Bikemonkey's NC30

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bikemonkey
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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by bikemonkey » Tue Sep 07, 2021 12:35 pm

A quick check over before the track evening revealed a slight issue. One of the seat unit rear mount points has cracked and near enough snapped off.

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Luckily I had a spare subframe tucked away in the roof space of the garage, so swapped them over.

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The spare subframe is completely unmodified though, so I had to improvise with the reg/rec mounting as I didn't fancy butchering another good original one.

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A replacement ring terminal for the starter motor also got fitted. Much better size :peace:

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Once those little issues were sorted I was good to get off to Cadwell, which was bathed in sunshine, lovely!

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I wobbled around for the first two sessions, just trying to remember how to ride the damn thing. Its a world apart from the 750, and made me appreciate just how beautiful the NC is to ride (when done properly!).
I wasn't comfortable on the bike, and I wasn't comfortable on the track. The mixed novice/inters session had a massive pace difference that wasn't safe in my opinion. There were guys seemingly out for a Sunday cruise and others pushing hard, which made for bottlenecks of impatient faster riders all trying to find their way past a rolling roadblock. So I'm not sold on evenings.

However I got some clear track in the 3rd session and started to find my feet a little bit. Still braking too early, using the wrong gears, not being loose on the bike, but I was starting to remember how it should all feel when I binned it at old hairpin :whistle:

I'm unsure exactly why I went down, but it was probably jerky brake release coupled with tipping in too fast on a track thats temperature was dropping every lap. What's funny is that I was talking to a guy next to me in the paddock who was on an old gsxr track bike about how it doesn't matter if you crash something that's not expensive, and both of us went down that session :lol:

So the damage wasn't anything expensive thankfully. I did think I'd need a new top radiator, but the cap had just been knocked loose. What annoyed me most was the fact my tank has now got its first bit of damage caused by me on it :oops:

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The majority of the damage is bent bolts and superficial bodywork scrapings. Luckily nothing really got properly broken, the rearset and crash bung only need new fasteners and a couple of spacers, the brake lever guard just needs a tickle with a file, the right handlebar didn't bend it just span on the fork leg, the screen has now lost too many mounting points so that will need replacing and the fairing needs fibreglass work (not like its enough of a patchwork quilt yet :roll: ).

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Got some more use out of the lathe making a new rear brake connector thing as the crashed one got a bit bent.

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Replaced the bent bolt in the crash bung.

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Cleaned up the brake lever guard and end of the brake lever. Also replaced both handlebars as I'd cut them too short years ago and that wrongdoing really became apparent whilst I was trying to get comfy on the bike.

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A good bit of fibreglass and filler on the nose cone.

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Lathe got a bit more use once some aluminium round bar arrived to make some new rearset spacers as they got squashed.

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Replaced the bolts in the rearset and smoothed out the damage on the footpeg.

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The tank breather had unfortunately failed too, dripping fuel out of it before the first session of the evening as it was quite full and the sun was on the tank, warming it up. To fix this I shoved an inline one way valve in the pipe.

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Well I obviously couldn't put the bike away for winter after that poor showing! So I booked another trackday for the Friday after at Cadwell again.

This time was a lot more successful thankfully, other than coming to a stop at Mansfield corner on the second sighting lap :whistle: . Turns out the one way valve I put in wasn't doing its job properly, the spring on it must be too strong as I got an airlock in the tank. Took that out after I got recovered and kept the fuel level low to prevent any spill out the breather.

Throughout the day I got more comfortable and faster with each session, but I'm still no where near as fast (wasn't fast anyway really!) as I was. No more knee dragging heriocs here, I was just satisfied to get a couple of touches on each side!

I'm still braking too early, coming out of corners in the wrong gear for my speed etc but I was content. I did have a wake up moment powering over Charlie's 1 where the rear end started stepping out over a couple of bumps in the last session. That told me to quit whilst I was ahead, so I did, but there is still unfinished business!

This was the only good photo the photographer got the whole day, and probably the only time I wasn't utterly disappointed with my pace through park corner.

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For now the bike is back in its resting place with some v-power sat in the carbs (don't want to risk leaving cheap shit E10 in them). It'll hopefully see some track action next year, but with my first child due in November I'm not really sure what life will be like!

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MadMotoUK
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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by MadMotoUK » Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:32 pm

Congrats on the expected sprog. Hopefully you can get it trained early enough so your bike time doesn't suffer too much. My daughter was on the back of the 'Blade before she was 5 :mrgreen:

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bikemonkey
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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by bikemonkey » Tue Sep 07, 2021 9:12 pm

MadMotoUK wrote:
Tue Sep 07, 2021 1:32 pm
Congrats on the expected sprog. Hopefully you can get it trained early enough so your bike time doesn't suffer too much. My daughter was on the back of the 'Blade before she was 5 :mrgreen:
Thankyou :peace:

I'm not sure how getting any future child of mine onto a motorbike will go, the wife is very much against it!

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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by MadMotoUK » Wed Sep 08, 2021 7:15 am

Sneak him/her into the garage and get them sitting on the bike. It's cool and great kudos in the playground at school :mrgreen:

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CMSMJ1
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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by CMSMJ1 » Wed Sep 08, 2021 12:31 pm

Great write up mate.

Kids are awesome. Stan is 8 now..and was sitting on the bikes at the MotoGP and thought he might be able to ride the KTM125 !! He;s not been out on a road bike yet..as I don't own one suitable.
IMPERATOR REX ANGLORUM

The V4 is the law..

NC30 - No9 - my old mate

MadMotoUK
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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by MadMotoUK » Wed Sep 08, 2021 3:33 pm

Just out of interest, on a 400, what would you class as a decent lap around Cadwell? It's one track I've never been to.

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bikemonkey
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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by bikemonkey » Wed Sep 08, 2021 10:19 pm

MadMotoUK wrote:
Wed Sep 08, 2021 3:33 pm
Just out of interest, on a 400, what would you class as a decent lap around Cadwell? It's one track I've never been to.
I timed a few laps I did years ago on an unreliable phone app, can't remember the times. But to me a decent lap is one where I don't feel like I've cocked up a braking marker or turn in point and kept the engine singing in the right gear on the exit!

MadMotoUK
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Re: Bikemonkey's NC30

Post by MadMotoUK » Thu Sep 09, 2021 6:55 am

:lol: bighug


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