Brain teaser

This is for Nigel
Nigel, I once commented on your pursuit of horsepower. I suggest success in motorcycle racing does not depend on just one variable. It dpends on several, and they can be viewed as a data set. If we thought about all the variables involved in road racing, we could form one data set, and determine cause and effect through pattern recognition. THen when we race on varios circuits, we would have an algorithm to help us set up our machines. However this approach might lead to problems. I think the race in which Peter Williams beat the TZ750 Yamahas with the Commando 750 was a fluke. Ether that or PW was a hero - Very difficult for 80 BHP max. to beat 110 BHP on any cirvuit ?

Actually, you didn’t say that, what you actually said was that power didn’t matter in a race bike. That’s why I called you out cos that is utter tosh !

Back to this post of yours, this is more like it (keeping taking whatever meds you’re on now and drop the ones you were on before).

Absolutely, a race bike needs a very fine balance between a lot of (often competing) variables.

I used to change sprockets, exhausts, and cam timing for different circuits. Degens wanted me to do more and change cams, actually even engines, for different circuits, but I was too lazy for that and not a good enough rider for that to be worthwhile.

I learnt from racing the importance of making and keeping good notes. I’d write down my thoughts straight away about what felt good / bad. I’d then later refine this into a better thought out list of problems to solve and reasons why. And finally I would track each problem that I wanted to ‘countermeasure’ until I’d implemented that countermeasure and tracked the success, or not, of it (Demmings PDCA cycle).

It also dawned on me just how much the ‘theory of constraints’ applies to racing, ie there is little meaningful advantage in improving an aspect of the bike unless this is the bottleneck that is slowing you down. This is where your point about power becomes true, if my problem is that I’m running out of brakes… increasing the power ain’t gonna help, and could make things worse.

So, racing is actually a very healthy exercise of problem solving and continuous improvement with a focus on bottleneck identification and removal. And it really is continuous, cos as soon as you solve one bottleneck, you‘re in search of the next. It made me use the methods from Demming, Shingo, Ishikawa, Ohno, etc which I’d been taught in my working life.

Same with reliability, as soon as you fix the ‘weakest link’ you’re gonna find the next. So it is a constant problem solving exercise as well as a continuous improvement exercise.

Honestly speaking, I think I enjoyed this off track mental challenge / stimulation almost as much as the on track action.

The downside for me was, with me having something of a tendency towards OCD, this off track aspect kinda overtook me, it become obsessive, and that’s why I had to stop racing, and I didn’t even have kids etc back then either !

But I still get similar, if lower key (more manageable / less obsessive) stimulation from track days etc that I do today.

I sometimes wish there was a keen / talented kid in my neighbourhood, I could quite happily provide a good classic race bike for him / her to pilot !

That Russell's Paradox is a bit of a twister to get your head around!
Seems it wasn't his original idea anyway, just first to publish.
Still - hard thinking!
Cheers

acotrel said:

Very difficult for 80 BHP max. to beat 110 BHP on any circuit ?

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Not difficult at all, if an EXCELLENT rider is aboard an 80HP bike, and an AVERAGE rider is aboard an OTHERWISE SIMILAR 110HP bike.

In fact, it's almost a given; UNLESSS the "track" is a circle, oval, or is mostly very long straights with very few turns/curves.

I thought a 55hp Seeley missile could easily beat 110hp Hondas around Winton ??

Seeley920 said:

I thought a 55hp Seeley missile could easily beat 110hp Hondas around Winton ??

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55hp against 110 is not the same as 80 v 110...

grandpaul said:

55hp against 110 is not the same as 80 v 110...

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No, it's even more impressive

Seeley920 said:

No, it's even more impressive

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"Easily" is a relative term.

When 55hp beats 110hp, it is indeed impressive.

ESPECIALLY if it's a 1950s 55hp machine against a modern 110hp machine,

My Commando was really reliable on track for quite a few years. Then one year I properly raced it & did 6 meetings out of 7. By properly raced it I mean pushing, not just my favorite bits of track but the whole lap & for every lap. My push it, is nowhere near others limits, however I soon found the limits in my bike! one 4 speed quaife, one 5 speed Nourish, one clutch diaphragm spring that was a
nightmare. One exhaust thread. One rear wheel, it tore out its sprocket bolts! One engine!
Conroy has a reliable bike with very little original Norton in it. He was playing with rod lengths & pistons with little skirts years before. It took me a long time to realise how little racing I actually did.
My big girl has a Norton head & followers rockers & an oil pump & thats it!
Wish I was more like Nige but if it went were I wanted it to go & it thrilled me rather than scared me I was happy. It took years for me to realise I didnt have the money & you cant push old gear because it use to break in the day.
Finally I have a nice ride & I am kin glad we dont do push starts anymore!
Electric start & a big battery are in my future & maybe a bit of seat padding.

I’ve just bought a new paddock starter Chris, one man operation with foot control, so park next to me an’ you’ll be or-reet!