Greetings

Old Chris King hub (as in 2nd hand, pre 2007). Had mine for 8 years, skipped once due to lack of service. I got it second hand, it was used in trials before that. So it's still running strong after over 10 years of trials use.

Haha as ironic as this video is, it's actually true.

It was good looking I guess, just got bored with it. I've changed nothing in that bike for 3 years now. But I do remember that back in the days when my riding was adequate, changing something small that you can see while riding is enough to improve your skills. Observed it twice with rims. Amazing how the mind works. Lol at Dan's comment but I know what you mean and yes, a fresh bike with old tyres looks gash. Then again I need new tyres anyway. Frame is done, got some nice new Echo stickers which will go on after the clear hardens. Hopefully should be able to get the bike running again for the weekend. Will get some acrylic paint for the rims tomorrow, couldn't be arsed with 2pack again.

Going to repaint my bike. I'ts been unchanged for 3 years. We all know how changing just the rim colour can improve your riding, let alone the colour of the frame. Now: Planned colour composition: Need to get some white paint for the rims. Should I use acrylic or 2-pack? I'll be doing the frame with 2-pack because that's what I've got for the car. Presumably I should keep the fork black?

This gets me every single time. This was 2 years ago, I think he's now one of the best drifters in the country. He definitely holds a pro license and takes part in the national championships. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7OQeaA5wbg

Cheers for the help. So if I'm doing this onto some pallets, it's best I place something before them? Haven't thought about this but it sounds like a good idea.

I read about this on Wikipedia a few years ago, really liked the painting depicting this state.

It's probably been about 10 years since I last asked for riding advice but perhaps someone has some good tips? I used to be good at these about 6 years ago but it's gone a bit tits up since then, I can barely do this onto 6 pallets now and it's going so badly I have no motivation to try harder. My main problem is the trajectory. I can't quite describe the problem but I think my rear wheel and body are far too low in relation to the front wheel the moment the front wheel lands on the obstacle. The front wheel will often skid along the obstacle because there's not enough weight being put onto it. Secondly I try to force myself to execute this move earlier but usually the front wheel lands way too deep into the obstacle. From what I remember, when executed correctly you just fly up onto the obstacle with no effort, I'm having to use a lot of strength and getting nowhere. Is there a golden rule for this move or something to keep in mind? Learned this way back by watching a rider who I think was called Fred Gillet and used to ride an Ashton Justice, can't seem to find any of his vids though.

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2014/04/07/scientists-link-selfies-to-narcissism-addiction-mental-illness/

At the end of the day it's all down to $$$. Last year I didn't miss a single comp, took part in 3 series and whatever needed fixing I just fixed no matter the costs. This year I've had to miss two series of events completely which has resulted in rather less practice than usual before BMW Challenge which is the main competition I now take part in. So my skills are rusty, one of my competitors has invested heaps of money in his car and mine has become uncompetitive or so I believe. Secondly, the moment something like a Vanos unit packs up you know you're in trouble - a rebuild is around 800 quid and only if you're lucky that will sort things out, otherwise you need to do more troubleshooting and probably end up replacing lambdas and the MAF for new Bosch units - again, not cheap. With my luck that's probably what will happen. So the problem boils down to expenses piling up - and it's not just the Vanos but a new clutch, more tyres etc. The next event is in a very remote location, getting the car there and back won't be cheap, neither will all the hotels and other facilities. With regards to the brakes I know you've mentioned this before but I fail to see what's wrong with brakes which do not fade and will lock the wheels up at 120mph with little effort. The only real problem with these brakes which we do not experience is that the fluid will boil after about 10 miles. Our longest special stages are 6 miles. Big brakes are very expensive, they're also very heavy and will not clear 17" wheels. Really, this is the last thing that needs replacing.

I'd love to but it's not that easy to give up something you like so much. Besides, we're all on a steep learning curve when it comes to these comps, missing one season could mean that you'll have no chance in the following one. I drive for fun but I also drive to win, that's the only way I can justify spending so much money on this.

Fed up with the M3 Haven't even got down to removing the Vanos and I already doubt this can be fixed with satisfying results. It just feels like one of those problems which will cost a fortune and continue giving trouble for months... Haven't been this close to giving up on that car yet. It needs a diet, it's not competitive against two new drivers and their cars, I don't want to risk my health trying to chase them, I don't even have a f**king HANS device for crying out loud. The expenses just keep piling up. You think you've sorted something out and immediately something else starts giving problems. Then you find that rather than fixing the problem and just carrying on with the comps, you need to mod the car further. The upcoming round is 1 month away which is a good thing, I want to give it a miss but can't. My skills suck recently and I'll essentially be giving up my points to someone else. Need to practice but can't, the car is an absolute pig recently and rather than invest in driving skills, I have to "invest" in that heap. /rant

To be honest you should find the source easily by having someone listening in and putting their ear against various bits.

A bit meh. He's a very good rider but I haven't seen anything fresh from him for a long time now. Just seems like he's stuck doing the same things over and over again. Or it's something else, I'm a bit confused.

I'm pretty sure it's a supercharged K20. Over 400bhp apparently. Yep. Much much better Edit: Finally got in touch with someone who can rebuild my Vanos. Been calling a UK company for 4 days in a row but nobody is answering the phone. Finally settled for a German one which is much more expensive and does not offer the full service though I do trust German workmanship more than British. Need a new clutch too and Michelin S9S tyres. Hate to think how much all this is going to cost Got 1 month to get the car into reasonable shape.

Some outside shots from Saturday. Really liked how they organised the first round in a completely open area so that we could get re-acquainted with our cars after the winter break without the risk of hitting anything. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rxlhq5jk8nM Really happy with the suspension stiffness, might increase the ARB stiffness on the rear but other than that it seems pretty much bang on. There were some bumps my competitors were complaining about and I didn't even know what they were talking about. And the winner in a 600bhp/tonne toy car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_g1nY9uV_A

I guess it depends on the attitude. I share yours with regards to my car but if I were to chose one car from the series I take part in to just look at and appreciate, it'd be the above mentioned Subaru or Bimmer. I guess it's more funny when you get to know the guy, his attitude is difficult to put into words. We all love him and his cars. Actually he sold that M3 and this is what it looks like now: It weighs an astohishing 1150kg and on the last comp has given me quite a lot of trouble. In short the driver is so quick in that car that I'll have to drive way beyond what I consider safe to beat him this season.

I have to post this here because I'm literally crying. Mentioned this guy before in this thread. I have a very destructive friend who I often drive with or compete against. He's middle aged, very civil and calm, has a wife, two kids and a very high position in a large company. He's known among us for giving abolutely no shit about his car - and this doesn't mean he doesn't get angry when he scratches it, it means he's ready to continue driving with his bonnet fully open and resting against a broken screen by gauging where the road is from what he sees to his left. So far, he's had an M3 and a Subaru Type R. He's a quick driver, could be very quick if he was focused on being quick. But he's focused chiefly on having fun, which for him could be leading a competition overall and then "testing" whether road winter tyres aren't better in the rain than racing wets, crashing the car and barely making it to the finish. He keeps testing things. He'll even test whether he can do something without hitting an obstacle. The car on the left is pretty much what his car looked like back in 2009. The same colour and similarily clean. The car on the right is his car 4 year later. Note the indicator on the left. This is a picture 3 years in after trying to cut a corner. He also named his car. This is him arriving in his daily driver to the mechanics who built our cars. He was later spotted by my friend about 4 miles away still on flats. This is his car after he tried to cut a corner again which earned him a nickname. And in more detail. The detail is just amazing. Then he got a Subaru. Generally speaking it was good looking. And this is what it looks like 1 year in:

Painted the M3 bumper. Thanks again Tom for your advice, it's working like a charm, especially thinning the clear coat. I was using a cheap 10 quid gun for the last job and since then we've found a Sata and a Sagola gun in our workshop haha Only did the clear with the Sagola, I'm running it at a much lower pressure, around 2.5bar but the spray even at it's widest is pretty narrow which is slightly annoying. I guess it's ok for a bumper with lots of nooks and crannies. Or I'm just used to the massive spray at a high pressure from the old gun which is probably not a good thing. Didn't avoid a few problems, the cheap gun spit out some old clear coat onto the base. But overall I'm really happy, the clear finish is so good that it won't need any more work. Just let it dry ant put it on the car. As usual black spots are a dirty lens.

Don't feed the trolls. Is this lever snappage a common problem on these brakes? I'd expect some aftermarket replacements from brands like Racing line to appear sooner or later if indeed this is an issue.

Won the comp but it's the most hollow victory yet. We got completely dominated by my team mate who built a superlight M3. The car packed up right before the last special stage and he finished with a DNF despite working out an over 30s lead over me. So my 2nd place turned into 1st. A friend who came 2nd was 10s behind me on a 20 minute event but he was driving without any power steering in an M3 on 250mm section racing slicks. Finished with a steering wheel covered in blood and I think the only way he actually made it to the finish was because he looks like he could bench press his own car. Car performed awfully, clutch is dead, gearbox is dead, engine is almost dead. Couldn't get into the right gears all day and was missing probably around 100bhp. Also forgot how to drive. On the first non timed run I was 11s behind the leader on a 3 minute special stage. That's the difference between an M3 and a 316i. It got progressively better but didn't come close to the leader.

Everything is ready Comp tomorrow. Really looking forward to this one, last year the most M3's we had on a single comp was 5 including mine, this time it'll be 13 with one of them being an E46. We're all very interested how it'll do against the E36, not sure who the driver is. Also got this to paint, yay! Deliberately had it arrive too late for tomorrow, for some reason I keep destroying bumpers and front windscreens. The annoying thing is that I can drive with a bumper which has been stitched from 8 pieces and a cracked windscreen for months but when I finally replace them it takes me a few hours to destroy the bumper and crack the screen again. Not this time

Why are so many weights claimed with or without pedals? Sounds a bit strange, after all you need pedals, don't you? Or are these bikes just for show?

Due to some f**kup on my behalf with the clear coat I didn't get an orange peel but a hedgehog finish. It's taken me about 8 hours to get the bonnet sort of polished and the end result is a detailers nightmare. Also love how the old paint job was colour matched (not). Didn't do any colour matching for the current botch up, just gave them the code. Really like the correct (new) colour, hate the old one. Needless to say, I don't give a shit. Probably going to get rid of this car next year. The funny thing is that this colour difference only shows in the sun, in the shade both are identical. Makes me wonder whether the painter deliberately wanted me to collect the car from the paint shop during a cloudy day a few years ago when it was first repainted. M3 is running, ride height is probably ok so going to set the geometry up and not mess around with the suspension. Gear lever turned out to be broken but due to our fail safe design it only became apparent when I pulled it upwards. It's now shorter and hardly has any play.