ISDE 2015 - 2015 350 EFI - Bronze medal with bad luck

[Leon_RR250]

Hi!

I attach a link to my Greek report for my race. Translating with Google Chrome works ok and you can follow most of what I am describing, I believe.

At the start of the race the bike had 102 hours on the meter with only one valve adjustment until then. It worked great till the end, except the fork and the other misfortunes I describe.

I hope you enjoy it!

Best,

Leonidas

http://www.enduro.gr/anaskopisi-tou-pro ... akia-2015/

[Balkan boy]

Great success Leonidas!

Everyone says this was a very difficult ISDE.
I've recently read that the FIM requested from the organizers of ISDE (and EWC of Sweden) to make the transfer stages hard, in the style of old enduros. Enduro riders were happy, but the motocrossers not so much.

Google translation works, but could you please clarify some points?

- You live in Finland and have qualified in Finland to represent Greece at the ISDE. Right?
- You broke the clutch perch and injured left wrist on the first day. Right? Any pictures of the hand?
- You forgot to tighten the rear axle before the special stage?
- Your engine oil was black and bike consumed a bit of oil?

I haven't seen anything about the forks in the translation. What was the problem there?
What tires and mousses did you use and how many? Did you check the engine after the race?


Cheers.

[Leon_RR250]

Hi!

Thank you for kind words!

Yes the transfer stages were tough and the timing very tight. Two of Greek ISDE veterans with 16 ISDEs all together they were surprised at how tight the schedules were... Actually the other ISDE that was close to this w.r.t. timing was the one in 2004 in Czech Republic with lots of rain. I got used to that from the 3rd day on.

Greece does not have any special requirement for club racers, except for the 6 guys in the Trophy team. I have been living in Finland for 14 years and started enduro in the beginning of 2004. I believe after this result I wouldn't have a problem being part of a finnish club unless only a very limited number of clubs would be accepted to race.

The clutch master cylinder broke, the clamp at the bottom in a diagonal way. That is why I used zip ties to somehow keep the whole system on the handlebar. Very hard to press/use the clutch after that until the end of the day together with the pain in the wrist. I wouldn't have this issue if I were using an unbreakable clutch lever. The wrist is still weak now...

At the end of the 1st day I used extra 4 minutes during the 15 min service because of a confusion with our mechanic if I change the rear tire or not and some other small things. In order to stay within the 30 min penalty time I left the axle to tighten it during the 10 min time we have every morning before the start. Changing the clutch master and bleeding it properly and adding the lever took 9,5 minutes so with the stress I forgot the rear axle. I checked it by hand before the first stage and tightened it immediately after with the 27 mm tool by Sevastopoulos who ended the test shortly after me.

At the end of day 2 I noticed at the park ferme that my front Michelin had opened on top by some stone and lifting it with my finger I could see the mousse. So the programmed piston side oil change for Wednesday morning was postponed to Thursday morning due to the urgent tire change on Wednesday morning. The oil was really black after 3 hard days but it did its job (Nils for Race 10W-50). During the whole race the oil consumption was really normal.

Forks leaked badly on Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday and Thursday morning there was no rebound at 12 clicks out, stock setting. I tightened the clickers and it was better but not perfect after that. I just checked that the new setting was 8 clicks out. The right leg had lost 70-75 ml of oil and the left one 50 ml. With all the slopes and sharp hits in the special stages, I could not do much better with this fork. And I think this is one reason why my wrists got so bad.

I started the race with a Metzeler at the back and Michelin VI at the front. New Metzeler at the back on Monday evening and Wednesday evening. New Metzeler fim soft on Wednesday morning. I wanted to change rear tires every evening except Friday and front tire on Thursday morning but now I know that this is not always possible, with some bad luck at least.

Getting Ready for Spain with a new RR300 2T 2016..!

Leon

[ricoyam]

Congrats on the Bronze! Just finishing the Six Days is an accomplishment.
I plan on being in Spain. A friend and I are going to do a Trans-Pyranees dual sport ride which ends in Spain just in time for the ISDE. We'll probably just be spectating though, unless he decides to ship his BSA over and run the new vintage class.
I guess it's possible we may end up giving the USA team some help too if they need anything.

Maybe we'll meet there.

[Leon_RR250]

Thank you for kind words! We will probably meet in Spain!

One correction: The ISDE in Czech Republic took place in 2002...

Leon