Hot day at QR.
Considering I wasn't that bothered in going to this one, and only made my mind up at 4.00am on the day, it was a cracker! Good old Bry picked me up and we stopped for the obligatory Wild Bean coffee on the way. All signed in and even scrutineered before 7.30, much to the dismay of one of the guys checking the bikes. Never mind, a bit of cheek from Bryan about doing some work soon had him smiling, or grimacing — it's a wonder it passed!
Will and Leigh, of Billeigh Photography, were already here and set up with a table, chairs and various other luxuries. It seemed rude not to make use of the facilities.
The car crew were all out on track doing laps and then... well, looking under bonnets. I took some pics of the bikes in the meantime while we waited for Dave to arrive.
Tyres & Temperatures.
Nowadays, I don't think many riders would dispute the importance of warming a tyre before hard use. Thirty years ago you'd just be glad to see a bit of tread around the entire circumference, you didn't expect them to stick to the road as well - but hell, it was always a nice bonus when they did!
So fast forward, and what do we have? Pretty cool tech that is positively bursting from the race scene. The bike manufacturers now make bikes that are almost impeccable, delivering huge amounts of linear power, quietly, through a frame and swingarm strong enough to hold a tank together... and they are very, very hard to improve on. Where once you chose a JMC swingarm, or Harris frame, for better handling, now you just keep it standard and wonder how you ever managed on the steel cradle, flexi-frames of yesteryear.
On top of that, the rubber things that transmit everything to the road, or you, are designed with the actual bike in mind, not just a rubber ring forged in the dimensions to suit your wheels.
And these tyres let you get away with murder...
Champions Ride Days, Queensland Raceway - 31/05/2014.
With the bikes loaded up on the Friday afternoon, we were set to leave at 6.00am on the Saturday. Leathers, helmets, boots, food and a few tools for good measure, and straight up to the Coomera BP garage for a brew and meet the others. By 7.30am we were rolling into the massive complex that is QR to find a load of cars racing round the track, and a dose of bikes already unloaded.
Over to the control tower to get registered and we were soon ready for scrutineering and the rider's brief. The weather was perfect, not too hot and just slight cloud in the sky.
