Rock and Blues 2001
Location: - Donington Park Raceway, Derbyshire.
Organizers: - Outlaws, Derbyshire Chapter.
What can I say about this years event...Wow! The weather was on the Outlaws side again. I'm seriously burned as where thousands of us. (You'd think that after the years of doing the same damn thing we'd learn.)
Now this years event was a little different as you will all be aware. Foot and mouth meant the event was relocated and brought forward. Which meant the whole weekend was a little strange...
To me it felt like two events, one was the racing and bike show the other was the bands and the sun. Me being an optimist would say cool two for one but some didn't like the segregation but hey life's a like that.
The Bands :- Hawkwind, The Animals, A Company of Snakes, Wishbone Ash, Jack Bruce (the Cream), Uli Jon Roth (the Scorpions), and Micheal Schenker. On the face of it a formidable line up some were great, (C of S's and Cream) Others weren't. I think the bands were a little too much 80's rock and not enough of a mix, I'd like to hear some younger bands. (Wheatus, Limp Bizkit etc...) But lets not forget the speed at which this event was reshuffled and how well the whole event went down.
Lets meet you guys...
This year had the added bonus of bonus, Drag Racing. Run wot ya brung:-
I didn't take many photo's of the drag racing for two reasons:- no1 the pictures would be naff coz I was too far away and no2 I saw the Z1300 above get blown into the ground and sulked for the rest of the afternoon. A Suzuki Hyabusa dominated the day, though I didn't see it run against a Max. Shame I'd like to have seen what would have happened. My ol' mate Rush and the "Whip" were their but the council didn't want to let him run because they thought a top fuel drag bike might be a little loud ??? It's a sodding race track with a flight path to the airport over it. So God only knows what they were moaning on about. To cut a long story short we were sat at my tent and couldn't here the bands nor the drag strip but when Rush fired up the "Whip" the whole site turn and looked in the direction of the track. Bloody hell it was loud and the council officials could have been right. They didn't let him run again.
Here are some of your bikes...
And trikes...
I spotted this beautiful yellow chop whilst wandering around, I thought it was one one of the best there.
A
few years ago I saw this chop "Pyromania" for sale, I wanted it but my
ol' lady didn't like the idea of no springs. Seeing it this year just made me
wish I'd bought it, it looks something special.
Every year I find something that defies convention, the Max below caught my eye which is unusual because I'm not a fan of Max's looks but this one has a glass insert in the engine so you can see whats going on inside.
The special bit for any Z1300 fans...
I looked at all the 13's and spoke to a lot of guy's about their bikes:- One 13 had been played around with carbs swapped for injectors, an alloy swinging arm and a purpose built exhaust resulting in a 13 that would rev past the right hand indicator ??? I've never red lined mine. But the 13 below even though it needed a little tidying impressed me more than any.
The guy had put a Max swing arm on it. This is not a feat for a free weekend. The max drive shaft is on tuther side to a 13. So turn it over mount it to the frame after some mods, fix the shaft to the engine. (Ha ha sounds easy) The mod's went on and on resulting in a sorted rear end almost. No, the cooling fins in the diff are now turning the wrong way, the oil now boils up. Long before this point I'd have given up but not this guy, he over came this by fixing an oil cooler to the diff. Three years later it still runs fine; sorted.
How much to do the same for mine? Logical question from a guy who would like a fatter back wheel. No chance never again was the answer. I loved it and think all the heart ache was worth it, a truly unique 13.
Cool paint jobs...
The show bikes...
The standard was really high as ever and I have to applaud all the entrants as I can only begin to imagine the work and money they must put in to keep these bikes in this kind of shape.
So to round it off, a big thank you to the Outlaws, it was as ever one of the best shows on the biking calendar despite the various hurdles that had to be overcome. And to who ever made the pact to guarantee the weather I wouldn't like to pay the price.
