Part 11
"RiDE"
Story
The
UK motorcycle magazine RiDE's August 2001 edition has a First Ride report
on the Ascot TT.
S-Mon 25/06/2001 19:52
There is a small test in Ride
magazine for August if you get that one there.
ASCOT
TT
With tuned engine, wide bars and racing
wets... this isn't your average cruiser.
Ascot. Horses, money and silly hats, right? Not
in America. To stateside riders Ascot is a classic dirt-track raceway,
conjuring images of fire-breathing, stripped-down road bikes sideways at
100mph-plus with no brakes.
The bikes are mostly Harleys with the odd Brit
and Japanese contenders —think wide-barred, big-engined bruisers.
"Speedway on steroids."
Like
speedway machines on steroids, only more so. Road going specials the sport
spawns are all about attitude: street scramblers with the emphasis on street.
Triumph has already tried just about every
design configuration for its retro-styled Thunderbird. But Jack Lilley, a long
established Triumph dealer, is the first to offer a dirt-track replica the
Ascot TT.
Based on a Thunderbird or the cheaper Legend
TT, you can mix and match your bits... body kit, bars and paintjob for the
looks. Performance carbs, three-into-three exhausts and six-piston brakes for
performance. Most fit them to a new bike but you could customise a used
Triumph.
Our test bike was complete with the most
popular options. The tail end is sharp and stubby and a low-slung seat carries
plates for racing numbers. Flat-slide carbs feed explosive mixtures into one
end of the triple engine, blowing spent gasses through individual megaphone
silencers at the other end. And new bars - a touch higher and wider with
bulbous grips - give that authentic feel.
The forks are reworked with progressive springs
and Pirelli MT6O tyres (used in production racing as road-legal wets) have the
right looks half-on, half-off road with a chunky tread pattern and round
profile. They work superbly, but won’t last many miles.
Settle into the low seat and you feel snug
those wide bars instantly make you feel in control of something a bit special.
The carbs have accelerator pumps and no chokes, so cold starting means
twisting the throttle two or three times to squirt neat fuel into the
cylinders. Thumb the starter and the engine fires first time. The exhaust bark
is pleasantly loud, not quite drowning out the mechanical rustle
characteristic of Hinckley Triumphs.
Flat-slide carbs can make an engine peaky, but
there are no tantrums from the TT. Jack Lilley is claiming an extra 15bhp for
the carb and pipe kit; the result isn’t arm wrenching, but strong and
seamless. Engine tuning can be much wilder - 100bhp-plus. But like any
unfaired bike, speed is governed by neck muscles not power.
Genuine oval racers don’t bother with brakes, thankfully the
standard-issue Triumph stoppers are adequate and there are performance options
available. Handling is excellent, but watch out - those low-slung pipes limit
ground clearance on right turns.
Go for the full spec and you’ll spend 10 grand or more which seems like
an awful lot in the days of a seven grand Blade. But next to a top-notch
Harley, it doesn’t seem so bad. Unique, stylish and brilliant fun too. One
thing’s for sure, it’ll cost a lot more to build one yourself.
Not a bad write up really, so I wrote to
their reply page:
A-Sat 07-07-2001 9:01
Great First Ride report on the Ascot TT in
the August edition. Mine's just been delivered to me in Hong Kong. Jack
Lilley's were superb in guiding me through the process of having this
wonderful special built since I made the decision to have one back in
February. Steve (owner) sent me over 50 pictures and e-mails. I've put them
all together in a website at http://www.alecgore.com/AscotStory.html.
Alec Gore
Hong Kong
Arrival
and Unpacking
A-Tue 03-07-2001 12:02
Ship
gets in tonight. May see the bike tomorrow.
S-Tue 03-07-2001 15:32
I
pray that everything goes smoothly.
I
wish .... !!
A-Thu 05-07-2001 14:43
Ascot arrived
promptly just after 9.00 a.m. this morning. Was to have been 10.30 a.m. but
they delivered early because of the impending typhoon.
Mr
Wong prepares to attack the crate. Sea Island is not exactly Jack Lilley's
workshop, but then we are cramped for space here. The unpacking is happening
on the pavement because his shop is pretty full of second-hand bikes and Honda
spare parts.
Spelling
in English obviously wasn't a job requirement for the warehouse boys and girls
at this end! (or was it a dyslexia special in England?)
Ah!
There she is .....
Looking
good, except what's all that grease-gunge they sprayed all over the bike ....
must've thought it was going on deck rather than inside a container. I know,
good thinking, just in case the ship sank and the container floated with sea
water around it.
"Now,
I wonder where they put that key!!!!!"
Close
up - still can't find the key!
Missing
Keys!
Starting
the clean up, getting the gunge off the clocks, brake discs, wheels, tyres,
even inside the starter motor .... but we don't know if it starts because we
don't have any keys. Of well, never mind. Perhaps this is just the way it was
meant to be. Now I won't be tempted to ride the bike in a gale force
typhoon over the next couple of days.
Sorry,
about the 4.00 a.m. phone call, but I thought you ought to be in a position to
check "at first light" and DHL (or whatever service you
use for express delivery) me the keys ASAP.
Hope
you like the pictures. Very happy to say that it looks like it arrived with no
damage during transit. I'll take some more pictures when it's all cleaned up.
S-Thu 05-07-2001 15:55
Thanks
for the early morning Birthday wake up call!
Well
the good news is that the keys aren't lost. The bad news is that they are
here and not there. It seems that when Robin packed the bike he thought
the best thing was to send the
keys direct to you. Good idea. But first you have
to post them! They are being sent SwiftAir registered today, which is as
fast as UPS.
Royal Mail
I'm
really sorry that this part of the grand plan fell down, also very relieved
that the bike survived the journey
in one piece.
Thanks
for the pictures I really like the last one of the bike outside Sea Island,
sort of strange seeing it the
other side of the world.
A-Thu 05-07-2001 16:51
Relieved
to know the keys are located. It's just started to rain hard and the wind is
picking up. Not much is going to happen in the next 24 hours with the Ascot
anyway. I'll let you know when the keys arrive.
S-Thu 05-07-2001 17:34
The package is on tracking
number SV0716 1788 7GB value 2200.00uk!
I imagine with the storm coming
that air movements will be somewhat delayed!
I related the latest in
the Yahoo! Legend Club
"Triumph Legend
Riders"
Yahoo! Triumph
Legend Riders
A-Fri 06-07-2001 10:57
Ascot
now unpacked here in Hong Kong. Survived the journey intact. Never believe it
would you: the guy at Jack Lilley's who packed it (and did a good job) forgot
to send the ignition keys. Spoke to Steve early yesterday morning, even it was
his birthday, and they are expressing the keys to me. Should be here in less
than 24 hours.
This
experience would have been more frustrating if it was not for the fact that we
are all battened down for a typhoon. I wouldn't have been able to ride
(sensibly :) ) in this weather anyway.
Patiently
waiting! I'll update the Ascot Story with some pictures of it being unpacked
later.
Got the following
replies:
"LOL...no
keys! Hang in there Alec, it'll all be good. Good Luck with the
weather!"
"Can't
wait to see it, Alec. You must be incredibly excited at the prospect of
riding it. It sounds like a lot of fun."
Wrote
to Steve again:
A-Mon 09-07-2001 16:00
4
o'clock in the afternoon on a glorious Monday afternoon. 29 degrees C and not
a cloud in the sky with a gentle breeze. Perfect riding weather. A day off
work, one of only three I get a fortnight, this one pre-panned 3 weeks ago,
thinking I'm sure to have the Ascot running by then.
Still
no keys!!!!
Sitting
on the balcony, sipping red wine, dreaming of riding the bends down to the
southeast corner of Hong Kong island.
Swift
what? Amazon.co.uk get me books quicker than this using Royal Mail. Is there a
website I can use to check the tracking? Who is the HK agent?
(not
so) Patiently waiting .....
S-Mon 09-07-2001 17:38
The
number is SV 0716 1788 7GB and is Swiftair registered. I checked with Royal
Mail this end and it left the UK on the 6th. It will then be handled by the
Hong Kong Postal Service. I imagine that the weekend has slowed it down.
Whatever, it should be there by now, we thought that you would get them this
morning.
Enjoy
the vino rosso!
Hong Kong Post
I
was thoroughly annoyed with Hong Kong Post at this stage. My keys had arrived
in HK on a Saturday evening; 48 hours later, I still did not have them. I
wrote to them:
A-Mon 09-07-2001 19:43
Ref.
No.: SV 0716 1788 7GB
=====================
The
above letter originated in the UK on 6 July 2001 from Jack Lilley Ltd.
It
contains keys urgently required for a new motorcycle, already delivered to HK,
in order that I can get the vehicle for examination and registration.
The
letter was sent "Swift Air" from UK and I was assured I would get it
in 24 hours.
My
enquiry shows that the letter did in fact arrive in HK on 7 July, just over 24
hours.
HK
Post has not let me know of its arrival.
HK
Post has not attempted to deliver it.
This
level of service is poor beyond belief. There are no excuses. You have had a
whole working day in which to let me know of this letter's whereabouts. I have
taken a whole day off work waiting for it. Now this day has been wasted!!
This
is not the first time I have experienced this problem with Aberdeen post
office. Don't give me excuses about it being an insured item. A simple
telephone call to me today and I could have come and collected it.
Why
was I not called?
Why
does the international mail centre bother sending urgent items to local post
offices, instead of notifying the recipient to collect from a central
location, thus saving time?
What
kind of commitment to "Serving the Community" is this!
I wrote to Steve about
Hong Kong Post:
A-Mon 09-07-2001 20:27
Wine
was good - Australian, of course. Fox River.
Fox River Wines
Can
you believe? Nothing to do with the typhoon. Keys arrived HK Saturday evening.
Monday they sent them to the nearest post office. Because it is an insured
item, they won't deliver it. Tomorrow they said they will send me a post card
telling me to collect! So it's aright for an airline to carry it round the
world, but they won't let the local postie deliver it! Sooner they privatise
Hong Kong Post the better.
That's
wasted a day off! I'll collect tomorrow - in uniform!
Steve
replies, injecting a little humour, just to keep things in perspective.
S-Mon 09-07-2001 21:00
Well
the good news is that they arrived then. Of course postie must be protected from
the evil Triads, that are always on the lookout for stealing Triumph keys
especially from wicked Policemen.
How can
a day be wasted after drinking fine wine? It can only be wasted if
the wine was not of quality.
Hong
Kong
Post replied:
Tue 10-07-2001 11:13
Thank you for your
e-mail of 9.7.2001regarding your unhappy experience with our postal service
.... now looking into the case and shall
give you a substantive reply as soon as possible.
Continue
....
