Bedford Circuit Review

[Cav]

The best circuit you haven't ridden. No doubt.

It's over 2 minutes for most, maybe 2m40s for a Novice. It's an incredibly safe yet sketchy circuit, loads of run off but barely a barrier in site.
The circuit is mostly flat but there are some really well placed undulations which, when used correctly put you on the perfect line to avoid some hilariously horrendous bumps.

TLDR:\\ Incredible, bumpy, undulating but flat circuit which was great for overtaking and feeling like a hero.

Leaving pit lane into Turn 1, it's a 1st gear corner and very bumpy on approach, it opens into a long sweeper before braking into Turns 2, 3 and 4.

Turns 2 and 3 are a left-right chicane which you need to sacrifice to setup for Turn 4. There's a huge bump on the apex of 2 which you need to be braking over and trail brake onto the curb of 3 to keep the bike settled.

Turn 4 is an off-camber long left hander where you need to upshift on exit and have faith that you can pin the throttle and make it round the next corner, a right hander, before heavy braking and down to 2nd for the left-right chicane of Turns 6 and 7.

The right hander of 7 is slightly slower than the left hander but I sacrificed a little speed in 6 to be able to hold a steady throttle and plant my knee on the apex of 7. There's then a short stretch into the latest of apexes at the hairpin before the back straight.

The back straight is LONG. I saw over 150mph GPS down there so it isn't the fastest straight but it's long. You can get a nice rest down there on a 600 although the bump halfway down can break your feet free from the pegs - that was interesting.

Braking at the 300 yard board I could just pull it into the left-right chicane of 9 and 10. This is a fun chicane and definitely a needed safety feature. That said, there's a strong bump on the left which frequently had me momentarily tuck the front. So long as you're carrying the speed it was absolutely safe, I never felt like I was going to crash there.

Keeping it tight right after the chicane, a quick squeeze of the brake lever and a fast tip in to the next left, running ALL the curb, was exhilarating! You've barely hit the apex before you're hard on the brakes and back to 2nd for a 90 degree left with a lovely compression on exit. That corner was brilliant!

A short burst into the last left hander, an undulating and burm-like Turn 13, narrowly avoiding another horrific bump which broke my foot free from the peg mid corner many times and down to the penultimate turn.

Late braking again and carrying much more speed than you expect it was a great place to pass traffic on the outside, inside, on the brakes or on exit. This corner was tough to choose a gear, it would bog a little in 3rd but it got me to the last corner at a nicer speed for tipping in without much more than a dab of the brake.

The last corner was a hero corner.. the amount of apex speed was insane and everyone in all the garages can see you due to the lack of a pit wall. I did take great liberty in attacking that corner. It was then a case of grabbing 4th gear before heavy braking into the bumpy Turn 1 where I frequently outbraked myself. It only took a small stoppie over a bump to make all braking efforts void.

Here's one video clip. This was the 5th session of the day and you'll see me out brake myself dramatically into Turn 1 around halfway through. It was quite funny.
[video]https://youtu.be/2AxkFSFmQys[/video]

[kiwikrasher]

You like going really deep in that left hander

Awesome riding mate, right on song

If that wasn’t the fast group you definitely need to move up.

[Kwacky]

Perhaps a little too deep at times

Nice to hear you get on the gas really early

[Cav]

Oh I definitely went deep

That was Fast group, Kiwi. The "problem" with this circuit is that it isn't used for racing which means you typically only get trackdayer's attending here. I saw "problem" because it means the average speed is a lot more normal but in reality, the day went really smooth and there weren't many egos there!

Despite destroying my rear tyre from incorrect pressure ( I just couldn't get them to work ) I had so much confidence on the new suspension with correct springs for my weight I could really drive it out of the turns. I also had a lot of front end confidence into the turns - as you can tell by how much I ran on haha

[D6]

That look s a nice track

[Cav]

That look s a nice track

It really is. Absolute gem of a circuit

[StMarks]

Great riding there imho Cav'

That look s a nice track

It really is. Absolute gem of a circuit

I've not ridden there yet. Probably just as well, because watching your vid' I kept setting myself up for corners that turned out to be blanked off to be straights.
These days it usually takes me the best part of a whole day to begin to remember my way round a new circuit, let alone find my braking points etc..

[Cav]

Despite having quite a good feeling from the bike (a product of having aftermarket suspension) I had pretty horrific tyre wear

The bike felt quite low in the rear which I semi dialled out with compression damping but no matter what pressures I ran the tyre was tearing this like. It also felt insanely hot to the touch.

This is my response from Dunlop when I gave them all the information I had available:

I have been asked to look at the pictures you sent with your report from Bedford and Cadwell Park. I am thinking this is a setting issue with the rear. It certainly looks like the rear tyre was too soft, but experience tells me that the rear MS2 compound is normally capable of one whole track day minimum at Cadwell park. The only time I have ever seen abrasion like this, at a race event, is after a deluge of rain during the night before going out. This had a similar effect to the tyres. The type of abrasion showing large ripples can be caused by cold track temperatures and too soft compound. Tyre tread heats but has no mechanical grip to the surface, so this creates tearing.

Your tyres pressures were not too far off. A lot of riders start with 20 psi hot in the rear and aim for a 23-24 psi return pressure after running. Going higher with pressures will normally slow abrasion down.

The only thing I can suggest is to raise the rear significantly. I had a test with Chris Burns and John Ingram at one event and both used the same rear tyre. Chris Burns’ tyre looked like yours after only 10 laps. John Ingram’s tyre was smooth as. The difference was bike height. Chris’s bike was sitting down, whereas John’s was not.


Check your tyre warmers are working well. A minimum 80°c after 1 hour is good. I find some riders using 60°c warmers which are too cool for professional tyres like D213 and KR108.

I hope this helps. You can call me to discuss anytime and if you are going somewhere for an event, let me know and I will try and give you some information.

_______
Essentially it sounds like I have a Geometry tear in the rear. I don't quite understand how having too much weight on the rear (by being low) doesn't generate enough heat though.. that bit is beyond me.

[StMarks]

Great reply from Dunlop, sounds genuinely knowledgable.

[Cav]

Great reply from Dunlop, sounds genuinely knowledgable.

I agree mate, that's why I figured I'd share it with you guys.

I'll be taking the forks out of the bike again this week anyway so will measure those against the stock units, and I'll do the same with the shock too. Hopefully there's something obvious.

[D41]

You're definitely using the full width of the track. And then some.

[Perkles]

Awesome