So
I’m down the pub one Friday night at the beginning of last year
with a few biker mates, and we start talking about different events
we can go to and Chris mentions something he saw online called Nifty
Fifty Endurance.
You just know from this point onwards that it’s
going to go downhill quick!
Google
was tasked with finding the website, videos watched on said website
and a quick look at the rules and regs to see what we needed to
enter. By this point we were a few beers in …..
Teams
raise funds for their favourite charitable organisations. Each team
can consist of up to four riders who aim to complete as many laps as
they can around a specially prepared Motocross track for 5hrs. Each
team are using mopeds and scooters which have engines of up to
90cc’s!
While
still at the pub, eBay was tasked with finding us the basis of what
we needed. Another beer later and collectively we’ve bought
ourselves a Suzuki TS50ER which I’m told needs a shed load of work
doing to it to get it up to regs.
Another
beer later and we’ve entered the first event of the year in two
months time. There are four events during the year in total.
When
will we learn, don’t drink and go on eBay!!!!!!!!!! but not bad for
one evening down the pub!
Here
is a shortened version of the regs:
*
Moped must be a model originally sold for the road in the U.K., no
pit/mini bikes;
*
Exhausts must be road legal and from a bike originally intended to be
sold for the road;
*
All glass must be removed including plastic light lenses;
*
Both front and rear brakes must be in good working order;
*
Kill switch fitted if there is no ignition key;
*
Accessible fuel tap must be fitted unless has an electronic fuel
injection system;
*
No machines can be replaced by a spare machine once the event is
underway (that’s lucky as at this moment in time we do not have one
machine that complies with the regs, let alone a spare!);
So
the bike arrives and we go round to Chris’ house to survey what we
have actually bought a share of.
OMG!
Just how much had we drunk! Here’s a
pic! Um…. Some work needed then ……. it
had no engine, petrol tank, seat or
exhaust.
How the heck we managed to buy
what basically was a frame with two wheels, I can only assume was
down to the amount of alcohol that was consumed!
Chris
had in his shed (as one does I suppose) an old RM50 that was, um, how
shall I put it, not roadworthy, so we borrowed from that the engine,
petrol tank, seat and half the exhaust
(the other half came from eBay). Welding
was required
to fit the petrol
tank and seat and as Giles can weld, it
came back home with us.
Aside
from the major items (I class engine and fuel tank as major!!!),
a brief
list on
work to be done
and challenges found:
*
down gearing;
*
nylon sliders for top of swing arm to protect it from chain wear;
*
exhaust; road
legal silencer and heat shield;
*
front brakes – these are non existent
at the moment;
*
return spring for rear brake;
*
take off pillion foot pegs;
*
both front and rear brakes need
fettling;
*
move arm round on spindle to
adjust brakes both ends;
*
swing arm pivot and
spindle need greasing;
*
throttle cable needed;
*
seat;
*
petrol tank;
*
engine;
*
side number boards;
*
race numbers.
The
guys wanted to name the bike as apparently you’re supposed to name
your vehicles – I never have. Some deliberation took place (they
all kept coming out with girl names) so I entered Jensen into the pot
and guess what - Jensen won! Yay!!!
We
had to come up with a team name for our
entry and after yet
more deliberation we came up up with
ToS5ERs on
Tour taking in the name of the bike.
So
not being mechanically minded, my
main part in all this was sourcing and ordering parts for
Jensen, making tea and bacon sarnies,
completing the paperwork for our entry (we all needed a licence to
enter); making tea and cakes,
sourcing
side number boards and race numbers; making
tea and bacon sarnies and
chasing licence
paperwork for our entry – I gave the
first set of licence
forms to the guys to complete but these
went astray
so I arranged a drink down the pub with a fresh set of forms and pens
and got the guys to complete them there and then so I could take them
back with me!
Giles
did the necessary welding on Jensen so the engine, exhaust, seat and
petrol tank were all present and correct. Jensen was beginning to
take shape and was looking like a bike now. There was no silencer on
the exhaust so when it was started up for the first time I thought we
were going to get noise complaints from the neighbours! A silencer
was quickly sourced and ordered to attend to this problem.
Jensen
went back to Chris’ now so he could do some fettling and the
remaining jobs the week before the first
event were:
*
remove a link from the drive chain, it was
at the end of the limit and loose;
*
remove side stand;
*
grease various bits;
*
sort handlebar guards.
Jensen
was ready to race.
We
arrived early doors at the site for our first event and set up camp.
As there were five of us and only four could compete, I was
not racing today. It was March and the ground was really wet and
muddy so I thought it would be a good one to sit out as it would be
hard going in such conditions and there were bound to be teething
problems.
Okay
so a lot of the other competitors clearly took this event a whole lot
more seriously than us Tossers did but we took Jensen to the start
line ready for the off. I was glad I had
sat this one out, the ground was wet and boggy and Jensen kept
getting stuck, others had new tyres, we
were still on the old ones it came with.
We
encountered a few running
and teething problems and then
the clutch went. We managed to borrow one
but we only
managed to do a
handfull of laps before
Jensen expired.
A great day was had by all but we had some work to do on Jensen
before the next event in a six weeks time.
By
the next event the ground had dried out massively and I was one of
the riders today. OMG it was brilliant fun, I wasn’t the quickest
by far but I was having a great time and enjoying the jumps. 
The
third and fourth events I was unable to go to as unfortunately I was
on holiday for both of them but the other guys went and although the
Jensen’s electrics eventually died on the last event, they had a
great time.
The
camaraderie in the pits is great, teams helps each other out to get
bikes repaired and back out on track, there’s
lots of laughter and jokes flying around and there really is a good
feel about it all. At the end of the day, everyone is there to have a
laugh, do a bit of racing and raise some money for charity.
If
you want a fun day out with a bit of racing, I would definitely
recommend you look into doing this but perhaps not buy a bike off
eBay when in the pub after a few beers …….
BK
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