Midnight Sun Racing

Here's a photo from Michael Djupsjöbacka racing at Kemora in Finland.

Michael at Kemora 

 He said  "Got my Gibson and racing into  the midnight sun  in a Scandinavian open racing track  is lux."

Thanks Michael.

Sorry I've been away so long

Hi All. 
Sorry I've been away so long, but I almost have internet again so hopefully I may get back up to date before too long.
Particular apologies to those who sent me photos and info that I haven't published yet, they will be posted soon. 
In the mean time here's a photo of Andy and Stu on the podium at this years Ducati Club Netherlands meeting at Assen. 
Full report to follow

Stu takes a direct hit

Assen 2012

                                         
This was Steelcraft's 4th visit to the famous Dutch circuit and this time we were joined by BHR regular Rod Graham who was making his first appearance.

Rod making final preparations

First qualifying was a little damp, and as usual the Eurosingles were mixed with the Euroclassics which makes for good fun battling with 900 Ducatis, Rocket threes, Bimotas and so on but it can be difficult to get a clear lap. Despite this our times were not too shabby especially as Andy was running in a new big end.

Second qualifying was dry and, like last year, both Steelcraft bikes were on the front row, Stu third and Andy fourth. Unfortunately, Stu had done a little too much sliding in qualifying and found that his rear tyre was badly worn. The budget didn't run to a replacement so it would have to do for the race.

As usual there were  plenty of Ducati and other italian singles around the paddock.

Even the odd road bike

  


On race day we had a long wait until our 4.30pm scheduled start, but eventually we made our way to the grid. Both riders made a good start with Stu running second and Andy fourth early in the lap. Stu found that his decision not to raise his gearing was a serious mistake. Half way along the back straight he went for another gear, by the time he realised he was already in top, Jeroen Jager, Roel Weijers (both 350 Ducati) and Andy had all gone past in persuit of leader Peter Van Giersbergen (450 Ducati). Peter led from start to finish with Andy and Jeroen having a great battle for second, the place eventually going to Jeroen. Stu later re-passed Roel to come home fourth. So Andy again made the podium and the Steelcraft bikes were far ahead of the other 250s ( the next one home was the "Finch Morini" in tenth).  Sadly Rod suffered from a misfire due to a fouled plug and  retired on lap five.

                                             Here are some video clips from the race


After this Andy was due out almost immediately in the NK classics race. There was a bit of a panic when we found his gear lever was broken. We quickly removed the lever from Stu's bike and fortunately it was a good fit on Andy's bike.

Andy again ran an excellent race and won the 350 class, not bad on a 250.

Our thanks as ever to the Ducati Club Netherlands for such an enjoyable and well run meeting

See you at Assen?

If any of you are planning a visit  to Assen this weekend for the Ducati clubraces, please come and find us in the paddock and say hello.

Look out for the Steelcraft van. We will be there with our 250's along with Rod Graham, making his first club race appearance.

We hope to see you there.

BHR Mallory park 2012

BHR held their traditional opener at Mallory in sunny but cold conditions.  Andy's bike wasn't ready but Stu was optimistic after a good test session, apart from the crash, a month earlier. However, as is so often the case, a good test day didn't guarantee a good race day.

The first outing was 250 specials and it was immediately clear that the bike wasn't on song. After a poor start Stu was battling with Rod Grahams Ducati for third, close behind the leaders, Ade Armson (Cotton Telstar) and Ian Cramp (Greeves Special). Rod made a rather desperate lunge to pass Ian at Shaw's hairpin and T boned Ade. Stu emerged from the melee in the lead but the race was red flagged and the result taken from the previous lap and Stu was credited with third.

In the second race, Ducati and Bantams championships, the problem with the bike became apparent, the gearbox was jumping out of second gear. This is a real handicap at Mallory with three sections requiring a second gear exit. Despite this, a rather sparse Ducati grid meant that Stu took a comfortable win from Bob Millinship (250 Ducati) and Tim White (472 Ducati) but had a good battle with Ian Scutt's indecently quick water cooled Bantam. Stu took the outright win only on the last lap.

 

 

 

 

 

Stu and Ian Scutt

Due to the gearbox problem, that was the end of racing for the day for Stu.

Not the best start to a season but the gearbox has now been rebuilt with some new bits
(thanks to Rod Graham) and both Steelcraft 250s should be ready for the Ducati Club Races at Assen on the 12/13 May.

BHR Test day Mallory

The Steelcraft Ducatis didn't make an appearance at the test day, Stu had tested there two weeks earlier and all went well until some over enthusiastic braking after a hail shower led to a close up tarmac inspection at around 85 mph. Andy, meanwhile hasn't got the 250 ready as he is concentrating his efforts on a 750 Kerby Kawasaki that we hope to take to Spain for an 6 hour endurance in Late April.

We were, however pleased to see a number of Ducati singles that seemed new to the BHR paddock.

I don't know if Staccato are still in business but we have one of their cams kicking around the workshop

A red one

And another red one

A very shiny red one

                                                 

And a red one

Another

      Another new addition to BHR this year is the BEARS class which may bring in a new batch of Italian classics, like this Pantah

Ok not a single, but not to be sniffed at

Whereas this is a single but not a Ducati and still not to be sniffed at

         The warm weather made for a good days testing at Mallory.

         BHR will be back on the 15th April for their opening meeting where Stu will contest the 250 specials and Ducati classes.                                                                                                    

A rather special 500 from the Netherlands

Eldert kindly sent me some photos and information about his 496cc Ducati

After receiving this photo I asked for some further info and this is the reply from Eldert:


"Hi
The modifications are really too many to mention them all. The cylinder head is modified to 60 degree combined valve angle,  relocated the rocker arm pivot points and used Pantah rocker arms, then when timing the camshaft we found out the lobe centres where way off so we made new camshafts with V2 profile on them with the lobes pulled further apart."

Stronger gearbox

"The close ratio gearbox we bought kept on breaking gears ( mostly 4th ) so I had new gears made locally in a bigger module and made the gears  wider where possible."

Comparison of 4th gears

"We had new crankshafts made with 78 mm stroke to accept Yamaha big end pins and rods."

78mm stroke crank

"Cylinder liner is a modified Peugeot diesel engine item  ( about the only one with a collar big enough to suit the Ducati )"


Thanks to Eldert for the photos and for sharing so much about the modifications to his engine.

Ducati from Finland

I'm really pleased that someone has answered our plea for photos and information about your Ducati singles.
We received an email from Michael in Finland about his 350 Spaggiari replica

Michael wrote


"My self racing (parade ) a 350 “Bruno Spaggiari Replica” – at 35 bhp on the back wheel with the stop at 8000 rpm we are happy.

Needed some porting and a megacycle cam and a Italian piston.

At the moment I’m looking for a proper exhaust system (Gibson)that gives me the power at 100 decibel – my level now probably 115 decibel messured at a distance of 30 meters"


I'd like to hear it with the current exhaust system.

Nice work Michael and thanks for the photo

450 Race Project

After a good year racing the 250's Andy had one of his brilliant ideas, why not a 450 for 2012?  If it can be ridden like the 250's and produce half decent horsepower, it should be a match for most full 500's, being a lot lighter than a standard Manx or G50 Matchless. Well that's the theory.

First problem, find a bike. After much hunting around Andy found at least the basis for the racer.

Sadly, the chassis came with a disc front end, nice, light and OK in the UK, but most Continental meetings require a drum brake front and rear. Early outings will probably see the disc used but the long term plan is a swap to a drum.

The main chassis part still missing is a swinging arm. The type to be used is under discussion, as we've seen a number of different types such as the Seeley style and those used on the Spaggiari replica frames as well as the standard part, or possibly a box section type as seen on this claimed, NCR 450 Works bike.



NCR 450 currently for sale in Japan at 4,800,000 Yen (£39,000)

 After that, all we need is an engine. This is proving surprisingly hard to come by, so if anyone has one for sale (or knows of one) please let us know. Also, if anyone has any good tuning parts or tuning advice for 450's we would be pleased to hear from you.  ducatiracing@steelcraft.biz

Race of the Year Snetterton CRMC

Our only visit to the Classic Racing Motorcycle Club this year was their final round, the Race of the Year meeting, at Snetterton and Andy was the only Steelcraft rider competing.

                                                  Some random clips from Snetterton



  Some people believe in omens, but Andy leaving his tool box at home, despite having everything else but the kitchen sink in the van didn't worry us.
Practice went well on on the new layout of the Snetterton 200 circuit and all that was needed was a change to a taller gearing for the race as the bike was over revving on the long straights.

  Andy made his customary good start from near the back of the grid and was soon battling for third with Mervyn Stratford (Greeves), behind Chris Wallace and John Hynes (both Ducati mounted). Then on lap four, disaster struck, a bang in the engine and then silence as the bike coasted to a halt.

  Back in the paddock, the inlet tappet cover was removed and we found that neither valve was opening. With the top bevel cover removed the problem was clear, the vertical bevel had broken as you can see in the photo below.

 

  Maybe having no tools at the track is a bad omen or at least a guarantee that tools will be needed. The breakdown wasn't a great problem as Andy intended to ride Andy Boyle's Royal Enfield GP5 on Sunday anyway.



Another nice example a shame it's only paraded




And what of the new video camera (see previous post)?. Again not good as we had recorded nothing on the camera when mounted on the Ducati, in either practice or race. We thought the problem was either down to vibration or the radio waves from transponders affecting the remote control on/off function. On the Sunday we turned the remote function off and had the camera strapped to Andy's leg. This gave good results but we are still not sure what caused the problem.

                                                   Race of the Year on board the GP5
         


  In the Sunday morning race Andy took a third place behind Mervyn Stratford and Chris Wallace. This result was repeated in the final race the "Race of the Year".

a 350 for sale in the paddock at £4000

Other notable Ducati results were a win for Nigel Palmer in the first 500 clubmans race, though sadly he failed to finish either of the other races, and Simon Morris who took three out of three in the 350 Clubmans Class.

                                               
                                                      Our thanks to all the the CRMC.

On board video

      This blog may be about racing bikes from the past, but that doesn't stop us from using new technology.
     After trying a cheap on board camera this year (£15 - yes that cheap) which gave us some passable results, (see Lydden and Gedinne posts, 2011) Stu has invested in something a little more upmarket.

Drift 170 Stealth action camera  (OK, it's a silly macho name)

 We're hopeful that this new camera offering High Definition and 60 frames per minute will provide some good footage in the future. The high frame rate means that we may also be able to have slow motion clips.

Today we started testing  and below are our first clips on one of the Ducati's, firstly facing forward, mounted on the fork leg.

                             As you can see, the camera can be clipped to the mount very quickly


And below fear facing, mounted on the seat hump.

                      The remote control can start/stop recording from up to 5M away as shown here



On the way home Stu tested the camera, strapped to his boot, to give another perspective, and also added a slow motion section.

Fine so far, but will it stand the vibration of a 250 single and the rigours of classic racing?
Andy is racing at Snetterton this weekend with the CRMC where we hope to give it a real test so we will let you know in the next post.

Back to the beginning

 

In the beginning...

In 1926, the brothers Adriano, Marcello and Bruno Ducati founded Societa Scientifica Radio Brevetti Ducati, producing components for radio's, business was good and a new factory was built in the Borgo area of Bologna in 1935. At the same time, in Turin, Aldo Farinelli designed and built a small 4 stroke engine to be used as a cycle motor for a company called SIATA. Immediately after the war, this engine became available to the public and named the Cucciolo

 A number of companies soon produced motorised cycles based on the engine, but it was in 1950, after around 200,000 units had already been sold that the Ducati company joined forces with SIATA to manufacture their own Cucciolo motorcycle.

With 60cc and weighing just 44Kg the bike gave 200mpg (64 Km/L)

The Cucciolo (Puppy) name was soon dropped in favour of the 55M and 65TL.

    

  Apparently the name derived from the sound of the engine, see what you think.

OK that's enough history, the point of this post is that with a quarter of a million of these engines around it was inevitable that people would start to race them.

Below are a few examples.

But it wasn't just road racing, people 

even made board racers

  

And in England someone took things even further, below is the Britax Hurricane of 1954

And here, in action

The wonderful beginnings of Ducati single cylinder racing


Here endeth the lesson......   

except, if you didn't think it could get more strange......    

someone (or rather some people) built tandem versions

It's a strange way to start a legend