet!). It was nice to see Mike again, as I raced against him, with the CRMC, back in early 90's..........it's strange that we've both chosen the same year to have another go after such a long break.
Our bike started relatively easily by pushing it, but Andy and Chris were having problems getting the twin running, so the On The Edge rollers were put to good use, and it fired up OK after a couple of attempts. All of the classic lads (and lass) were now ready for the first session...............
Session 1.
We did 4 laps and everything went really well, although we were keeping the revs down on the newly rebuilt engine. Towards the end of lap 4 we pulled in to adjust the clutch that was slipping slightly. Shelli was happy that the time in the gym had paid off, while I was wishing that I'd gone with her!
Andy and I adjusted the clutch, while Shelli checked the oil and the water etc.
Grant and Ian were also adjusting their clutch, while Andy and Chris were putting some air in the front tyre and wishing they had fitted a steering damper (their bike looked a bit lively as we passed them going into Edwinas!). Mike came and scrounged some brake fluid, I don't know what he wanted it for, maybe he wanted to drink it????
After a cup of coffee and a natter with the rest of the teams we were ready for session 2.
Session 2.
Again, we did 4 laps, with no problems other than a strange chatter from the front end when I used the foot brake.
We checked the brakes, but couldn't find anything amiss. We also adjusted the gear lever, as I am a little short in the leg compared to Ray, the previous owner. (in fact I an a little short in the leg compared to everyone except Toulouse-Lautrec). Mike had a straight forward run, as did Andy and Chris, but the Triplebrew lads bike managed to blow a pushrod oil seal, signaling an end to their day.
Session 3.
Another 3 laps and other than the front-end chatter no problems. The session was stopped early as a Formula 2 outfit was parked at the Hairpin in a pool of oil, which was liberally sprinkled with bits of aluminium!We again checked all of the brakes but couldn't find anything wrong, so we had more coffee and waited for session 4.
Session 4.
Everything went well until we came out the Devil's Elbow at the end of the first lap. I opened the throttle and.................nothing! The fuel pump had died. We'll order an new one, then it's Pembrey, here we come!
Mike also pulled out of this session, as he had sheared a drive belt.
Shelli will let you know how we get on in Wales.
All the best
Nick