Hello all! This is my fist post, thought i might test the waters with this one!
I know it might be a bit early to mention it but i just wondered if anyone was going to the TT this year?
My dad goes every year and now I'm old enough to ride up there and i have my own bike I'm going with him for the first time. Thought i might share that with you all as i am fairly excited already about taking my tiger for a lap of the mountain circuit!
Happy new year!
George
wish i could go. when your there say hi to guy martin for me 8)
I'd like to, but need to look into expenses first really.
If I do look into it e.t.c. I'll PM you on here :)
BigDan i look forwards to hearing from you, camping brings the expenses right down!
aeronca: if i see Guy i will say hello!
George
Quote from: "grafty99"BigDan i look forwards to hearing from you, camping brings the expenses right down!,,,,,,,
Swimming even more so :lol:
OR you could put floats on your bike and turn it into a amphibious jet ski however in standard form i don't think tigers can swim
Me me me :qgreenjumpers the wife booked tickets :icon_scratch so it's a hotel, with a SPA of course :roll:
Meet up called for methinks 8)
+ multiple 2 door classic Rangies, keepin it old school :wink:
Yes i think that might be in order, where abouts are you staying? to have a spa it must be in or around Douglas
I'll check with the Queen of SPA's :lol:
I'm sure that she who must be obeyed will be a fountain of knowledge!
Re last post: i do love the old twin carbed rover v8s
The TT is a must do and certainley one to tick off the list,but don't make the mistake of going year after year,there are plenty of other bike events that can blow the doors of the TT by some margin.
We have friends who live at Braddan,speak to them over christmas you coming this year e'rrrrr no :oops: ,too many other biking things on the go :D
Oh yea,saturday night Douglas prom!!,with years of insider info best viewing either the waterworks or Cronk-y-Voddy,and for other reason you can move when the racing is on.
Rutland Hotel I have been informed :oops:
NW 200 is next on the list. Since I only get back a few weeks a year, until I retire, it has to be spread out.
Noted Chris, thanks. :wink:
Park at the Waterworks and follow the path through the bush's and hey presto!!
(http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h185/wing2541/stiloandlemans265.jpg)
if you haven't already booked your ferry I'd do so ASAP. the tickets go on sale in October and are released the following Feb. The best ferry sailings get snapped up very early.
They will have been sold months ago!!,everyone wants to rock up friday night and leave after the senior(we have only ever managed that once and that was on a plane never mind a ferry!!),I'd keep and eye on internet adds or MCN for cancellations.
We generally go the Thurs before Mad Sunday and leave Sat or Sun after the Senior when it's a bit quieter
Ferry from Troon to Larne to Douglas and back at silly hours of the morning but the Troon leg can't be booked yet :icon_scratch
The Sandbag is flying from Glasgow.
That looks like a crackin spot Chris, secrets out now.
Quote from: "Sin_Tiger"Ferry from Troon to Larne to Douglas and back at silly hours of the morning but the Troon leg can't be booked yet :icon_scratch
The Sandbag is flying from Glasgow.
That looks like a crackin spot Chris, secrets out now.
The joys of knowing someone there,there's a bungalow at Ramsey Hairpin,I remember just parking up and walking through the gate and sitting on the lawn asking our friends WTF is going on,the owner comes round during the day with a collection for Ramsey lifeboat,although I think he's since died.
To get to that wall at the Water Works you'll need to be a mountain goat,so don't get going with all your bike kit :roll:
After the Senior,left Cronk-y-Voddy and drove to Ronaldsway airport and just left our friends car in the carpark,hour and half later we were at home :D
As a comparison visit both ends of the Island get right up on the north end it's as flat as a witches tit and sandy,other end is granite.
Not wanting to put a damper on things,but there's a special kind of biking moron that goes to the TT,they are normally coming round a bend on your side of the road,and hence why I(we) have spent the last 35 years travelling Europe to motorcycle events,the TT is the last place I'd go on a bike,it's dangerous enough in a car :( ,make sure you've got your dancing shoes on so your not creamed by some Wannabee racer,they average between 5/10 punters a year go home in a body bag,info only the locals are previ to.
The risk is slightly reduced in recent years because the mountain stretch is now one-way-only for the whole two weeks whereas it used to be only on Mad Sunday. I too have a friend on the island, just up the hill from Gov'nors where his garden overlooks the road.
I've missed the last couple of years, but - for what it's worth - I NEVER rode the circuit if it was even slightly damp, and only went out for a lap at the crack of sparrows, before the idiots are out of bed. You can save a lot of time by hanging a left at the Crag and going back up the coast road to Ramsey if you're only interested in the main mountain unrestricted bit. I never was tempted to try to keep up with my mates either. The first time I went I was overly concerned about getting in the way of fast guys coming up behind me but eventually I picked up the pace a bit. I'll never match the speed of the looneys, but neither would I want to.
Also FWIW, and in line with the slightly ecletic nature of owning a Triumph Triple in the first place, I'd highly recommend going to the Manx Grand Prix instead of the TT. The crowd is even friendlier than at the TT, there are waaaaay fewer suicidal drunks, and the vintage bikes ..... ahhhhh .... the vintage bikes.
I first went for the Vincent Owners' 50th anniversary on my Rapide (since turned into a deposit on a house - big mistake) and have been back three times. Once for the TT and the rest for the MGP. The club took up the whole ferry that year. About 300 Vincents in the hold. Gives me goosebumps just to remember it.
The IoM is a magical place, even if you don't have the slightest interest in motorcycles, much less racing motorcycles. Take the family. There's nothing like it.
The last time there my wife almost miscarried my now 8 year old son. We spent three days/two nights in the hospital and went to check out and asked for the bill. Bill? What bill? Not to get off on a political drift but the rest of the world does a lot of things better than we do. Sent them a couple of hundred bucks for the nurses' fund.
We're headed back (my son and I) for the MGP this year. I get to introduce him to the staff at the hospital. The same hospital that all my childhood heroes were in at one time or another. "I'd like to request the Hailwood room please" :wink:
If there's one thing that every motorcyclist should do, one premiere bucket list item, it's go to the IoM. Nothing else even comes close, and I've done a lot of it.
Eventually, I'll be there for eternity, in ash form :P
Great tips Chris and I'll likely be riding with a similar restraint, thanks.
That must have been some house to give up a Rapide for :shock:
I'm going to need a bigger bucket by the looks of things :roll:
My informant tells me the Manx GP is in financial trouble due to lack of numbers this year and the folk who run it wanting too much off the Manx goverment to keep it going.
Re the medical thing,have never forgotten coming back on a ferry from Holland many years ago met two American couples,talking about the usual stuff when I explained if they tripped up and broke their leg getting off the boat or in the Uk,just phone for an ambulance and they'll come and pick you up and get you fixed up for free,they were incredulous :shock: ,still makes me smile the look on there faces when my wife and I were telling them.
In actual fact the one couple didn't didn't beleave us :D
Sold a Vinnie towards a house,pheww thats dark room therapy time,the prices still going up and through the roof,but I guess you know that,sorry :oops:
Sometimes we doth complain too much, there is a great deal to be thankful for in the UK.
I feel that pain, left a Mk2 Squariel in storage in the early 70's and went off to sea, nine months later I came back and the storage place was no more :cry:
Quote from: "Chris Canning"My informant tells me the Manx GP is in financial trouble due to lack of numbers this year and the folk who run it wanting too much off the Manx goverment to keep it going.
Then clearly it's up to all of us to pitch in and attend this year to help out!
There are so many other bike related things to do in Europe,Jerez GP,Mugello GP,Monza WSB,Le-Mans 24hours(Motos),Spa Bikers Classic(I've taken bikes there for the last two years),the French have a national Supermoto round in the streets of Alp-d-Huez(ski resort high in alps) and it's free,the list is endless.
I went to the Sachsenring GP the last year of the two strokes. It's neat because it still has that eastern european flavor. Borscht and Skodas. Brno is next for me.
Quote from: "Chris Canning"There are so many other bike related things to .....,the list is endless.
Excellent, you just wrote my retirement plan 8) thanks Chris.
Quote from: "Chris Canning"with years of insider info best viewing either the waterworks or Cronk-y-Voddy,and for other reason you can move when the racing is on.
There are loads of places where you can move during the racing. Some, like Windy Corner have Byways coming up behind them. Just buy the OS map and it's all there. Although, I wouldn't recommend the Windy Corner byway on a Tiger. Maybe an XC but even that will be a struggle.
Have fun and watch out for the lunatics "racing" just after the roads have reopened. Effin dangerous trying to ride backwards around the circuit. I gave up after the third near miss one year and went through the back roads.
Quote from: "blacktiger"Quote from: "Chris Canning"with years of insider info best viewing either the waterworks or Cronk-y-Voddy,and for other reason you can move when the racing is on.
There are loads of places where you can move during the racing. Some, like Windy Corner have Byways coming up behind them. Just buy the OS map and it's all there. Although, I wouldn't recommend the Windy Corner byway on a Tiger. Maybe an XC but even that will be a struggle.
Have fun and watch out for the lunatics "racing" just after the roads have reopened. Effin dangerous trying to ride backwards around the circuit. I gave up after the third near miss one year and went through the back roads.
Like I said, the mountain is one way for the whole 2 weeks now so you can't go against the flow there; the best shortcut is from the Crag across to the coast road and back up to Ramsey if you're just doing banzai mountain runs.
If you take the road from the Sulby hotel crossroads to the Bungalow corner you'll see a byway that takes you down to Douglas via Baldwin. It's a twisty gravelly challenge ideally suited to an XC. I did it on my Blackbird :lol:
We drove in a car from Ramsey towards Braddan,half way back had enough and turn and off,and that was on normal day :(
Quote from: "Bixxer Bob"Quote from: "blacktiger"If you take the road from the Sulby hotel crossroads to the Bungalow corner you'll see a byway that takes you down to Douglas via Baldwin. It's a twisty gravelly challenge ideally suited to an XC. I did it on my Blackbird :lol:
No fords on that one eh?
Hi Ill be at the TT from thursday practice week till thursday race week on the XR1200 & will be at the manx GP in the car with the family 21st aug till 30th aug & cant bloody wait hope to see some of you there.
Malc PM me if you want to meet up
I would love to go this year, but the costs involved scare me! I'd be travelling from Belfast so if there are any Irish / Norn Iron bikers going, let me know. I suspect I have left it too late to book a ferry though. What is the availability of camping places?
I would recommend the Ulster Grand Prix and NW 200, more intimate events, (especially the Ulster....you can literally rock up and stand cm away from the road track). I was at last years debacle of a NW 200. This year has to (apparently) be a success otherwise the future of the event is in doubt, but as it traditionally serves as a warm-up for the riders and teams for the TT I hope it contiues.
We've been for the last 15 years,get there thursday afternoon ride home sunday,but last years weather was the straw that broke the camels back,maybe the Armoy road races or risk it for the Tandragee.
Quote from: "Moorso"I would love to go this year, but the costs involved scare me! I'd be travelling from Belfast so if there are any Irish / Norn Iron bikers going, let me know. I suspect I have left it too late to book a ferry though. What is the availability of camping places?
I would recommend the Ulster Grand Prix and NW 200, more intimate events, (especially the Ulster....you can literally rock up and stand cm away from the road track). I was at last years debacle of a NW 200. This year has to (apparently) be a success otherwise the future of the event is in doubt, but as it traditionally serves as a warm-up for the riders and teams for the TT I hope it contiues.
I accidently saw the Ulster a few years back, just happened to be working in Lisburn for a couple of weeks when it was on. A straw bail here and there, and that was the race track done, bonkers :shock:
I'll be travelling via Larne on the ferries, not too late for the ferry maybe. Accommodation might be another thing unless you are camping.
I wouldn't mind camping at all, but do you have to camp in specific sites, or are people faily relaxed about a tent in the corner of a field?
I simply rocked up to the Douglas football club ground without booking and got a pitch no probs.