Saturday 5th June

For the first days actual racing at TT 2004, the weather couldn’t have been any better…… lap and race records were broken on the way to watching John McGuinness winning his first big bike TT…… awesome…… but scary at the speeds they were going…… Shouldn’t really have watched it, because it can put you off…… crackers, this racing lark when you stop and think about it.

Had the bike fettled earlier in the day, and all we changed this time around apart from giving the bike a fresh oil and filter change, was the ride height……… altering the rear sag from 18mm to 11mm increased the ride height from 519mm to 525mm, so we brought that back down to 520mm to try it. Was caught on the hop a bit after watching the races down in Ros’s garden at Ago’s leap…… Thought that the practise after the races would be at 6-00pm, but it seemed to start 10 minutes early…… I was still in the truck when I heard the bikes screaming off down the Glencrutchery Road…… oops…… got up to where they were setting off, but Stuey was still in the holding area with the bike as they wouldn’t let him out on it…… so had to run up there and hop on the bike……… knew that I was gonna have a bit of traffic to deal with tonight then…… Started off with some geezer on a Gixer 1000, and he drove away from me at the start but rolled it for the top of Bray Hill, so I drove around his outside…… hit the bottom flat out whilst beeping the horn to Ros, Bubba and co like I said I would…… and had it squirming on the brakes again at the Quarter Bridge, nice and steady round there than I caught up with some geezer on a 400 and a workmate of mine, Paddy Martin on his R1 on the exit of Braddan Bridge…… got past the 400 and tailed Paddy into Snugborough, had a bit of a fright here, when I tried to go underneath Paddy at the top of the hill before the Railway Pub in Union Mills, and he went in there faster than I thought he would and he wiped my nose…… he obviously didn’t know I was there, and I had the bike sliding to avoid him, but let go of the brakes to go around his outside and got past him before the pub…… There were riders all over the place and was having to throttle off in some places to be extra cautious, but was still going at a fair lick an that…… was smooth enough all the way to Ballacraine , but had a lot of riders to contend with on the way to Glen Helen, noticed that there was still a huge crowd watching, and coming out of Lambfell, Ryan Farquhar passed me on his Production 1000 machine……… the arse end of his bike was snaking all over the shop…… tried to get in behind him, and was managing to stay with him, but mainly because of the traffic that was in the way…… at the top and bottom of Begarrow, it seemed like it was 400’sville…… pesky little things everywhere (last chance to test them before Monday’s race)…… Tailed Ryan into Kirk Michael, but the superior speed of his machine and him taking Douglas Road Corner better than me, saw me lose the tow…… would have done anyway on the run to Ballaugh…… beeped the horn at me sister Angie and Brother-in-law, Mike passing the garage forecourt……toot toooooot……… quite a few bikes through here, but managed to have a clear run through Alpine, which I took in 6th gear, but still can’t tell if I’m faster though it screaming the tits off it in 5th…… good leap at Ballaugh and Ballacrye, but the yellow flags were out in force all the way through Quarry Bends…… I stuck my hand in the air and toured……… Lots of scratch marks in the road, got the green flag to go and got my head down again…… caught up with more bikes after the Ginger Hall, the bike was shaking its head a lot more than I would have liked on the bumpy bits but got to Ramsey okay, hoisting the front over all the bumps and jumps definitely help for a smoother ride…… popping wheelie’s where you never think you would……… there were people sticking their heads out of the hedge in places that I’ve never seen before, in the trees and all sorts…… caught up with a gaggle of traffic up on the Mountain, and had to be wary when I was passing them…… had them all done bar one by the time we got to the Bungalow Bridge was stuck behind the next geezer till the 32nd then into Windy Corner there was more traffic……… Knew me pit board man Simon and his Dad would be here, and saw him hanging off the wall waving, so tooted the horn a few times…… the bike bounced around a bit at Cronk Ny Mona and I out braked meself a bit at Signpost Corner, Martin Bullock taking the piss out of me later as he was watching here from his Mum’s garden…… Decided against pulling in and going for a flying lap…… rounded Governors better than previously and short shifted through the box and flew across the line to start another circuit, the road was pretty clear and I hit the bottom as fast as the little bike would take me, and beeped the horn again, passing Ros’s garden…… snaking on the anchors again at the QB and I was pleased enough with the way I rounded Braddan Bridge, got the power down nice and early, tyres nice and hot at this point…… wasn’t even gonna roll the throttle this time round at Ballagarey, but must confess that I did, come the race, might not…… takes a lot of bottle, it has to be said……… didn’t encounter much traffic till the Glen Helen Section, where I caught some geezer on an R6 Junior bike……… didn’t get past him till Laurel Bank then I caught an orange bibbed rider at Lambfell…… fook me!…… were they slow!…… had a wobble on landing over the crest at Rhencullen 1, and a stand up wheelie at Rhencullen 2, but was steady enough all the way to Ramsey, the flags still out at Quarry Bends for some reason, but because they were out, I toured again with my hand up…………… the bike was till too flighty on the bumpy bits, and this will have to be changed…… it was a clear road till I saw a bunch of riders at the end of the Mountain Mile while I was halfway down it……… caught them up rounding the Verandah, noticed Sellsy as being one of them, but never actually got past till Windy Corner…… had a geezer ahead on a 1000cc, that Sellsy was obviously having trouble passing, he was just parking the bastard into the corners and squirting it out, making him hard to pass, but I managed to get past him all the same, had a slide at the 33rd whilst trying to get the power down too early doing it, had to remind meself that the tyres were on their 6th lap too…… down to Kate’s cottage there was another big bike, and I done him on the brakes into the Creg, but he had a go back at me…… numpty…… I actually went down to first gear here by mistake, and had the back end locked up, but hooked it back up to second and made the corner okay, thought this geezer would be having another go at me down the long straight, but he never came back past, must have pulled enough on him…… Went underneath a geezer before Bedstead and feel better through the Nook now that I have found the best line…… wobbled round Governors, and slowed again as the yellow flags were being waved, but that was only to indicate that the chequered flag was imminent…… pulled in, and told the team that we still needed more changes…… wasn’t too tired which was good…… topped the Production 600 Leader board again with 116.10mph, but there weren’t many in it, Jason Griffith’s the only star name testing his bike. Saw Ryan afterwards, and he asked how long I managed to stay with him for, which I thought was pretty flattering, I said ‘Kirk Michael, then you just pissed off into the distance’. Always thought that he was a bit of a hairy rider, but after watching him from close quarters this week, I have to say he’s as smooth and tidy as the best of them…… could learn something from him.

Was a bit pissed off to discover that the fork seals were leaking again, this time we’re going to have to put genuine Honda ones in, instead of the crap pattern ones that they’re selling in the paddock…… not worth the hassle for the extra few quid that they cost…… Gonna fettle the bike with another new set of tyres, pads etc etc……… might miss the next practise session, if we don’t get the bits in time………

So tune in next time for another very exciting, forks stopped leaking, get that bloody suspension right, faster episode……………………………………………