Just posting up an old report from the TBM forum to see if this one works the same way.


This was my first outing on the newly rebuilt 200 and due to work being busy I didn’t have time to get out for a decent test run. Just a 20 minute warm up and ride round the block a few times to bed the new rings in.
Rendlesham is one of the best venues on the TBEC calendar, but it’s a fair old shlep from Kent.
Met up with some Kent riders and the mad plumber from Essex (Mick the sausage) at the little thief Kelvedon.
Arrived in plenty of time, long push to the scrutineering

Mick the sausage


The normal safety brief before the off with dire warning for those that go to fast through the blue taped area.
TBEC employed some skinhead bloke to sort out any transgressors


New club rules meant that early entries were not rewarded with an early start time. The new rule is names in a hat with starting position drawn on the Friday before the event. I got row 10, about midfield, which is where I normally end up anyway.
First lap was a bit of a procession with some of the newer riders on early rows. Done me a favour really as it gave me a whole lap at a nice steady pace to make sure the motor was running OK.
The course is woodland one with lots of najery stuff and a few blasts along forest tracks,

Some of these tracks are well whooped out. Saw a few riders come to grief on them. It’s so easy to get it wrong, and so painful launching your self into the trees.



There were a couple of places where you had to jump off and push the bike across a track

All part of the fun, but gets tiring towards the end.
So how was the bike?
Well the new FMF Gnarly pipe worked well, and it was noticeable that there was a little more bottom end grunt, not masses but it did improve the chugability (not that there’s much on a 200 anyway) not sure if the fuel consumption has gone up or if it’s because the lap was slightly longer than the last visit to Rendlesham, but I went onto reserve twice. And I thought the bike didn’t seem to run smoothly off the bottom end, though it didn’t help matters when crossing a large (about 2ft diameter) pipe the expansion pipe got a bit dislodged. It was a bit irritating having to ride round keep blipping the throttle; I don’t suppose that helped with the fuel economy.
The suzzies were perfect. I took the forks and shock in to Chris Hockey (Dr Shox) down at Colchester. He done a complete service re-valve and set the clickers for my weight. I watched as he stripped the shock, and I was surprised at how much muck was inside the shock itself.
The bike was transformed, last year I really struggled on the braking bumps and found it running out over the top of some berms. It always felt a bit harsh.
Wow what a difference, smooth and supple on the bumps and going round corners and threading through the woods was like autopilot. That’s the best money I’ve spent on the bike and would certainly recommend Chris’s service. Thumbs up for that.
I got 6 laps in arriving back at the pits with 25 minutes to spare, I was lapping in just over 35 minute so it was worth getting out for another lap, even though It would mean loosing some points for being over time. The last lap was great. I only came across a couple of slower riders and got overtaken by one bloke on a mission, no dramas though. Until the bike went on reserve and I got cramp kicking it over.
Ended up 10 minutes late so it was worth doing, even though I was completely knacked.

A really enjoyable day out, the club had put a lot of effort into marking the course, making it really easy to follow.
So a round of applause for all the marshals and volunteers.
Thanks, your efforts are appreciated.

Rich.C 120.

www.tbec.co.uk