Gordon gets rebuilt.

Peter Day has very kindly offered to rebuild Gordon over the 'festive' period.

After taking him to Peter's house, Gordon was very excited to be back with someone who actually was bothered about him - he is very grumpy that I seem to have ignored him since he spat me off at Cadwell...

A3 poster - Cadwell Mountain

I've got some A3 posters of Gordon cresting the mountain.

If you would like one, please just contribute something towards a postal tube and at least £1.50 for a stamp.
Click below to donate something to cover despatch costs, also let me know if you would like the poster dedicating to anyone.

New Blog

The new blog that will carry my ideas and plans for the 2008 season can now be found here: 2008 Season Blog

Please add it to your 'favourites'.

I try to continue to keep this blog updated with stuff that is specific to 'Gordon' and his progress.

Video from Cadwell weekend.

On track action.

This great on track action shot is by Peter Wileman check out his website at http://www.racingdigitalimages.com/

Cadwell's mountain section is a great place to do a bit of 'show boating'. I quite like getting it a bit out of shape coming over the top, it's difficult to keep the wheel down and go quickly though!

Not according to plan.

Unfortunately the time table was changed and that meant that we were called to the holding area while the karts were still on track.
We did have to wait for quite a while, and all I can think is that my tyres cooled off.
Got a great start.
Gordon gets off the line like a rocket.

Leading the race - into the Goose neck - and down we went.

Chilling out.

Done a few laps this morning. Small problem. Seems like fourth gear is knackered as it keeps jumping out of gear. Oh well will have to try not to use it too much!

Disappointed.

Got a great start and led the race for the first four laps. Mark got past and then I took the lead again. Only to get the oil flag. Gordon was smoking big style. Steve stripped him down and luckily it was the cam chain tensioner bolt that had come un screwed! The air box had saved the day and contained it. Oh well we can do it all again tomorrow.

Qualifying.

Not a bad session.

Third fastest.

Alex on pole then Mark Lawes - we were all within two tenths of each other.

Carry on Cadwell

Gordon's mate Jody Lovatt (AKA Dr. Love) is racing this weekend so has kindly offered to give him a lift.

Big job broken out...

Popped up to the garage to check on Gordon today - just thought I would give him a wipe over in anticipation of racing the last two rounds of the championship at Cadwell Park this weekend.

Once I started on one little job, I noticed another. Then before I had finished that, there was another bigger job to do.... here I am hours later, and there still seems to be loads to do...

Great weekend.

All in all it has been a great weekend. It was a class race with all the Euro front runners. I raced hard knocking over two seconds off my qualifying time.
It was a real testement to Martin also that his newly built unridden bike could make it to the rostrum. He never saw my race though as he too was riding, finishing a credible 11th.

Went for it.

Had a good race, really went for it from the off.
It was just me and Mark Lawes at the front for the whole race. I didnt realise Stephan Meiners was creeping up behind and just pinched 2nd off me as we crossed the line.
Not bad when you think the bike had not turned a wheel before yesterday.

Mark Lawes is the 2007 European Champion.

Working late.

Martin has got most things done as well as cooking dinner for everyone! I am hoping that now the yoke is sorted the handling will be transformed.
After trying a much harder spring we are trying one a bit softer.
Now he just has to put the motor back together and build the bike back up!

Brand new bike.

Of course with this being a totally new machine we are finding all sorts of things as I push it more and more. The back is still not right, too hard I think.
The big problem is the front - under heavy braking the bike does not want to turn. Let the brakes off, no problem.
Turns out the bottom yoke is actually touching the frame causing the steering to stick! Managed to qualify 7th though amongst all the Euro regulars.

not forgotten

not forgotten
Originally uploaded by no1bloke

We have not forgotten Gordon just because he has been left at home. The team are running four bikes this weekend. Jan is riding an Over Yamaha with the number 66 in Gordon's honour.

Bound for Assen.

Good morning, just on my way to the Netherlands, to work with the Mali-Jawa team again for the last round of the European Supermono championship.

I am really looking forward to it as Martin has now finished the third bike.

Keep coming back for updates as I will be be keeping the blog current from my mobile phone.

Photo by Rejman.

Everyone's a winner!

I was getting ready to send out the official notifications of Gordon's new owner, and some of his mates thought that everyone deserved to be a winner, so they got to grips with the membership cards.
They fought it out and picked who got what. If you are a sponsor member, keep your eye on the post - it might just be a baby shark, coozie, hat or t- shirt.
If you get a t-shirt and it doesn't fit pleas pass it on to someone who might appreciate it!

Draw video.

Just so you can see the actual draw as it took place:

Here you can see 'The Judge' Johnny Corrin years ago, when we were in the 1989 Belstaff team together. From the left, Trevor Nation, Steve Ives, Johnny Rea Snr. at the back, Johnny Corrin in front of him, then me, together with some other blokes - including Mark Farmer and Ron Haslam!!
I would really like to thank all Gordon's special friends for contributing to the project and especially to all the people who bought sponsor memberships, I could not have done the 'Gordon Project' without you.

And the winner is...

Alex won the race, Glen won the championship and John Corrin won Gordon.
J.C. and I rode together in the Belstaff team in the '80s.
He was a very good rider, I wonder if winning Gordon is enough to tempt him back on track...

Winner will pick the winner!

Here we are at Mallory park waiting for the supermono race so that the winner can pick out the sponsor of Gordon that will win him.
Alex Hutchinson on the NWS is on pole with Glen next in 2nd.
I will be doing the race commentary with Fred Clarke so I hope it will be an exciting race.

Clean and shiny.

Sunday we will find out who will be getting Gordon, so I am doing a bit of polishing and shining up, so that he looks nice on the special day.

Don't forget if you would like to be part of the 'Gordon' project there is still time to contribute. Each £60 sponsorship will get a membership number that will be included in the draw to win him, click here for more details: Gordon's 100 club

Not long to go now!

Well Gordon's membership board is filling up now, with over 70 memberships gone there aren't many left, so hurry to join before Mallory on the 9th of September.

A few of Gordon's mates are keeping an watching eye over the board, the stars indicate someone who hasn't returned their ticket yet!

Gordon will be at Mallory but will not be taking part in the proceedings, so come along and say hi. The membership will be open right up to the start of the race with the draw happening at the prize giving, see you there.

Gordon in action.

Thanks to Paul and Linda at PLJ Photo for this great shot of me and Gordon in action at Donington.

Gordon goes well at Donington

Here is an overview video of the weekend.
Fastest in untimed practice, gear linkage broke in timed qualifying, but my out lap was fast enough to secure me 5th place on the grid. Finished second with a best lap time of 1-16.84; not quite as fast as the 1-15-51 I did on a practice day last year on the minimono - but really good for Gordon.

2nd place will do.

It was a fast and furious race with the lead constantly swapping at the front.

For the majority of the race it was between Glen English, Mark Lawes and me.

Towards the end they pulled away from me, but a last lap crash put Mark out and Gordon got second with Nick Chadwick in third!

Practice and qualifying.

I was fastest in the unofficial practice, but for qualifying I could not believe it!
The gear linkage broke right at the start of the session!
As a result I only managed to record one out lap.
It was good enough for 5th place on the grid just behind pole position.

Gordon's new mates.

We are all set and ready; scrutineering is done.
No problems.
We just need to know now whether it will be wet or not.
It could be a problem when we only have the one set of wheels.
Gordon's not all that bothered though, he has already made a couple of new friends in the garage.

Off to Donny...

Thanks to David Fisher at Fishers Transport for the use of the van.
Gordon is all loaded up now and I am just struggling with all his mates who are trying to stowaway onboard.

Gordon gets ready for Donington.

It's difficult as Gordon lives in a garage near houses, so if I want to fire him up, I have to take him to a remote pub in the Yorkshire Dales. The customers don't mind as most of them are bikers anyway.
I am a bit disheartened to find out that at Donington we only have 2 x 8 minute sessions on track before the race, so that's not many laps to try stuff out - wow.
I have not had chance to test the new fork set up and with the limited time we have to test (on the day) I will have to do a bit of guess work and just get on with it!

Gordon in a grump...

I am going to have to spend some time with Gordon - I called at the garage today, and he was in a right grump at having being ignored for the last couple of weeks.
When his mates returned home and filled him in with details of the Jawa I had been riding at Most he was feeling a bit left out. I assured him it was just a test and I was looking forward to the next race with him.
There are a few jobs to be done before Donington all of which Steve and I will be able to get done over the weekend.
We are off up to The Sun Inn tomorrow night to generate some more interest in his 100 Club and hopefully sell some more membership places. See you up there!

Great test!

The weekend has proved to be a great test session.

We've had a lot of laughs and met up with some good friends.

When it came to the race it was simply a three way dice. I led for the majority of the race, but in the end with a few problems missing gears, I was overpowered by the MZ and the experience of Johannes at his home circuit and was pipped into 2nd place on the last lap.

Everything ready.

Morning warm up went fine.
Only did one flying lap, spending the rest of the time practising my start.

With the MZs having almost 15bhp more, I want to get to the front as soon as possible hopefully arriving at the first corner in the lead.

Morning warm up.

I am only going to do a couple of laps.
Mainly to check the motor as Martin worked long into the night replacing one of the cam buckets that had cracked. Apparently I had over revved the engine when missing gears and done the damage.
Got a soft rear on ready for the race so want to preserve that also.

Stowaways.

In second qualifying I continued to test and try different settings. On track with Nico and Johannes I was able to measure and compare their strengths and weaknesses.
The MZ is much faster in a straight line but I still managed to hang on to pole position.
No sooner was the bike back in the garage than Gordon's mates were swarming all over it.

Just one thing chaps.

Been for a walk round and done some thinking.

I want to try and make the shock less 'harsh' but it is a very difficult thing to translate in Czech.

So with just an hour before the second qualifying we have gone for a shock change.

1st qualifying.

It's cooler today and a little windy.
The forks are better and it means I can push the front more; but with all modifications, this then affects somewhere else. The back end needs more adjustment now.
Got pole though, with another 1,50.00 - Father and son MZ riders Johannes and Nico are between me and Libor with Nico the faster just 0.6 behind me.

That'll do.

I was really working towards getting in to the 49s by the end of testing.

Actually did a 50.00 so that'll do.

I hope that the heavier fork oil will do the trick tomorrow for qualifying.

Now the Mali-Jawa aside, I just remember another reason why I like this Czech team so much, proper refreshments.

Having fun.

Second session got down to 1,50.36.

There is nothing Martin can do with the forks today, he is going to put some heavier oil in tonight,

Rear adjustments didnt work so put them back to the original settings.

Going out in the last session to look for and try some new lines as the majority of the bumps are on the racing line, so I might try and find a way to ride round them.

That's sorted then.

A bit of duc tape and things are put to right.
10 laps later with a best time of 1,53.30

The bike feels good, front forks need slowing down. Tweaked the rear a bit, pulled in the bars and ready for the next session.

you're having a laugh...

Could not believe it when I saw the number on my bike - and it's Friday! Apparently Jan always rides no.13, it's lucky for him.

Right then.

All present and correct.

Up at the track, the bike's arrived and so has the luggage.

Typical. No sooner had we given up waiting gone to bed and only just fallen asleep than the phone rang. KLM fantastic, all four bags and nothing missing.

Beautiful evening.

Here we are in the lovely Czech Republic visiting the castle overlooking Most.

You can just see the circuit in the background.

Bit of a bu$$er, none of our the luggage has got here yet, all four bag are astray, having missed the flight from Amsterdam, that's two Arai RX7RR, and two pairs of leathers. However, I have confidence KLM have never let me down before...

Most or bust!

Gordon is a bit mad with me because I'm off to Most in the Czech Republic to race a works Jawa, the Mali Jawa team invited me over to test one of their machines and I thought the best way to test the bike would be to race it!

It will not be to replace Gordon and the race was not on Gordon's calendar so I've told him not to panic.

It didn't stop some of Gordon's mates help me pack my race gear and I caught this lot trying to get into my Arai helmet carrier.

I will be updating the blog from Most as the test develops.

Gordon's grand day out.

Front end sorted.

On to Steve Jordan m/cycles, where Steve has replaced the springs with 0.85 weight and increased the air gap.

Already I can instantly feel its much improved, more like I wanted it to be.

Gordon gets a run.

Here we are at MHP with Mark Hill doing his stuff with Gordon on the dyno.

Gordon was a bit nervous at first, but Mark soon put him at his ease.

First few runs and Mark says looks fine; 74 horses, just a couple of tweaks to try.

First stop to see Martin.

Out and about with Gordon today. We left home at 5am arriving at Slipstream for 9.15 - Martin is lending me a selection of needles and jets to try out on the dyno at M.H.P.

Off now to Byfleet, to run on the dyno, then on to see Mr. & Mrs. Jordan.

Membership sales

Just about halfway there with membership sales, the black stars represent tickets that are away and waiting to be signed/returned.

I hope to get a lot more sales before Donington to avoid any disappointment, the easest way would be for you all to buy a second ticket (upping your chance of winning to 1 in 50) and we are there!

As I've said before Gordon is a good track bike now, I'm planning some work next week that should make him into a great bike to own.

I will be sad to see him go, if enough tickets are sold someone will get a real gem!

Gordon goes on holiday.

Gordon has just returned from having a weeks holiday being on display at Jordan Bikes near Leeds.

Jordan Bikes is Yorkshire's biggest used bike showroom, just 200 yards from the M62 at junction 27.

Click here for the website Jordan Bikes

Looks good naked..

I think Gordon looks really good without his clothes on; you can really get to see him and his modifications really well.

Here during his recent test at Silvertsone you can see the design of the 2 into 1 MHP exhaust system, showing the different header pipe lengths. Plus a good shot of the exposed flywheel and re-enforced back plate on the l/h side of the engine.

This on track action shot is courtesy of Jen and Ben at Fresh Orange Photography

Time to prepare

With the next round of the Supermono Championship being in August I will have loads of time to prep Gordon for it, without me having to rush around like a headless chicken desperately trying to repair him in time.

The sales of his membership are going well but there are still some left if anyone wants join in!

His performance at Pembrey although extremely good highlighted a few issues, but with time now (and for a change) being on my side I should be able to get sorted before Donington.

Overview Video - Pembrey

On track action.

Good actionshot of me leading Nick on the EastWest KTM by PLJphoto

More photos of the weekend on my website, Pembrey News - the words will be done soon.

Thanks fella.

Cheers Gordon, you did well today fella.

Now you have a snooze whilst we have the long drive home and I'll be thinking of the next things that'll take you from being a 'good bike' to being a 'great bike'.