ExPODition

After a great deal of deliberating and changing my mind 200 times, at 11pm last night we decided to ignore the weather forecast and go to Santa Pod anyway

We set off at 5am and arrived about 9am, weather was good all morning but due to an oil down and an accident, there were delays on track and i only managed to get 2 runs in before the rain stopped play.

I imagine it was a pretty quiet RWYB for Santa Pod, there were only 20 or so bikes there, most of them were from the Street Bike class but there were a few road bikes and some scoots too.
There were however hundreds of Corsas, Novas, GTi's Subaru's etc. But then it was the Fast Show weekend. There must be some irony in the name.

Our van, being unloaded in the pits.

After getting signed on and informing the Clerk of the course that i would be doing my observed runs, we got the bike fueled up, wheely bars on and went and joined the pairing lanes.
To get a National License you must complete 4 different tasks. After doing each task satisfactorily you must get the Clerk of the course to sign the appropriate form to prove you have completed them.
The 4 tasks are:
A burnout
A launch to 60ft
An 1/8 mile pass
A full pass (that should be commensurate with your class)

So after waiting for an hour in the pairing lanes due the the 2 incidents, i finally go my go.

A bit worried about how difficult it might be to do a burnout i used 1st gear, this works but doesn't really spin the wheel fast enough.
On the run itself the bike felt good and i shut off at what i guessed would have been 60ft. I used the rest of the run to check what the bike handles/feels like. Especially the transition from throttle on to off. So i sent it on a few times before the end of the track trying to get a feel for it.
The verdict is, it does seem to handle ok, no wobbles, it doesn't pull to one side but it is very bumpy! Also, one of the most annoying things on any bike ... the handlebars aren't quite straight when going in a straight line.
So back to the pits and make some triple clamp adjustments to straighten the bars, refill with fuel and pump up the airshifter again. Which incidentally worked perfectly but.... actually using it requires quite some forced effort. I'm so used to riding a road bike that changing gear without throttling off is very difficult to actually do. I totally forgot on the first run and closed the throttle at almost every change. I suppose i was also being cautious as i'd never actually tested the shifter before.

This is the Ticket for the first run, an unimpressive 80mph! But i was also doing nearly 80 at the 1/8th mile and that was after shutting off. 60ft time was slow at 1.9 seconds but at least the reaction time was was fine!

On the second run i had a great reaction time but i hadn't warmed the tyre anywhere near enough and it broke away on launch so the 60ft time was even worse than the first run. After getting back in it though i sent it on to half track before shutting off. Once again i used the rest of the run just to check handling and get feedback. It did strike me that it does get very bumpy!

Summary...
Finally getting to ride it was brill, even if i only got 2 runs.
Drag racing is bonkers!
I think 15psi tyre pressure was too high and contributed to it losing traction and making the bike feel bumpy.
The carbs flooded at the end of the second run. Possibly the bumps making the floats bounce and let too much fuel in. But i may have to install a fuel regulator after all.
100mph that close to the floor and with no fairing feels like 150mph on my VFR750
The rigid back end and lack of cush drive gives the bike a very clunky and direct feel.
I realize now that i need to get out and run the bike as much as possible to get used to it. It will take some time just to stop letting the throttle off to change gear... it just feel so wrong not to!