Isle of Man TT TV coverage schedule.

[Graham Orm]

It's my desk top background for the next 2 weeks!

 

[Eric The Viking]

See you, raise you

 

[Graham Orm]

I'm sorry you need real chips for this game, not pretend ones! ;-)

 

[Eric The Viking]

Visiting the IoM for TT week has been a long held ambition, although I doubt I'll ever make it.

Similarly with Monaco, although the course I'd actually want to drive, if I could only choose one, would either be Spa or the Nürburgring*.

Obviously, the mountain course on the bike...

Sweet, sweet dreams

E.

*The Nordschleife, obviously, as long as I'm dreaming!

 

[Graham Orm]

Visiting the IoM for TT week has been a long held ambition, although I doubt I'll ever make it.

Similarly with Monaco, although the course I'd actually want to drive, if I could only choose one, would either be Spa or the Nürburgring*.

Obviously, the mountain course on the bike...

Sweet, sweet dreams

E.

*The Nordschleife, obviously, as long as I'm dreaming!

It's my wife's 50th this year and we desperately wanted to go, she's bike nuts! (I think it's a leather thing). We simply couldn't find affordable accommodation. I wanted to take the caravan but she wanted a hotel!! We'll do it one day.

 

[CHJ]

Long-long time since I went to the actual TT, 1957 Golden Jubilee Year, Bob McIntyre & John Surtees doing battle and the first official acceptance of a 100mph lap.
Spent the bulk of the race at Creg-Ny-Baa then walked back to Douglas via the fields during the latter stages to see other points of the course and post race celebrations.

How on earth they reach 132+ average these days is beyond me, my faired Norton Dominator was enough of a handful for me on open roads let alone those narrow village streets.

 

[Graham Orm]

Long-long time since I went to the actual TT, 1957 Golden Jubilee Year, Bob McIntyre & John Surtees doing battle and the first official acceptance of a 100mph lap.
Spent the bulk of the race at Creg-Ny-Baa then walked back to Douglas via the fields during the latter stages to see other points of the course and post race celebrations.

How on earth they reach 132+ average these days is beyond me, my faired Norton Dominator was enough of a handful for me on open roads let alone those narrow village streets.

It's bonkers isn't it? Bruce Anstey is riding a Honda RC213V-S. It's the road legal version of the MotoGP bike. Should be good for bumping up the lap record a bit!

I've never been Chas but will go one day for sure.

 

[CHJ]

That trip was down to my Father who wanted to go for the Jubilee year, he was a tester for Norton in the 1930's when production bikes were taken up the Stratford rd. in B'ham to check them out and worked on the preparation of the racing machines for Jimmie Guthrie and co.

Really sad that the UK motorcycle industry went down the tubes, their own fault no doubt for not moving forward quick enough and ending up in the pockets of the asset strippers.
It was a great era when you could walk into the service desk at the main production unit and they would go down to the production shop and get you a spare or select a set of piston rings to suit your pistons.

 

[Graham Orm]

A great tale about your dad. Must have been special times.
That's still the case to a degree Chas. Nearly 40 years (EDITED I'm older than I care to remember sometimes) ago I was involved in racing for 6 years. We ran Yamaha TZ's (2 strokes). I would travel over to Padgett's at Batley and take the cylinder with me. Clive would bring out a box of pistons for me to try with feeler's. Although today's four strokes don't get stripped anywhere near as often as the old 2 strokes or the four strokes before them, I imagine matching pistons and cylinders still goes on.

 

[Graham Orm]

We used to get 250 miles out of a piston and 500 out of a crank.

 

[Eric The Viking]

We used to get 250 miles out of a piston and 500 out of a crank.

Flippin' 'eck.

Wish I'd seen Padgett's in those days

To change the subject, just for a sec: Watched the Monaco highlights on C4, well done Lewis!

 

[CHJ]

A couple of (poor quality) snaps I took from the stands at Creg-Ny-Baa in 1957.

I only ever got to ride a Norton 40M on trial, (one of my work mates raced one, John Evans from Worcester ) he tried to get me involved but I was committed to buying my first house so had no money, nothing to do with being chicken honest.
He taught me how to rewind Motor armatures and field coils which he did to help with his spares costs, made me popular with the burnt out Black and Decker brigade for a while.

 

[Graham Orm]

Great memories eh Chas? I have lots of photo's. They look so dated compared with today's missiles don't they? Just as much commitment and effort gone into the preparation and race though eh?
I raced for a season at club level, then worked as mechanic for this lad for 5 years. The last two of which were at International level taking in one GP in 1982. His name is David Shearer, we're still best pals. The picture is at the bottom of the Mountain at Cadwell, behind him is Clive Horton, not sure about the other 2.

Here's another. Not sure where this was taken.

We had full sponsorship for Daves last season from a Yorkshire Honda dealer. He gave us a big Merc transporter and a 250 Yamaha and a 125 Sanvanero. It was the Sanvanero that Dave got the wild card ride on in the GP.
Possibly the best years of my life.

 

[Graham Orm]

We used to get 250 miles out of a piston and 500 out of a crank.

Flippin' 'eck.

Wish I'd seen Padgett's in those days

To change the subject, just for a sec: Watched the Monaco highlights on C4, well done Lewis!

I try, and try, and try Eric.....but I just can't get excited about F1. We have such a good representation, but it still seems boring some how.

 

[Flynnwood]

It's my wife's 50th this year and we desperately wanted to go, she's bike nuts! (I think it's a leather thing). We simply couldn't find affordable accommodation. I wanted to take the caravan but she wanted a hotel!! We'll do it one day.

Check accommodation prices for the Manx GP - possibly much more affordable.

http://www.manxgrandprix.org/MGP/2016-R ... e-Schedule

Flynnwood - remembering being inside the qualifying time on a 750cc Honda, on open roads. A long time ago.

 

[Graham Orm]

It's my wife's 50th this year and we desperately wanted to go, she's bike nuts! (I think it's a leather thing). We simply couldn't find affordable accommodation. I wanted to take the caravan but she wanted a hotel!! We'll do it one day.

Check accommodation prices for the Manx GP - possibly much more affordable.

http://www.manxgrandprix.org/MGP/2016-R ... e-Schedule

Flynnwood - remembering being inside the qualifying time on a 750cc Honda, on open roads. A long time ago.

Thanks, we're off to Barcelona to stay with friends for a week instead. maybe next year!

remembering being inside the qualifying time on a 750cc Honda, on open roads

That's bonkers. I was invited to go and work for a guy called John Hesslewood one year but couldn't go because of commitments here. Regretted it ever since.

 

[Graham Orm]

 

[Eric The Viking]

View attachment 13331011

:roll:

McGuinness, Anstey, Dunlop, Martin (who?) -- it's not wrong to enjoy both, surely? Quite different skillsets though (nowadays - Hailwood proved it wasn't always thus).

John McGuinness's 2015 record is almost 133mph average speed (over 22 miles), which is truly awe-inspiring. The best car lap time for the Mountain course is almost three minutes slower, and I seriously doubt any modern-era F1 car could even attempt it, because of the road surfaces and bumps - they're too low to the ground.

E.

 

[sunnybob]

I sold my record collection before moving to Cyprus, but I had a Sound Stories 10 inch 33 1/3rd LP of the 1958 TT races.
To hear those manx nortons growling down the road, and the scream of mike hailwoods MV augusta was magic stuff.
Tried to get there all through the 60's, but on an apprentice wage and living in London, that was the other end of the world to me.
(yes, I was labelled as a rocker in those days)

 

[Graham Orm]

View attachment 13331011

:roll:

McGuinness, Anstey, Dunlop, Martin (who?) -- it's not wrong to enjoy both, surely? Quite different skillsets though (nowadays - Hailwood proved it wasn't always thus).

John McGuinness's 2015 record is almost 133mph average speed (over 22 miles), which is truly awe-inspiring. The best car lap time for the Mountain course is almost three minutes slower, and I seriously doubt any modern-era F1 car could even attempt it, because of the road surfaces and bumps - they're too low to the ground.

E.

Enjoy both by all means Eric, having been an avid bike race fan all my life I find the cars very sedate.