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Dave Ettridge's MC21SP Anniversary Edition

PROFILE:

Rider: Dave Ettridge
Age:  
Bike: MC21SP Anniversary Edition
Championship: UK Formula 400
First Ride:  

Dave Ettridge competes an MC21SP in various rounds of the UK F400 class as and when work commitments allow! He has run around 10 races in the last 2 years, but is hoping to find more time this year to compete more regularly.

BIKE:

Due to F400 regulations, legal modification to Dave's MC21SE are limited. He currently runs TYGA pipes, an HRC jet kit, HRC ignition unit, HRC reeds, TYGA intake rectifiers, and has enlarged the airbox intake and removed the central web to increase its' effective capacity. The forks have been rebuilt by MH Racing, with new bushes, seals and heavier springs ( £238 all done), which he says is an amazing transformation! The SP specification also means he has the benefit of lightweight Magtek magnesium wheels (the NSR SP's the only 250 production bike to be fitted with magnesium wheels as standard) and a dry clutch.

2001/2

Basically getting to grips with the NSR and learning the art of racing! Although trying to learn the sensible way round a track by following the lines (not the speed!) of the more experienced riders, several minor crashes inevitably led to some professional instruction, which in turn cropped 8 seconds off his average lap times! At £80 ($120), Dave reckons this and the suspension mod's (carried out after the close of the 2002 season) are the best performance increases money can buy!

By the end of the 2002 season Dave had really started to enjoy the NSR, and at Pembry, although he'd only competed in 3 rounds of the series (compared to his fellow competitors' 8 rounds), he was riding much more smoothly and even managed to beat some of the faster riders that he hadn't even been close to previously!

2003

With a change in jobs giving him every weekend off, Dave was keen to get racing again this season. Unfortunately the RAF had other plans and he missed the first 3 rounds due to being stationed abroad! A training course then coincided with round 4 but the date was subsequently changed allowing him to make a late entry application. It turned out that the only class with any space left was the Open F400 where he'd be pitted against highly modified bikes such as RS250s and TZ250s so decided a track day setting up the jetting and suspension would be money better spent!

The venue for the track day was Rockingham, a relatively new circuit in the UK, and one Dave had never visited before. He booked 2 places for himself and his mechanic (who just happens to be his brother!) so he could get some additional external feedback on the bike.

"Things didn't go according to plan right from the off... I went out following the instructor - it's compulsory - and half way round lap two the engine stuttered during a corner. I thought it was just due to the rich jetting so gave it a bit of welly. On the next straight the back locked up completely. Arse!! I was prepared though, and covering the clutch, so no scary moment, but I was completely p*ssed off thinking I'd jetted way too rich and couldn't possibly have seized.

I pushed the bike back to the pits completely dejected. One and a half laps for £200. Now that's expensive!!

However, on stripping it down, I found nothing wrong. I mean nothing. Even pulled the heads and the barrels/pistons were perfect. The oil pump seemed to oil, the water pump watered, the sparks sparked. Having poked it for an hour, and scratched all three heads (not all mine I hasten to add) figured I may as well rebuild it and see what happened. Went up another 10 on the main jets to ***  and  ***   to be doubly sure, and poured some oil in the tank just in case (200 ml in a full tank - dunno what ratio that'd work out at) as the oil wasn't exactly pouring out of the pump. None of us knew how much there should have been coming out, but it had always worked before and it was a Honda...

It worked. No horrid noises, no coughs or farts. It ran for the rest of the day. The plugs look tan and dry, which surprised me, as  ***'s last year were too rich and all I've done is cut the airbox lid web and enlarged the intake. Engine even got up to proper temp, which indicates jetting was close... I was also surprised that it hardly smoked, considering the oil pump is set to max and I had premix.

The engine would sometimes bog down between 6-9000. Other times it pulled strong from 6-12000. Didn't seem to be any pattern to it, though obviously it was only apparent on the slower corners. It was extremely fast from 9-12000 and I was only just out paced by the Blades and stuff on the straights. The only thing I can think of is fuel starvation, as I've fitted a quick disconnect in the fuel line, which is obviously a slightly smaller bore than the pipe. I'll buy some more pipe and get rid of the connector for the next outing.

On the plus side, Rockingham was fun - if very technical, but there's way too much concrete and Armco to be completely comfortable. Especially later on in the day when I was actually sliding the front on the exit to one very fast left hander! Maybe GPR70's aren't as good as I thought. I guess it shows what a fantastic job MH racing did to my forks - couldn't think of any changes to make throughout the day, and it felt like I had my fingertips on the tarmac the feedback was so good. Even my brother who's never ridden the thing before raved about the handling, saying it felt totally secure no matter what he did. Money well spent. Cool!" D.E.

Dave's just completed a meeting recently, so an update will follow soon!

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More club racer profiles coming soon, plus details on preparing and entering various national class racing, so watch this space!

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