Update 2003

After breaking my leg quite badly in August 2003 I was finally able to walk unaided for the first time in the second week of December for the Bemsee Dinner Dance & Prize Giving. Despite numerous complications the surgery had gone well although it was unlikely I would be able to get back to the gym until March 2004. That meant I had a choice - I could miss the start of the 2004 race season or I could try to get a bike that would let me sit a bit more upright than I was used to. My knee (where most of the damage occurred) was strong enough but I couldn't bend it more than 90 degrees and it was very, very weak so moving around on a bike would be hard.

Knowing all the problems I faced the sensible decision would have been to take a few months off. Instead I decided to get another bike and opted for what I hoped would be the only non Suzuki SV650 on the grid. As it turned out the Raptor 650s are extremely rare and would be a bit of an unknown. At least the engine and electrics are from the SV650 so I wouldn't have too many problems with some of the Italian engineering. I found a bike fairly easily, much easier than I expected given that only 40 were imported in to the country. In fact I found two but one was in such good condition that I doubted it had ever seen rain so it would be a shame to chuck it down the race track as I'm prone to do.

The next problem was finding race components for it. Ohlins didn't even make a rear shock for the bike so I had to get Performance Techniques to work their magic by modifying a shock from another bike and fitted some R6 race internal in to the forks to replace the standard items. The brakes on the Raptor are excellent, in fact the bike shares the same callipers as the larger Ducati and Aprilia machines. MHP did an excellent job of making twin titanium exhaust cans and link pipes for the bike whilst Creations came up trumps with a race seat unit and belly pan.

The 'before' shot!

Mmmm, Brembo Goldline Callipers!

The only problems I had left were with the easy stuff, allegedly. I eventually contacted Baines Racing at Silverstone and they gave me loads of advice on other things I ought to sort out. Apparently the sub frame was very weak and ought to be replaced with a stronger version. They could get some rear sets made but they would have to fit on the standard mounting brackets and wouldn't be adjustable. This single item proved to be the biggest difficulty as the whole purpose of going for an unfaired bike was the more upright riding position just so I wouldn't have to bend my leg so far. At least I could solve the problem of actually finding some rear sets - I could worry about bending my leg enough at a later date.

February 2003

Before Baines Racing could get the subframe sorted I needed to strip the bike and deliver as few parts of it to them as possible. Taking the bodywork off proved much more time consuming than I expected although the bike does look very small without it. The yellow tape in the photos is simply to hold all the electrics and wiring in place after removing the seat and undertray. I was cutting it fine but John Baines had lined up a top engineer to sort out the rear subframe and work on the rear sets had started also.

Stripped down...

Ready to be built up again.

Looks very small doesn't it!

Despite being six months since the accident my leg was still very sore and I had lots of problems bending it so working on the bike was proving hard work. No idea how I would cope with riding the thing as I hadn't even sat on a bike since Cadwell 2003 but eventually everything started coming together and it started looking a bit more bike shaped. There was still a lot of work to do and delays with the rear sets meant it wouldn't be finished until the day before the first race. Assuming everything went to plan that is!

I still had lots of stuff to organise and realised that it was unlikely to get done in time. To make sure I got out there I bought a small nose fairing designed for a Hornet race bike. The Creations belly pan was designed for a Raptor 1000 which has a much bigger engine so did look a little out of place when I offered it up to the bike. The only thing I didn't have was a spare rear wheel which was a worry. I had managed to track down a spare front as they are interchangeable with the 1000 but the rear wheel is a different size. In the end I had to order a new one from the importers and hope it would turn up before the middle of the season.

A work of art.

Nice pipes!

Carbon Fibre seat unit!