Kerry Wilton's Spa 2010 ride report

Alistair and I went to Spa, in Belgium.  Good fun it was too.  I'd been lucky enough to be offered rides on Bob Keller's 350 and 500 TZ's at Spa last year, so made a flying visit for the Friday and most of Saturday riding at last year's 'Bikers Classics' meeting.  It was entertaining enough to want to make the effort to get there again this year.  So I did.

 

In the end, Alistair made the trek to England, via Sydney and Dubai and a few days later he and I pinched Rhianon's Toyota Yaris, drove 4 hours to the ferry at Ramsgate, spent 4 hours watching the channel mist go past, and then drove another 3 hours to Spa.  There were more direct ferry options, as well as the train (for the car), but taking the Yaris, and using the route we did gave us transport while we were there, and was the 'best fit' for timings and overall cost and convenience. I'd loaded the 'Western Europe' maps on the GPS, so driving was straight-forward.  We did get some odd looks though, driving along the motorways in Belgium in a tiny car, with logos for a womens' fashion boutique and hat hire service...

 

So, getting to Spa on the Thursday evening, we found out pre-booked hotel, and were only mildly spooked by the proprietor, who looked and acted just like Rene, from 'Allo allo'..  Riding was to start early Friday morning, so off to sign-in near the circuit on Thurday evening, pick-up Rodney Bernard from the Spa train station, who'd also decided to come up from Sydney and combine Spa with catching up with friends in Belgium an-Rodney was also staying in the same hotel.  After that, it was into Stavelot to meet Phil, Phil and Bob, who'd driven over from Bournemouth-way (via the train) in the van with the bikes. Quick bite to eat with them, and off to the circuit to squeeze into a F1 pit garage (the 900 euro cost for which was shared by those inside it) 'belonging' to another bunch of Brits that the Phils knew, and get the bikes scrutineered, swap lies and generally get things sorted.  That ended after 10pm. Another familiar face that was god to see belonged to Richard (Dick to motorcyclists) Waterer, and old hand in the motorcycle racing game in Auckland.  Dick and his wife Viv have been, until recently, bobbing about the canals and rivers of western Europe by boat, though have recently sold the boat and based themselves in England.  We'd suggested to the Waterers to come to Spa and have a look, which they did.  Richard brought his pushbike and spent the days based in 'our' pit, but getting around the inside of the circuit by bike for a look. We (Alistair, Rodney and I) caught up with Richard and Viv for dinner late on the Saturday night as well.

 

I had looked at arranging a bike of my own (TZ) to take, but practicalities got in the way.  I the interim, Alistair thought it might be a chance to ride around a circuit widely regarded as one of the best: in the end Phil Davenport twisted his mate's arm (Phil Godfrey) and organised us a couple of particularly nice bikes to have a whizz around on.  Both bikes were prepared with a level of thought and attention to detail that is second-to-none.  They both went that way too: the bike Alistair predominantly rode was a Harris-framed TZ350F, with fresh Avon rubber, Astralite wheels, Motrac cylinder head, HPI ignition, Abcon pipes, etc, etc.  I had a session (5 laps -about 37km) on it too, and I don't think I've ridden a better 350.  For me, I'd need to look at the suspension, but this thing was a quick 350, by comparison with my own. 10.500 rpm uphill on 15/35 gearing...

 

The other bike was one that Phil Davenport has regularly ridden for Phil G for years - a Richard Peckett-framed Triumph Trident.  Again, this bike is a thoroughly sorted racing machine - in the region of 84hp from 750cc at 9200rpm or so, 6 speed Quaife box, etc, etc.  And it fitted me.  For years I've folded myself around Yamahas, thinking little of it, though the Trident was a revelation.  After a long weekend's riding, I was without the usual aches and pains - it turns out Richard Peckett designed the frames to suit himself -he's 6 ft 3 - about 3" taller than me.  He also knew what he was doing with geometry, etc: it is the best handing motorcycle I have ridden, bar none.  That is also a tribute to the way Phil D has sorted the suspension (Falcon shocks on the rear, for those who are interested).  The thing that struck me was how confidence-inspiring the whole package was: it didn't have the dare-you-to-open-the-throttle sooner 120+hp feel of a TZ750, though I doubt my lap times (i.e. those of an irregular rider with a desire to keep his pilots' licence medical) would be much different, on the same day, on the two bikes. To look at the Trident, you see an after-market frame, Lockheed calipers, small cast-iron discs, Avon tyres, long tapering (silenced) megaphone, air-cooled traditional Brit motor, 3 Amal Mk1 Concentric carbs, etc, but it's a package that works well, and has had a lot of subtle development.

 

Riding the Trident was interesting, in that it makes good power between 6000-9000 rpm, and can be ridden like a TZ, courtesy of the 6 speed box with very closely spaced ratios, though once I had a session or two on the bike and my corner speed started to build a little bit, it was easier to use a gear higher on most corners. Except for a few instances where it was easier to hold a gear between corners, I revved it to 8000-8400 in the gears (Phil uses 9250 when he's pushed), though used all the 9000 available in the last session or two: it becomes a different bike then - the noise is different and it gets places just a little quicker. Overall gearing, for Spa was quite tall (we could have dropped it a bit, but it wasn't a race meeting so I was satisfied with seeing 8400 in top).  Actually, Phil and Phil reckon the bike was down on 'go' a bit, and planned a leak-down check after Spa, but even so, it was embarrassingly quick when compared to the other Triples out there (and there were quite a few, mostly Rob North copies), as well as big Japanese fours and a big Harley.  Through the faster parts of the circuit, passing many of these bikes was like riding a 750TZ - slower bikes are not so much as drafted and passed, they are avoided.  Phil G also has a 930cc version, which is apparently a little more demanding to ride (power deliver is apparently a little less accommodating) and it vibrates a little more they say...though some of the other guys on Tridents were not convinced the bike I was riding was only 750cc!

 

In terms of the meeting itself, it's big. 600+ bikes, from all over the place, all impeccably prepared.  When you enter you have to send a photo of the bike...  Both Alistair and I were entered in classes with bikes similar to those we were riding - some fields were 80+, though it's not a massed start - the whole thing, apart from the 4 hour endurance race (8pm to midnight), was effectively a glorified track day, giving us up to about 280km riding over the 3 days, between 9am and 10pm, at which point it's just starting to look like it's getting dark: Alistair and I both ended up riding TZ350's at 9:30pm, which was novel!. With fields the size they were, there was always someone to have a ride around with, though many of us felt the same thing: a lot of the riders had obviously never been racers, and needed a great deal of room. We would usually start to lap the slower guys in 4 laps. This had its entertaining moments, as a couple of the guys in the pit we were squatting in had bought a very tidy on-bike video camera: Alistair and I both did a session with it mounted on the tanks of the bikes.  The field of view is good, showing the road through the screen and the rev-counter, with sound.  The speed one can pass the wobblers make one look like a star!

 

One spot that was a bit of extra fun was taking Brazilian Bob Keller up on his kind offer of a ride on his 350H: this gave Alistair and I chance to ride around together on almost identically set-up bikes, which we did.  The bikes were very evenly matched, and both were considerably quicker than most 350's there.  This caused a few giggles, when some guy on a reasonably tasty 350 came past me under brakes and then proceeded to pass Alistair.  We both caught this guy up again climbing up out of Eau Rouge, with me just behind Alistair.  After this section of the circuit here is a long straight (1km), uphill.  The other guy left a little bit of room to his left..Alistair blew past him on the right (fast enough that he looked down at the other guy's number boards to see if he was on a 250!), while I zipped past on the left.  We were all quite close.  We didn't see him again!

 

They say that one day of the three day even will have rain -the circuit is in the Ardennes forest, after all.  It rained on and off during the Saturday, so both Alistair and I sat it out, having achieved the aim (to be there and ride) and had ridden all day Friday (the day of the most riding).  We did get our allotted riding in on the Sunday too, which was just icing on the cake, finally getting packed up about 7pm, after which it was dinner and more lie-swapping with the Phil's and Bob (the Brit) in Stavelot and back to out hotel, before driving back to England on the Monday. 

 

Would I go again?  Certainly.  Would I take my own bike?  If I could (I've promised Richard W a ride if I do!). The problem for next year would be getting the leave -it's in the 'peak' period that they ration-out, year on year.  Would I buy a Peckett-framed Trident?  Now there's a question....

 

Cheers

 

Kerry