Well although the bike did not wobble at Darley Moor I do not think this was necessarily due to the hydraulic damper calming things down because apart from flicks from side to side at Wilsons’, there were no real high speed corners like Gerrards at Mallory Park. The Esses at Darley Moor are also a fast section of kinks, similar to Wilsons’, but these could be taken on a straighter line and therefore to me were easier. So at the moment I cannot really make a conclusion on whether the hydraulic damper was doing a good job. One job it was doing was giving me a feeling of reassurance, but this could be misplaced. Maybe only a return to Mallory will provide an answer?
Unfortunately I cannot do the next two meetings which are Cadwell Park and Anglesey, so hopefully my next race will be at Lydden Hill. I also hope to do the second Cadwell Park meeting. All new tracks for me, but Lydden Hill will seem 'familiar' due to spectating there.
Getting back to Darley Moor out of the small group of girder fork machines that were running with the Ducatis and Bantams I finished 3rd out of five bikes, 4th out of four bikes in a very wet race, 4th out of seven bikes and finally 4th out of six bikes. A 1934 Norton CS1 won all four races. Me and the rider of this Norton were both given 10 second penalties for jumping the start in the third race. The Norton rider also jumped the start in the fourth race.
I should add that the 1934 CS1 Norton and a 350 Velocette both had steering dampers fitted. The Velo's was the same as mine. However, the Norton rider told me that his bike, which has a full cradle frame, unlike my Rudge, can still wobble when pushing hard. He also told me it was probably just "part and parcel" for this type of machine. Not exactly music to my ears, but at least the bikes were !!
I am disappointed with not only my lap times, but also the lack of consistency between them. I also think the bike was over geared, so some faster laps might be achieved with not only lowering the gearing, but also in the future when I have greater familiarity of the circuit.
Overall it was a satisfactory weekend and I came away with two more requisite signatures on my novice competition licence, which is my main goal.