Isle of Man TT races

Register to hide this ad
amazingflapjack said:
They better hope Marquez doesn't show up.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure. They showed the onboard of the 132.298 mph lap record Bruce Anstey set yesterday. I was scared to death in my chair. That was some serious riding, especially when you consider the TT course is pretty unforgiving if you get it wrong.
 
those guys are nuts. a guy in our radio shop in Germany bought and fixed up a Zunndapp with a side car. I rode in the sidecar for about 2 blocks and wanted OUT.
 
Last edited:
I could watch Isle of Man racing for hours.
 
To me, when you say extreme sport, I think of only 2 things. ski jumping and the Isle of Man. These on-bike cameras are outstanding. It is scary to watch, and it's on my bucket list as well.
 
Thanks for the heads-up "LVSteve". I am GLUED to the TV watching these
guys race that course.
They have kehonies bigger than basketballs.
I remember last years races we're dominated by one man.
Dunlop ???


Chuck
 
chud333 said:
Thanks for the heads-up "LVSteve". I am GLUED to the TV watching these
guys race that course.
They have kehonies bigger than basketballs.
I remember last years races we're dominated by one man.
Dunlop ???


Chuck
Click to expand...

Joey Dunlop, a master at that course. Gone too soon.
 
I wished I followed this closer. I watched super cross a little yesterday but the executing guys are long gone like McGrath, Lusk, Carmichael. We watched Carmichael come up thru the little bikes. Age catches up with there guys fast the injuries too.

The GP circuit is awesome.

I watch the On Any Sunday series all the time. My 25 vintage husqvarna dirtbikes were awesome before I became ill.
 
cloud said:
Different type of racing .I think it was Wayne Rainey that said those guys were crazy and he would never run a TT. lol
Click to expand...

You know Honda would never let him do The Isle of Man even if he was interested. They've got a lot of money invested in him & want to have his services for a long time.

Bkreutz said:
Joey Dunlop, a master at that course. Gone too soon.
Click to expand...

Yes! Joey Dunlop, "Yer Man"!
 
cloud said:
Got to see them run at Laguna seca in the late 80's or early 90's they were a support race for the 500's.
Click to expand...

1990, I got to hang out with Alain Michel, a French sidecar racer. Was in his pits for 2 days as an unannounced and undeclared guest. (He was tiny, and I was helping him with carrying wheels and other mundane stuff like that.) It was the greatest weekend of my life in racing. Better than actually racing at Daytona. Better than riding the track with Gardner for a couple laps (Though that was a very close 2nd!)
As the evening wore on after qualifying, the teams were doubling down on their work for the race. In the pit box next to Michel's was the Cagiva team. I got to sit on mamola's bike, got to hustle parts for them from the trailer and back and forth. Lemme tell you; I had no idea an expansion chamber could be SO complex, and so incredibly light. Paper thin, and Ti. The amazing thing was the rear wheel off the Cagiva. I ran Marchesini wheels, and HRC magnesium wheels. Well, my Marchesini was the exact same wheel as Randy's. But his was about 1.5lb lighter. And, his tire itself was about 2lb lighter. In other words..... his tire and wheel combo weighed about what my wheel weighed alone!
Lawson had crashed, brake pads fell out on the front straight. Broken ankle. There was some talk going on in the Marlboro pit box..... some folks were accusing others, and it was pretty ruthless to hear what was said. Hints of Ayrton Senna were tossed about, and it nearly came to fists being tossed about.

Got to hang with Ron Haslam, who was riding for Suzuki. He had BOTH wrists taped and in soft casts. I was just like him a year previous at IOM, and we talked a bit about how dedicated he was to his riding to even attempt Laguna with broken and dislocated wrists.:( He had a LOT of pride as a rider, and it was inspirational to talk with him. He was also a bit of a hero; in the Match races in 1986, he almost won a race with a box stock VFR 750. Against Wayne Rainey, Wayne Gardner, Doug Polen, Kevin Schwantz, and a couple other really fast European riders.... and ALL of them were on works bikes! He was really cool, talking about the ELF Honda experimental race bike. He had a wonderful history and it was awesome to be with him.
About 10:30 PM, long after security had shooed everyone out, and had been bribed to allow several teams to stay..... I got to squeeze into Alain's sidehack seat. And flip the switch, and they hooked up the starter spinner to the back tire. Ignition off, clutch in. Starter motor started. Rear wheel spinning. Dump clutch, open carbs to cycle some fuel in, and throw the ignition switch: BbRAAaPPPPPpppp!!!:eek::D
I got to rev it up and do a plug chop for him, and then needed help to get out of the cockpit; I was simply too big to fit in there, even without leathers and a helmet!!
2am in the back of my truck (Forgot all about making a camp, forgot to put up the tent, forgot food, all of it!!) and took a short nap, then went to the area between turns 4 and 5. Best spot to watch several corners, and get a good feel for who had the really good tire and setup.
Alain won the race, and I have a bunch of mementos from that weekend.

132.2 lap at IOM???!!!:eek: I did around a hundred, and I was scared to death, on a very well built VFR750. I can not even imagine such a pace. (A dislocated wrist did not help me much.)

Yeah; the factory teams will not let the riders go near a fast bike at IOM. Way too risky. It's a shame, but not since Barry Sheene and that era have riders who were top level GP competitors been allowed to run the isle. Amazingly, it WAS a GP track for quite some time.
After Freddie Spencer got hurt in 1986 in the Match Races, works riders have been heavily discouraged or outright banned from riding non GP or WSB races. WSB was more forgiving for a time, but nowadays the investment is a bit too high to allow it for most riders and teams.

I love these threads!!! Time warp for me....:)......:(
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top