Towbars

Anyone who saw me, Blue Rex and the trailer at any of last year’s trackdays will know I was using Mrs. Blue’s Fiesta to do the towing. This was because I drive an ancient Mondeo ST200 that Ford hadn’t seen fit to get rated for towing, so my local Ford dealer wouldn’t fit a towbar. Note that every other Mondeo was rated, just not the ST200…

Last summer, I was chatting to a neighbour who’d had a nice demountable one fitted to their Ford Galaxy, so I rang the place he’d had it done - Broadland Towbars near Norwich - and they said it could indeed be done*.

So on the 20th, I went to their place for 3½ hours whilst they fitted a rather nice Brink “Brinkmatic Classic 2506” - this involved some cutting of the rear spoiler, but it’s not really noticeable unless you’re looking for it specifically. It’s demountable so when not in use the ball section is stowed away in the boot and means the lines of the car aren’t spoiled. It takes less than a minute to fix and demount the ball section as well. Cost was £310 + VAT fitted.

So this year, I have my car to drive with all the toys and comfort and more space for crap my useful stuff in the boot. Marvellous!

*Apparently, the Mondeo ST220 is straining its clutch as it is, so if you try towing anything it breaks…

Sunday 23rd

Loaded Blue Rex onto the trailer, hitched it up to the Mundane-oh and headed for Castle Combe in Wiltshire with Extreme Towing… Stayed overnight at the Crown at Giddea Hall which was comfortable and not too pricey.

Monday 24th - Castle Combe Trackday

The day started misty and drizzly which is bad, but I was at the circuit early for noise scrutineering. The circuit has a tight noise limit so they check the noise output of your bike. I’d already fitted a decibel killer to the Akrapovic system but had taken along my OEM end can and a specially made adaptor to marry the can up to the Akra headers. Amazingly, I didn’t need it as the bike got through first time.

I decided to finally break out the PVC… Yes, my Respro SLICK Racing Wet Weather Suit actually got some use, over a year after I bought it. I had to get my wardrobe assistant (actually a guy called Ian from the ZRX Owners Club) to help pull it on for me over my leathers which, like all of them. has all sort of padding (and hence ridges) at the shoulders. Couple that with the Respro being tight to start off with and it’s not a job you can easily accomplish by yourself, especially if, like me, you have a shoulder that dislocates itself at the drop of a hat.

I looked like this (click on the thumbnail for an intermediate-sized version): Blue in PVC

As the morning progressed, the track dried out and it was a slightly less cautious Blue who was photographed (again, click on the thumbnails for the intermediate-sized versions):

Knee down and Knee down

If you look closely at the first of those two images, you can make out the video camera.

And here’s some footage:

My onboard footage (camera slightly loose + floppy screen = shaky stuff)

Onboard footage from the guy on the white CBR600 which overtook me

All in all, it was a good day. I did have to leave immediately after the first afternoon session though as Mrs. Blue was working in the evening and I had a coaches’ meeting for our football club to attend. Still, more extreme towing and I was home in a trice.