2015 Australian Historic Motorcycle Championships at Mallala, South Australia. October 2015.

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Published on 04 December 2015

Mel Bristow PowerHouse CBX Racing Team, report. It was a big lead up to the Australian Historic Championships, held at Mallala, South Australia, over October 8 to 11, 2015. This is the second biggest historic road race event in Australia and I was determined to give it a good shot, so a month ago, I stopped taking on work, so I could concentrate on getting the racers ready for this big event. 2 engine rebuilds plus a good going over of both bikes. Little Stevie had reshaped 2 sets of valves for me and this was an extremely worthwhile modification. I know it was a lot of work for Steve, but the smile on our faces, when The Beastess was keeping up with the bikes that would normally smoke us in a straight line, made it worthwhile! Our adventure started off as we loaded Trev's truck on Tuesday arvo October 6. Yes I admit I was running behind schedule as usual, but the delay was caused by me spending more time on the dyno getting the tune right and although we were loading up in the dark, the days spent on the dyno, were well worth it. Trev's race transporter was a great vehicle to take away. It is a mid 80's twin cab Mitsubishi, that used to be a fire truck, but he has added a turntable and a 30 foot trailer. It features a bedroom, kitchen / lounge room then a workshop and then a double decker bike transporting area that can take 12 bikes. We only had The Beast and Beastess and our pit Scooter, so we had plenty of room for spares and all of our gear. <img rel="x6sfes62mru56kep.jpg" src="http://assets.shannons.com.au/images/TCE5GK1123A9CT12/A11A625ER0DA9317/140/c/x6sfes62mru56kep.jpg" /><img height="415" src="file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image002.jpg" width="553" /> We headed off about 5.30am on Wednesday morning, with Trev taking the first driving shift. We had the Pipedreams documentary crew, tagging along and recording our adventure. Our route was via Bendigo and Wedderburn, stopping in Bendigo, at the VicRoads office, so Karen could get her log book so that she could drive the truck. It had been quite a few years since Karen had driven a truck, so we wanted to do it legally. From here we headed north to visit a mate in Northern Victoria. Yes, we got lost, but got to see a lot of the State that we hadn't seen! Our mate, used to live near us, but has recently moved up there. He distills a mean Whisky, so we picked up 1/2 dozen bottles, for our week away, checked over his new property and then headed off, with Karen driving from here to Mallala. I spent most of the time in the back seat and it is like sitting on a plank of timber. Sitting on my jacket for extra padding, helped slightly, but I had a very sore arse! Arriving at Mallala about 9pm, we had a long day, but a good drive, with no mishaps. (Apart from a couple of scenic tours along the way!). At the race track, we found our pit garage and managed to park the truck right next door, so it couldn't get better. We unloaded, met our neighbours and set up our beds, had a couple of Beers and Whisky's and a good night's sleep. Thursday morning dawned fine and warm and Trev and I pushed the bikes through scrutineering and did the paperwork, whilst Karen was cooking up the bacon and eggs for Breakfast. Trev had 2 practice sessions today and they went well. The Beast was our wet / spare bike, so it sat in the pit and Trev punted The Beastess. He rode well and although these sessions weren't timed, I guessed he would be in the top 6 of 27 entered in our class. All was good. Trev had sussed his away around the track, after he last raced there 20 years ago. It is a very physical track, that would also be the hardest braking circuit in the Country. A general check over after the last session and then a feed and a couple of relaxing drinks whilst we made plans for Friday's qualifying sessions. Friday was again fine and hot. Trev had 2 qualifying sessions and he rode brilliantly and the new found power of The Beastess had surprised the usual guys that race with us. Now there are dyno figures and dyno figures and I take peoples claims with a grain of salt; but I know that with my dyno, I am comparing before and afters and with the new shaped valves and a few days on the dyno working on carburetion and ignition timing we went from 106hp, (what we had at the Island Classic), to 130hp. To some that figure may not be impressive, but the way the power is delivered is awesome and usable. Trev was wrapped and so were we, when he was not getting smoked down the straights. The whole package just came together. The time that we spent on the bike was well worth it. Trev, qualified 6th. We were very happy and a good debrief over dinner and a few drinks was well deserved. Some onboard footage and some drone and movie camera footage, was also part of the days proceedings. Little Stevie and Rob, also arrived this arvo and helped out pit crewing. <img src="http://assets.shannons.com.au/images/TCE5GK1123A9CT12/A11A625ER0DA9317/140/c/x6sfes62mru56kep.jpg" /> Left to right, Kain (Don) Baigent (film director), Karen Skate, Trevor Manley. Roland Skate. Saturday dawned another hot day, but with some hold ups, we only managed 1 race. Trev started off on the second row in position 6 and rode brilliantly. He had some great dices, but lost a place and finished 7th, as our brakes started to fade. More power = more speed and more strain on other components. We were pretty happy with how The Beastess and Trev were performing, but believed we could make up a bit, by changing the gearing a small amount and flushing and re bleeding the brake fluid. There wasn't time in the program for a second race today, so we had time to tweak a few things for the 2 races on Sunday, then relaxed with a few drinks and a good feed and a good yack with fellow racers. Well respected racer and race bike builder from Qld, Lindsay Donai spent a lot of time in our pit and he was very impressed with Trev's riding ability and suspension and set up knowledge and how well our whole package had come together. Fellow CBX club member, Hugh Robinson from Bathurst was there as part of a pit crew for a top level period 4 rider on a Honda 4. He was also quite impressed with our team effort. For quite a while, we hadn't been taken too seriously, but this low budget team of CBX enthusiasts, made a lot of our peers stand up and take notice. I am the first to admit that we still have a long way to go and we'll never be competing directly with the gun riders on the light weight race replicas, but we are having fun, continuing the development and surprising quite a few! It really is a team effort and I can't thank them all enough. We learn something each outing and this helps us progress and also this knowledge benefits my customers. The saying that racing improves the breed is 100% correct. <img src="http://assets.shannons.com.au/images/TCE5GK1123A9CT12/A11A625ER0DA9317/140/c/kou4mkmx5f9i2box.jpg" /> Karen and Trev and The Beast (in foreground) and The Beastess. Sunday, Trev had 2 races. Brakes were still an issue and in one race The Beastess jumped out of gear and Trev had to jump the ripple strip and head through pit lane. He was in 4th at the time, but the pit lane penalty put him back to 17th. Bad in one respect, but if he was dicing for 4th, he may have come down in a crash, that red flagged the race. So we were happy that he wasn't involved in the crash. Race 2, he got a blinder of a start, but hit the rev limiter in first and was back to 4th place. He raced well, but the brakes were an issue, with him having to pump them to get any pressure. He contemplated pulling in, but rode to the conditions and was pipped at the post by 2 others, to finish 6th. We were wrapped with Trev's efforts and the way that the Beastess performed, though now we have to look at what we can do to improve the braking. A couple of drinks on Sunday evening to wind down as we packed up and went to presentation. A nice shower and then get kicked out of the race track and headed into town, where we stayed at the footy ground. Karen cooked up a great BBQ and we had an early night and a good sleep. Headed off at 5am Monday morning, to Black Hill to pick up an 1100F from Wayne Johns, that Ron Jarmyn had bought and as we were in the area and had room, we said we'd bring it back to Victoria for him. The stop at Wayne's property was fortuitous as a hinge had broken on the tail gate, so Wayne provided a welder and tools for Trev to fix the tail gate. We had arrived at Wayne's around 7am, but was probably 9.30am when we left. <img src="http://assets.shannons.com.au/images/TCE5GK1123A9CT12/A11A625ER0DA9317/140/c/syzwohcw4ezctxtf.jpg" /> Karen drove from here and we traversed some different roads and saw some interesting country side. The trip home was good and uneventful. We all had a sleep on the back seat at some stage and we made it back to Trev's place just after 8pm. A long day, but good to be home. Tuesday, Trev and I unloaded the truck. The Beastess is up on the dyno, ready for a run, to check the health of the engine. Then a check over the gear box and see why it jumped out of gear. Then start preparing for the Island Classic, International Challenge, where we'll be competing in the Irish team. That event we are really looking forward to. If you can make it to Phillip Island on January 22,23,24, 2015, do yourself a favour. I believe it really is Australia's premier race event and one where you can come in to the pits and have a good look at some amazing machinery and talk with the riders and mechanics. Hope to see you there. Thanks heaps to our friends, supporters and sponsors. Ford McKernan Engineering. TM Performance, Shocktech. Airvolution Kustom Art. Pipemasters Motorcycle Exhausts. Lilydale Sheetmetal. PowerHouse Clearances, W.A. Eyeball Engineering. Roland Skate CBX restorations and dyno tuning. The best and most conscientious team in the pits; The Mel Bristow PowerHouse CBX Racing Team. Kain and Stephen and the Pipedreams documentary crew. All of you that cheer us on and help out in many ways, makes all the effort worthwhile. Cheers to you all and best regards, Rol. <img src="http://assets.shannons.com.au/images/TCE5GK1123A9CT12/A11A625ER0DA9317/140/c/zsqil7fwhqer4zp2.jpg" /> Little Stevie, on our Pit Scooter.

2015 Australian Historic Motorcycle Championships at Mallala, South Australia. October 2015.

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