2011 & we're going racing!

OK, so 2010 was a bit quiet on the racing front - we just managed to take part in 1 event and that was the Belchford Downhill Gravity Race.

2011 will be different! We are back on 2 wheels (with an engine too). Although we will be doing the Belchford Downhill again this year too.

So, B&W Racing will be competing on an Suzuki SV650 at a few different places. We were hoping to be able to do all the rounds of the BEMSEE / MRO Minitwins Championship but unfortunately we couldn't do the very first round at Brands Hatch and it looks like there will be a few other rounds that we will miss too. But, this is the first place we want to take the bike and so, if we can be there, we will.

The next round is at the all new Snetterton 300 Circuit in Norfolk on 26th/27th March and this will be our first time out on the new bike (apart from a little bit of testing of course)

As normal, keep an eye on the website for details of how we get on.

Also, we will be entering a few rounds of the Derby Phoenix Mini Thunderbikes Championships - 2 at Cadwell Park and 1 at Anglesey. The bike is not the most competative in that class but we are out to have some fun!

As usual, Paul is in the 'hot' seat with Mick throwing spanners around and a few other people dropping by to help out when they can.

Also, B&W Bikes will have a presence in the paddock at ThundersportGB. We'll not be racing but we will be helping out Holbeach Motorcycle Tyres and also promoting our own Lightweight Racing Batteries.

2011 is going to be a very busy year!! Hope to see you soon.

Decisions, decisions….

We’ve missed a few rounds of the Derby Phoenix season now and still don’t have a bike ready to race (or the budget!)

Its great that the new website for Black & White Bikes is now up and running – www.blackandwhitebikes.co.uk – but that has taken up all my time recently and the racing had to come 2nd while that was sorted.

So now its time to formulate a plan and I think we have one brewing!

Having watched the Minitwins at BSB recently I’m being swung along that route so we will be on the lookout for an SV650 to make into a race bike.

Of course it will race in full B&W colours looking every part the rolling advert for Black & White Bikes and hopefully we will be able to make it look pretty cool so that it will stand out amongst the other Minitwins.

So that’s the plan, we’ll try to build a bike in the next few months; we may even try to build 2 bikes and sell one on the B&W website as a race replica!

Finally, we would like to wish Jonty Dixon all the best for the coming year. Thinking that there would be no racing for him in 2010 he suddenly got drafted in to the TM72 team who are racing in the Hottrax Endurance championship. We’ve helped him out as much as we can and he therefore wears B&W stickers on his bike. We are very proud to support him and know he’ll fly the flag for us in a very professional manner.

Check him out at www.jontydixon.co.uk and www.tm72.com

2010?

Hello, we're still here!

Its been a crazy winter with some changes having been forced onto us. Firstly, our 'trusty' Vauxhall Vivaro van decided to go 'bang' in a very bad way back in October. With it being only 3 years old we thought we'd be OK, but oh no! Just out of warranty and Vauxhall don't want to know - its been a disaster and we never want to use another Vauxhall product ever again.

That forced us into a bit of a money issue and the GSXR750K4 was sold off. Shame really as we were just getting to grips with it. But looking on the positive side, it was outclassed by more modern bikes in the Thunderbikes class at Derby Phoenix and we managed to get a very good price for it!

So now we really need to work out a plan for 2010!!

A few options:

We have a 2007 ZX10R that is nearly race ready - it should really be sold as it belongs to Black & White Bikes but I'm sure it can be sold to the race team for a decent price ;-)

There is a new class this year at DP - Junior Thunderbikes - and we've always fancied having a go on an SV650 Suzuki. So we are always on the look out for a good example of this funky little twin.

Or anything else really! We are always keeping an eye out for a good race bike that comes up for sale so the options are still all open.

We definitely wont be going to Croft for the first round in March this year, so we have until May to get things sorted out for the next meeting at Cadwell.

And it's very tempting to go to Scarborough this year to ride around Oliver's Mount. We went to watch the 'Cock O' the North' race last year and that place is incredible!

Keep looking at the website and blog for updates and we hope to see you trackside this year.

All over for another year

Well we've all done with racing now for 2009. We've broken the downhill cart and finished the DP season in 6th place :-)

It was a great year, really enjoyable racing - a very dry and crash free year in fact, now there's a rare thing! Well apart from the cart hitting a straw bale that is!

A lot of thanks go out to some lovely people who have helped out and supported us all year long. Maybe with bits and pieces, sometimes with a bit of money or a helping hand but always with a smile. It has meant so much to have this support and it all make sit so worthwhile that we can only want to come back next year and try to get better results.

Thank you all - you know who you are ;-)

Mick all ready to go for his first run.

The cart takes shape

Despite having a great time at Cadwell in July its not looking good for the next meeting at Anglesey in August. Money is too tight and so we will concentrate on the last 2 meetings, Cadwell on 19th/20th September and Donington on October 3rd/4th.

And that will be the last ever motorcycle race meeting on the current track layout at Donington before they dig it all up and make the new F1 layout. It will be quite historic to ride the circuit for the very last time and hopefully it will be cool way to finish the season. We've had good and bad times at Donny in the past, lifting trophies with big grins and rolling around in gravel traps after a small bout of over enthusiasm - but then that can happen to anyone, eh ;-) !!

So at least the robins have all hatched and have vacated the bike (they were moved out to a cardboard box short term so we could prep the bike for cadwell).

And so now we need to concentrate on getting the Belchford Downhill cart ready for scrutineering at the end of this month - gulp! Better get the welder out.

There appears to be a new rider on the bike!