Now then

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BoxerCup R
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Re: Now then

Postby BoxerCup R » Wed May 17, 2017 4:20 pm

Fast forward to 1992. I was married and was living in Thirsk. We both had jobs, no kids and I fancied another bike. It wasn't long before a YZ250 motocross bike was living in our shed.




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I got used to the off road handling and two stroke power band at my Uncles farm where we'd made a Motocrross track for my eldest cousin who was 7 and making me look very amateurish :oops:
There is a piece of land called 'Tin Tac' at Thirsk where lads and lasses have rode off road bikes for donkeys years and so a couple of us would go up there and thrash the tits off our bikes just for fun. I did a 'Mad Stubble' meet for my first event and promptly crashed lying 2nd off the line at the first corner and the whole field rode over the top of me, the body armour saved my ass that day =D> A few Mates followed suit and we had great fun. We entered a couple of MX events. One at the A64 track and another over near Market Weighton which opened our eyes to this being a young mans sport so the writing was on the wall for the Motocrossing and the bike but I managed a beach race at Redcar when the bike developed a "Nope, I don't want to start and if you do get me started, I'm gonna run with a misfire and keep cutting out to piss you off". So, decision was made, the YZ was going and a road bike was on the cards.

I looked around, as you do and decided to go back to what I knew, so bought a Honda VF400four because I did enjoy that bike and I would just need to get back into road riding without learning the foibles of a new bike. I had a white Ford Sierra XR4i with colour coded bumpers and which I had put a full Janspeed system on at the time and It wasn't long before I wanted a bigger bike because I was having to ride the wheels of that little 400 to keep up with me Mates who had CBR600's, ZXR750's, GSXR750's and FZR 600's, we did alright me and that VF but it was getting manic through the corners because we were loosing out on the straights. I learnt to go round corners fast on that bike through necessity :lol: Early 1994 and I traded the VF in for a red GSX600f, affectionately known as a teapot in the biking world. Woa, the change up to a 600 was brilliant, compared to the VF it was a flying machine, to me anyway :lol: and th brakes were incredible, they actually not only slowed the bike but stopped it too \:D/ I was right in the mix with me Mates on that bike and with it's neutral handling could leave them standing through ththe bends, not the usual way a 'teapot' was ridden. I 'piped' her up with a Nexus can and put a black screen on her too, she was my pride and joy. I bought my first set of one piece race leathers when I had that bike from the Bike show in Birmingham, Texport red & white with bright lime green flashes on the forearms and a RX7RR Arai, I felt on top of the world on that bike. I went to my first race meeting abroad on the GSX, Assen WSB in 1994 where I met two guys who have become and stayed my best friends since that weekend :cool:



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Its 1995 and I'm doing a lot of miles on the bike, over 12,000 pleasure miles within a year and counting. I got my knee down for the first time and my vision, planning ahead and general riding was improving every week, I needed to up my game and get a 750 race rep. I looked around and Suzuki were bringing the new WV model out and so giving great deals on the replaced GSXR750WS and I found my next bike, my first 'brand spanker' in Tillsons, Stockton on Tees. I bought her in December 1995 and stored her in a Mates garage because I didn't have one and I wasn't gonna lock her up to the house as I had been doing with my previous bikes. As soon as the roads were clear of salt in 1996 she came out. I was blown away but not intimidated by her power and the handling was sublime, it was my perfect bike.




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The exhaust was starting to show signs of, not corrosion but it was affected by something mad although Tillsons said It wasn't a warranty issue, York Suzuki said it was and, they could get me a race exhaust as a replacement, ha, happy days. Within a week She was fitted with a Yoshimura duplex full race system, OMG, what a sound, I was over the moon and the crackles and bangs on the over run were brilliant, in my ears anyway. I perfected the 'rev the bike in first or second gear while riding, shut the throttle, flick the kill switch off, 3 seconds and kill switch back on' :bounce: and it was like a shotgun being fired. Get it right in a narrow street with high buildings and people would duck and jump into doorways wondering 'What the hell was that' Childish I know but 'funny as owt' :lol: it wouldn't be very clever now what with all the ISIS bollox but back then the IRA had ceased bombing England and we were all less wary I think.

Next on the horizon was a track day on her. I'd done the Yamaha Race School at Caldwell Park in 1994 and so decided to do the full track on her there. Bike and tools into my van and away we went. KAfter the briefing I was 'bricking it' waiting to go out in my first session. I had put myself in the fast group :shock: never being short of confidence and being 'full of myself' but this was a nervousness I hadn't experienced before. Walking onto stage in the school play as The Pharoah dressed in a boiler suit covered in bacofoil and singing with a microphone in front of parents and families was one thing, going out on my first session at a track day with all the exotica with tyre warmers and dedicated track bikes was another. I needn't have worried, I learn't where the track went, followed a couple of fast lads through the bends to look at their lines and in the second session I was 'on it'. A couple of Mates had rode over to watch me and were very impressed and could see my ear to ear grin every time I came in, so much so that we all ended up doing track days after that.

Another trip to Assen WSB that year in the glorious sunshine and me and the bike were knitting together like a repairing broken bone. I removed the speedo cable during that year because I was racking up the miles and ended up doing 16,000 pleasure miles. It was a great year for the weather and we rode from March to November I remember, brilliant =D> Track days became an annual event after Caldwell and I did all the BSB tracks I could barring Knockhill and Thruxton but it was always my road bike and had lights and indicators and mirrors.

Move on to the winter of 1997 and the racer Dennis Winterbottom, who I had met through a Mate was preparing two brand fire new GSXR750WV's to race in the Bol d'or. The French are a funny bunch and he got refused entry at the last minute for being a British Team Dennis reckoned, anyway, he was selling the two bikes. One was the qualifying bike and was tuned to fook and the other was the planned race bike, which I bought. It had the following:-
Blueprinted engine
Maxton internals in the front forks
Ohlins rear shock with remote preload in with the clocks behind the screen
Full Arrow race system
Rearsets
Race bodywork
Endurance paddock stand bobbins with two bobbins on each side, one for general maintenance and a second higher up which lifted the bike a few mm off the floor to allow a quick wheel change during the race.

I got it painted Lucky Strike colours with a Kevin Swantz #34 on the race single seat cowl and I got all the original bits they had taken off the bike to put it back to standard or sell with the bike when the time came.



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That engine was 'a belter', it had so much linear power and the bike was a rocket ship. First ride out on it I took my wife of the time, who was the best passenger I have ever had on the back of any bike, out. I put the original dual seat back on and passenger pegs and out we went one sunny Sunday in early March 1998. We rode to friends in Norton, Doncaster and we all rode over to Bridlington, onto Scarborough and back home to Thirsk. The bike was wanting to wheelie ever time I rolled the throttle on with the extra weight and it was a great challenge to keep it on the ground. I've never been a wheelie man, too frightened I'll flip a bike, I'll go round corners as fast as you like but I like both wheels on the ground thank you very much and if the front lifts when I'm on the power over a lump or brow in the road I don't panic but soon have it back on 'terra firmma'. Everything was rosy until Mothers Day that year. We were going to see my Mam later that lovely sunny day and so I would nip out for a couple of hours on the bike. I filled her up before leaving Thirsk and within 3 miles the bike was in two bits and I was lying in the road not very clever at all...............tbc
"02 Yamaha XJR 1300SP in Kenny Roberts Yellow - (bought new)
"18 BMW S1000R Sports - (bought new)

"11 Porsche Boxster 987 S Black Edition No.261 of 987

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Hay Ewe^
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Location: Far North Queensland - AUS

Re: Now then

Postby Hay Ewe^ » Wed May 17, 2017 9:40 pm

you write well
thank you
looking forward to more

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BoxerCup R
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Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2017 3:16 pm
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
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Re: Now then

Postby BoxerCup R » Thu May 18, 2017 5:42 am

Cheers Hay Ewe :)



In the house (no garage) at Christmas

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26th July 1998. It was a dry clear day, a lovely spring morning as I rode through town to my favourite petrol garage. I filled the bike up and at that point decided to ride towards Northallerton and then Richmond to get my fix before we went to see My Mam for Mothers Day. 2.3 miles from home a car pulled out of a side road, at the last minute, giving me no chance of moving or breaking. There were no emergency braking tyre marks on the road after the accident so the police investigation knew it was so late I could not take evasive action to prevent the accident. Because the engine was blueprinted I would wait till I saw 70º on the engine temp display before I would rev the bike over 6000rpm so as I left the roundabout at South Kilvington and joined the A168 I went through the gears gently, but the car pulled out on me from the B1448 to go across the road and turn right, BOOM ! I hit the car on the right side, around the door pillar area and was stopped dead. I flew over the car and landed in the road. I had my full race suit on with all the appropriate hard protection in but I still suffered broken bone injuries.




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7 hours on the operating table put three plates and crews into my left Ulna and Radius, an external stabiliser was keeping my right tibia in a solid position and a plate and screws over my ankle bone was keeping my right fibula together. I had a Splayed pelvis, bit through my tongue, chest injuries and heavy tissue damage and bruising to my groin and thighs was about it, or so they thought. I was out of intensive care after 3 days but they then discovered my left wrist had dislocated at the cartilage and my thumb socket was bust, back into theatre to have a Kire Wire put through my wrist bones to keep to together and another keeping my thumb in its base. Next day they were concerned about my chest and so they took me to another hospital for an MRI scan incase of a blood clot causing more chest pain but that was clear thank goodness. All in all, not good and so began the long haul to recovery.

The recovery process which included daily visits from the district nurse to pick the scabs from around my pin sights of the external fixator, to encourage new skin growth and 3 more operations over the coming months for:- Bone graft and plates and screws to replace the external fixator, bone graft and replacement plate and screws to my left forearm and finally one op to remove all 4 plates and screws, so all the surgical steel was removed from my body and I have them, as well as some x-rays at home. My diet was full of 'full fat' dairy products to help my bones repair to their full strength which made me 'balloon' in weight because I was immobile and then Physio was started at the hospital and kept up by me at home and eventually a gym joined to get fit again. It wasn't 'plain sailing' by any stretch and fookin very hard at times but what else you gonna do, give in, not me I'm afraid, so 'arse up, head down' I was going to recover the best I could. I went through the whole spectrum of "I still want a bike", "I might not want a bike", "I'm not bothered about a bike" and "I definitely want a bike again", depending on the pain level after each op. Next I bought a Mountain bike to help my fitness move on. Not long after that I'm racing a Mate down a bridleway on the moors and my wheels got cross rutted at speed and it threw me off. I ripped my right knee open and had to go into hospital for an op to clean it out and make sure it was ok internally, another bloody op ! but the good news was no previous injuries were affected and I was trying to get fit after all.


Fast forward to June 2000 and I got to ride a bike again for the first time since the accident. I was loaned a Blackbird to take for spin from a shop in Doncaster where I knew the guys and it wasn't long before I had the biggest grin on my face and knew I wanted to own and ride a bike again. Next was the Ron Haslam Race School at Donnington on a CBR600 in the July 2000. Still not fully fit and a with a huge limp, I was joined by a handful of Mates, some who did the school with me and our partners for the day and had a fantastic sunny day there and that sealed the deal for wanting another bike.

I thought long and hard about getting another bike and then when I finally decided it was yes, I then started my search for what to buy. I was still into my race reps but had restricted knee bend in my right knee and other injuries still to take into consideration. I decided a ZX9 would be the best I could hope to ride without being a contortionist and so took one out for a test ride. Great, loadsa power and handled for a large bike, considering what I'd been used to. Took it back to a local shop that had opened up in Thirsk selling imports and Paul said, "Have you ridden one of those ?" Sat in the window was a "99 R1, pristine. He had registered it, rode it to Le Mans and back and put it up for sale. I told him "Ah, I would love to but I don't think I'll be able to fit on it and be comfortable but I'll take it out just to say I've rode one". Well, before I got a mile away from the shop I was sold on it, it was sublime, exciting, fast, handled like a dream and I was comfortable, which I couldn't believe. Anyway, I bought it and never regretted it


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"02 Yamaha XJR 1300SP in Kenny Roberts Yellow - (bought new)
"18 BMW S1000R Sports - (bought new)

"11 Porsche Boxster 987 S Black Edition No.261 of 987

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BoxerCup R
Posts: 559
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2017 3:16 pm
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
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Re: Now then

Postby BoxerCup R » Wed Aug 19, 2020 7:16 am

Just re read this and realised I stopped at 2000 for some reason, must've been life, again takin over :lol:

I'll endeavour to update :wink:
"02 Yamaha XJR 1300SP in Kenny Roberts Yellow - (bought new)
"18 BMW S1000R Sports - (bought new)

"11 Porsche Boxster 987 S Black Edition No.261 of 987

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Blackal
Posts: 8241
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2005 7:53 pm

Re: Now then

Postby Blackal » Wed Aug 19, 2020 9:11 am

What’s the make and logos on the red leathers in the last photo?

They look almost Honda TT-esque (like the retro ones that JmcG wore a few years back).

Pity Photobucket are spoiling your pics - I’ve moved to Flickr (until they start charging).

Al
If I am ever on life support - Unplug me......
Then plug me back in..........

See if that works .....
:?

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BoxerCup R
Posts: 559
Joined: Tue Apr 11, 2017 3:16 pm
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Now then

Postby BoxerCup R » Wed Aug 19, 2020 2:05 pm

Blackal wrote:What’s the make and logos on the red leathers in the last photo?

They look almost Honda TT-esque (like the retro ones that JmcG wore a few years back).

Pity Photobucket are spoiling your pics - I’ve moved to Flickr (until they start charging).

Al



Texport leathers with a Texport paddock Jacket on top because it was a cool day and the leathers had a million holes for summer riding in the arms, torso and legs :wink:

Full frontal :shock: :D

ImageIMG_9922 by John Taylor, on Flickr




I moved to Flickr in 2018 too, bloody Photobucket :x
"02 Yamaha XJR 1300SP in Kenny Roberts Yellow - (bought new)
"18 BMW S1000R Sports - (bought new)

"11 Porsche Boxster 987 S Black Edition No.261 of 987


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