RMKD RACING

Cock of the north...Pole...24th/25th July

2011-08-08T14:06:00.000-07:00

The RMKD team were anxious about the debut meeting of their newly finished ER6 Supertwin as they headed to Olivers Mount. A few laps of Cadwell Park 3 weeks earlier had showed its potential but hardly a shakedown and with Ryan Farquhar, Adrian Archibald,Ian Lougher and Ian Pattinson in the line up it was going to be a tough call.

Free practice showed a few flaws in the suspension set up and adjustments were made. Timed qualifying was next up and Dan Frear was on the money...setting pole and dipping under Farquhars lap record. Everything going to plan and more ! unfortunatly whilst leading from the off Dan encountered a slight problem with the throttle and had to retire, the 'problem' which we thought we had cured then occured again in Sundays race and again he retired the ER. A little bit dissapointed but not disheartened by the 'straight out the box' potential.

Dan also rode the RMKD ZXR 398cc and the results were a formality,no one getting within 4 seconds of his lap time and he brought the little Kawasaki home untroubled some 20 seconds ahead of his nearest rival James Cowton on his Honda.

Thundersport is go !.... Cadwell Park 29th/30th May

2011-06-07T14:43:00.000-07:00

This meeting was supposed to be the debut outing for the long awaited Kawasaki 650 supertwin/GP2 machine we have been developing over the winter. A very busy work load has ment our own bike has had to take a back seat and we narrowly missed the deadline.

Having the option of the the reknown zxr 398! or the stock engined er6 Dan Frear opted for the ever competative zxr. With only 5 laps completed of the 20 minutes timed qualifying Dan was happy to take his front row position, only being pipped by the Alan Percival. Race one saw the lead change several times eventually Dan taking 2nd place behind Marty Lennon and his rapid ER650 with Alan Percival 3rd. A slight engine fault in the 2nd race saw Dan pull the little Kawasaki up and retire from the race.

Monday saw the heavans open and the RMKD team opted for the 650 Kawasaki, a good decision as the first race saw Dan take a solid 3rd after a few close calls in the appauling conditions and take a well earned win in the 2nd race after a race long battle with Marty Lennon on a much quicker bike.

Mondays racing is due to be televised on Motors TV 16th June.

Will.i.am the F400 man...... Cadwell 20th March 2011

2011-03-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

Will Leanings RMKD debut couldnt have gone any better, showing maturity beyond his years he lead the first f400 race but slowed on the last lap allowing his elder brother Josh to take the win prefering to start the trophy and points races from grid 3 and the 'better run up coppice'. His plan worked and he won both the remaining races putting in the fastest laps of the day. All three f400 races went to the Leaning brothers,Josh on the RMKD powered zxr400 had a few 'gear selection problems' settled for using his track time as a steady warm up for the NG event in April. Will was trouble free on the RMKD number one bike...ususally ridden by Dan Frear....and made the most of his rapid mount. In fact he even had the now 'usual' mutterings of 'big bore....and 440' banding about...amusingly enough from riders who arnt in the same league talent wise and 'pit crew' who could hardly prepare a spoon for an 'egg and spoon race'.

To all the doubters outhere...fill in the official 'protest form' and bring along £350 and we will gladly remove the cylinder head and let you measure our 398cc rocket...

Highs and lows. Thundersport Cadwell Park 7th/8th August

2010-08-17T14:13:00.000-07:00

Dan Frears return to the RMKD team didnt quite go to plan, after breaking his foot badly whilst competing in the prestigious BSB superstock at Cadwell he could have done with a bit of luck to make his track return.Opting to ride the 750 Kawasaki in view to running it at Scarboroughs Gold cup in September. Not the latest machinery from the Kawasaki factory but certainly not short on bhp and pedigree, he was hoping to raise a few eye brows. With only a 20min qualifying session to get aquainted with the bike,but a flat battery cut that short...in fact 5 laps and a qualifying position of 17th, it was going to be hard work to carve out a result. Undetered Dan was getting more familiar with the bike as the weekend went on. In Sundays last race he was in a podium postion untill his ankle injury plagued him and he had to settle for 5th which was his best result of the weekend, not bad for a 15year old zxr750!

Graham 'Bud' Frear didnt have much luck either,choosing to ride the newly finished GP2 spec zxr4 he was in a similar position to Dan having only 20mins to learn and qualify on the bike, but he pitted after one lap with a 'tight' engine...as we hurriedly aborted plans to use the new bike and run the F400 bike we returned to the paddock to realise we had robbed the battery for the 750. Which gave him just 3 laps to put a qualifier in and a position of 20th on the very competative grid. The luck did turn tho and a best result of 5th and his best time ever on a 400 of 1m37.7 was impressive.

Alex Huchinson with an RMKD powered zxr was also in impressive form in the GP2 class with two wins and two seconds and a best lap of 1m36.4! Undoubtedly the best lap by a zx4 round Cadwell ever ! Alex now has a comfotable lead in the GP2 championship over Alex Heaton.

Sea of green! Cadwell park Auto66 24/10/09

2009-10-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

The leaves may have gone brown and fallen to the ground but it was all green at the Cadwell Bonanza.
RMKD was expertly represented in both the f400 and formula lights classes by (shown from left hand side) Mark Leaning (124), Alwyn Dalton (49), Will Leaning (32), Dan Frear (25), Arran Hopper (87) and Richard Connole (98).
All riding RMKD zxr400s the top six places were almost exclusively owned by these guys all weekend, Dan Frear taking 9 wins from ten starts, and somehow getting on lap record pace despite only having a racing line 2ft wide due to leaves on the track. 16 year old Novice Will Leaning followed suit, screaming through the leaves to take a string of fine 2nd places and even dipping into the hallowed 1m40s bracket. 17 year old rookie Arran Hopper also grabbed a second place. With Alwyn Dalton and Richard Connole both on the podium over the weekend and Mark Leaning making a rare appearance, delivering a superb 4th place there really was a lot to shout about, in fact, the last f400 race resulted in the entire top 5 being made up of RMKD machines, what a way to sign off for 2009.

"Kings Blings" (Derby Phoenix Cadwell 19-20 sept)

2009-09-27T17:07:00.000-07:00

Silverware ahoy for 15 yr old Kingsley Ruddy, 2009 Derby Phoenix F400 champion.
Rarely do you see riders this young with such consistency but Kings has shown the numerous ex champions in this class a display of not only superb pace but extraordinary maturity on track.
The title was already won prior to this, the final round and Kings set out on track complete with winners shirt over his leathers for race one. In a cruel twist of fate the youngster suffered his only crash of the season whilst in a fierce battle at the front, tearing his commemorative vest in the tumble. Race two saw Kings piloting his RMKD ZXR400 on a spectacular charge through the field from dead last to 2nd behind the ever rapid Alan Armour on his trusty Suzuki RGV 250.
Sundays races both saw Kings first over the line but an unfortunate 5 sec penalty in the final race for finding the ultimate line through the chicane put him 2nd on corrected time behind another talented youngster, Josh Leaning (also RMKD ZXR400).
Many congratulations Kings and good luck to a bright future!

Will Power! (Derby Phoenix Cadwell 19-20 sept)

2009-09-27T15:28:00.000-07:00

16 year old Will Leaning wrapped up the Derby Phoenix F400 novice championship in great style last weekend.
With a 95 point cushion at the head of the table Will could have been forgiven for playing it safe at the season finale and scavenging just enough points to make the title his, but no, Will fired his RMKD tuned ZXR400 to 4 class wins, bringing his times down considerably and even scoring an overall 3rd place. Bearing in mind the experience and pace of the competition congratulations really are in order for such a performance.

Lean green winning machine (Auto66 Olivers Mount 19-20 Sept)

2009-09-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

Dan Frear has had it all his own way in the 400 class at Scarborough this year. However, at this meeting there was a high profile new challenger to contend with. TT Winner and current master of the Irish roads Ryan Farquhar had brought his Kawasaki ER6 minitwin across to Olivers Mount. In Ireland the minitwins can be tuned and race alongside the 400s, a class in which Ryan is considered unbeatable.
The scene was set for an epic battle and when the first race got underway Farquhar got away first chased by Dave Bell (Kawasaki ER6) and Dan. Ryan wasted no time in posting up a lap record in the 1m 53s but Dan responded well, passing Dave Bell and chasing Ryan down, Dan passed Ryan and gently eased a gap, smashing his own lap record by 2.1 secs with a 1m 52.8s, Dan calmly pulled away to win by an incredible 14 seconds.
Following the race the knives were fully out for Dan and the RMKD team. An official complaint was lodged, and a request to strip the teams' ZXR 400 was upheld (see seperate story).
The bike was of course found to be legal and was rebuilt ready for battle no2 on Sunday. With a fresh clutch in the bike, Dan powered away from the line into a strong lead and when Ryan Farquhar retired due to an injury sustained in the 600 race, Dan controlled his pace to ease the little 398cc RMKD Kawasaki home to a 10 second win over the stylish Dave Bell.

Paddock rumour merchants finally silenced (Auto66 Oliver's Mount 19-20 sep)

2009-09-21T05:03:00.001-07:00

Ever since RMKD racing have been building ZXR 400 engines there has been the usual paddock mutterings with reference to the bikes' speed and ultimately their legality. We've heard claims ranging from big bore kits to long stroke cranks and even using a 600cc engine.
Following yet another amazing win by Dan Frear at Olivers mount the rumour mill was at full steam and put in an official complaint requesting an engine strip and capacity measurement. Despite feeling unfairly treated as such procedures are generally left until the end of the racing weekend, RMKD Racing agreed for the technical team at Auto 66 to remove, strip, and inspect the engine after Saturday's record breaking race.
The measurements came back at 398cc and all aspects of the engine were found to be legal for F400 competition.
The bike then had to be fully rebuilt by RMKD (with thanks to Joe Hicks and Russ Button) overnight in preparation for Sunday's racing.
The team's hard work to get back on the grid was repayed by Dan with an emphatic victory.

In summary: if you want to go as fast as Dan, you need a RMKD engine. Oh, and bags of talent helps.

Arran feels the power and takes the glory. (Auto66 Cadwell 9/8/09)

2009-08-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

17yr old apprentice engineer Arran Hopper has been showing real promise aboard his standard engined ZXR 400, his performances putting far more experienced riders to shame. The time had come to add some more power to the mix and RMKD duly obliged.
The unveiling of the new combination was at Cadwell Park with Auto 66 on 9th August and Arran didn't disappoint!
The youngster took four whole seconds off his previous best lap time around the technical lincolnshire track and won the opening two races in style. Unfortunately, youthful exhuberance got the better of him in race three where he pushed his braking point a little too much and fell uninjured at park corner leaving 16yr old RMKD ZXR 400 mounted Will leaning to take the victory.

"Ruddy hell that's fast" at cadwell as Kings learns from devastating Dan. (Derby Phoenix 25/7/09)

2009-08-28T19:38:00.000-07:00

Kingsley Ruddy, the 15yr old sensation from Barnsley has been in tremendous form in the Derby Phoenix MCC F400 championship aboard his RMKD Racing ZXR 400. A run of convincing victories against quality opposition such as Paul Ellerker, Alan Percival and Richie Welsh have put him over 100 points clear and well on the way to wrapping up the title.
However, this meeting was always going to be a big test for Kings as Dan Frear (outright cadwell park 400 lap record holder and BSB Superstock 600 front runner) and Dan Hegarty (BSB Superstock 1000 front runner) were set to take to the grid.
Derby Phoenix use a championship position starting system meaning Kings went from pole in race one while Dan Frear was going to have to draw upon all of his talent and experience to catch the young whippersnapper from the back of the grid. Kings showed great maturity to take the win with Dan only 1 sec behind, but ominously over a second a lap faster, Dan Hegarty took an incredible 3rd place on Mark Jordan's KR1S 250, a machine which many would dismiss as being uncompetitive against the well documented straight line speed of the RMKD tuned Kawasakis.
The following three races saw Dan Frear starting from the front row and steaming off into the distance taking wins by 8 secs, 13.5 secs and 12.5 secs taking the fastest lap in each race- all of which were in the 1m37s, the fastest being 1m37.53. Yet another devastating performance from Dan.
Kings came away from Cadwell with his head held high following a string of intelligent second places, extending his championship lead and now clear about the level he needs to (and no doubt will) attain when he moves to national competition in the near future.
Dan Hegarty continued to amaze with his pace on the little KR1S until he finally broke it in the last race but not before he'd issued another stunning 1m39s laptime dicing with Kings.
16yr old Will Leaning continued to make excellent progress aboard his RMKD ZXR 400, taking some strong top ten finishes and extending his lead in the F400 novice championship to 95 points.

'Scarborough Rock' solid performance from dominant Dan. 11/7/09

2009-08-28T05:09:00.000-07:00

Danny Frear had his name written all the way through the 400 class at the Cock 'o' the North meeting at Olivers Mount on 11th July 2009 taking the RMKD Racing ZXR 400 to another 100% performance. Running in a split grid with 125gp machines Dan won the first race by 40 seconds from second placed man Alistair Haworth and even closed down the big name pairing of Ian Lougher and Chris Palmer on their Grand Prix machines, his fastest lap of 1m 55.57s some five seconds quicker than the nearest 400 competitor and two seconds faster than both the battling 125 stars could muster. Race two was another dominant affair as Dan powered home with a 32 second advantage over Haworth and again with the fastest overall lap of the split race.

'Stroll in the park' for 'man of the meeting' Dan...N.G Cadwell 6/7 June

2009-06-15T07:44:00.000-07:00

Dan Frear made it look easy on board the RMKD zxr400 when he blasted his way from 31st on the grid to win by an amazing 12 sec's...breaking the club lap record on all four flying laps.Finally beating it by 1.8 secs at 1m38.4. Race2/the final,again he shot straight to the front and won by 16 sec's...leaving championship leader Chris Beverly with no answer.
Sunday was slightly more difficult as heavy rain fell all day...Dan played it safe and decided a front row was a safer option and again came from 31st through to 2nd,which secured that slot on the grid for the final...which he again won.
Sixteen year old Will Leaning also had a good Sunday 'splash around' taking 4th in the 400 qualifier and 2nd in the final and 2nd in the 400 newcomer.
Graham(bud) Frear encountered a gearbox problem on his cbr600rr after qualifying poll for the 'Phoenix open' final...but with the heavy rain still falling he was loaned 'Will's RMKD zxr400...But only allowed to start at the back of the grid? a 'hopeless task'? with some top national riders in the field ! 'Fearless 'bud' Frear' brought the little Kawasaki home to an amazing 6th place.
Ben Cole now benifitting from a few more 'rmkd horses' had an excellent 4th place in Saturdays 400 qualifier but was denied making the final with an off in the 'streetstocks'...which cut his meeting short with a broken finger. Hope it mends quick!

Kings Kongquers Anglesey...30th/31st May

2009-06-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

Young Kingsley Ruddy on board his RMKD powered zxr400 was in dominant form on his first visit to Anglesey, despite his Friday practice session being cut short due to fog he was soon on the pace in the first race of the day. Leading from the flag Kings dipped under the lap record to take the win...but it was Ritchie Welsh who took the lap record but couldnt match the consistant pace of the youngster and came home second. Race two followed the same format but again the lap record fell to Kings 1m36.26. Sunday morning arrived and the 'Wiley Welsh' had his game plan sorted...and it worked he out witted the 15year old Kings whos tyres were passed there best. A new set of tyres revived the confidence and again he dominated the race from the flag and again reduced his lap record to 1m36.16...He now leads the championship by a massive 75 points, from some very established exF400 champions.

Will Leaning also RMKD mounted had some solid mid pack results to consolidate his f400 novice championship lead. Elder brother Josh...not content to sit and watch on Sunday loaned Wills spare bike and had a best result of 4th despite only having three practice laps.

Well done you younguns...15...16 and 18 respectivly.

ARE MINGI TWINS THE FUTURE?? i hope not!!

2009-05-09T15:06:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me if id have a look at his ER6 (650 Kawasaki twin) to see if i could get a bit more power for the Thundersport GB junior power bike class...Hmmm....im not a mingi twin person really....but it is Kawasaki after all...and i want something 'up my sleeve' if the 400 class declines much more. So... we increased the compression a bit...had a bit of a play with the ports and put in a couple of reprofiled cams,machined the pistons.Then a trip to my good friend...John Warrinton at Malton for him to work his magic on his dyno....and 'hey presto' 84.6 bhp and 49ft/lb of torque. Im not sure what they make as standard?? But he's got a grin from 'ear to ear' so i guess its better?

SWEET AND SOUR..........Cadwell Park 3/4th May

2009-05-08T13:13:00.000-07:00

When Steve Ruddy said pre-season 'if i didnt think we could win it we wouldnt be entering it'...talking of the Derby Pheonix F400 Championship. And with the quality of Welsh,Ellecker,Percival,Armour,Pett ect, all sub 1m40's lads round Cadwell a 'tall order i thought?. But 15yr old school lad Kingsley is going to be the man...or boy to beat. With two good bike's to pick from...and more potential from the bikes and alot more from Kings who would bet against him? Two wins a second and a DNF (due to a faulty wireing block) he now leads the Championship along with injured Paul Ellecker.

Things didnt go as expected for Josh'the jerk'Leaning on the RMKD number 1 bike after getting up to 6th from the back of a full grid more was expected in race2. Riding the bike that has lapped in the 1m37's in the hands of Mike Saunders and more recently Dan Frear who took it to the lap record 1m37.5s...he chucked it 'up the road' at Charlies 2,damaging it quite badly. He did redeem himself in the last f400 race when he brought Rik Connels ex RMKD machine home in second place behind the talented two stroke mounted Freddy Pett. Youger brother Will Leaning had three good results and a personal best in the 1m46s and still leads the novice championship on yet another RMKD zxr400. I must also give Arron Hopper alot of credit for finishing 3rd in the last race...a novice and new to wet weather riding he brought his standard bike home for his first podium.

Rookie Ross RMKD debut dogged with bad luck!...26th April

2009-05-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

Ross Jackman the Kawasaki Newcastle bike mechanic and RMKD race technician took two solid 2nd places in only his 3rd ever meeting and debut on the RMKD zxr400 at Elvington Park...a freak incident denied him his first win,when challenging for the lead two Dogs escaped onto the track and the race was red flagged. On the restart Ross was forced to the back of the grid with a dead engine and push started on the drop of the flag,which he never recovered from. It was only the small bunch of spectators that noticed the dogs and shouted...'eigh up thas two bluddy dogs ont track' we initially thought Peter Hillaby had employed some lower grade 'brolly dollys' to spice up the meeting but they were actually the four legged variety much to our disapointment!

Dan the man at Olivers Mount.....19th April.

2009-04-27T14:15:00.000-07:00

Dan Frear on board the RMKD zxr 398 took two comfortable wins in the f400 at Scarboroughs Olivers Mount. Despite a bad misfire in timed qualifying he set pole,and won by 22 seconds in race one. A new set of plugs suprisingly cured the problem for race two and he took his second win by an amazing 46 seconds and overhauled all the 125's including very experienced Chris Palmer who had set off 20 seconds ahead on his 125 gp Honda on a split grid. With Dan in a class of his own...'mutterings' around the paddock had us using a 'big engine' and an alleged protest had been filed, but nothing became of it. So! You know who you are! PUT UP OR SHUT UP!
Accept it this lad has talent and he's on a pretty good bike.

AUXILIARY FINAL DRIVE OIL SEAL RETAINER

2009-04-26T11:56:00.000-07:00

An absoulte must for any race bike. With any race tuned engine there is increased crankcase pressure that can blow the final drive seal (gearbox output shaft) out,with disasterous results! When/if this happens oil is thrown out ,all over the chain,rear tyre. We had never had this happen in 9 years of racing zxr400's untill 2008. Fortunatly it happened after the chequered flag on the slow down lap and it caught before anything serious happened. Now we use these on all our race engines and reccomend them to all customers as a safety precaution.

2009-04-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Moto SP proprietor John Bird who runs Alex Hutchinson on an RMKD tuned ZXR400 in the thundersport GB junior power bike and is currently leading the championship.

Seen here bragging about the size of his manhood.

2009-04-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

one of many riders for rmkd

ross jackman #117

2009-04-20T13:31:00.000-07:00

Hi and welcome to rmkd's blogspot

At the moment this is under construction but bear with us as time will take its course

2009-04-20T13:24:00.000-07:00