half term report

simon67 · Post by **simon67** » 18 years ago

thought i should make a contribution to the (EXELLENT) site after 10 months of raptor ownership.i had never thought of owning a naked bike but unfotunately had a nasty crash on a trackday at dijon in france in may 05 on my much loved 95 yzf 750(fitted with 1000 exup ru motor,r1 calipers,ohlins etc)and broke my collarbone,ribs,hand and turned my knuckles into what looked like grit on my x-rays.must say i was very impressed with the french medical care(hot chocolate croissants for breakfast) they would even wheel me and my iv drip outside for a cigarette.to add insult to injury i had to miss the massive french classic racing festival the coupe moto legende and come home on the eurostar,which was made even better by the exellent drugs administerd by the french pharmacie.3 months off work(postman) was long enough to rebuild the yzf and find out that due to the collar bone damage i coudnt ride anything with clipons(you can see where this is heading)without my right arm going completly numb which is a bit disconcerting trying to operate the throttle and brake on a 135bhp missile.so what to do?all the sit up and beg stuff looked too sensible and a tuono was abit out of my price range.and then i remembered a roadtest in performance bikes from 2000 on the v-raptor which i duly dug out of the massive dusty pile of bike mags that the wife constantly reminds me really should be chucked out.(no chance)The test started like this-"when you buy your v raptor dont bother insuring it, taxing it,cos when you end up in front of the magistrate as you invariably will,at least youll have some cash to pay off your fines",i was sold- the words of ronnie smith and gus scott had put me on the road to funsville.fate is a fickle mistress and i dived headlong into e-bay and staight onto a 2370 miles, fsh,1 lady owner,mint 2001 v-rap.i still cant beleive the next bit even after 10 months.the bike was in basingstoke which is 40 miles from where i live(isle of wight)and i phoned the number on the listing and offered her £2300 expecting to hear my offer met with the derision it deserved to which she replied "when can you collect it". i still feel guilty after all these months.the bike turned out to be exactly as described and i havnt stopped smiling since.since then i have done the usual,baines link,k&n,scorpion pipes,tre,removed intake snorkels, 1 tooth off the front sprocket,put 8000 miles and gone through 4 rear tyres,1 bt56,2 010s and 1 bt012ss,fronts seem to last for ever-cant think why- ahem.finish is a bit dodgy to say the least and it kills chains which it has eaten 2 of.i can honestly say that i have not had so much fun on a bike since i had a brace of LCs when i was in my 20s and that includes an nsr 400,yzf 750,yzf 1000,rg gamma and various old nails inbetween -my kids now say that i am officially old when i turned 40 in feb.anyway glad i got all that off my chest and it proves every cloud has a silver lining and that cloud is raptor shaped.ps-any of you fellow raptor owners live in the south cos i like any excuse for a trip to england-see ya

Shlockengronk · Post by **Shlockengronk** » 18 years ago

I hope you get back to the track one day Simon, I got Michelin power race tyres on my V at the moment and there great on the track (still haven't tried bridgestones). Keep smiling you old bugger, Im not far behind.

I've read some Ronnie Smith in various mags down here, the guy was a god, LC's and Gamma's have legend status too

simon67 · Post by **simon67** » 18 years ago

yeah thanks,planning to get back on track in september at cadwell park,couldnt do it sooner as i had to have a bone graft and a plate put in my collar bone in january,which was ok for road riding but wanted to make sure i was ok for track riding as i diddnt want to ride round half heartedly.i see your from australia so have you done a trackday at philip island?its my all time favourite track and if i win the lottery(gotta have a dream)im gonna book it for a week!

the doohan/ gardener battle with gardeners bellypan flapping about is one of my favourite grand prixs ever,he was a tough cookie gardener and a shame he didnt win more world titles.anyway the sun has just made a rare appearance im off to waste some kneesliders-see ya

Shlockengronk · Post by **Shlockengronk** » 18 years ago

kneesliders on the road

Im not that keen but phillip island yes a few times(theres a track day 3days after the GP so we hang around) it takes 12hours to get there but worth every corner. I'd love to do the nurburgring and any other track i could fit in up there. I got plans for the Isle of Man next year, 100th anniversary, I'll have to bludge a ride for that one i think. Can you hire bikes from the mainland?

simon67 · Post by **simon67** » 18 years ago

yeah,bike hire is no problem,there seem to be a fair few places that will hire you what you want from a blackbird to a bandit to an r1.if you need a contact i will see what i can turn up.as for the TT next year i was considering going myself for the 100th anniversary-seems too good to miss.i went to ireland last year to see some real road racing at the skerries 100 and it tottaly changed my perception on bike racing forever-those guys are amazing.dont know if you get any TT news in aus but guy martin nearly broke dave jeffries lap record in practice yesterday with a 126mph lap- awsome!! see ya