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And then it went bang……… Update
 After the problems we had last season with the bike letting us down a few times I was really hopeful that 2002 would be a better year……
The first race of the year was at Nutts Corner in April, a good opportunity to blow away the winter cobwebs and have some fun. After an uneventful practice Race 1 was called to the grid. I was on the second row and was all fired up for a good scrap; the flag dropped, I gave it a handful and the bike took off like a 250 single! As the rest of the field charged past me into the first corner I looked down to see the left hand carb sitting on the crankcase. Aaargh!
When I returned to the pits we had a good old poke at it and came to the conclusion that the carb rubbers were past their best before date, or as someone so eloquently put it: 'Hey Liam, your rubbers are ****ed!'
Anyway, we got the carb back on and tightened it as best we could for Race 2.
The second race was good fun and I was having a good old dice for 8th place, all the time hoping the carb would stay on. Just as I crossed the line for the chequered flag the carb popped out again! At least I finished, so I stuck the carb in and rode back to the pits holding it in and hoping it didn't spit back and start to burn!
My next outing was the Bob McIntyre Memorial in East Fortune, Scotland. Before that I lent the bike to Billy Lyle for the Cookstown 100 Road Races where he finished 2nd 500cc (4th overall) as he rides as fast in the wet as he does in the dry. At least the MAGSPORT.COM logo got an airing.
So off we headed to Scotland for the two day Bob McIntyre, one of my favourite races. As it was two months since I had been on the bike I spent practice just getting used to it again and finding new braking points now that I had the more powerful disc fitted. I knew that I would do very little in the first race as I was still race rusty but I had a good run round to finish 19th. The only incident of note was in the first corner of the first lap when a rider in the middle of the pack and just in front of me locked up the rear wheel and went sideways! I don't know who got the biggest fright, him or the twenty riders behind him.
Three laps into the second race and I was well into the groove and really enjoying myself. I was dicing with a 500cc Jawa and was determined to get past him and join the battle for tenth which was raging about 20 metres in front and then it went bang. In the past I have broken a few engines but never more as bad as this. As a bit of the engine shot over the top of my head all I could do was pull the clutch in as quick as I could and put my hand in the air to ensure no one would run into the back of me and then just freewheel to a stop. Luckily it happened on the main straight and not on a corner or I would have been off.
I could see a hole about the size of 2p in the crankcase and thought that hopefully I had got away with a busted crank and upper casing. And then I looked through the fairing at the front. It looked like a bomb had went off in the engine. There was a hole the size of Lennox Lewis' fist with a perfect view of the crank and the remains of a conrod. There was a sizeable chunk out of the barrel as well! No matter how hard I stared at it the hole in the engine just wouldn't go away so there was nothing left to do but park up the bike and hit the beer. It was either that or lie down and cry like a baby! After racing was finished for the day we walked down the track and picked up the shrapnel from the engine which was spread for 100 metres.
At the minute my season is pretty much all but over. I was due to do 11 races at 4 meetings in June but only managed one and a bit! It is now two days since I blew the motor and I'm still afraid to strip it! I reckon that even the head and gearbox are Donald Ducked so the only thing salvageable from the engine is the sparkplugs!
I'll have some photos of the damage within a day or two so watch this space but in the meantime if anyone has a Honda CB450 5 speed engine or bits of one ( or CB500T head, barrels or gearbox) that they don't want or are willing to sell at the right price please get in touch with me via the website or MAG Central Office.
So what of the rest of the season? Well as soon as we can gather up the funds to build another engine I'll be out there again so stay tuned for progress reports.
Liam
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