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Kieran Barker Racing

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Racing updates and motorcycle related posts here, from a club racer with ambitions to go road racing

From Skipton in Yorkshire, Kieran made the decision to start racing in late 2022, starting as Novice in the 2023 season. Kieran's aspiration is to race on the Isle of Man, initially at the Manx Grand Prix but with the aim of becoming a TT Racer. During 2023 he improved throughout the year, racing a Honda CB500 with numerous clubs and achieved 3rd place in the NGRRC Rookie Championship Open 500 class. He had a great season, building speed and got his Clubman licence before the end of season.
2024 saw Kieran continue with the CB500, this time exclusively with the NGRRC club, where he also raced in the Bandit Cup. He achieved numerous podium finishes and scored 2 race wins on the Bandit at Anglesey, also getting fastest bandit lap of the weekend. He got 3rd in the Open 500 championship and continues to build speed, improving at every circuit on the previous year and improving throughout each weekend. By the end of 2024, Kieran has his National B licence, which allows him to start road racing.
2025 has involved CB500 and Bandit again, although some rounds he was unable to ride both bikes, owing to class clashes. His lap times continue to fall and at present he is 5th in the Bandit / Lightweight naked championship despite this year being a challenge, with bike issues and missing some races. We know it's going to take time, careful preparation and hard work if we are going to get to the Isle of Man eventually, but we have every intention of getting there. Over the coming Winter, we hope to acquire and build a Pre-injection 600cc sports bike, which Kieran aims to move up to for the 2026 season. He'll be rising his CB500 at the road racing circuits and have a sensible introduction to the roads. Kieran will be posting regularly on here and we'll be providing various updates. Next year, Kieran is hoping to ride at Oliver's Mount and Aberdare in order to complete his first ever road races. Join us on the journey, he's determined to get to the Isle of Man and we invite you to come along for the ride!

12/10/2026

Oulton Park 2026

The final round of the season didn't disappoint for us. The goal for the weekend was to secure 3rd in the Pre-injection championship and improve on last year's Bandit 600 lap time, weather permitting. Although the weather played havoc all weekend long, I managed to achieve both of my goals and topped it off by finishing every race I started this season.

Both races this weekend ended with class wins. My first race I managed a lap time of 1:56.879 and the second race was similar although conditions were deteriorating. The second race, I was second pre-injection bike over the line to Dan Nurrish from the Vets class, and was quite happy to just get it to the finish line on what has been a fantastic season. I know there is plenty of time to find at Oulton, but it's quite a technical track and in the three meetings we've attended, I think we've only had one day of solid sunshine. So until next time, I'll be quite content with where I'm at :)
Thanks to all the marshals and staff for another brilliant event.

I thoroughly enjoyed the end of season gathering on the Saturday evening, spending time with some of the awesome people that keep these events going. Thanks to everyone that has helped us this year, in any capacity - but a special thank you goes out to Dad and Chef Graham who have been incredible supporters all year long. I realise how lucky I am to have great people around me and hope we can keep making progress together towards my goal in 2027.

Thanks to
Graham Cruickshank
Mark Smith
Chris and Helen Edwards
Dan Tuplin
Ian Thane
Simon Green
Jim Wilson
Raymond Ottoway
Crispin Gunton
Vanessa Stubbs
Lee Edwards
Janet Laidlaw
Audrey Duxbury

03/10/2026

What a year we have had so far!
I've been really enjoying racing this year and sorry I didn't write a report for Donington last month but briefly, Donington was pretty mixed with weather we had a decent meeting overall, with a 5th, 6th and 2nd place.
My primary thoughts of the weekend and following week, were for Gary Stevens and Paul Livesey, two really great riders and people who we so sadly lost.

Time has flown and we are also getting ready for next weekend - the last race of the year with NGRRC.

I'm presently sat 3rd in the pre injection 600 championship and am hoping to secure that next week but this is racing and anything can happen.

23/07/2026

Oliver’s Mount COTN 2026 meeting

Our return to Oliver’s Mount last weekend came with a 2.7 second improvement over the course of the weekend after a second consecutive meeting with almost perfect weather.

Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend overall, spending time with loads of friends and continuing progress towards my goals. My highlight for the meeting, outside of getting to race here, has to be spending the weekend cheering on Dan Tuplin at his first ever road race. Always a pleasure to be around the Tuplin clan, and I now have no excuses with fitness thanks to Dan’s generosity. It’s not every day you get gifted a quality training bike - the offer was much appreciated and won’t go to waste!

Saturday warm up was instantly close to what I did in June, and in qualifying I got down to a 2:10.823

Lightweight Race 1 didn’t quite go to plan. After qualifying 14th overall, I lost a couple of positions on the approach to turn 1, but was on the inside line. As I came round the corner, the rider in front of me seemed to find neutral and coast to a standstill in front of me. Everyone else went around the outside and I lost all momentum going uphill. Unfortunately there wasn’t really a safe opportunity to overtake with the gap to the bike in front being too large by the end of each straight, but I still enjoyed the experience and felt better through the corners than I did at the June meeting.

Race 2 also went pear shaped from the start. 2 CB500s were involved in a tangle up Sheenes rise, just beyond the first corner but well before the bridge. I had opted for the outside line this time and managed to find myself boxed in again. I somehow got my mudguard trapped under the exhaust of the 400 in front of me, and lost somewhere in the region of 20 seconds straight away.

I carried on trying pick up my lap times, but was a little inconsistent in a couple of areas. I didn’t feel like I had any rhythm over the race, but was happy to get some clear space and more laps in the sun.

Race 3 was definitely my best of the weekend. Although I finished last, I got a new PB of 2:09.569, was within a national signature for the CB race and felt like I was riding well. Everyone seemed to improve massively this weekend and there’s definitely no shame finishing last when everyone here has a national license. I’m looking forward to getting back out, tagging onto people that are quicker than me. There’s definitely lots to learn, and it’s nice to see what others are doing differently to me.

There’s a couple of bits to fix on the CB before it’s back in use after the exhaust now appears to be fully cracked, but we’re already looking ahead to Castle Combe on the pre-injection 600 with NGRRC. Hoping for an improvement on what I did with the bandit last year as I felt comfortable at Pembrey with the CBR600.

Thanks to Andy, Wendy, Brad and all the other staff that ran another successful event. Thanks to the Marshals who were awesome again, and thanks to all our friends who came to say hello. Special thanks also goes to Mark Smith for sorting out his van for us, with a last minute change of vehicles. Great to see Brian, Lee, Bruce, Matt, Oliver, Phil and Dave. It was a nice surprise to see all of you 🙂👍

Best wishes to people that had accidents and hope everyone has speedy recoveries. Thanks to Mark Huckerby for some great photos.

It’s a long wait til Spring Cup ‘27, but fingers crossed we’ll be able to do all Oliver’s Mount rounds next year!

01/07/2026

Pembrey Race Report

It was another good weekend for us. The first time we’ve gone two weekends back to back with racing, having the cbr600 making its third appearance of the year. I was pleased to get 3x 3rd in class with some good racing. It was the first time getting a class podium on this bike which is cool, but I was mainly focused on the improvement to lap times, and gained confidence, feeling what the tyres were doing underneath me.

On the Friday test day, we experimented with King tyres all day. They have a steeper profile than I was used to, and I had a couple of little nervous moments when pushing on a bit and more on a lean. Generally, they felt pretty good and I’d probably be happy to use them on a track day. I just preferred conti race attacks based on previous use.

So switching back to the usual tyres for Saturday and Sunday, I had more confidence and was instantly quicker than last year’s 1:06.4 on the Bandit. Race 1 had my fastest lap of the weekend, following a Supertwin with 1:04.755.

In race 2 I managed to get up to 2nd in class for a while with some clear track in front of me. I managed to consistently match what I was doing on Saturdays race 1, with high 1:04s and low 1:05s being regular without following anyone. On lap 8, I had a bit of a moment out of the seat. I might’ve got a bit greedy on the throttle, or lost a bit of grip momentarily, but I caught it in time to avoid a high side. After that, the two people in front of me on race 1 came back through, but it was an enjoyable race, and good to learn the limits of the tyre.

Race 3, I used the same tyre as race 2 and could feel quite a bit of movement so decided not to push my luck. I tried to stay smooth and still had a good race. It was good experience to use a more worn tyre, but I know when it’s time to get new on now. Race 3 was about a second per lap slower, but overall it was still a good result rounding out an awesome event.

This weekend felt like I made a lot of progress. I started to feel like I was in tune with the bike, and I was closer than I have been to the faster guys. I think I was about 1.5 seconds off the class lap record, which is still quite a way on a short circuit, but I know I’m riding quite well and there’s still skills I need to improve on. This is the bike I want to use next year on a couple more road circuits, and I’m happy with where I am after just 3 meetings on it.

As always I’d like to say a big thanks to NG for putting on the event, all the marshals and staff. It was nice to catch up with our racing buddies that we haven’t seen for nearly 2 months.

A special thanks to Dad for the 11 hours of driving, on top of chief mechanic duties and general tinkering, and chef Graham who’s been brilliant as always. Looking forward to late July with hopes for more of the same 🙂👍

24/06/2026

Oliver's Mount Race Report

Wow. Where to begin?

In the initial plan I wrote after my first couple of track days (end of 2022), it went:
Year 1 - get rid of the bib (✅)
Year 2 - get a national license (✅)
Year 3 - start road racing
Beyond that - get to the Isle of Man.

It’s taken a little while longer to feel ready for roads, but this weekend I finally made it to Oliver’s Mount, and it was better than I could possibly have hoped for. 4 years in and it has definitely been worth the wait!

The weather was perfect all weekend, the paddock was relaxed and super friendly. The bike behaved exactly as it should, and I was comfortable and confident all weekend.

In between using my concentration face, I could not stop smiling all weekend. Just the thought of what I was achieving left me beaming.

From newcomers laps, to warm ups, qualifying and racing, I never got out of shape and had continuous improvement. I even got a bit of proper racing on Sunday afternoon with a few other CB500s.

Thank you to everyone that came to see us this weekend. A few of you have been there since I first started hinting at wanting to race, and it’s always nice to meet old friends and gain some new ones.

Thank you to Andy and Wendy Hayes along with all the marshals and staff in the background for keeping us safe and helping the event run smoothly. It was a pleasure to meet so many of the orange army with our friend Wendy Marshall on Saturday evening. We are very lucky to have passionate people continuing to support this sport, and wouldn't be able to race without them. Thanks to Roddy Taylor for the track walk tips and a big thanks also to Shaun O'Hara for doing a great job as CB500 rider rep.

Finally, I have to say an enormous thank you, to all the people that have helped us get to this point. In increasingly challenging times, we have had an unbelievable amount of support. Whether it’s been time, knowledge or financial help, in any amount, it’s all hugely appreciated. For myself and Dad, it would be exponentially harder for us to achieve this without you all. You know who you are! Thank you very much.

The dream is getting closer, and I have officially completed my first ever road race weekend. 2:12.274 is the target time to improve on, and I will be counting the days until we come back next month.

The next outing is this upcoming weekend on the CBR600 at Pembrey with NG. It will be nice to see a few more familiar faces there, including Chef Graham 🙂

16/06/2026

Sorry we have been quiet for the past couple of weeks... been quite busy and had a couple of challenges!
The motorhome is presently not running so our great friend Mark and Mark At PhilipLund is trying to fix it at the moment. Otherwise we might be in the car and roughing it a bit this weekend!
Bikes wise we have been working on the cb500, added a steering damper and tidied / serviced the bike.
The blue cbr600 is having some bits fitted to make it mode similar to the yellow bike. Quick shifter, quick action throttle, new chain and sprockets, service etc.

17/05/2026

Anglesey Race Report (only 1 week late)

After a weekend of glorious sunshine, with just a slight breeze and a couple of very brief showers on the Friday, I'm happy to report another successful outing on the CBR600 in the pre-injection class.

The weekend started as we joined the rest of the racing clan late on Thursday evening. We spent the test day setting up my blue bike for wet weather in case Anglesey had a change of climate. Anyone that has been knows how unpredictable it can be, and after the improvement in feel we got at Cadwell, it was a no brainer to go to SWB Racing Suspension setup and servicing for a suspension setup. Will Burchell worked his magic and the bike instantly felt much better.

After going out for a session, I came back in for a base setting. This was done to get the front and rear working together effectively. I talked about how the rear felt wrong - like it was getting pushed or had the weight of the bike going through it. I'm not well versed in suspension lingo, but Will's explanation of what was going on with rebound made sense to me, and the next time out, the bike felt awesome. Money well spent, and the time and knowledge given in return is 100% recommended to anyone racing at NG.

After Friday, I knew what I liked about each bike, and I now have an idea going forwards, about what to change to get them similar to each other, as I want.

Saturday’s practice was the first officially timed session, and I was quite a bit slower than I’d been on my Bandit for the past two years. We had a couple of laps before a red flag went out. On the restart from pit lane, a golden era gsxr in blue and white trim, blew up on the back straight, maybe 100m in front of me. Stuart, the newcomer opposite us in the paddock, was directly behind the bike that expired and seemed to catch all the oil before it reached the track. Somehow he managed to stay on his bike, whilst I decided to go back to the paddock and wait for someone else to check if there was oil on track.

For Qualifying I posted 1:19.9, still 1.9 seconds off my best Bandit time, but I was happy with how the bike felt and was sure there was plenty of time for me to still find.

Race 1 was quite lonely as I was a bit between groups, but I was happy with my consistency on lap times. My fastest time of the weekend improved to a 1:18.6, and most laps were around the 1:19 mark.

Sunday provided the highlight of my week race wise. For Race 2, the majority of the time, I was racing myself with clear track ahead. I was aware of having someone pretty close behind me, but I was quite confident on the brakes, so I carried on trying to get quicker. On lap 7/9 I ran wide at Rocket, after missing a gear change on the brakes and getting a little greedy. To my surprise, the bike I could hear was a guy that I’ve watched on Youtube for years! Seeing someone else achieve what I want to do, and then being able to race with them is awesome (albeit in different bike classes). I think circumstances were on my side, but it still gives me belief that I can go on to achieve my targets for road racing in the future. I improved my lap time again by another second, and had a big grin when I got back. The target of beating the Bandit time was ticked off with a race to go, and I still thought I could do more.

Race 3 provided more consistency with the lap times staying close to where I was in Race 2, finishing the weekend with a best lap of 1:17.605. Anglesey has got to be one of my favourite circuits, especially with the weather as it was. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to do this regularly, and as always, must thank all the people that make it possible. Special thanks to Chef Graham for keeping us well fed, and the rest of the gang that make the effort to join us in the paddock. Also, thanks to all the staff, marshals and medics that keep these events going.

We have a list of improvements to make before heading to Pembrey, but you should hear more from us before that with a bit of luck 🙂

25/04/2026

A day in the garage with dad. Yellow bike oil and water changed, pads checked, nut and bolt check completed, bike cleaned, exhaust sorted, baffles removed punctured tyre / wheel removed and checked (wheel needs sorting).

Blue bike partially stripped to change the throttle cables and strip front brakes for reburbishment. Lovely new brake disks arrived today too.

Hoping to finish the blue bike prep in the week as dad is hoping for a weekend off for once :)

20/04/2026

For those not aware, one of my nicknames that has endured for many years is SID (after Sid the Sloth). This inspired me choosing 510 as my race number when i started.
Helen Edwards sent me this tonight.

Thank you Helen!

18/04/2026

Hi all,
Today was my first race day on the new bike, which started with suspension setup with Will Burchell of SWB. Wow, amazing difference and he was really thorough, making sure after each session that he gave advice and made any changes needed.
I started with warmup this morning and steadily improved through the day from 1 minute 53, ending in my first race already matching my best bandit lap and finishing 10th of 16 pre injection bikes.
Im really happy as this is a new style of bike and will take time to get to know.

In bigger news, Chef Graham is back!! Just about to have tea and check the bike before tomorrow.

Thanks all!

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