Surely it won't rain at Knockhill

Last Friday (9th) I was on a Niall Mackenzie Superbike Track Day at Knockhill given to me for my 40th in a few days time.

Although the weather forecast earlier in the week was not looking good I decided after buying a track bike recently to go regardless of hail rain or sunshine.

Going up to Knockhill the weather clouds looked further west than expected so it all looked good except the sight of some T in the Park idiots flashing all and sundry at fellow motorists.

After the pleasant intros it was decided that the Advanced guys would go out and give us no hopes a class with Mr Mac to talk about how to turn your road bike around for a track session.

Notepads at the ready Niall provided very good info for all concerned – even how to get bits for your bike once the BSB guys were finished with them. I managed to keep looking serious when Niall was talking about dialing in your suspension and how to add pre load and stiffen your whole set up.

When the session was over most of the ‘more gear than idea’ brigade scuttled away to make sure all was attended to just like the master had instructed. At this point all I had to do was say a quick prayer to the god of grip and start the beast.

Up fired a 1988 FZR 600 all dressed up with stickers from such after market parts as crash bungs, various oils etc etc. She fired up first time of asking to the disgusting looks from guys with serious expensive looking Ducatis, race replica Beemers and a fluttering of recently changed to track bike GSX-Rs and Kawasakis.

Niall took one look at my excocet and straight away realised why I had a cheeky grin on my face when I left the class room. The only option I had to ‘dial in the front suspension was to put in heavier fork oil. My rear shock had two main options – take it or leave it. He admired my guts and attitude toward bottom budget racing and run wot ya brung approach.

I was introduced at that point to his mates – Dennis Hobbs and Stuart Easton. Stuart commented on why I was running two fronts but with a sprocket attached to the one fitted into the swing arm.

They asked if I was mentally unstable and why on a typical monsoon day at Knockhill would I choose to run on something no wider than a modern mountain bike.

At the start of my first session I had noticed that the humidity level had increased dramatically. One guy at the front of the grid took the change in weather seriously (probably called Dale or Francis) had went all soft and fitted wets. I got going and almost immediately noticed my old girl was loving the conditions.

With enough power to keep up just about she was just beautiful in the corners. Well planted and smooth delivery of the horses albeit no longer seen at Newmarket, under the saddle it sounded and looked great.

I read an article recently about guys who used to ride their bikes to meetings – race and then ride them back. My day at Knockhill reminded very strongly of those spirited experiences.

In the afternoon my bike started losing power as water was getting into somewhere. A 5 – 10min rest in the pits idling away would dry out the problem and would allow another 4 -5 laps.

Some guys rallied round and together we kept her going. So for them I offer eternal thanks.

For the guys who took expensive machinery and never even took them out “because its raining” I offer the following advice – move abroad where you will experience far less rain or get a cheap track bike and learn to ride in the wet.

If its not raining – its not training. My statement is simple, guys who race at club level need to trade in their older bikes, which having been ridden hard have probably seen their fastest laps.

These such machines are low cost, often come with extra’s and in general have been well maintained. The other options are spend lots on a road bike and hope you can learn one bend at a time in the glorious weather readily seen at Knockhill.

Guys fun in the sun is one thing – getting set for the wet is something else. Learn from the top blokes in the wet and you can be more confident if it ever ever ever rains in Britain.