Isle of Man TT 2012

[Bixxer Bob]

We generally go the Thurs before Mad Sunday and leave Sat or Sun after the Senior when it's a bit quieter

[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.

[Chris Canning]

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.

[Bixxer Bob]

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.

[nicktulloh]

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"  

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

[Sin_Tiger]

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:

[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.

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:

[Sin_Tiger]

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  

[nicktulloh]

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!

[Chris Canning]

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.

[nicktulloh]

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.

[Sin_Tiger]

There are so many other bike related things to .....,the list is endless.

Excellent, you just wrote my retirement plan  8)  thanks Chris.

[blacktiger]

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.

[Bixxer Bob]

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:

[Chris Canning]

We drove in a car from Ramsey towards Braddan,half way back had enough and turn and off,and that was on normal day :(