More Norton history?

When I tune, it is usually only on one small circuit which I know very well. With motorcycle racing there are many variables and they usually constitute two patterns - the circuit and the motorcycle's performance. My motorcycle is set up for Winton Raceway and Mount Gambier. At Phillip Island, it would probably be useless. A lot depends on how the power is delivered - peaky on a short circuit is more difficult to tolerate. Heaps of horsepower with little midrange can be bad. If Molnar is getting more power, it might be at the expense of torque. - 'horses for courses'. The one thing which I never knew was the effect oversteer has on the way power can be delivered. When you have a bike which does it, you need to stick your neck out to discover it. It is unusual behaviour to gas a motorcycle very hard when you are on a lean in the middle of a corner. Most guys wait until they are almost out of the corner. When I ride, I usually progressively advance the transition point in corners, and get progressively faster. With a Manx Norton, the transition point can be very early. Once the power is on, you are accelerating, so it needs to be smooth delivery. If it is rough, you will usually back-off because it affects the rear tyre. With a Manx, it probably would not matter if you lost traction because they do not lean much.
 
It is amazing the things which can make you go backwards. If the front is light in corners, you will usually back-off. But my attention is usually on the rear tyre. Faster in the corners means faster down the straights.
 
I never worry about horsepower as long as I have enough to keep up with the lead bunch. If others have got more, they need to know how to use it, and very few do.
 
Sometimes an improvement is not easy to detect unless you use the motorcycle in a different way. I would not normally flick a motorcycle into a corner and immediately accelerate flat out, and let it self-steer.
 
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