classic tt / manx gp 2015 [part three]

this post isn't strictly in chronological order, first up, just a coupleof pictures from sulby bridge, the preceding straight is probably one of the fastest parts of the course, [home to the famous speed trap that clocks the outrageous speeds of the racers and the equally famous doctored road-sign that advises speed limit 189mph'] i'm no photographer, my pictures taken on a cheap digital camera, but i hope i have captured how close you actually are to the bikes, what they don't catch is the speed, the noise and the smell of the bikes as they brake at the latest possible moment before tipping into the almost ninety-degree right-left handers and accelerating away. the sight of micheal dunlop on the big f1 suzuki, both wheels locked up, fishtailing into that bend will live with me forever, awesome is a very overused word, it really should be reserved for moments like this......... much more genteel was one of the numerous vintage motorcycling club meet's held during the two week long 'festival of motorcycling' the stirring venue was the site of the ancient manx parliament, tynwald hill, over a thousand years old and still used today, the twelve foot high mound of four circles can be traced back to the norsemen who ruled the isle of man and left their indelible mark upon it. the setting is equally dramatic, the steep, wooded hill, 'slieau whallian' providing a dramatic background. a fantastic display of motorcycles to view, lunch eaten watching the continous stream of visitors and quaffing tea from a cardboard cup, perfect..........

hyper-retard.

like all modern motorcycles the hyper-retard is strangled by prohibitive emmision regulations, the manufacturers struggle to maximise performance, but, there is a trade off because the stupid governments decide that you are having too much fun for your own good, we should all be riding around in enviromentally friendly cars, not having fun on lary, dangerous motorcycles, so, catalyser's, [what's a catalyser? mention the 'c'word to the dog's and they are on a mission to kill furry, feline's] no, what we are talking about is a big, heavy, ugly box of bollock's that keep's your emmisions down to some anonymous, boring, fun-killing, brussels beurocrats idea of control, thank god that we still have a way around this prohibitive legislation. i ordered a leo-vinci cat eliminator as soon as i picked up my bike, swapped it out today, fuck me, the oem item is a big heavy unit! dropped it on the scales and it weighs in at seven kilo's! the l.v. de-cat is a fantastic piece of kit, weighs nothing, lovely welding, fitted up easily, the bike just sounds so much better, still running standard silencers, but, just more responsive, ordered a k+n filter and going to open up the standard air-box too, a rexxer tune and an hour on the dyno and i reckon we are somewhere near, fuck 'em and their law's.....

classic tt / manx gp 2015 [part two]

saturday, first day of racing at the classic tt dawns overcast but dry, the forecast is fair, unlike the rest of the british isles, [it's a bank holiday weekend for fucks sake, what do you expect?] a walk down to the local co-op in port st. mary for a bag of salad, tomatoes, red pepper humous, a selection of very, very smelly cheese's and some whole wheat wraps, stuffed into my day-sack and off to braddan church, tea and cake all day long courtesy of the w.i. just a great place to watch the racing, commentary via manx radio, sitting in the warm sunshine and a wander around the parked bikes during races reveals why i come back here, the tough as fuck goldwing , matt black cutdown, [bobber? bob my arse you seeyouen.T!] it's a cutdown, simple, paired to the bone, just like it should be, not some 'trying-too-hard-mad-max-look-a-likey] the rigid triumph and the hard-as-nails, proper old school gsx suzuki, original, [why did we ever think they were cool, rectangular headlight and chunky rear seat unit] upside downers, three-spoke dymags, mono-shock conversion, just rock-hard, maria costello's 'lil two-stroke, i'm a real sucker for two-strokes, the real sound and smell of road racing, the two kawasaki's, mint, ducati, on the bench, broke and trying to get mended, [what else did you expect?] the amazing 500cc, egli vincent comet, pete boast's 500 honda, oh my, sheer music.........andy molnars, four-valve, manx norton, suzuki, original two-valver endurance endurance racer, non of this bandit engined bollock's going on here, a snip at sixteen thousand big-one's, motosachoce? never, ever seen one before, but, you know what? i like it a lot, panigale, mike hailwood, '78 comeback colours, brilliant, bsa traily and well 'ard suzuki, just the best day ever, loads of mileage, laugh's, nearly running out of fuel, everything that bike's should be about, watching the sun go down over port st.mary, sorted......

if you want blood [you got it]

'false' triumph gone, i'm going to build one of these me, if you want blood, you got it.........

always, all ways, [apologies, glances and messed up chances] goodbye to the 'false' triumph........

as soon as i rode the hyper-retard it was over for the 'false' triumph, i told dangerous, 'that's it, i'll never ride the bonneville again' i've had some good times on the triumph, [just ask the twat on the kawasaki zxr, blah, blah, blah, who tried to race me down the wirksworth road! wonder if he told his mates he got royally dicked by a nob on an 'inckley bonneville, open faced arai and cat boots?' sold to a very nice bloke, last ride on it today to drop it off, really enjoyed it, but, time to move it on, bye, bye, bonny, hello........?

classic tt / manx gp 2015 [part one]

dangerous is the most miserable fucker in the world. he doesn't 'do' mornings, anytime before , oh, let;s see, 1030hrs and you are risking a short, sharp, 'FUCK OFF!' he was absolutely delighted when i informed him we had an 0600hrs start to set off to the classic tt / manx gp. i love it me, i was like a kid on xmas eve, tossing and turning, up at 0400hrs, shave, shower and brew, sitting in the shed, buzzing, ready to go, cleaned my visor three times, checkd the oil twice, at dangerous's for quarter to six, he's as grumpy as fuck, 'i need fuel' for fuck's sake, talk about piss-poor-preparation-prevent's-piss-poor-performance! down to the lion garage, thankfully twenty-four hour, fill up, engines warm now, ten miles out, getting into a rythmn, there's a flashing from behind as we approach ashbourne, i pull over, dangerous pulls in alongside, 'i've left my glasses at the garage youth, i've got to go back' 'you didn't have them on when i got to your's' 'oh, well, i'll have to go back and pick them up then' to say i'm chuffed is an understatement, back to dave's, fuck, fuck, fucking fuck! glasses sorted we retrace our steps, making good progress, bloody hell, summers gone, it's cold, i'm layered up, but by congleton i've had enough, fingers white and cramped, dithering like a bridegroom, i pull into mcdonalds for a coffee, park up, gloves stuffed next to the exhaust, warming my hands in the gent's, the warm air dryer a luxury. onto the motorway, mayhem ensues as we carve through the suprisingly heavy for this time in the morning, bank holiday traffic. into liverpool, aiming for the liver building that marks the entrance to the steam packet ferry, board, coffee and we are underway. a couple of hours pass, i'm hanging on, it's rough! dry land and we join the traffic into douglas, straight up to the grandstand, park up in nobles park, meet up with chalky, a quick walk around the pit's, dave roper is warming up the rare-as-a-virgin-in-ilkeston ajs porcupine, next door the beautiful bimota, a squirt up to creg- ny- baa for evening practice, the two german bikes, a triumph bonneville, long chopper, raked out, leather bagged and not a plaid shirt or beard in sight, the spirit of kent, the flat-tanked, rigid, flat grey, foot- boards, sprung saddled panhead, cool personified, couple of pints, chip butty, thirty mile ride down to the south of the island,  blurry photo of bradda head and a solo ride down into port erin to look at the fishing boats in the harbour, 'night, night...........'