Isle Of Man

Discussion in 'Anything Goes' started by duccmann, May 28, 2019.

  1. duccmann

    duccmann Member

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    Trying to transfer a text video of the line of bike waiting for the ferry for the Isle If Man
    Can’t figure it out on my phone.
    Oh well, hope it’s on one of the stations I get
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2019
  2. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    Looks familiar.

    Indeed I will be joining that queue later today.. !

    Sadly the forecast is for a fair bit of rain over the coming week or so, meaning timetables of TV coverage during practice and race week may be altered to take advantage of any breaks in the rain.

    Even though the course was dry, the first practice session had to be abandoned due to very low cloud on the mountain section - meaning the emergency helicopter cover could not be provided. Looking at the forecast I suspect a lot of the standby dates/slots are going to be needed.


    SkiMad
     
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  3. ManxVFR

    ManxVFR New Member

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    Yes very wet and very busy over here already - managed to get out and watch some of the practises last night as it was dry but very windy, particularly up on the mountain.

    Got a feeling it’s going to be a very stop/start TT this year with the weather forecast - but then again our little island is known for having four seasons in one day and especially at TT !!

    Safe travels gents
     
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  4. fink

    fink Member

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    If you are heading from Liverpool,there have been several reports of the scooter scrotes lobbing unattended lids into the docks. Keep an eye on your kit and for scrotes.
     
  5. duccmann

    duccmann Member

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    Scooter scrotes?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  6. VFR4Lee

    VFR4Lee Member

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  7. duccmann

    duccmann Member

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    Yah dah,should of just googled it right?
    Thanks


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
  8. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    No scrotes around when I was on the crossing - perhaps they noticed the large contingent of motorbike riding police also in the queue and decided to cause mischief someplace else.

    Suffice to say the weather has not been good. No practice or qualifying sessions today - but sadly two serious accidents involving riders closed the mountain road for much of the day. Wet patches and brave riders can end badly, hopefully its just damaged machinery. Looks like the TT race timetable will be quite compressed this year rather than spread over a week

    I see my country flag has changed for the duration of my stay on the island.

    SkiMad
     
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  9. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    Bad weather means no racing today. Evening qualifying looks very unlikely as I have just done a lap and its windy and thick fog at the top of the mountain which does not look like it will be clearing any time soon. At least the vfr brakes were working well - discs were too hot to touch at the end of a lap. Hopefully it will be dry enough to dump the waterproofs!
     
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  10. VFR4Lee

    VFR4Lee Member

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    It seems the course in more than dangerous enough without rain or fog.
    Gotta take what Mother Nature dishes out.
     
  11. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    more of the same today. qualification rolls back to sunday Pm. Sadly more rain likely for the mad sunday trip around the course. Fortunately I had a clear lap at 6am so very pleased to hit 125 mph climbing up the mountain section. After breakfast I met up with manxandy but the road up the mountain was much more busy with racers mixing in for some informal practice carving a swathe through the traffic.

    Shortly after we dropped down to Creg ny Bar the road closed as another rider came off on the mountain. thankfully it seems that all riders injured so far have since been discharged from hospital, and will probably be back next year.. its addictive this thing.
     
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  12. Thumbs

    Thumbs Member

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    You haven’t seen what the Irish racers normally race on ...this is unusually dry

     
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  13. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    On Saturday I met up with Manx VFR and as the course was closed (another rider incident) we chose went for a somewhat damp ride down to the Castletown motorbike museum - which was understandably full to overflowing. The place is a true shrine to motorbiking with some stunning VFRs and RVFs in pristine condition and sure enough with no racing to watch hundreds of riders had descended on the place. Definitely worth a second visit when it is not quite so rammed.


    Mad Sunday (yesterday) was very wet to start and the official Mad Sunday charity ride was called off as conditions on the mountain were atrocious but that did not stop the diehards, who mostly got around in one piece, although a couple were regretting their choice and ended up briefly closing the mountain road whilst the pieces were swept up.

    So it was not until 3pm that a very brief racing/qualification sessions got underway - the loudest by far was a triumph engine side car - which was smoking gloriously as it screamed past - I am not sure it made the entire lap - but wow they reminded me of the noise of phantom jet engines on full reheat, and you could smell the burnt oil/petrol mix 5 minutes after they had vanished from sight.

    There was a combined session with superbikes, super-sport, and super stock bikes (so every variant from 600cc up out on the course together for up to 4 laps). Inevitably after the second lap they were spread all over the course, and pretty challenging to figure out who was leading without the excellent Manx Radio commentary. That mixed session proved that on this course a well ridden 600 can give a litre bike a very close chase.

    At the end the TT Zero bikes got out for a couple of laps with one delivering an average speed of almost 115mph (so only 15 mph behind the petrol superbikes) with virtually no noise - a very weird vision of the future - VFR-Electric.

    The only group who failed to get any track time was the lightweight class bikes - so they are likely to be given a practice session on Monday - which brings me to today ..

    Wow - Monday and its finally sunny (ok still very windy) but at least the course is dry so I met up with Andy again intent on getting a full lap in. Oh No. "Mountain Road Closed" - (presumably another rider incident), so we went for a round the island circuit following the coastal road. Great fun, great views but oh so windy - interesting to be hit by a gust of wind whilst already tipped over making a sharp left at speed - it stayed up just fine but for a moment took a bit of wrestling. Oh did I mention drain covers - the island is littered with cast iron drain covers complete with a strange wavy metal top surface meaning the bike gets very nervous even when going straight ahead, and if you are tipped in to make a turn when you encounter one, they make for a serious moment. Note to self avoid drain covers.

    Anyway if the weather forecast is right we should finally get a full day racing with three TT race categories take place today. Tomorrow looks like another awful day, and much the same forecast for the rest of the TT week although there could be a short spell of better weather forecast for Wednesday, so the course director may concentrate all the remaining races then.
     

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  14. weevee

    weevee New Member

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    I was camping at Ballamoar (..behind the Raven pub) at the Classic TT last year on my VFR, and it rained most days. However, during the Classic the racing can be seen as secondary to the 'festival' so there's always something to do or something to see. The gathering at Jurby, on the last Sunday of the festival, is a highlight - as are all the rare and classic bikes that are parked-up all over the island. The thirtieth anniversary of the RC30 was being celebrated too, so they featured prominently - which was a bonus. All-in-all, it was a great two weeks.

    I'm booked to do the same again this year, so I'm hoping the rotten weather you're currently having ushers in a long, hot period of 'drought' in August. (..although I'm not holding my breath!) Interestingly, I learned last year I could have mailed my tent to Ballamour ahead of time to save me loading-up the bike, and this gives me the option this year of using the RC instead of the VFR800. Hmm! It would certainly be fun! (..although I'm fearing having to jam the thing into the melee of bikes on the ferry crossing! It's maybe not worth the risk.)

    Steve

    [​IMG]
     
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  15. skimad4x4

    skimad4x4 "Official" VFRWorld Greeter

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    What melee of bikes do you refer to? I am sure they could have added a few more - the problem is all those people standing in between the bikes. perhaps they need a valet parking system :)

    Have fun in August - like you say there is plenty of alternative things to do when the racing is delayed - the problem is petrolheads tend to all get the same idea at the same time.. If you have not visited the Jurby Motor Museum - put that on your must see list - it is enormous and so worthwhile visiting.

    Sadly since my last post one very experienced rider in the Superbike TT lost their life today on the run up to Union Mills, and one other ended up in hospital with a leg injury. RIP Daley Mathison.

    SkiMad
     

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  16. Keager

    Keager Member

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    I'll take that 400, please...
     
  17. Diving Pete

    Diving Pete Member

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    I think you will find Weevee is talking about his RC30 - the expensive 750 version !!
     
  18. ManxVFR

    ManxVFR New Member

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    Was great meeting up with you again John, such a shame that the weather wasn’t kind to you and all the TT goers this year, looking like a slight improvement towards the end of the week but could be too late by then.

    Safe travels home

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG][​IMG][​IMG]
     
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  19. scottbott

    scottbott Member

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    just bought a book yesterday called 'Honda V4, the complete 4 stroke story' by Greg Pullen got some nice photo's of the above bikes and nice photo's of RC45's in Endurance racing colours that I had not seen before, should be a good read whenever I can get around to reading it properly, I wanted to buy 'V Force' buy Julian Ryder but it is £35 second hand so will keep an eye out for a cheaper copy somewhere
     
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  20. fink

    fink Member

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    Cracking book. Wish I had not lent mine to someone.
     
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