cmcracing

Rookie season news from 2009.

All the latest news stories from my rookie year are posted here. It's probably useful for anyone thinking of starting to race, as I've to keep a blog of all events, experiences and what I've learnt through the process. You can then hopefully avoid the mistakes I've made!

In the meantime, if you have any specific questions please contact me and I'll do my best to answer. If I get some useful information I'll put up an FAQ section on my site.

Many thanks - Chris

August 2008

Purchased a CBR400RR NC29

It was owned by a chap racing in the F400 Derby Phoenix Championship (Trystan), who was moving up to the 600 class. It came with quite a few spares, wets and so on and was finished in British Racing Green with a Ducati 749 Fairing. Needed a little tidying but apart from that the bike seemed mechanically sound.

Spares included: brake pads,battery, filters, levers, bars, fork seals, end can (standard type), fairing brace, ignition coils, renthal grips, crash bobins, generator (for the total loss), fork springs, spare rear shock spring (harder), full range of sprockets and a number of spare fairings that needed sorting out and tidying up.

August 2008

First test session at Cadwell Park.

I didn't time myself properly but a friend trackside timed me in the early 1m 50's during one session, which wasn't too bad considering the traffic and inability to pass larger bikes on the straights.

The battery packed up mid-afternoon (it runs total loss - no flywheel) so I did the remaining two sessions on the Firestorm. It was interesting to change bikes and styles completely. I tend to square off corners on the storm but after only a couple of laps I got back into it (plus, it was slightly more comfortable than the 400 with it's race positioned rearsets - which I've never experienced) and much smaller dimensions!

Probably the biggest thing I learned, was to carry the corner speed as much as possible. Where I 'point 'n' squirt' on the 1000, on the 400 (as It doesn't have much power) I was trying to keep momentum, braking less and trusting the handling (which seemed very promising).

On the Firestorm (with the more upright positioning) I have to hang off in order to get my knee down even then the pegs start scraping early on. With the 400 I found I didn't need to hang off at all (although it took me a few sessions to realise!).

peterwileman photography

October 2008

Second test session at Snetterton

Unbelievably the weather (for October) was absolutely fantastic, around the 21 Degrees mark all day with not a cloud in the sky! I hadn't done another track day since August as I got married in September and for some reason my partner didn't want me doing a track day close to the big day in case I ended up walking down the aisle on crutches . .

Snetterton isn't the ideal track for a 400 with the long back straight and distinct lack of tight corners but it's local and I felt I needed another session with the bike. All was well weather-wise but during the first session, on about my third lap, I entered Riches and the rear came right round attempting to overtake me . . ! - I managed (more luck than skill) to counter steer out of it and kept it ( just about ) on track - give or take a few inches - and carried on. I assumed that as I hadn't bought tyre warmers yet the tyres were a little cold. The next marshal’s post was waving a red flag (session stopped) so I assumed there was an incident on track and carried on round to go back to the paddock. However, I was flagged down by the next marshal who pointed at my bike telling me that I was dropping oil everywhere.

When I looked in the belly pan, I noticed that it wasn't oil, but water. It was steaming on the pipes so it probably looked like oil to everyone else.

When the marshal transported me back to the track I stripped the bike down and found the fault was a pipe connected to the oil filter, a Jubilee clip had come off and the water was pouring out into the pan and through a hole at the back straight under my rear wheel. At least I knew why I had the slide! The rest of the day was good, there were a lot of fast thou's on track but I didn't mind being overtaken on the straights (the tracks plenty big enough) and I managed to catch up again on the brakes and mid-corner.

I didn't time myself but in the afternoon a friend timed a couple of laps at around 1 Min 20's - It'll be interesting to see how I progress when I start racing here.

Rawaction photography

November 2008

Race HQ is aquired! - A cheap caravan was sourced and chosen for it's particular layout. The plan is to Angle grind the back section out below the window and Install a drop-down type ramp in the space.

Then we can load two bikes straight in on aluminium plates and transport - once at the track we can then unload into the new LTS sponsored marquee and still have somewhere to drink. I mean sleep...

Thanks Jon Tester and Sean at www.callaghanengineering.co.uk for his help and support!

January 2009

Thanks to Oli for all his hard work over Christmas and the new year, the bike has been refreshed and given a complete service.

New Chain, New brake pistons, pads etc. Everything checked and cleaned before the start of the season.

Thanks also to Sean for getting the paint job sorted out! - It's looking much better in Stealth black and with the new Honda fairing supplied by A&R.

Thanks also to Cambridge Motorcycles for Dyno Testing the bike. It produced 61.4BHP which isn't too bad for a lightly tuned bike.

The next outing will be the Brands Hatch School on the 21st to give it a run.

James' bike needs a little more work before the season starts. Fundementally It's all there, but the carbs need setting up as it was only producing 45.5BHP on the DynoRun due to the engine popping and banging.

I'm sure Sean will be able to get this sorted out before the first race! - Otherwise James may have a valid excuse for not beating Chris on the first outing!

February 2009

Brands Hatch CTC Course.

Bemsee run a rookie course for new racers involving a Saturday school day (teaching, flags, race etiquette, rules and regulations etc.) and then on Sunday track day tuition with an ACU Instructor.

We met a few rookie's and characters around the paddock and generally had a good day! - On track our Instructor Phil Polden taught us the 400 racing lines around Brands, suggested braking points, body positioning and we also got to practice starts from the grid.
Both bikes (and riders) stayed upright and lasted the weekend!

Now we have our ACU licences it's only a couple of weeks until the first race!


		Rookie season news from 2009. All the latest news stories from my rookie year are posted here. It's probably useful for anyone thinking of starting to race, as I've to keep a blog of all events, experiences and what I've learnt through the process. You can then hopefully avoid the mistakes I've made! In the meantime, if you have any specific questions please contact me and I'll do my best to answer. If I get some useful information I'll put up an FAQ section on my site. Many thanks - Chris
August 2008 Purchased a CBR400RR NC29 It was owned by a chap racing in the F400 Derby Phoenix Championship (Trystan), who was moving up to the 600 class. It came with quite a few spares, wets and so on and was finished in British Racing Green with a Ducati 749 Fairing. Needed a little tidying but apart from that the bike seemed mechanically sound. Spares included: brake pads,battery, filters, levers, bars, fork seals, end can (standard type), fairing brace, ignition coils, renthal grips, crash bobins, generator (for the total loss), fork springs, spare rear shock spring (harder), full range of sprockets and a number of spare fairings that needed sorting out and tidying up.

August 2008 First test session at Cadwell Park. I didn't time myself properly but a friend trackside timed me in the early 1m 50's during one session, which wasn't too bad considering the traffic and inability to pass larger bikes on the straights. The battery packed up mid-afternoon (it runs total loss - no flywheel) so I did the remaining two sessions on the Firestorm. It was interesting to change bikes and styles completely. I tend to square off corners on the storm but after only a couple of laps I got back into it (plus, it was slightly more comfortable than the 400 with it's race positioned rearsets - which I've never experienced) and much smaller dimensions! Probably the biggest thing I learned, was to carry the corner speed as much as possible. Where I 'point 'n' squirt' on the 1000, on the 400 (as It doesn't have much power) I was trying to keep momentum, braking less and trusting the handling (which seemed very promising). On the Firestorm (with the more upright positioning) I have to hang off in order to get my knee down even then the pegs start scraping early on. With the 400 I found I didn't need to hang off at all (although it took me a few sessions to realise!).	peterwileman photography

October 2008 Second test session at Snetterton Unbelievably the weather (for October) was absolutely fantastic, around the 21 Degrees mark all day with not a cloud in the sky! I hadn't done another track day since August as I got married in September and for some reason my partner didn't want me doing a track day close to the big day in case I ended up walking down the aisle on crutches . . Snetterton isn't the ideal track for a 400 with the long back straight and distinct lack of tight corners but it's local and I felt I needed another session with the bike. All was well weather-wise but during the first session, on about my third lap, I entered Riches and the rear came right round attempting to overtake me . . ! - I managed (more luck than skill) to counter steer out of it and kept it ( just about ) on track - give or take a few inches - and carried on. I assumed that as I hadn't bought tyre warmers yet the tyres were a little cold. The next marshal’s post was waving a red flag (session stopped) so I assumed there was an incident on track and carried on round to go back to the paddock. However, I was flagged down by the next marshal who pointed at my bike telling me that I was dropping oil everywhere. When I looked in the belly pan, I noticed that it wasn't oil, but water. It was steaming on the pipes so it probably looked like oil to everyone else. When the marshal transported me back to the track I stripped the bike down and found the fault was a pipe connected to the oil filter, a Jubilee clip had come off and the water was pouring out into the pan and through a hole at the back straight under my rear wheel. At least I knew why I had the slide! The rest of the day was good, there were a lot of fast thou's on track but I didn't mind being overtaken on the straights (the tracks plenty big enough) and I managed to catch up again on the brakes and mid-corner. I didn't time myself but in the afternoon a friend timed a couple of laps at around 1 Min 20's - It'll be interesting to see how I progress when I start racing here.	Rawaction photography
November 2008 Race HQ is aquired! - A cheap caravan was sourced and chosen for it's particular layout. The plan is to Angle grind the back section out below the window and Install a drop-down type ramp in the space. Then we can load two bikes straight in on aluminium plates and transport - once at the track we can then unload into the new LTS sponsored marquee and still have somewhere to drink. I mean sleep... Thanks Jon Tester and Sean at www.callaghanengineering.co.uk for his help and support!	Rawaction photography
January 2009 Thanks to Oli for all his hard work over Christmas and the new year, the bike has been refreshed and given a complete service. New Chain, New brake pistons, pads etc. Everything checked and cleaned before the start of the season. Thanks also to Sean for getting the paint job sorted out! - It's looking much better in Stealth black and with the new Honda fairing supplied by A&R. Thanks also to Cambridge Motorcycles for Dyno Testing the bike. It produced 61.4BHP which isn't too bad for a lightly tuned bike. The next outing will be the Brands Hatch School on the 21st to give it a run.

James' bike needs a little more work before the season starts. Fundementally It's all there, but the carbs need setting up as it was only producing 45.5BHP on the DynoRun due to the engine popping and banging. I'm sure Sean will be able to get this sorted out before the first race! - Otherwise James may have a valid excuse for not beating Chris on the first outing!

February 2009 Brands Hatch CTC Course. Bemsee run a rookie course for new racers involving a Saturday school day (teaching, flags, race etiquette, rules and regulations etc.) and then on Sunday track day tuition with an ACU Instructor. We met a few rookie's and characters around the paddock and generally had a good day! - On track our Instructor Phil Polden taught us the 400 racing lines around Brands, suggested braking points, body positioning and we also got to practice starts from the grid. Both bikes (and riders) stayed upright and lasted the weekend! Now we have our ACU licences it's only a couple of weeks until the first race!