We arrived just before Saturday lunch to get everything setup and buy sessions for the afternoon, the 2 main objectives of the weekend were to run in the 350, (rebuilt cranks and rebore, pistons etc..) and shakedown the 500, which had also been rebuilt.
First out was the 350, which was pulling really well, although the rev. counter was on the blink so couldn't really control revs. Potential disaster struck after 4 laps, I got black flagged for smoking too much - luckily as it turns out! One of the coolant drain plugs had made an escape, and the water was evaporating on the engine and exhaust (causing the "smoke"), luckily it was not dry, and I thank my lucky stars that they didn't let me carry on, as I would have seized for sure.
I found a new screw and refilled with water, to test later in the day.
The second session was the 500's turn. It started very well, but I wasn't confident because it occassionaly was farting on Nr.3. It was pulling like a train, going really well - always worrying with a 2 stroke when things are going well! Well it lasted 3-4 laps (I was just getting into it!), when it went onto 2 cylinders then died. Second bike, second trip in the circuit lorry!
I checked out the bike and to my disappointment the 2 rotary disks on the right hand side (2 & 4) were not rotating anymore - more later!
The third and last session on Saturday, with the 350, went well, and I was able to concentrate on catching some of the bigger bikes, with the agile handling and my circuit knowledge (I'm an old hand now!). The 350 is very sensitive to the triple left hander at the end of the straight and I always get some chatter which I used to fix by lowering the front tyre pressure, however since I upgraded the fork with gold valves and stuff, I haven't managed to dial this out! Anyway at last I finished a session without any mishaps!
Sunday morning I did 3 sessions of the 350, which was running really well, until the last session when it stopped in the warmup lap! As soon as it stopped I was able to see that the generator wires had separated from the rectifie, so the battery was probably flat, I tried reconnecting them but effectively the battery was too far gone to get it running, Anyway, I should have taped the connectors after the rebuild - you live and learn.
So all in all, 2 broken bikes, but then that is what these early season sessions are all about, as long as it doesn't happen again at Paul Riccard next month!
The reason for the 500 stopping was that the screws holding the hubs together had unscrewed and eventually worn through the outer disk cover, causing catastrophic damage to the carbon disks, hubs, and covers! That will teach me to not loctite the screws in - a more expensive lesson I fear!
Franco had told me to loctite the screws in, but honestly I thought that due to the high number of screws and the stiffness of the setup (no movement or play) that just screwing would suffice. I checked the disks on the left hand cylinders, and they were nearly unscrewed as well, so a few more laps and I would have had the left side go as well - so I was lucky (yes really!). Anyway no fault of the equipment, but a hand slap for the mechanic!
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