Another weekend and another event planned, this time it was a trip to Silverstone to see the British Superbikes race and see if Shane “shaky” Byrne could win the 2008 title in the first race of the day.

But first, I had to wait for Dazza to arrive on the ZZR1100 which he did, at the agreed time, very cold and with a very cold girlfriend riding pillion. So they warmed up for a while at chez nous, I had already got the Z750 out of the garage, and waiting to go so as soon as they were ready we set off.

From my house it’s not a long ride to Silverstone circuit, a quick trip up the A5 to Towcester, left to the A43 and a Z750 speed blast along the dual carriageway saw us there in around 20 minutes or so. We placed our crash helmets in the charity coach for £2 to save us carrying them, and after a quick wander found a seat in the Luffield stands to watch some bike racing.

After watching the Triumph Triples race, we moved to a better vantage point to watch the 1000cc class racing, and found a great spot to view a few bends and the final chicane, and the pit straight. Marvellous. We were well attended as Dazza’s ‘ho’ went back and forth for provisions. Only don’t tell her I called her his ho, as she is a bit sensitive about that.

Anyway after a few races, and a classic racers display to celebrate the 60th year of Silverstone, the Superbikes were on. This being my first time I had to have some video, and pics of the events, and had already taken a few of the other racers. So when the Superbikes did their parade lap, I had the camera on video and recorded this clip.

Then I started the video recording as they cam around the first lap, only for the batteries to go flat just as the bikes arrived in view. DOH!

I do have some pics and videos to put up of all the other stuff later, but unfortunately no superbikes ones. But I was engrossed in watching the action anyway, those guys are awesome to watch as the wheels slide away on a bend yet they carry on feeding in power and clicking up the gears, they have some serious balls. Some of the overtaking at the chicane was spectacular too, watching the subtle change of line to get an exit on the inside of the other guy, all while manhandling a bike through a sharp left-right turn and getting back on the power. WOW.

There was some more action from other classes of bikes, and then the Second Superbikes race, which featured more of the same thrills, and spills. If you have never seen them ‘cept on TV then get to a live British Superbikes race, it’s so much better being there firsthand.

And all too soon it was time to go home. We stood in a long line to retrieve our helmets from the storage coach, then got back to the bikes. The Z750 started on the button after a few attempts, as I was too lazy to kick it this time. I decided to go with Dazza out along the A43 towards the M40 which may be a better way for him to get home. I peeled off at the A422 to Buckingam, after a stint at 70 on the dual carriageway which the old twin buzzed along ok.

Through the country lanes was a bit of a nice ride, and through the old town of Buckingham it was all just a great steady run towards home. Then a few miles to the Milton Keynes side of Buckingham the Kawasaki started to miss a little. It would clear at low or high throttle but midrange missed badly. UH OH.

I nursed the sick twin to the Old Stratford A5 roundabout, and steadily around it. At the other side it seemed to clear a little. Then about a mile from home I lost power on one cylinder completely. It’s luckily a slow bit of road, so I didn’t need to hold up traffic as I limped the Z750 into the housing estate where I live. There I managed to keep it going through the last few turns to make it home.

As it was getting dark I’ve had no time to look at the bike yet, but I’m hoping it’s just a sparkplug, or something in one of the carbs. Still winters nearly here, and the tax and mot run out in October with no plans to renew through the winter anyway I have plenty of time to sort out the stricken twin.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 28th, 2008 at 7:03 pm and is filed under Ride Outs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.