THE ISLE OF MAN TT RACES (2)

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They used to say that Sunday was a day of rest but here on the Isle of Man there is SO much to see and do...

We have all heard of

"MAD SUNDAY" ?

Today, we have a chance to ride the TT course with a mass of other fans, but we MUST take care not to add ourselves to the statistics either by being clocked by the radar trap at a silly speed or meeting face on, a German rider who has forgotten on which side we lot drive !

GOTT IM HIMMEL- LINKS FAHREN IM INSEL MAN !!

So let us start at the Grandstand--For here we can see bikes with their riders forming up in groups to go round the course as a "Super Rideout"........We latch onto the stream of bikes heading out for the top of Bray Hill, jostling for a good position on the road junction, coming up to the traffic lights---The lights change and this group sets off down over the edge of the world...Even at this speed in this mass of riders the Hill is awesome and as the snake hits the bottom of the hill it continues along over Agos Leap and on to Quarter Bridge where it is joined from the left by yet another band of riders coming up from the outskirts of Douglas...The wonderful feeling of being part of the occasion, now hits home and the adrenaline flows in rivers..We enjoy the tour of the course, seeing the angles of the bends and the lengths of the straights..Some of our group peel off at Parliament Square, Ramsey, to sit and watch others head off up May Hill and up towards the Mountain..The rest of us approach Ramsey Hairpin and try to gun it through here without losing face..No matter how many times people try this bend they can not get the approach right and they drag their machines round dabbing their toes to gauge the angle..Up now and over the Mountain to the Bungalow where some stop again to watch the attempts to take the bend here over the railway lines ...Oh Lor--a rider gets in a tangle, and he and his bike make an expensive noise on the road...He is unhurt but he joins the "beggers" on Douglas prom who have a damaged bike on show and try to raise their insurance excess using the "sympathy factor"...Pay up, it could have been YOU !!
We now go on up past Hailwoods Height to Brandywell, the highest point, and then round Windy Corner to start the plunge back down to almost sea level---Our ears pop as the altitude changes and we pass my favourite spot, Clarks Corner just before Keppel Gate..Now "over the cliff" again to drop down to Creg ny Baa and the superb restaurant outside which, we meet either the Kawasaki Reps or the Honda reps or the Red Bull reps and so on----Generally these reps are some of the riders, or ex-riders from the races so it is good to be able to sit and chat to them over a drop of Okells or a Red Bull or two..Then it's down the Cutting, through Brandish and Hillberry,to Cronk-ny Mona, the Nook and on to the Start and Finish point to see yet another bunch setting out--This goes on all day but it is a great and wonderful experience--SO DO IT !!! Safety in numbers is the best idea but every care must be exercised because while you might be the best rider on the Island, taught by Joey Dunlop (In Your Dreams), there are the others who may not be as good as you.

Let us have a nice fast lap but let us also have a SAFE lap, EH ?

Douglas Motors (1932) constructed this very special machine called the Dynasphere, the brainchild of a Dr J.A.Purves of Taunton---Powered by a Douglas B29 engine it could be steered by moving the drivers seat from left to right--After extensive trials it was proved impractical and subsequently abandoned------From the illustrated history of Douglas Motorcycles by Briarcliffe and Brockway (Haynes Manuals)

---and whos this, retired, up on the mountain ?( use cursor to reveal story )

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BEFORE WE GO ON TO THE NEXT SECTIONIS THIS THE MOST RADICAL BIKETO RACE IN THE ISLE OF MAN T.T.?
( colour photographs are from the Britten Press Pack 1994 )
The BRITTEN MOTORCYCLE COMPANY from New Zealand appeared in the 1994 TT races as a team of three; Nick Jefferies, Robbie Holden and Mark Farmer were the riders--Before 1994 the rider was Shaun Harris who helped in no small way to develope this very special machine--Then the Britten won the 1994 "Battle of the Twins" at Daytona in the hands of another development rider Andrew Stroud--However, the attempt at that years TT was marred by the death of Mark Farmer during practice, the poor weather during the races and the problems with water in the complicated computer system built into the front of the bike--Radical this machine certainly was !! The engine WAS the frame and the radiator was set in a ducted passage under the seat--The engine was so narrow that the widest part of the bike was the rear tyre--a very special front fork was developed as a carbon fibre double wishbone parallelogram which almost mirrored the swinging arm--damping could be controlled by the rider---John Britten made the wheels from carbon fibre as well.... (Total weight of machine only 141 kg !) Engine capacity could be either 1000cc or 1100cc with four or five valve heads on 60 degree V-Twin.. The engine had titanium con rods, computer controlled fuel injection, and pistons from Judd F1 car engines...

HERE ARE SOME PICTURES OF THE BRITTEN(USE YOUR CURSOR TO READ THE UNDERLYING PHOTOINFO)
You can get further details from theBRITTEN WEBSITE NZ
This is the bike with no fairing--The picture tells it all---What a great design---NO FRAME --everything was bolted to the engine

This is the bike with no fairing--The picture tells it all---What a great design---NO FRAME --everything was bolted to the engine

Shaun Harris racing the Britten---just after Ballaugh Bridge

Shauns refulling stop during the TT races

The Britten engine---it could fit in a suitcase !

Nick Jefferies and Mark Farmer at Mallory Park after testing the Daytona Battle of the Twins winning 1100cc Britten---not long before the TT--Nick was most impressed

My sincere thanks to Shaun Harris, Nick Jefferies, Loren Poole, Doug Randall and John Shand who got me involved with this awesome machine and its attempt at the TTI also thank John Britten posthumously for this major contribution to motorcycle racing

RIGHT--ARE WE READY TO PROCEED TO THE NEXT SECTION ?

So the practice week is only a memory and the champagne from Saturday has gone flat--

The Sidecar race was great, watched from the top of Bray Hill in the gateway at St Ninians crossroads..Seeing two outfits trying to get the one and only racing line down the hill, did nothing for my nerves and next time I will watch it from some Hairpin or other........

COMMENTARY BOXAT GLEN HELEN

BOB-THE MARSHALL AT GOVERNORS

Sunday is generally "Party" or "Dinner" night when supporters, marshalls and members of certain clubs get together for a slap-up meal and a chat.

Even late in the evening, the mounted spectators are still circulating the course--it is not every day you get a chance to ride in the tyre prints of your idols.............

WADE BOYD

DOUGLAS DOCKSIDE WITH ALL THE PUBS, CHIPPIES and SOME TASTY RESTAURANTS

The night falls, the lights come on on the prom and the pubs do a roaring trade. The street party goes on into the wee small hours and there is that wonderful feeling of being part of one huge, happy, international family.......Then your stupid mate decides to do a BUNGIE JUMP with a full stomach.(It wasa nice Chinese meal but I did not want to see it again this soon (URGH) !!

MAD SUNDAY IT SURE IS, AND NO MISTAKE----

Here come the PURPLE HELMETS !!!
Then we go on the TT Simulators !!!!
Then we..have a pint or two or three....,
we ********...,
we ***......,
and then we wake up , and it is Monday morning, another race day..

The burning question this morning is whether my friend is conscious, nay, alive, after the night before. He is in the shower--But he has been in the shower since we got back to the residence last night--so that is not a real guide to his present state..

--What WAS in that beer for heavens sake ???

All the same--, it was a fantastic, super night, one of those nights you just cannot remember in the right sequence...Not that you'd want to, but how do you explain the lovebites on your LEFT KNEE ?

LOVE FROM MARGRET LINGEN

STILL REELING FROM THE EFFECTS OF THE BOTTLED NECTAR, WE EXAMINE THE CONTENTS OF OUR POCKETS TO SEE WHAT WE HAVE FOUND DURING OUR DAY OUT ROUND THE COURSE AND OUR NIGHT OUT IN DOUGLAS TOWN---RARE ITEMS INDEED---

A FLYER FROM A NEW INTERNET BIKERS MAGAZINEWHY NOT VISIT THEM WHEN YOU HAVE SEEN ALL OF MY SITEbikersweb cybermag

A ROCK FROM BRANDYWELL

This is a piece of rock (stone, NOT sweet) actually from my favourite part of the Isle of Man--Up at Brandywell...You can see a good distance from here as long it is a clear day----The piece of rock has been scanned but I used Bit Map Image to pretend that someone from time immemorial had painted a man on two wheels at some celebration or other--possibly a fertility rite !!! or maybe not--AH well it was very good beer and that must be my excuse

EVIDENCE THATHOMO TEETEERIDERUS WAS ON THE ISLE OF MAN IN PREHISTORIC TIMES

A PHOTOGRAPH OF A TT WINNER

Nick Jefferies
Photograph by KEITH HANDLEY
(Thanks Keith, nice picture !)

A CIRCULAR BLACK DISCWITH A HOLE IN THE MIDDLE-IS THIS A RECORD ? Come along and see me----riding in the TT races---Easier than hopscotch, beating all the topnotch aces...

Come along and see me----riding in the TT races---Easier than hopscotch, beating all the topnotch aces...

A DEMO-RECORD MADE IN 1966BY BLYTHS ANSWER TO THE BEATLES, NORTHERN GROUP, THE MYSTICS,(managed by me) OF GEORGE FORMBYS "RIDING IN THE T.T.RACES"THIS RECORD WAS APPRAISED AND RECOMMENDED BY NO LESSER MORTAL THAN SIR JIMMY SAVILLE AND PLAYED ON AIR ON A NUMBER OF OCCASIONS ON NATIONAL RADIO

MANX RADIO HAD THEIR OWN COPY, PRESENTED TO THEM BY THE BANDWHERE IS IT NOW ?IS IT TIME TO RE-RELEASE IT ?

A.J.S.

E-mail Ian.Huntly@ttfan.co.uk or Iantt@superbiking.co.uk

Site designed and maintained by BRANDYWELL of BBHMG,READING.(2000)

Photographs from THE VAST COLLECTION.

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TYNE AND WEAR NE21 6RT e-mail enquiries@apptec.demon.co.uk