Lansdowne Cup

acotrel said:

To me, I do not care if all the other guys have superbikes, I will still find a way to beat them.

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Do you realise you just said that out loud ?

I really don’t know why you say such things. You are not doing yourself any favours.

Fast Eddie said:

Do you realise you just said that out loud ?

I really don’t know why you say such things. You are not doing yourself any favours.

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Well, it might be true if he stays in the class he is currently racing. The one in his head.

In the class in which I race, the CB750 Hondas are 1100cc methanol fuelled superbikes. And back in the early 70s many of the bikes I raced my 50s %00cc Triton against were Z900 and H2 Kawasakis. On winton raceway more power does not necessarily make bikes faster. Most bikes handle differently from one another and deal with different situations differently. My Seeley would go backwards if I raced it at Phillip Island. I don't think I would be able to gear it high enough to deal with that circuit. It has many big sweeping very fast bends. A bevel Ducati would be much better, due to its stability at high speed - it's power can be put to better use.
When you road race, the variables include the nature of the race circuit. There is usually a pattern when the variables are combined. You go slower in some places and faster in others, but there usually is an optimum which gives the best times. The situation is not 'one size fits all'.

John
You are right he did say bevel & maybe there he might have a case. Lol case!
However it would have to be a tight nadgery circuit cos the only round case bevel we see beats/ competes with the triples.

Al we (ie you) should also remember it is well in excess of 10 years since you raced.

I know this, as I’ve been on this forum (initially without registering) for 10 years, and you have always been an ‘ex racer’ in that time.

So, even if you were as good as you say you were, you are now 10 years older, and very rusty.

The young top guns out there are neither of those things.

And you’re neglecting the 10 years (minimum) development in the field. Japanese ‘classic’ racing was in its infancy when you were on the track with them. It isn’t anymore.

Anyway, you’re now putting your bike back together at last. I hope you do get on the track soon, and let us all know how you get on.

Nigel , to me any motorcycle which was manufactured after 1980, except the Molnar Manx, Summerfield G50 or the Paton 500 - is irrelevant It is like cars which do not have chromed bumper bars - you cannot really play with them. I just feel sorry for our kids - they will never experience real fun.
I need to get onto a road race circuit to recharge my batteries and stay alive. A few laps will keep me going for another ten years.
There is a mate of mine who is in an aged care facility. He used to road race motorcycles and also cars. When I rang him to tell him a mutual friend had died, he said 'I loved racing motorcycles'. He has had a stroke and will never do road racing again.
What we need is a facility where we could re-enact the air battles of WW2 with Spitfires and FW190 s. I would buy a Tiger Moth.
I lived through WW2, and learned about adrenalin rush by watching airbattles from watching newsreals from behing the seats in a picture theatre. I wanted to fly an airplare, but my ex-serviceman father would not let me join the air training corps. Anyway with aircraft, there is too far to fall if you are stupid. The best job I ever had was in the Government Aircraft Factories.

NIgel, I can still drive my car, so I can certainly still road race my motorcycle. The motorcycle is easier after the first 5 laps. When I was at Winton a while back, the idiot running it said 'we will be picking youup off the circuit'. I am not a beginner, Self preservation is burned into my brain. Some things you never forget. My bike knows it's own way around his race circuit.
My mate is about 4 years older than me. He rides at Broadford each year. I will never ride there because I never have. My Seeley would self-steer itself into a crash on that circuit. Winton is different. I know every bit of it intmately. It is the safest circuit in Australia. I still intend to do sm on-board video there.

My whole life as a scientist both while working in industry and in my hobbies, has been about 'boys' toys'. My Seeley 850 is the culmination of a certain aspect of my life.. Even though it will worry my wife, I need to ride it again with the 6 speed close ratio gearbox. I think it will be a real purler. Z900 Kawasakis are 1970s superbikes. I know from my experience, my Seeley 850 will be much better around Winton Raceway than a Z900. The real joke is I never really believed in it, until I raced it. I did not believe that an engine which looks so bad, could be so good.

Is that you, Al ?



(or maybe it is the guy chasing you..)

ludwig said:

Is that you, Al ?



(or maybe it is the guy chasing you..)

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Lol

acotrel said:

NIgel, I can still drive my car, so I can certainly still road race my motorcycle. The motorcycle is easier after the first 5 laps. When I was at Winton a while back, the idiot running it said 'we will be picking youup off the circuit'. I am not a beginner, Self preservation is burned into my brain. Some things you never forget. My bike knows it's own way around his race circuit.
My mate is about 4 years older than me. He rides at Broadford each year. I will never ride there because I never have. My Seeley would self-steer itself into a crash on that circuit. Winton is different. I know every bit of it intmately. It is the safest circuit in Australia. I still intend to do sm on-board video there.

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Al I can remember way back you were telling us about the way you drive a car that your wife was scared of driving with you (in your own words), it's good to have memories of your race days and track days but as you get older and not riding for so long even at slow pace you might think you are going fast, at 80 years old the reaction times have slowed right down, different when riding all the time but 10 years is a long time to be off any bike, but hope you do get out on it one day in the future, I can't go a week without taking the bikes out and fingers crossed I be doing it till the time I leave this earth, at 64 I still riding the same as I have always rode and my skills on a dirt bike have not waned I just don't do big jumps no more lol.

Ashley

acotrel said:

First - front brale - a single disc brake or a drum , should be permitted.
A strict capacity upper limit of 500cc and any single cylinder four-stroke motor of that size.
No 4-valve cylinder heads
Any fuel, including methanol,
No forced induction.
And make it a development class.
In Australia, we had souinds of singles. To win a race you needed a 630cc Japanese motor. But they usually blew up, so the class became out of reach financially.
It is difficult to build a single cylinder motor which is as reliable as a Manx. A Jawa speedway motor almost gets there. BSA Gold Stars and G50s are usually almost as quick.
In the 1960s in Australia the fastest Senior bike was the Henderson Matchless. It had a home-made 4 valve head. It was a couple of MPH faster - not much for all the effort.

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We did run the ES2 in full Historic trim i.e. drum brakes and narrow treaded tyres, at Oran Park in the SOS class in a field of about 22 bikes. Chris Anderson qualified 8th and as I recall got up to 3rd before being black flagged by the tower for running methanol (which we had been quite open about for days). Not bad against 600cc + Japanese and European machines.with alloy frames and disc brakes and slicks(?).
The Henderson 4V Matchless was 90-100lb lighter and maybe 15 mph quicker than a factory G50-Manx. More than a couple of mph and a lot more than a "home made" cylinder head. How do I know - Hendo has worked here with me for the last 15 years and we have had the bike here for a refresh.

On several occasions during the 1960s I watched Steve Osxko on a 500cc Manx race against Ron Toombs on the Henderson Matcless G50 at Calder Raceway. Steve's Manx was the most developed in Victoria. He often ran 14 to 1 compression ratio. On Calder, the Hendson G50 was always slightly faster, so all Steve could ever do was keep the pressure on Ron and wait for him to make a mistake. In acceleration, there was not much in it. With the Henderson G50, it was often pulled apart in the pits and worked on between races. I have been told, it even had magnesium piston. I know Alec Henderson showed Steve Oszko one of his pistons and it was lot lighter than any of Steve's. Steve's pistons used to do strange things - like collapse uner the inlet valve.
What we are talking about are the two top A grade riders in Australia. Ron was a lot older - he never made mistakes, until he tried to make a comeback at Bathurst with two Yamahas and got killed.

The thing about a good class for 500cc singles, would be that everything would move down a notch - you would not be doing a million miles per hour. And the best rider would still win. I cannot get my head around why anyone would want to race a MotoGP bike. The most dangerous time in road racing is when you are braking down into a corner from very high speed. Several of my mates have raced at Bathurst. I would never do that. These days there is a chicane before Murray's Corner and motorcycles no longer race there. When Ross Barelli was passing Mick Hone at Murray's Corner, he was climbing off the back of the bike.
I was involved in writing 'the guide to managing risk in motor sport' in conjunction with Standards Australia, the venue operators and the controlling bodies.
When you race, there is no need to get stupid. Generally speaking, in Austrralia motorcycle road racing is very safe.