[ace.cafe]

Just read the latest update from Performance Classics post Anglesey races on their f/b page. I think B.W. will want to tell you all about it! 

A.

Dying to hear the report!
 

[High On Octane]

It was good. 

[1 Thump]

Results : http://www.theresults.co.uk/theresults/Results/2015/Motorsport/bhr-round2.pdf

[Bullet Whisperer]

Thanks for that, 1 Thump !
 Here is an update after the track day [Friday] followed by racing on Saturday and Sunday.
 Dave and Ian travelled to Anglesey on Thursday evening, after some frantic work to get the 350 running again after it suffered a piston seiziure on Wednesday evening while on the dyno. This machine had a change of cams, piston and a cylinder hone and left home untested, apart from verifying it ran and sounded like it might be 'in the zone' - even the cam timings had been set using felt pen marks and a straight edge and were largely guessed  .
 Both 350 and 500 machines ran for the track day, but finished off as non runners. I had my work cut out, but knew I needed to replace a broken cam follower on the 350 - this was done and she was up and running again, but missed out on the first 350 race in the morning [Saturday]. In the second race, Ian thought it tightened up while leading on the last lap and wisely stopped.
 The 500 had a bent inlet pushrod and a seized two piece H&C camshaft - this cam has been used for over 5 years with no trouble, but now the bushes had stuck on the cam spindles and the shrunk on ring gear had slipped, causing the stoppage. This is where Ace will start to cringe !! - the cam spindle was removed with a special puller and the seized on bushes were ground off. The cam spindle was knocked back into the crankcase and another, almost identical, but one piece camshaft was fitted, after timing by felt pen and straight edge [as on the 350]. The steel inlet pushrod looked like a letter 'S' and I had no spare of the required length, so I stuck it between a steel upright part of a building and the concrete blockwork and pulled. Same again for the other end and it was straighter than some new Indian ones I have seen. In it went and the engine was soon running again, but there was clutch trouble and we had a 5th place for the first race. I sorted the clutch [another long story] and it raced again, but got a DNF rounding off day 1.
 Sunday saw the 350 win both races, but the 500 suffered valve train issues in the first race and ground to a halt with a dislocated pushrod.
 A troublesome Ducati 250 scored one 5th place all weekend and was enough of a distraction to make the Cotrell 250 Crusader miss one race altogether, but the little R.E. scored two wins and one second place over the weekend.
 There will be spanner work to do before we attend the next meeting at Croft in a month's time 
 B.W.

[1 Thump]

Thanks for that, 1 Thump !
 Here is an update after the track day [Friday] followed by racing on Saturday and Sunday.
 Dave and Ian travelled to Anglesey on Thursday evening, after some frantic work to get the 350 running again after it suffered a piston seiziure on Wednesday evening while on the dyno. This machine had a change of cams, piston and a cylinder hone and left home untested, apart from verifying it ran and sounded like it might be 'in the zone' - even the cam timings had been set using felt pen marks and a straight edge and were largely guessed  .
 Both 350 and 500 machines ran for the track day, but finished off as non runners. I had my work cut out, but knew I needed to replace a broken cam follower on the 350 - this was done and she was up and running again, but missed out on the first 350 race in the morning [Saturday]. In the second race, Ian thought it tightened up while leading on the last lap and wisely stopped.
 The 500 had a bent inlet pushrod and a seized two piece H&C camshaft - this cam has been used for over 5 years with no trouble, but now the bushes had stuck on the cam spindles and the shrunk on ring gear had slipped, causing the stoppage. This is where Ace will start to cringe !! - the cam spindle was removed with a special puller and the seized on bushes were ground off. The cam spindle was knocked back into the crankcase and another, almost identical, but one piece camshaft was fitted, after timing by felt pen and straight edge [as on the 350]. The steel inlet pushrod looked like a letter 'S' and I had no spare of the required length, so I stuck it between a steel upright part of a building and the concrete blockwork and pulled. Same again for the other end and it was straighter than some new Indian ones I have seen. In it went and the engine was soon running again, but there was clutch trouble and we had a 5th place for the first race. I sorted the clutch [another long story] and it raced again, but got a DNF rounding off day 1.
 Sunday saw the 350 win both races, but the 500 suffered valve train issues in the first race and ground to a halt with a dislocated pushrod.
 A troublesome Ducati 250 scored one 5th place all weekend and was enough of a distraction to make the Cotrell 250 Crusader miss one race altogether, but the little R.E. scored two wins and one second place over the weekend.
 There will be spanner work to do before we attend the next meeting at Croft in a month's time 
 B.W.

Oh you are so welcome. I have been following this thread closely.

Congrats on the Clipper and Crusader !

[ace.cafe]

That's a nice group of wins for the smaller bikes. Very happy to see that!
Congratulations!
 

Scoring 5th place points with the 500 having engine problems is quite a remarkable achievement too! I think this bodes well for future races, as it has moved from a 9th place last month, to a 5th place this month, and both times there were some issues interfering with the bike behaving its best. I think that once it gets sorted out, it will be quite the force to reckon with. Even as it is now, it is running tight with the G50 and Manx 500s, and even beating some of them, which is a very good thing for any kind of Bullet to be doing!

[Bullet Whisperer]

 At my suggestion, we will not be attending the next round, which is at Croft in just under two weeks time. It is a long haul for us and we would be a man down in the team, as Dave will be in China of all places, by then. I also have a huge workload to get through.
 The 350 is running again as of today, after a major rework of the top end to accommodate the cams and timings used from the previous engine without risk of piston / valve interference. The 500 will be running again very soon, after some issues from Anglesey have been dealt with.
 Bottom line is that I don't want to rush with these two machines - there is already little hope of winning a championship - but I would rather miss out on a potentially troublesome and difficult round by attending at short notice with machines needing more fine tuning and rather bank it for next time round, when more time will have been spent on both bikes and we will be better prepared.
 Hopefully, we can still put on a bit of a show with them from the following event onwards and maybe beat  some future end of season champions in a race or two along the way.
 B.W.

[ace.cafe]

B.W.,
We are all cheering you on, in all your decisions and efforts!

Please do keep us apprised of any exciting news along the way.
 

[Bullet Whisperer]

Thanks, Ace.
 Here is a short video of the 350 running earlier today. Note the issue of reversion of the mixture at the intake has been dealt with, by cutting the inlet valve seat back enough to enable me to advance the inlet cam by the one tooth I had to over retard it by in my last attempt, just to make sure the valve did not get too close to the piston. I now have the same set of cams, timed to the same numbers as in our last 70 x 90 350 engine, giving over 33bhp in that one, so I hope to top that with this set up on the short stroke motor.
 B.W.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQkq3dqK08M

[Bullet Whisperer]

After some waiting and not knowing if a replacement inlet valve for the 500 would reach us in time, I can say I got the 500 running again, just in time to join our 350 in the trailer to go racing at Lydden Hill this weekend. Fingers crossed, watch this space, etc.
 B.W.

[ace.cafe]

After some waiting and not knowing if a replacement inlet valve for the 500 would reach us in time, I can say I got the 500 running again, just in time to join our 350 in the trailer to go racing at Lydden Hill this weekend. Fingers crossed, watch this space, etc.
 B.W.

VERY happy to hear!
Fingers AND toes crossed, wishing you all the best, and hoping for a win!
I know that you guys can do it!
 

[High On Octane]

Good luck B.W.!

[Adrian II]

I'm hoping to get some pictures at this meeting, hopefully one or two might be good enough to share, though the weather forecast is not so good.

A.

[ace.cafe]

I'm hoping to get some pictures at this meeting, hopefully one or two might be good enough to share, though the weather forecast is not so good.

A.

Thanks,Adrian! That would be super!
Any pics and reports that you could give would be appreciated.
I hope you enjoy the weekend out there at the race.

We are so hopeful for the guys to do well!

[Bullet Whisperer]

Just a brief update, with more details to follow soon, as well as links to some videos.
 I am sure Ace will be pleased to learn ...
 The Fireball Asbo Bullet has scored an outright win at Lydden Hill !!
 All in, it scored 4th, 3rd, 1st and 2nd places over the weekend, the latter two were wet races. Not many competitors taking part, but those present were serious contenders on very quick bikes.
 Sadly, we had even greater hopes for the 350 shattered when a missed gear in the first lap of its' first race resulted in top end damage, so it was sidelined for the weekend.
 The Cotrell Crusader 250 won every race it took part in, with one outright win over the 250 specials which were also out with the pre '62 machines this machine runs with.
 The Ducati 250 took four podium places in the Ducati Championship races [positions were 3rd, 4th, 2nd and 3rd], but the 2nd was a 2nd overall, with only a 450 Ducati beating it, there were also a couple of 350's out there over the weekend.
 More very soon, we are all exhausted and need some sleep, but are a bunch of very happy bunnies 
 B.W.