So I couldn't use the Quickstart example you suggested due to me using a strip board built arduino running at 3.3v. It has no PC serial connection. I've been using my Uno to load the sketches and then transferring the chip to the strip board. I know this isn't the best idea but I won't to run this device on a karts steering wheel and didn't want to waist my Uno.
I've taken some photo's of my setup to give you an idea.
I'm going to try a different sketch to see if its my programming that's at fault.
And no there are no other SPI devices hooked up.
I thought about using an EEPROM for storage but I wanted this for 24 hour kart races and we can get over a thousand laps recorded during this time so recording them as a .CSV file for easy transfer to excel seemed a better choice.