Me and Elsie

Or should that be - Elsie and I?

Anyway. Mid May. Sviestad racetrack in Linköping. It's the first training session with the Classic gang (MCHK r). And it's the first time for me and Elsie together.
I sleep overnight in the car. Elsie sleeps outside.
She fires up easily when we set off to do a few warm up laps in the warm up round-about. Beauty!
All gear on, green flag, we head out on the track. I slip the clutch and we're on our way.
As we enter the end of the pit straight I crack the throttle open - wuuuaaahhhhöööööö. Through the left-right hander onto the kinked straight for Torparn - wöööööööööhhhhhh. She won't rev over 6000.
I try, and try, and try for five or six laps before I give up. She just won't go.
Pits.
I know Arne, the guy who looked after Elsie before me (and also brought her over to Sweden from the UK), is supposed to show. I set out to look for him.
Find him outside scrutineering. Yep, he'll come and have a look.
Arne comes around, has a look at Elsie, can't see anything wrong, starts her up, sounds ok, asks if I've been very gentle as I open the throttle? Sure I have, I say, thinking, Ahhhh, maybe I was a bit too ham-fisted...
Out again.
Waaaaahhhh-ööööööööhhhhh. Crap. Same again. Coming out of Torparn I loose all momentum and kick into first gear. Wuuiiiiiiiing!!!! Revs pops up to around 11000. Out on the long straight I open up the throttle, gently, gently.
Then it happens. Elsie like clears her throat, like, and - waaaaaahhhhh, baaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh. We're on our way.
We get almost two good revvin' laps in before I have to really slow down not to run over a slower rider. I get comletely out the revs again and no matter how much I try to sneeeeeek open the throttle, she just won't go again.
Krikes!!!
Pit.
Pissed off.
Arne has a look again. I have a look. Another bloke has a look.
We change main jet. She won't even start now. Back again. No start. New sparkies. She starts!!!
Out again with the next gang of riders.
Apart from my own mistakes she runs quite well. This is fun!!! An old 250 two-stroke on really skinny tires.
I get my knee down after a few laps and we keep on passing the guys who pass us down the long straight.
Pit. Drink. Coffee and a hot dog.
Out again. Running ok again and I'm trying to keep the revs up as much as possible. This will take some getting used to again after only having been on Ducatis for the last few years...
Then it happens again. Having to slow down for slower riders a couple of times on the same lap, getting out of the revs, and she just won't go over 6000 again.
I'm really confused again and same with Arne.
The day ends and I piss off home. Still not completely shattered as Elsie showed me some of her legs anyway.

Home. Thinking. Talking to mates. It's clear that when I get out of the revs once too many, the sparkies just die on me.

Shopping. Sparkies. Main jets. High flow fuel cock (oh, how I love that expression). Glass fibre reeds.

I send in my application for running my first race at Vålerbanen in Norway in mid June!!!

Last Saturaday. Go to Hauge to have a check of the carbs and install the new reeds. As I fiddle with the carbs, we find a couple of things to adjust a bit. I also make the windows for the reeds a bit bigger + bend the reed stops back another bit. The reed set-up looked a bit strange as it was with fibre glass on one side and metal on the other, also with different lifts...

Sunday evening. Smack the parts together again. A bit nervous I run to fire her up. After a few, seemingly very loooong steps, she fires up. Beauty!!!
After a bit of warming up, I run her twice up and down the 80 meters of parking lot. On the last run I let her really go into the revs and WAAAAAAAAAHHHHH, she even lifts the front a bit.

This looks guuuoood!!!

To be continued...