Preparing a vehicle for Bonneville.

. . . First thing to do is get hold of the S.C.T.A.  (http://www.scta-bni.org/) Year Book.
The latest issue (it's an annual updated reference) is 2016 Rules & Records Dry Lake Speed Trials.
  Whatever the vehicle being prepared, due to regular additions to rules and regulations I advise that anyone get hold of the latest issue and not a yester-year copy.
  Most styles of vehicle may participate so long as they are, for example, not jet powered.
There are other exclusions as advised by the organisers so it is best to check first before applying.
Erosion of the salt surface at Bonneville over the years due to near-by potash mining is causing the level to drop significantly and some parts of the Speed Week courses are very near to bedrock.
How much longer Bonneville will last is anyone's guess !
That's one good reason to take the opportunity while it's there.

For me the opportunity is a motorcycle,   a 250cc classic style machine that's being built specifically for this mission.    I am very lucky indeed to have the support of a great Team and especially Team-Captain Richard and Team-mate Chris who have done the lion's share of the work on the frame and rolling chassis.    Our friend Ron in Ramsey has applied methodical precision to the methanol engine build and it is a 'masterclass' every time I have seen him at work on the engine he has built for me to race.

Richard and Chris doing the magic !

Team-Captain Richard is invaluable in bringing an experienced eye and knowledge to frame design using donated parts and an angle grinder to taper, cut and weld an ugly-duckling Enfield frame into something bespoke and tailored to speed trials.   Team-mate Chris is an amazingly talented engineer and fabricator and the quality of his components in my opinion match the best of the professionals like Harris Performance UK.

  Both have spent months now tolerating my ineptitude at mechanical stuff and persevering with construction to the highest standard feasible and I am please to see an impressive motorbike slowly appear in the garage      . . . despite my best efforts to assist !

My bike happens to be a 'special-build' but it is quite acceptable to race a standard production machine at the salt-flats.   One only has to be careful to comply to rules . . .
SOME rules include -
Removing rear-view mirrors,   they are not needed.
Removing pillion foot pegs.
Fitting a rear wheel brake is only option, there must be no front brake !
Wheels need to have a minimum diameter of 15 inches.
All axels must be steel alloy or titanium.
Steering dampener is required.
And,   no guns allowed on the salt during the Event !

These are just a few of the rules.   Due to pre-event inspection, and close inspection after a record run is achieved rules must be followed carefully to prevent penalty or disqualification.

Here's the bike so far,   looking good but far from ready !

250cc classical racer

Three Parts to being prepared for Bonnevillle (or any motorcycle event)

 . . . there are three components to getting prepared for a motorcycle Event, in this case it being Bonneville Speed Week 2016.

1 - Personal preparation.

2 - Vehicle Preparation.

3 - Event Preparation.

It is a good idea to segregate the three into separate 'folders' and in doing so it makes things clearer and simpler avoiding confusion and possible failures.
   Basically, compartmentalise and then List !    it's what I used to do on a daily basis as part of my job when I was particularly busy and the consequence of missing something could have been serious causing upset and hurt to a client.    Further more, using red and green pens along with standard black means  I can monitor at a glance what has been done and what needs to be done.

Personal preparation is probably the easiest (technically speaking) to arrange.    Important for Speed Week is to be physically fit, bike fit and   . . . lose some weight to allow the bike the opportunity to go a bit faster.   It's that E = MC squared thing again !

The conventional wisdom is to go on a diet,  eat less and take green coffee tablets or what ever happens to be the fashionable supplement at the time.   This may get you started and some weight loss will be attained, however, my target is to lose 14 lb (7 kilos ) and I am half way there now in just over six weeks losing 1 lb a week.  It's now getting tougher, so we are past the 'conventional diet' stage which is unsistainable in the longer term and my weight loss programme will now change to an Atkins-style of lower carb, minimal sugar, steady exercise format where I will have a low-carb high protein breakfast,   some mixed nuts and dried fruit at lunch, and a small-portion hot diner with plenty vegetables but less starchy component.     Low fat diets are NOT the way to lose weight, significantly reducing sugar consumption and balancing out insulin release is much more helpful.

    Another element of physical preparation is being bike-fit (off-road track biking) and yoga for balance and co-ordination.   I am now attending a bikers yoga class once a week and feeling the benefits already.    If it works for the TT riders, it will do for me !
Walking, swimming, weight training and static cycling are all done on rotation to maintain a higher level of calorific burn-up in order to improve physical fitness whilst burning a few more calories and in doing so, maintain a slight calorific deficit,    . . . this loses weight in the form of stored fat.

   And if I slip-up in a moment of weakness and have a starchy snack,   no worries,   so long as it's at the weekend only and not regular, I will forgive myself.

Here's what I had yesterday, Frazzles, 2 packets, they were yummy but no more till next week end.

 . . .frazzleicious !

15 Degrees.

 . . . anyone who enters a motorcycle into Bonneville Speed Week needs to get hold of a "Rules and Records" up-to-date book in order to understand and comply with participation regulations.   These regulations fall into two part, those affecting the machine and those affecting the riders suitability to participate and protective gear worn.

     Here I am illustrating one component of the machine regulations,   the 15 degrees rule.

   The steering range of the front forks must not exceed a 15 degree turn both left and right and steering must be restricted from turning any further than the specified allowance.   This is for safety reasons as excessive turning angles, particularly at speed could contribute to a riders loss of control of his or her motorbike resulting in a crash.

   In calculating the margin, we used a measured disc (plastic filler tin lid) with a guidance pin (some straight wire) to measure this out and then cut and welded two restriction brackets onto the front of the frame to ensure a simple and obvious compliance to the regulation.   This will make it easy for an event scrutineer to see what has been done to comply with requirements.    Simple problems are often best addressed with simple solutions.

         A steering damper has also been added to assist in the control and stability of steering.

Parts of the Sum.

. . . all things created are the embodiment of a process.     This process can be of many parts cumulating into one creation, and this is exactly the situation with any motorcycle, the parts being the the designers ideas and drawings, the metals, alloys, rubber, glass and plastics, in fact everything that is a raw material contributing to the product.     Engineers and technicians, often experienced professional people create the shapes which suit the function of individual parts from castings to bolts to sprockets which are brought together in a final purposeful entity,  a motorcycle.

The vast majority of motorbikes are mass-produced in factories on assembly lines, many now partially or fully automated and we see such machines competing at Bonneville Speed Week and doing well.  They have a participation class of their own.

My bike is in another class, that of special production as the individual components making up my machine are bought as 'separates' or manufactured by team members.      

Both Richard and Chris are experts at own-fabricating and as I am not ready to show the whole bike yet, I will introduce to you two individual components made by Team members and ideally suited to the function of Speed on Salt !

 . . .  this fibreglass cowl seat has been made by Richard who has decades of experience in working with fibreglass in relation to time-trials bikes.   The material is light, strong and very easily moulded prior to hardening and he has done a magnificent job in contouring the seat to fit the frame of the bike.    As with most difficult to do things, Richard makes it all look so easy,   it's not,  and takes considerable time and patience.





. . . Chris has selected aluminium to fabricate
the battery box for the bike,   this is a strong yet light metal which provides protection and containment for the battery within the frame whilst minimising additional weight on the bike.   Welding aluminium is hard to do but fortunately Chris is a highly experienced welder with knowledge of how metals behave and react to heat and how they fuse under a welding torch.   Watching Chris at work is seeing a master craftsman with a considerable level of skill tackle challenges with ease.



I will introduce more components as time progresses and will explain what considerations are involved in preparation for Bonneville.

Losing is gaining !

 . . . it will seem quite obvious to a physicist that E = mc2, however just how much weight should I lose to be at an optimum weight for my Bonneville bikes best (fastest) performance.
The bike can only produce energy (E) to a finite level which translates from internal combustion through the engine, then gear box, then chain and sprockets and finishing at the base of the back wheel through to a semi-static salt surface.
the speed achievable (c2) is therefore less the greater the volume of mass, (excluding drag factors).

So we start with E = mc²   

which on introduction of pressure and volume is 
M =

E₀ + pV₀/c²

In terms of relativistic energy the equation is       which basically means,   despite other contributory factors,  I need to loses some weight to go a little bit faster.

The real skill with this is to avoid diets at all costs, they don't work because bodies adapt to food restriction and go into 'preservation' mode of lethargy and cravings.

'Nutritional adjustment' is a far better policy with a collective of simple annoying processes replacing the outright anxiety of a traditional diet.

Nutritional adjustment strategies are -

1.  Eat sensible, nutritious meals and use a slightly smaller plate to eat the meals off so as to fractionally reduce portion size.

2. Cut out bread (savoury cake) sweets, chocolate, beer and wine which all contain non-productive calories.

3.  Do fifteen minutes of intense aerobic exercise every second morning before breakfast stimulate metabolism.

4. Imagine going faster weighing less,   think about it when tempted to cheat with sweets.

5. Drink green tea with lemon and a little honey.

6. On one day a week have a bottle of beer as a reward,    . . .  but two beers are a failure.

7. Think thin,  looking great tastes good all the time.

 /

Gaining by losing !

 . . . Team Boss Richard has recently taken some delight in informing riders Chris and myself that we have to lose half a stone (seven pounds or 3.17 kilo grams) in readiness for our Bonneville challenge.

    At only half a pound a week over the next 14 weeks this may appear relatively easy however I  am a bit fat even though I also happen to be quite fit and it is going to be difficult to shift because I have big bones, a slow metabolism and drink whisky.

"will the big-boned biker please stay off "

I have been reassured by friends involved with aerodynamics that the most aerodynamically efficient shape is an egg.   So if I can fatten my backside up a bit more over the next couple of months I will be a little heavier than desired, but more slip streamed a bit like an airship so the reduced air resistance on the salt flats will compensate for being allegedly over weight.

My formula for success will be fish and chips every Saturday, with sauce,  and beer on Sundays.
No biscuits or sweets though as that would be reckless and irresponsible and I will be encouraging ALL Team members to observe a voluntary ban on anything tasty and fun whilst in the workshop.

We will eat mini pickled onions and green tea tablets with cups of kelp stew and sushi nano-nibbles as a treat for good behaviour.

Anything more would be irresponsible.

Joey Dunlop Foundation Annual Dinner.

    . . . The Team are proud to continue an enthusiastic and positive association with the Joey Dunlop Foundation based on the Isle of Man at Braddan Bridge House.    The Foundation remembers and commemorates the greatest TT rider of all time, Joey Dunlop, by providing a unique accommodation service for anyone with special needs status who requires assisted-access apartments and interiors to make themselves comfortable.   Facilities at Braddan Bridge House include wheelchair access showers, height-adjust sinks and special elevators amongst other features.   The reputation the House has created for itself is very commendable and a great way for supporters to remember Joey.

With a final extension planned this year to complete the facility, our Team have been helping by raising awareness of the Foundation and by attending the recent Annual Dinner in Douglas, Isle of Man where T.T. stars including Dan Kneen, Dave Molyneux, Conor Cummins, Ian Hutchinson and Ivan Lintin were guests of honour adding add a bit of sparkle to the fund raising auction and raffles after the dinner.
It was a fun evening and good for the Team to mingle with other guests and get such positive encouragement for our Bonneville Mission this year, despite the various challenges we are facing.

John, Richard, Chris and Ralf.

Whilst at the Event the winner of the Bruce Anstey Motorcycle commissioned from Padgett Racing was announced and the 2016 bike was revealed, a Joey's Bar yellow machine which looked beautiful.  Someone somewhere will be a lucky winner of this rocket next January !

"Joey's Bar m.c.c." Prize Bike for 2017