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Lars1974
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 04:18 am: |
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Hi all, this year I had the chance again to visit the Isle of Man and watch some of the TT Races - here is a short report: together with three of my colleagues we did leaving our office on Friday just after lunch to head to Liverpool - the tools for this trip were: 3x Repsol Blades and 1x Crosstourer after a little de-tour through Chester (why?) we made the ferry just in time and headed for Douglas - nice calm evening Saturday saw us watching the racing at Milntown corner - always a great spot - here are some of the shots i took after the Superbike race we headed on the very bumpy back roads to get to Ballaugh bridge to get some of the sidecar action... after that we went to the grandstand just in time to get a look of the electric bikes being checked by the engineers...here is the Mugen Honda The King of the Mountain John McGuiness won his 18th Race in style and we were celebrating with him....very long night and sore heads the next morning Sunday started with a late breakfast at midday! followed by watching some of the MotoGP before finally at 3pm we were ready to hit the bikes and explore the island a bit. Jay had not been over so we showed him round the sight....sout, north, Peel and of course back over the mountain course on Mad Sunday - Blades feel very fast up there.... btw: Crosstourer is very nice...i you have not ridden one -try!!! V4 power at its best - IMHO Monday we got up early and did a lap of the course again.... nice sunshine up on the mountain saw us stopping at posing again for pics than we head back to Douglas and the delayed schedule meant we could go and spend time in the pits... finally the old bill caught the right guy - lol We watched the Supersport race down Bray Hill (Brian - Thanks again for your kind hospitality)...what a great place to watch and famous people are there too.... racing does not get much closer than this... at Hillberry corner Luis was finally defeated and just fell asleep...so Jay claimed a well earned victory the Superstock race we watched around the 9th milestone...a great viewing point as well.... and Luis given 100% as always... sadly Tuesday morning came too fast and we had to get back...the last pic - "Luis - the friends behind us are getting too close - lets get out of here!!!" anyway, i just thought i share these with you...there are more pics on this album link here: http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd21/LarsG1974/ Facebook/TT%202012%20%20Isle%20of%20Man%20with%20A lex%20Jay%20%20Luis/ same again next year...??? thanks Lars |
Brumbear
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 07:36 am: |
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Lars Thank very much for sharing that adventure I have always loved the TT race !!!!!! |
Whistler
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 07:47 am: |
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Very very cool. Definitely on my bucket list. Thanks for the photos. |
Mr_grumpy
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 08:08 am: |
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Nice one Lars. Good to see Jackie Stewart's still out & about. |
Hybridmomentspass
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 08:14 am: |
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very cool man, I really want to make it there one day. by the way, the bike situation must be a hassle "hey youre on my bike!" "no, this is mine, yours is that one" "thats not his, this one is mine" |
U4euh
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 09:05 am: |
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Very nice Lars! For those of us who will never make it that was cool! Question: Is that the 1200 CrossTourer or the 800? Been looking at the 800 but the 1200 might be more realistic in the long run. How did it handle the curves? |
Lars1974
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 09:17 am: |
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its the new 1200 Crosstourer and V4 power is very nice... its quick too...we had to open the blades up a bit to keep with it...(and we had to stop for fuel alot earlier!!!) |
Davegess
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 10:05 am: |
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All I can say is GO! It is less expensive than you think. Tell the wife the kids can't go to Disneyworld your going to the IOM! |
Mr_grumpy
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 01:28 pm: |
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What Dave said. It's like a pilgrimage, one of those things that you need to do in your lifetime. I won't tell you it's cheap, but as Dave notes it's not as expensive as you might think. However you need to be planning well in advance, because it's an island, ferry bookings go very quickly for that period as do accommodations. Many islanders go away when the TT is on & rent out their houses, cheapest is still camping though. Make sure you have enough insurance cover too as some travel insurances won't cover you for bike accidents abroad. The atmosphere's amazing, the countryside is beautiful & the people are great. The coppers WILL nick you for speeding where it's limited, the fines are harsh & in many cases your bike will be impounded until you leave the island. Safety is taken very seriously & they don't p**s about! Make sure you have good waterproofs too because it will rain, guaranteed. You'll have the time of your life & be able to bore jealous lesser mortals for ever after. |
Davegess
| Posted on Thursday, June 07, 2012 - 02:16 pm: |
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rain, guaranteed Rain? In the British Isle? I don't believe it! Great TT song at the end of this link. http://www.superbikeplanet.com/2012/Jun/120604--TT .htm |
Davegess
| Posted on Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 10:54 pm: |
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A great TT in the books, the Senior race was cancelled because of weather but the twins race went off with Ryan Farguer the winner, McGuiness won 2 and moved within in 6 of Joey's record. Best part was than no racers died. Only one serious injury this year, the safest TT ever. More talk of dropping the 1000cc bikes completely as they have gotten just too fast for the place. Even some of the top riders support this so I suspect it will happen. |
Trojan
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 07:12 am: |
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More talk of dropping the 1000cc bikes completely as they have gotten just too fast for the place I watched an 'on board' video of Cameron Donald on the CBR600 in the second Sueprsport race, and he was hitting in excess of 180mph on the mountain sections, whih is just obscene for a 600cc 'road' bike! I think they will try to restrict the 600 speeds aas well as dropping the 1000's in the near future. It would seem that the Twins race format is the way they want to go for future races. The Manx GP has already one to a mainly classic format from next year and I can see the TT having to do something similar in order to cut outright top speeds soon. Pity they cancelled the Senior race (especially for the Norton crew), but safety first I suppose |
86129squids
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 12:26 pm: |
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That Mugen/Honda is SICK!!! Definitely on the bucket list- big $$$ for this ole redneck from Tennessee though... Anything about the IOM gets me pumped, but the electric racers are really intriguing. Got any more pics of them, or just anything else fancy? Thanks! |
Davegess
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 01:00 pm: |
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The electrics are cool and getting faster. Three riders broke the ton this year and that is a long way to go that fast on a battery! |
86129squids
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 02:15 pm: |
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"Three riders broke the ton this year" Dave- you do mean average lap speed, right? Seems like this was expected, but definitely a great development... |
Davegess
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 03:23 pm: |
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Yes, that is a lap of over 100 mph. It has been coming and we expected but still a nice step for electric bikes. Averaging that for 37 miles over those roads is a big deal. |
86129squids
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 03:53 pm: |
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37 miles, on those roads?!?!
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86129squids
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 03:59 pm: |
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That has GOT to be a strange experience... On a traditional IC bike, the sounds of the motor inform the rider of a whole range of important things- with the quietness of an electric bike, not much more than the final drive noise is there. On all of these racers, they have to run chains for gearing issues, but just imagine a belt drive... WOW. BTW, who were the EV entrants, and who busted the "ton"? |
Lars1974
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 05:15 pm: |
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yes, the electrics were a bit wired...but quick - on Mondays practice lap Michael Rutter clocked 153mph at the Sulby straight... not bad for something that sounds like my wife's hairdryer.. i will did out some more pics...as i took some close ups of the Mugen too... thanks for all the nice comments by the way. Yes TT is always great and at least for me not too far to get to... |
Jcjohnson33
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 06:18 pm: |
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My wife already said we could go its just a matter of saving up the money. And I've already received my email saying the 2013 IOM TT grand stand tics are already on sale. I wanna go!!! |
Pwnzor
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 07:31 pm: |
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Fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing. |
Davegess
| Posted on Monday, June 11, 2012 - 11:20 pm: |
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No need to buy tickets! Most of the best spots to watch are free. Book your ferry spot for you and a bike ASAP. They sell out fast. You can always cancel them later if you can't figure out the rest of the trip. BTW renting a small bike in England is not too expensive. A 600 standard is plenty and far cheaper than trying to get a big bike. |