All over for this year.

 . . . mission accomplished,  heading home now to the Isle Of Man.

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 10

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 9

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 8

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 7

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 6

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 5

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 4

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 3

ralfy at Bonneville speed week 2016 Part 2

ralfy at Bonneville Speed Week 2016 Part 1

Finally arrived at my destination.

sitting on the salt for speed week.

Hot in Las Vegas, and heading North.

110 degrees,  15% humidity and no precipitation.  Wind speed 4mph.

(just like we hope to find on the Salt)

That's what we are experiencing in Las Vegas on our last day before heading north to Wendover.

It's a good opportunity to acclimatise and get used to the heat of the salt flats whilst at the same time
enjoying a few moments of the surreal event that is 'The Strip'.   Fun to start with, but the novelty soon wears off.    I notice that the mood of Vegas has changed since my last visit.    It seems less confident.

entertainment night !

 . . . and day.

Collecting oil in Los Angeles

 . . . When importing machinery into the U.S. as shipping, one is not allowed to have fuel, coolant or oils in the engine which means all of these commodities need to be sourced locally on arrival,   which one would not think was much of a problem,   but it can be,   it has been for me.
  The simplest way of going about things is to have a local contact which I organised through a friend who will accept deliveries on your behalf and then order what you need online from one-stop suppliers like amazon who will deliver direct to the contact's address.

 . . . Except one of my oil requirements has been for Castrol R40 vegetable engine oil which is not to be found anywhere in the U.S. because it is now very old-fashioned and not considered 'environmentally friendly' and as a result I have had to find a supplier in Canada who would ship down to California.

The good news is that my oil has arrived safely,  and the bad news is that five litres of Castrol R40 which normally costs around £40 has cost $200 (£155).

It's OK though, because it's all part of the journey to Bonneville.

Castrol R40 'cos I need it !

In the U.S. for the big adventure now.

 . . we are based in Las Vegas because it's central for access to Los Angeles for picking up our bike crates and then for travelling up through the desert to Bonneville.
I don't and never will be a gambler, so Vegas is a novelty for me and not a money loser.

not spending a dime on the wee beasts,  just a beer or two !

Orleans 5am

"Salty Wheels"

A malternative Bonneville bike.

The last nuts and bolts before transportation.

 . . . nearly, but not quite ready to show the bike off for the first time since production started two years ago.    How time flies,  I hope my 250cc pushrod flies too, on the Bonneville salt seeing as how the event is happening this year as the flooding is over.

The machine has already been assembled, however it is not looking it's best with all the trial running to check performance and change broken bits, but soon a picture will be on this Blog !

metric and imperial and whitworth

 . . . one of the challenges is combining an old 1960's engine into a frame made of metric nuts and bolts.     The engine is made with imperial nuts and bolts,  different sizes different dimensions different differences !    and then there a few 'whitworth' spanners for obscure component nuts, so I have a tool kit with three varieties of spanners.

Modern bikes will be metric only,    although aircraft manufacturers use imperial screw threads as they are more 'suitable' for planes.
I just thought I would mention that.

a gift from Captain Richard

 . . . this is a pillar drill,  it is essential for drilling very small holes through very strong steel with small cobalt (2mm) drills which break frequently and cause frustration  (I will vouch for that).    All this is needed to comply with Bonnevile Speed Week regulations which like all race/speed organisers need to ensure bits don't fall off a machine during a run.
  As you see the place is a mess,   it's just the way it is and will be a bit tidier when the bike is in it's container and off the to the U.S.

the whisky flask

 . . . this is where whisky meets motorcycle,  in an old whisky flask re-purposed as an overflow tank for surplus engine fluid.

It works and I like it.

This is what Iv'e been waiting to have confirmed all year

The S.C.T.A. Bonneville organisers are confirming that the Event is happening after some doubts about recent flooding.

One month to go and popping pistons !

 . . . yes, only three weeks till I fill up my transportation crate and fly my 250cc pushrod off to the United States for Speed Week, Bonneville.
   And in true time-honoured tradition, as time runs out for the preparation of my machine, what can go wrong is going wrong,  and is manifesting itself in a succession of blown pistons.

But it's OK because thats the way it goes, and like Burt Munro the Bonneville legend, if you don't have an alter of 'sacrifices' to the gods of speed in the form of broken engine components, then you are either very lucky, or just not trying hard enough.

I look at it this way,    . . .  rather a load of problems before I go, than no problems till I get there.

You see my point ?

With the significant additional stresses on my engines due to demands of competition, individual components are increasingly stressed in pursuit of more speed and performance.   This can lead to components failing under test and for my bike it is manifesting itself in the form of 'popped' pistons.
This is where the heat during operation around the spark plug gets so high (600 c+) that the aluminium based alloy of the piston starts to over-heat,  soften then tear removing all compression in the chamber and causing failure.

Establishing the exact cause is not so easy as various factors are influencing this situation,   but I have some great engineers who will fix things,   and that makes all the difference.

popped piston in a cylinder.

earlier offering to the gods of speed !