Welcome to the world of
MJR PRODUCTIONS
MJR PRODUCTIONS
Welcome to the world of
MJR PRODUCTIONS
MJR PRODUCTIONS
Original Design by GOEMO.and enhanced by M.J.Roberts
Super Blackbird At Bentwaters
One Sunday in September last year I went to Bentwaters (the ex-American Air Force base) for a day of fun on the runway. I had seen an article in the local rag about a speed testing event organised by a small motorcycle club from Essex. For a very reasonable sum of £15 they promised to provide three full blast runs down the 2 mile runway along with an unspecified number of practice runs.
I arrived early and a few hardy souls were huddled round the (closed) café offering various levels of advice to a guy with his Kawasaki GPZ1000RX in pieces, trying to discover where the Amoco Cadiz was hiding! The bike's back wheel, exhaust, number plate etc. were all covered in a thick slippery coating of Mr. Castrol's finest oil, and on inspection it was a nice green colour. A quick chat with the owner confirmed my suspicions, the bike had been serviced the day before and the owner had replaced the oil just by using the dip stick/gauge, resulting in it being over-filled. The oil was escaping from anywhere it could (rocker cover, breather, drive sprocket seal etc.) due to the increased pressure.
Eventually everybody had arrived and we all proceeded up to the airfield entrance to wait for the ambulance to arrive, as the event could not take place without medical support. After half an hour waiting in the biting wind, someone pointed to a small dot in the distance at the end of the runway. Yes, you've guessed it, it was the ambulance who had turned up early and was already in position. So the gates were opened and the organisers checked us in.
The first thing we had to do, after signing our lives away, was to walk the complete length of the runway as some people of questionable parentage had spread nails and tacks all over the place. Apparently some of the locals don't take kindly to bikes and cars using the runway for organised events. You would have thought that after several decades of America's "Top Guns" taking off and landing they would welcome the relative quiet!
Once we were happy the runway was clear we were able to do a few practice runs getting a feel for the concrete braking area and where the side road was to return to the start. The practice runs also enabled a drag bike (with open exhaust) to 'persuade' most of the sheep grazing beside the runway to move a bit further away. This didn't stop one of the stupid things ambling across in front of one bike while in full flight!
I arrived early and a few hardy souls were huddled round the (closed) café offering various levels of advice to a guy with his Kawasaki GPZ1000RX in pieces, trying to discover where the Amoco Cadiz was hiding! The bike's back wheel, exhaust, number plate etc. were all covered in a thick slippery coating of Mr. Castrol's finest oil, and on inspection it was a nice green colour. A quick chat with the owner confirmed my suspicions, the bike had been serviced the day before and the owner had replaced the oil just by using the dip stick/gauge, resulting in it being over-filled. The oil was escaping from anywhere it could (rocker cover, breather, drive sprocket seal etc.) due to the increased pressure.
Eventually everybody had arrived and we all proceeded up to the airfield entrance to wait for the ambulance to arrive, as the event could not take place without medical support. After half an hour waiting in the biting wind, someone pointed to a small dot in the distance at the end of the runway. Yes, you've guessed it, it was the ambulance who had turned up early and was already in position. So the gates were opened and the organisers checked us in.
The first thing we had to do, after signing our lives away, was to walk the complete length of the runway as some people of questionable parentage had spread nails and tacks all over the place. Apparently some of the locals don't take kindly to bikes and cars using the runway for organised events. You would have thought that after several decades of America's "Top Guns" taking off and landing they would welcome the relative quiet!
Once we were happy the runway was clear we were able to do a few practice runs getting a feel for the concrete braking area and where the side road was to return to the start. The practice runs also enabled a drag bike (with open exhaust) to 'persuade' most of the sheep grazing beside the runway to move a bit further away. This didn't stop one of the stupid things ambling across in front of one bike while in full flight!
Other than the sheep incident, the "Is adrenaline brown?" moment of the day went to a Yamaha R1 rider who had a tank slapper (lock to lock several times) at 130mph that had both his feet off the footrests and flailing in the wind. Either by accident or design he kept the throttle nailed and rode through it. By the time he returned to the start he was still very white and shaking.
On my second run, half way down the runway, the engine went from a wail to buuuuuuurrrrrrrr and stopped accelerating. My heart sank into my stomach as visions of bent valves and dented pistons entered my head. I then started thinking how I was going to explain a £2000 engine rebuild to my wife when I realised I had hit the rev limiter (in fifth!) and it had started cutting the ignition.
My timed runs were given as 147, 150, 154 and finally 157. Not bad considering my bike has a higher screen, a rack, both mirrors in place, standard tyre pressures and it was carrying 13.5 stones of lard (as opposed to a wafer thin, midget sized Japanese test rider). There was a strong headwind on the day and those who had attended before said they were all down by about 20mph on their previous visits. I was 5th fastest out of about 40 only being beaten by 2 Suzuki Haystacks and 2 Kawasaki ZX12 Hoovers (have you seen the resemblance of the ram-air scoop?). Top speed of the day went to one of the Busas at 170.
As an illustration of how useless most bikes' speedos are at these speeds, the ZX12 was showing 200mph whereas the actual speed was 168 and mine showed 180 at 157. And before you ask, the speed gun had been calibrated that morning by the Essex traffic policeman who was one of the organisers!
I really enjoyed the day and you can see some more details at:-
Ride Rage
The next event was scheduled to have taken place in March but, as you may have seen, Bentwaters has now been sold and the new owners want to increase to fee for using the runway SIX fold. The organiser, Scott Hamer, is looking for alternative, reasonably priced, venues. Any suggestions can be sent to Scott either by e-mail ( hamer.the.trainer@lineone.net ) or via myself.
Mike Roberts
April 2001
On my second run, half way down the runway, the engine went from a wail to buuuuuuurrrrrrrr and stopped accelerating. My heart sank into my stomach as visions of bent valves and dented pistons entered my head. I then started thinking how I was going to explain a £2000 engine rebuild to my wife when I realised I had hit the rev limiter (in fifth!) and it had started cutting the ignition.
My timed runs were given as 147, 150, 154 and finally 157. Not bad considering my bike has a higher screen, a rack, both mirrors in place, standard tyre pressures and it was carrying 13.5 stones of lard (as opposed to a wafer thin, midget sized Japanese test rider). There was a strong headwind on the day and those who had attended before said they were all down by about 20mph on their previous visits. I was 5th fastest out of about 40 only being beaten by 2 Suzuki Haystacks and 2 Kawasaki ZX12 Hoovers (have you seen the resemblance of the ram-air scoop?). Top speed of the day went to one of the Busas at 170.
As an illustration of how useless most bikes' speedos are at these speeds, the ZX12 was showing 200mph whereas the actual speed was 168 and mine showed 180 at 157. And before you ask, the speed gun had been calibrated that morning by the Essex traffic policeman who was one of the organisers!
I really enjoyed the day and you can see some more details at:-
Ride Rage
The next event was scheduled to have taken place in March but, as you may have seen, Bentwaters has now been sold and the new owners want to increase to fee for using the runway SIX fold. The organiser, Scott Hamer, is looking for alternative, reasonably priced, venues. Any suggestions can be sent to Scott either by e-mail ( hamer.the.trainer@lineone.net ) or via myself.
Mike Roberts
April 2001
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