This is why TT riders are not like ordinary people

bladerunner

bladerunner

Well-known member
Left me pondering what drives (no pun intended) someone to engage in such extremes and put their body through such punishment.

Guess it gives the doctors a challenge and helps medical science come up with new procedures/techniques so that has to be some consolation.

One mans meat..................
 
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dodger413

Member
the isle of man bikes seem to defy the laws of physics the way they lean so far at such speeds. and so often air borne.

the riders ARE insane for risking their bodies at such a breakneck endeavor !
 
The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour

Banned
We rented a Ducati and rode the course at about half of race pace (no more than about 100 mph) two-up, during practice week. It is a great course.

There are no speed limits on the Isle of Man outside of town, but they drive on the wrong side of the road there, so you gotta pay attention.
 
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The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour

Banned
dodger413 said:
the isle of man bikes seem to defy the laws of physics the way they lean so far at such speeds. and so often air borne.
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They actually don't lean over as far as sprint racers do. They're using harder tires that offer less traction than the types of tires that would typically be used in sprint racing. The big bikes are getting two laps (over 75 miles) out of each rear tire. There's no way you could get 75 miles out of a rear tire in sprint racing.

Yes, they do go airborne. One of the best places to watch from, is the Ballaugh Bridge Jump. My wife and I think the best viewing location is across the street from The Raven pub.

the riders ARE insane for risking their bodies at such a breakneck endeavor !
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They're not insane, and they're not dare-devils. The risks are huge, as are the potential consequences, but it is a very carefully calculated risk. Fear effects the riders as much as it would effects any sane person. Some riders throw up before they go out. They'll abort a lap if things aren't going well. Sometimes they decide not to go out at all. In Liam Beckett's interview in the 2014 Isle of Man TT documentary "Road" (narrated by Liam Neeson), he relates a conversation he had with Robert Dunlop, after seeing Robert's knees shaking prior to going out. Robert explained that the reward just barely outweighed the risk.

If you haven't seen the film, you should. It features the Late Joey Dunlop (killed in 2000), Joey's brother, the late Robert Dunlop (killed in 2008), and Robert's two sons, William Dunlop (killed this year) and Michael Dunlop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLI2r8pyla0
 
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patineto

New member
I spend many years chasing Wade Boyd (He is the only Gringo that has race the TT regularly), Ray Roy (Ready for Madmax to baja or Vegas anytime) and the rest of the lunnie tunes from the sunday morning ride in the marin headlands.. (pretty much all of them faster than me)

They also had a club call "Subculture racing" dedicated to racing sidecars, mostly old school (Tubular frames, then new are mostly carbon or square box construction) right chairs with the limited 600cc engines (more than plenty trust me) i had a few laps with some and one girlfriend at sears point, enough to feel confident about it.. (around the same lap times as the unlimited singles)

Well on my first of three visits to the island I end up been the Monkey on my girlfriend outfit, ****, so freaking fast, I'm very used to street, lane splitting and tight curved mountain riding but the TT was just double the speed, I had to confess I lost my handle on a tight turn and end up tumbling on the road (the technology of racing suits, boots, helmets is really advance, we where doing like 150K/170k and i did not get any more scratches or hurt than plenty of landluge crashes at 80k/90k (Hitting something is what kill you)

So far at least in my taste the TT is the most intense motorcycle experience, and YES Totally agree those people are made of something else, 215/220Miles per hour on a semi straight road (That becomes a mogul track at that speed, is totally insane) plus most of them are not Jonny Dunlop (RIP), every year you hear the storyes how the fishing boat of my mate sunk coming from Irland, so the dude is racing on barrow bike with borrow everything... (The spend all their freaking money on those bikes, many of them are just worker bees that save every penny for a nicer set of con rods) I respect that very much..

If you ever had the change go and see GO...!!!, they drink and smoke a little to much for my taste but the whole week is a carnival..
 
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Wildebus

Member
The Grand Tour said:
We rented a Ducati and rode the course at about half of race pace (no more than about 100 mph) two-up, during practice week. It is a great course.

There are no speed limits on the Isle of Man outside of town, but they drive on the wrong side of the road there, so you gotta pay attention.
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Man, that must be scary!! all the bikes on the wrong side of the road!? and the cars (I presume?) are on the right side of the road! I guess you drive on the right side when you visit there?

Ah but the right side of the road IS the wrong side of the road isn't it on the Isle of Man. maybe they DO drive on the right side of the road which is the left side of the road, like they are meant to? and you yanks drive on the wrong side of the side which is the right side of the road.
Just like the WORLD Series Baseball is only in the US and no else cares about it, in some places you forget that the world is not the US and others may drive on the left side of the road which is the right side of the road and when we visit the US, y'all are on the right side of the road which is the wrong side of the road. Right?
 
The Grand Tour

The Grand Tour

Banned
Wildebus said:
Man, that must be scary!! all the bikes on the wrong side of the road!? and the cars (I presume?) are on the right side of the road! I guess you drive on the right side when you visit there?

Ah but the right side of the road IS the wrong side of the road isn't it on the Isle of Man. maybe they DO drive on the right side of the road which is the left side of the road, like they are meant to? and you yanks drive on the wrong side of the side which is the right side of the road.
Just like the WORLD Series Baseball is only in the US and no else cares about it, in some places you forget that the world is not the US and others may drive on the left side of the road which is the right side of the road and when we visit the US, y'all are on the right side of the road which is the wrong side of the road. Right?
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I couldn't give two $#!+$ about stick-and-ball sports.

The UK is an amazing place. We really enjoyed the pub culture.

Riding on the wrong (left) side of the road was no big deal, until we got to an intersection- then, it seemed like quantum physics.

Fortunately, the Manx police closed down the mountain section of the Snaefel Mountain Course to northbound traffic during race week, so that we were able to use both lanes at speed.
 
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