Lyndon Poskitt Reports from another outing on his (by now) infamous KTM950 Adventure S
Killer Kielder…..well, not really!
After all the fun I had at the Ryedale Rally I decided to do some more of these Big Bike Rally Challenges, I mean, it was actually a challenge which is what appealed to me. The Kielder K2 was the next rally on the cards and with the offer of a lift up there (cheers Chris) I didn’t even have to ride to the event, which is quite unusual for me.
With the bikes all loaded in the van and everything but the kitchen sink thrown in the back for good measure – oh the luxury of having space. You know, when you're on the bike you look at something and ask yourself the question - do I need this? - and usually the answer is no, but with a van the answer seems always to be - what the hell, throw it in anyway! So with enough riding gear to last me a month and enough tools to rebuild the engine, Chris and I set of up the M6 towards Scotland.
We arrived at the forest on the Friday night and as soon as we got out of the van, it was apparent just how close to Scotland we were. The midges were out in force, big time. The night was spent pretty much shooting the breeze, drinking beer (for the majority but not for me since I don’t drink anymore, well not beer anyway!). After a midnight barbeque we eventually turned in for the night.
Saturday morning opened up with pretty good weather. Once all the necessities of scrutineering and signing-on were out of the way, we were off across the hills to the first special. The liaison sections were nice and steady, plenty of time to get to the specials. Unfortunately there was only one special per lap but it was a decent length even if the terrain was not that interesting.
The first test went well apart from a guy on a 690 stacking it right in front of me on the slickest uphill section there was. I had to go on the grass which lost a ton of momentum. The 950 is a big bike and if there’s one thing it needs to set fast times is momentum and as much as you dare give it. I was happy with the run apart from this miss-hap, no other mistakes and generally a tidy run, eyeing up where I could make more time. The second special was a nice clear run and I got the hammer down, everywhere, a little too much at the end. At the finish there was a 5ft high climb out of a ditch which just lent itself for some big air to please the timing clerks. Unbeknown to me, there was a huge rock embedded in the undergrowth which clipped my G-It bash plate right as I was about to take off. Needless to say, the bike went one way and I went the other. We finished the special, just not together and I’m happy to report that the rock came off worse than the bash plate.
The highlight of the day (if you can call it that) was setting myself the challenge of doing all the optional hard sections in the liaison section, something generally put on to keep the smaller bikes challenged but I like to give them a go on the big bike. Boy they were tough and I had to muscle the bike through two of them, blood, sweat and 1st gear, I even had to holler for help from Zippy as he thrapped through on the 450exc. The true gent he is, he obliged and before I could say thanks was roosting through the trees. I knew after the first time, I would not be doing the same tomorrow.
After a long day of riding, I was ready for the evening meal, a few of us chose to go to the village pub for some grub which was really good to finish the day off.
Sunday morning brought sun-shine and clear skies but unlike the weather, their was no improvements to the course, in-fact it was exactly the same as the Saturday.
Sunday started really well, I had a clear run on the first special and with just one special left I started to have some fun. There was a really long liaison and we had over an hour to complete it. It was mostly fire road so the only way to really enjoy it was to ride it at race pace which made it fantastic, just like a rally should be. But, as always, this comes with some risk. Firstly of having a crash but secondly getting a puncture and that’s exactly what happened. Front flat, quarter of the way into the section. Decision time, fix now or at the end. It was a no brainer; I had to repair it as it was the longest liaison. So I pulled up and set to, I had the wheel out before the next rider even appeared. Fortunately, Lee Read threw me an inner tube from his back pack to save me time digging the ones from my front fairings (thanks Lee) so I was up and running in about 15minutes or so. By now I was right down in the high numbers so I had some work to do to make my time. I rode 100% race pace and turned up at the time check with 20 seconds to spare….perfect although I didn’t even have time to clean my goggles for the special.
The second test on Sunday was pretty much the same as the first on Saturday, slower riders stopping in ruts or getting stuck meaning I had to do some pretty fancy work to make my way around them. I lost time but got through in one piece. Satisfied with the special, I headed off down the road. Literally 2 miles after the special my bike quit and the diagnosis was fuel pump failure (yes it had a Facet fitted!). The only option I had to get me back was to transfer fuel into my rear fuel tank and plumb the rear tank directly to the carbs. This way I could pressurise the tank by blowing into the breather and sticking a bolt in the end of the pipe so the tank held pressure. This was enough to force fuel into the carbs and lasted approximately 10 miles before I had to stop and start blowing again.
The results, well I can’t complain, second overall in the rally class just behind Craig Bounds on the 630 Husky and a good 40 second in front of Mark Molinneux on the HP2. Not bad to say I had a flat and a fuel pump problem, it was a hectic day and I was pleased I managed to get the bike to the end without losing time.
