The Life and bikes of Ray Briddock.
The Life and bikes of Ray Briddock.I have been riding bikes from the age of 16. In that time I have literally lost count of the number of different bikes I have owned. Some of them I have written about. Some of these stories have been published in the British bike press. Used Bike Guide and the Used Motorcycle Guide. I am sure they won't mind my original work being republished here.
In 1988 and 1989, I raced in Drag racing, going to places like Santa Pod and Long Marsden. I raced a 250 Suzuki Motorcycle which wasn't very fast even though I had fitted Nitrous oxide injection, (Laughing Gas). The fastest time I ever managed was at Santa Pod where I was given a timing slip with 11.7 seconds on it. Unfortunately no one believed it was a plausible time for a 250 so I wasn't credited with it.
After Drag racing, I decided to try my hand at the roundy-roundy stuff. Using the same bike, I entered the Earlystocks championship. Here I could race in a class with other similar bikes and not be at the disadvantage of not being able to afford the latest 'hot poop' machinery.
(Click the images to see a larger version)
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| I am just overtaking, (or being overtaken by), another bike here. This is the corner known as the 'bombhole' at snetterton in East Anglia. It is a very scary corner because there is only Armco to crash into if you make a mistake. | Here I am in the clear from the chasing pack but trailing a long way behind the leading trio of bikes. This is the Revett straight at Snetterton, just before you turn left into the esses. |
Snetterton is one of my favourite tracks, notwihstanding that 'Sear' is one of the corners I have nightmares about.
I like it so much that in August 1997 I made a short return to racing to be part of a 3 man 8 hour endurance race there.
We borrowed the bike, a Honda CBR600 from a friend, (Thanks Pete), replaced the bodywork with fibreglass equivalent, then turned up to race.
Even though the bike was by far the slowest 600 there, and it was our very first endurance race, we finished a creditable 30th out of 48.
The Honda lasted superbly. Regurlarly hitting the rev limiter in top at the end of the Revett straight, (Over 150 mph), which was a little more frightening than the 250 X7 which was all I had raced there before.
If this sounds like fun, then you need some contact points.
Firstly, for all types of Motorcycle racing, you need to know about the ACU. (Auto-Cycle Union). They have a website at http://www.acu.org.uk and can be contacted on admin@acu.org.uk.
The snailmail address is :
The Auto Cycle Union, ACU House, Wood Street, Rugby, Warwickshire, CV21 2YX.
The Earlystocks race club is based in the East Midlands and is run by
Rob Hooper, 89, Mercer Avenue, Water Orton, Birmingham, B46 Tel. (0121) 747 7255
The British Endurance series is run by the Kent Racing Combine.
Mrs. Jo Marchant, The Cottage, High Street, Leigh, Tonbridge, Kent, TN11 8RH Tel./Fax (01732) 838500
