RD250

Being a working machine was one thing but there was no arguing that she was the ugly duckling on the Snetterton 16 paddock. It was time for some new clothes. Tank I decided to treat myself to a TZ style race tank from  scooternbikedeals  who was selling at a good price and had 2050 feedback. Unfortunately he was having difficulty with his supplier right up to the point that the 90 days of eBay support ran out and he suddenly forgot how to reply to emails. eBay did its usual shrug and walk away thing and I lost a load of money.  Fuck you  scooternbikedeals . Fairings From Shop to Paint Shop On a brighter note; I had got my mits on some fairings. We had some faf trying various places to see who would do us a deal on a large order of fairings. This turned into finding someone who hadn't sold their entire stock at the Newark bike show! I very nearly bought a Maxton fairing from Bardney racing but the shop owner had wondered off leaving his locked out ...

The bike wasn't ready, neither was I for that matter, but it was time for my first race of the 2016 season. It would also be my last... Friday Afternoon The bike and a lot of spare parts that would be essential in making the bike go were bundled into a trailer for the drive to Snetterton race circuit in Norfolk. Camp setup is always a pain but having to build the bike as well would make my Friday even longer. Thankfully we had opted to share half of a garage which would prove to be invaluable for nearly the whole team that weekend.  I had to: Fit a borrowed exhaust, see if the bike even starts, tune the fueling, get the bike through scrutineer,, learn the race track, more to the point learn how to race, maybe actually sign up to race? I had lots to do and that doesn't even take into account sorting out my own needs for which a good supply of beer and BBQ would need to be prepared. I had managed to get the wire locking done the night before on the bits ...

back in 2014 I got dragged into helping a group of lads race at the  Belgium classic TT Gedinne. 2 years late I find myself alongside them. Well maybe a little behind.... I have been riding since I was old enough to hold a licence and have loved all things mechanical since I was big enough to care. Ricing had always been a far away dream that people with lots of spare time and money did. People associate motorcycling with me; so every so often opportunities come up to do odd and interesting things. One of these events was spannering and photographer for the RAFMSA at the Belgium classic TT Gedinne. I would be working on a line up of RD250's (one a maxton) and an RD400. I had no real interest in 70's air cooled 2 strokes but I was doing a favour and bikes were involved so why not? A healthy combination of good people and motorcycles was a winning combo for me. I left there wanting to finally get round to that racing I had dreamed of before. Ideas of racing a 4...