When to quit racing and track riding?

I am 83. My wife has told me that she will permit me to race again. There is only one condition -if I crash,I must die- not be injured, because she will not look after me. I am still thinking of ways Ican get to ride the Seeley 850 again. I need to do that - I have not ridden it on a track with the 6-speed TTI box. Previously it always had a 4 speed Manx cluster. With the 6 speed, it should really get up and go. Many people do not seem to know the difference the gearbox can make.
 
acotrel said:
a motorcycle should always be ridden with a sense of purpose.

The reason I dislike riding on public roads - when doing that I do not have the needed sense of purpose
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Plenty of purpose on public roads Al just need a mindset for a life of joy !!!

I treat the road like the tour de france .... always be the yellow jersey rider and sod the peleton

Sounds like a race to me ? !!
 
acotrel said:
I am 83. My wife has told me that she will permit me to race again. There is only one condition -if I crash,I must die- not be injured, because she will not look after me. I am still thinking of ways Ican get to ride the Seeley 850 again. I need to do that - I have not ridden it on a track with the 6-speed TTI box. Previously it always had a 4 speed Manx cluster. With the 6 speed, it should really get up and go. Many people do not seem to know the difference the gearbox can make.
Click to expand...
If your getting on a bit a great option is a regularity event. You nominate your lap time and stick to it. Friend of mine is good at it. Ex champion hill climber in the UK he can reel off lap after lap within half a second of each other.
 
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acotrel said:
Parades are bad news - a motorcycle should always be ridden with a sense of purpose. If you are not pushing, it is easy to crash. Sometimes guys crash when riding back to the pits after they have crossed the finish line. They sail past a braking point then panic and lock the front brake. The reason I dislike riding on public roads - when doing that - I do not have the needed sense of purpose - La La Land is dangerous.
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Well said.

Or, of course, it can sit ‘with a sense of purpose’ unused in the shed for a decade or two… like yours.
 
Chris said:
You are so right Al. I once crashed on the way to the holding area.
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I crashed after the flag once, at Brands, and embarrassingly, on one of Dave Degens bikes !

As the race was over I lazily went round Paddock Hill off the line, basically in La-La land as Al put it, hit some oil I didn’t know was there and got diverted to the gravel trap on me arse !

Degens was not impressed…
 
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My mate Steve Oszko died a while back. Just prior - he said "YOU IDIOT ! -You have left it too late." He was correct - however I had much more important things to do. Motorcycles have never been my main priority - however the fun of road-racing probably saved me from becoming totally insane. I spent a lot of my life making guns, rocket motors and explosives. However,I am a devout pacifist.
 
Time to give up racing when you turn into Al and talk about the old days, and not been on a bike or track for so long, sorry Al, lot of old racers who are still riding, on the road and a few have turned their old race bikes into very good road bikes, can still enjoy 2 wheels without going flat out, but still know it will.
Whether race or road riding your body and mind will tell you when it's time to give up and old bike injuries can also be the thing that stops you.
 
Things do change, I am having some issues down changing. It may be ankle related. It may be I need to stretch my calf muscles more. Cycling is good for you, but repetitive motion. I have some cramps and tight calves after cycling.

Anyway. I stripped and replaced parts in the gearbox and clutch. It's better, but not 100%, so I spent a lot of time looking down at my right foot at Carole. There seems to be a lot of throw required, particularly to get first. It never bothered me before.

So I'm modifying my gear change.

Might help, but difficult to know the without riding so I have included scope for adjustment.
 
SteveA said:
Things do change, I am having some issues down changing. It may be ankle related. It may be I need to stretch my calf muscles more. Cycling is good for you, but repetitive motion. I have some cramps and tight calves after cycling.

Anyway. I stripped and replaced parts in the gearbox and clutch. It's better, but not 100%, so I spent a lot of time looking down at my right foot at Carole. There seems to be a lot of throw required, particularly to get first. It never bothered me before.

So I'm modifying my gear change.

Might help, but difficult to know the without riding so I have included scope for adjustment.
Click to expand...
Steve, in response to your pics on FB, you do know that you can get a reverse pattern drum from Bruce?

It would enable you to utilise a more conventional linkage set up which, in turn, would allow you to experiment with different lengths on the levers.

TTI boxes have a very short through, shame you’re not currently capitalising on that…
 
Fast Eddie said:
Steve, in response to your pics on FB, you do know that you can get a reverse pattern drum from Bruce?

It would enable you to utilise a more conventional linkage set up which, in turn, would allow you to experiment with different lengths on the levers.

TTI boxes have a very short through, shame you’re not currently capitalising on that…
Click to expand...
Yes, I do, but I didn't know that when I built the bike in 2014 ish. Which is when I made the linkage.

It was simple and easy to do with parts I had at the time. And it worked absolutely fine for years. Light and positive gearchange.

Things have changed. Mostly me. I will keep working on the idea of muscle stretching. I think that may be where a significant part of the problem comes from. I have two pairs of boots, things are better with the older and slightly larger and more flexible pair.

The other approach would be just a reversed lever, no linkage, and move the footrest forward. I have tried just putting a toe piece on the lever I have, 120mm centres, very light, short throw, absolutely great for neutral selection, but of course, out of reach of my foot.

Much lighter than any linkage. But I would need a longer lever. Molnar does one he says you can go to 130mm centres with, so you would be giving back a little for the reach. But with my little feet I would still need to put the footrest where the swinging arm spindle is, like ummmm, a Seeley! :cool:

Then maybe I would end up trimming fairings, relocating brackets, catch tanks, it goes on and on.....
 

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