Posts by UK_Paul

This has nothing to do with the upcoming "Hot News" but, if you like British Petrol-Head TV, you may be interested in what will be announced soon.

- #Top Gear -

Nothing to do with the SlingShot but this is the first trailer for the next series of Top Gear.
-

Quote from MiM

Ooohh... Hot news...

It's all to do with something that was not spoken about due to a, very direct, conflict of interest and I was certainly not going to be the one to let the proverbial cat out of the bag.

However this is no longer the case and can now, safely, be revealed.

I just hope that Leigh Hauck, Polaris, marketing manger of the SlingShot, checks out these threads, just in case he isn't already aware.

The distance at Mallory, around the lap, is quite short at, just over, 1.3 miles (2.1 km).

A couple of SlingShots were already heading off around the track. I registered and signed up with the standard Polaris terms and conditions, for taking out a Polaris vehicle. Then I met up with Steve Caine. He is contacted by Polaris to do the publicity/marketing for them.

Steve and I knew each other, quite well, from meeting him on many occasions at Polaris, Victory' meetings, over the years. (You'll also see his name in the "Like" section of the previous Facebook picture, 3 posting above this). Steve was one of the guys, helping by taking people out to show them the ropes, with driving SlingShot. I knew he was a dam good motorcycle rider on a Victory and he agreed to take me for a run before riding taking to the controls myself.

As I said, Steve and I knew each other, of old, and I felt that he would not hold back on showing me what the SS could do... and he didn't.
Steve could certainly drive the Slingshot well and he didn't mind throwing it around the track.

Next, it was my turn. We came out of the pits and onto the track, then very quickly we came into "Gerard's". ( Some of you piston heads may recognise the name of Gerard's Bend). This is a large sweeping bend and it was to take a couple of laps to find the right line, as you leave the bend there is a slight reverse camber that unweights the front of the SlingShot, this was a little un-nerving at first but once I'd experienced it a few times I became much more comfortable.

The next interesting part of the track was "Edwina's" This is a chicane and demonstrates how well the SlingShot can switch directions and also how to drift it while keeping the power going. Coming out of this section, you enter the "John Cooper Esses." (Yes I spelt "Esses" correctly). This has a slight positive camber that lets you drive hard into it and therefore come back onto the main straight again, with some decent power behind you. It is along this section that you can reach the highest speeds. I know that I'm certainly not the best driver of a SlingShot, especially as this was my first ever attempt at driving one but it certainly shows you how well they can handle. Time for a short break and a good cup of tea.

More information and some "Hot News" to follow next.

July 4th came around...

I'd won the place at Mallory Park!
The next thing would be. How would my health hold up? I had been slowly improving, but most mornings started with me vomiting and I was still spending a lot of time just sitting (or more often laying) around totally exhausted. My energy was very low. My kidneys were still giving me the most problems, as my general fitness, prior to getting ill had helped me through the illness.

At this point, the doctors had generally agreed that I must have been attacked by a virus. This had caused the organ failures and some had improved, while others had detreated. My hart had recovered and my liver had started to repair itself. The pneumonia had been cleared up, some time earlier and now the worst remaining problem was with my Kidneys, (only 50% function). Some days were good and some days were bad.

The day of the event came around and I felt good. I set off early, so that I would not have to rush, took lots of breaks along the way and arrived in good time for the event. I ensured that I was fully rested and felt fit enough to take part before entering the pits, at the track.

The SlingShots were there along with some press men and photographers. I knew some of the people attending and it was good to make contact with old friends. Andy, from American-V magazine was there and about to set off around the track. Andy produces a tremendous mag covering (as the title indicates) American V engine motorcycles. He now also has a keen interest in the SlingShot and has covered it in the magazine a couple of times.

A black turbo SL was also in attendance, but the authorities at the race rack had to stop it from using the track, as (apart from race days) the track has a noise restriction and the SS + turbo, quite happily exceeded this limit.

The odds look good:

Only 20 other people entered. At least 2 of them worked for Polaris and 3 lived outside the country.
So the odds now stood at about 15:1 (if they were not included).

The next thing to achieve was to see what one of these things rode/drove like.

Even though out road rules are almost identical and we drive on the same side of the road; I had been unable to take control of the slingshot myself, while in Ireland, as the dealer's insurance would not cover me in a foreign country. So my I now had to arrange a test drive.
Then a few days later I spotted this on FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/42596…3/489888947880374/?type=3

Competition Time!! Please like and share this post
for a chance to win a test drive in the Polaris
Slingshot on Friday 8th July at Mallory Park.Winner will be picked on Monday 4th July

Well I liked it.

The next question that most of you are likely to ask is:
What is Mallory Park?

Mallory Park is a motor racing circuit and was first used as one in 1949
- Mallory Park - Wikipedia -

Throughout the Sixties and Seventies, the circuit hosted almost every major British car and bike championship.

It is still used for both car and motorcycle racing but does not feature, the top line competitions any more, (apart from "Motorbike & Sidecar" racing).
Would I win this competition and find myself racing a SlingShot around the track?

Quote from gpcustoms

Nothing you cant do with a suit case full of Pound notes and two cases of beer

Only two?

We are home now and so the next step is to look at the practicality of having the SlingShot.

You can see from the, image below; we have a small garage on the left of the picture.
This was built some time ago and is not wide enough to house a SlingShot.
The shaded area, behind the garage and small silver car is extremely steep, so much that it is not possible to dive a SlingShot up it without running the risk of taking off the front of the machine. After consultation with the technical department of Polaris Britain, it became obvious to me that this was going to have to change.

The conclusion was: knock down the garage, reduce the slope of the driveway, remove the hedge on the left edge of the picture, tarmac (in American English, I think you call it Asphalt) the lower area at bottom of the picture and place a bigger garage on it. This would have additional advantages for us, as it would make control of motorcycles, at the top of our drive, much more easy and also allow us generally more room for vehicles. It would also allow easy access, via the porch in the corner of the house. So why not also develop this area into a better entrance?
Oh well the cost of all this is going to be substantially more than that of the SlingShot.......

Who said this was going to be cheep?

I have used "Pro Bolts" in the UK on my Polaris Victory.
In fact, I've ordered a bunch of Red Aluminium, Domed bolts and nuts, to go on something that I'm working on for the SlingShot, right now.
They supply: Aluminium - Stainless Steel - Titanium
- Titanium, Stainless Steel, Aluminium Fasteners & Motorcycle Bolts | ProBolt -

I belive that they have US distributors, but you will need to check that.

DOME_HEAD_11_1.jpgNUTS_AND_WASHERS_10_3.jpg
CONE_WASHERS_11_3.jpgSOCKET_CAP_6.jpg

I'm not so sure about the size of my screen or about increasing my ram.
But I have now updated my keyboard.....

Quote from rabtech

The pictures are absolutely beautiful.. I hope to make it over there in the year or two. I have never left the US borders. But I'm thinking it's about time to see what is beyond them..

Rabtec.
You must try and make your way over to Europe. It's a very different place to the North America and you will probably look at life in a very different way, once you have done it.
Hey! My house would have first been built almost 100 years before you had your war of independence with us, as I believe that it was made of ship timbers, taken from the wrecks of the Spanish Armada, in 1588.
- Spanish Armada - Wikipedia -

I'm not so sure about my shed, in the garden though.

It's now time to head off, back home, again.
The show is over and everyone has now gone or is leaving today.

One of the leaflets created to help the riders, know what was happening.

The showground is now cleared and ready for the next event. Life, work and business will go on.
After a long journey, back to the dock, at Rosslare, we arrived for an early evening departure, back to Britain.

We had a good trip back over the Irish Sea and finally arrived home in the small hours of Tuesday morning.

So. What comes next????

I'm pleased to be a part of this family.
I've already received so much help & advice from members of "The Family."

Quote from Tripod

BEAUTIFUL pics!

It's a beautiful country

The show was now over, but we stopped on for an extra day and headed of to an archetypal Irish fishing port called called Dingle.

The road out to dingle runs along the Atlantic coast and would it be great to ride in the SlingShot. Perhaps this year we will take it for a ride, to the same place, or maybe it will be time to discover an unfamiliar location.
The day had lots of discussion about the SlingShot and it was apparent that we were both very taken by the idea of getting one. This day out, to Dingle confirmed things. I was not strong enough to ride my motorcycle all the way out and back, from Killarney, so we had taken the car. Had we owned a SlingShot, then we would have had the best of both worlds. Elaine & I could share the driving, we would have the thrill of the coast ride and shear joy of riding in it.

Some of the views, along the way, are absolutely breath taking.

Time to head back to Killarney and a final evening in the town.

Last day of the show.

After a wonderful Sunday, with great company, riding through Killarney, along with all the other bikers, we had now reached the last day of the show.
Everything starts to wind down around midday, Monday and the traders begin to pack up the stands. The show continues, for the rest of the day and evening, but everything now starts to slow down.

We said our goodbyes to the Victory/Indian dealers and arranged to meet up with them again. They were so pleased to of had our help with the bikes on the stands and anyone that had theirs on the stand cleaned, by them, with an incredible cleaner, that they had imported from France, into The Irish Republic. And it worked unquestionably well.
- Motorcycle Products Online Ireland l Motorcycle Accessories - - Welcome to Noline ! -

I know how good it works, as the guys cleaned my Vegas and also gave me a bunch of labels, that I'll certainly be using with both the Victory and now the SlingShot.

I had not mentioned, in my previous posts, that we had both arranged with Lee, from All Spares, to go for a ride with him, in the SlingShot, on the Monday, so this is what we now intended to do. We had arranged to meet at the back of one of the hotels and Elaine & I were, now, both getting pretty excited.

First ride was for Elaine.
See.... I'm a polite English gentleman.

Well, it certainly didn't impress Elaine. (British irony).
We didn't get the opportunity to ride it ourselves, as the insurance wouldn't cover us for a test drive, in a foreign country.
When Elaine got back, she was ecstatic! Lee, from All Spares is a great driver and had taken her for a ride through some country roads and she was now inspired.
I followed on with my ride and sure, Lee drives great. However one of the highlights for me was that as we pulled onto the highway, outside the showground a guy in a Ferrari was coming along, what is an understandably busy road and he just stopped......

His jaw dropped in wonderment!!!

I suspect that I'll be seeing, just a little, more of this as time goes in with the SS.

One thing that I missed, in the last instalment, above.
This whole event is big and it is totally free, for all the attendees!

It looks like Polaris may have missed a trick by not attending themselves. It's a great potential market, with visitors from all over Europe.
To give you all (including Polaris, if this gets to be seen by them]) a perspective of the size of the event.
The picture shows the music & entertainment venue, (again all free, during the festival,) attached to the show ground. This fills out every night, of the show, with the visitors watching various bands.
It gives an impression of just how big this event is.

But then Polaris Britain couldn't be bothered to make the effort, last year.
Perhaps Polaris' US HQ will put a big boot up someone's back side, next time and get something done about it.

The run through Killarney was spectacular.
It just gets bigger each year.

Arriving, successfully, back at the place where we started.

It was hard work for me but well worth the effort. Everyone had been great looking after me, as I rode and I was just so pleased to have completed it. Elaine had gone into town and had taken some of the photos that I've posted.

Next job.....
Time for some more beer.

Everyone was pleased to have taken part and we all had memories to talk about.
After that we went off into town, with some of the others to experience some of the great hospitality of the local people. You would be unable to walk into a pub without someone starting up a chat and giving you their life story.

I had previously visited this pub, some years ago now. The evening that I had been in a, well known, English drummer had decided to sit in and help out the local teenage band, as their normal drummer had gone off on holiday, to Ibiza, for a couple of weeks.
The drummer had been living in Killarney, before moving on to a new home in South Africa and one of the people that I gone to the pub with knew him, quite well.
I was very doubtful that this particular drummer was actually going to be playing a venue like this, but thought... I've got nothing to loose by going to watch. (The tables in front of the stage, in this picture, weren't there, at this time).
Just before the band came on I nipped of the bathroom and they started playing.
WOW..... It sounded just like him, but NO.... it couldn't be.
When I returned to the bar' I thought. "Well maybe it is him", but you couldn't really tell.

So Who Was It???
Just hold on a while and you'll find out.

As he continued playing (no vocals at all). The drumming was just amazing and on the last number, someone picked up a Bar Stool and offered it up for him to play on. Well yes, he got one stunning tune out of it!!! Yes a tune, not a rhythm.
So the gig was now over and he came straight off stage and over to my mate & I at the bar.......

His first comment (in a very deep, gruff voice) was......
"I 'ate playing fu€k!*g furniture!"

It was Ginger Baker. Yes the very same man had been hiding all night under his hat and not making a big show of the fact he was the stand in, for that night.
For any of you under 45. Ginger Baker was the drummer in Cream.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cream_(band) - Simply one of the best bands ever.
We had a great evening and it turns out he used to know my dad, when he was younger, and recalled him riding through a shop window, when on a (with a fixed wheel) bicycle.
A great evening was had by all and none of could stand properly, at the end of the evening.

Well that was many years ago now and we ended up in the same state on this trip without any help from Mr Baker.
Time for bed.

it's Sunday!

Time to get up and get everyone together for the ride, through Killarney.
We had agreed to meet outside the Gleneagle hotel that was located at the centre of the show at 09:45 for a 10:00 departure. (Wow yes! Everyone turned up promptly).

Spot on 10:00 hrs. we joined in with the main group and headed off for the ride, through town.

The SlingShot was at the head of our section, with both Indians and Victorys following.

The parade is extremely well attended and the town is full to bursting with motorcycles and people, having a great time.

All sorts of people and vehicles turn up.

Even the occasional Can-Am was there.

But.......
Guess what got all of the attention?

As, I'd previously mentioned, the riders were keeping an eye out for me (to make sure I was OK) and had arranged for a nurse to ride along side.
It looks like I did all right, as the SlingShot moved over and let me through the main street in front.