These guys have cojones of steel

[san rensho]

This is just unbelievable. Mass start motorcycle racing on the Isle of Man. My palms are sweating just watching this.

Most-Extreme-Sport

[Topless]

The riders are nuts and the spectators are completely insane! Standing 1 ft from a train of bikes going 180mph and one rider touches a rear wheel... you are done!

[thstone]

Jeez Louise. Incredible.

[RandallNeighbour]

Absolutely crazy. That's not for me.

[Johnny Danger]

It's nice to see that I'm not the only man who goes around in leather !

[lahalte]

Here is another video of the Isle of Man TT race.These guys have something I don't have.A death wish.There has been a lot of fatal accidents in these races through the years.One false move,one moment lack of concentration and that's it.Exciting to whatch though.Isle of Man TT, 200 mph legal street racing. [VIDEO]

[grubinski]

It's the purest motor racing in the world, IMHO. Absolutely amazing to watch.

[Eric G]

I have a number of friends who race in this series and it is fantastic! If you ever wanted to feel more alive, the thrill hitting 190 on the straights and plowing into corners at a buck fifty inches from the ground...this is the way to do it...

[san rensho]

Originally Posted by Eric G

I have a number of friends who race in this series and it is fantastic! If you ever wanted to feel more alive, the thrill hitting 190 on the straights and plowing into corners at a buck fifty inches from the ground...this is the way to do it...

Wow, I tip my hat to your friends. I used to race (badly) in CCS on safe tracks, so I am a bit of a risk taker, but I just could not even consider racing wheel to wheel on real roads where ther is a stone hedgerow or a cliff inches off the road.

Its amazing how they are sliding the rear into corners, going over jumps, bouncing off curbs and still staying up.

[JFP in PA]

While the F1 "solo's" are the fastest, the most fun to watch are the unlimited sidecars which are nearly as fast, but much heavier and with two men up (I had the pleasure of living in the Isle of Man for a while at two different times, and the TT "fortnight" was the closest thing to a national Manx holiday). More people die in the sidecars than the solo’s.

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

While the F1 "solo's" are the fastest, the most fun to watch are the unlimited sidecars which are nearly as fast, but much heavier and with two men up (I had the pleasure of living in the Isle of Man for a while at two different times, and the TT "fortnight" was the closest thing to a national Manx holiday). More people die in the sidecars than the solo’s.

I have followed the Isle races since the early 80's and have always wondered what it would be like to live there outside of the race dates.

[lahalte]

You have to admire the courage and skill of these riders.The limit of balance and speed is quite extraordinary just a few inches from a stone wall.I saw an interview with Valentino F1 racer who was there and he would not consider attempting the race.On track it is much safer at those speeds.Only when you are that much on the edge are you really alive.

[bebeto986]

Greatest show on earth

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by coreseller

I have followed the Isle races since the early 80's and have always wondered what it would be like to live there outside of the race dates.

Kind of a "Currier and Ives" existence, but with better ale. When I first lived there (Castletown), in the winter they turned the street lights off at 8PM because there was no place to go except the pubs (everything closed at 5:30PM), so you had no reason to need lights. Even the police station closed, but all of the “bobbies” had their home phone numbers listed in the book in case you needed one after normal business hours. When a commercial flight was on final approach to the only airport (Ronaldsway) at night, they would turn on the runway lights until the plane’s landing gear touched down, then switch them off again. No sense in wasting electricity………..

It really was an enormously charming life style when the Southern Hundred or TT motorcycle races were not going on. 16X32 mile island with 56-57K population, not counting the sheep. But when the races were on, the population more than doubled, so you can imagine what that was like.

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

Kind of a "Currier and Ives" existence, but with better ale. When I first lived there (Castletown), in the winter they turned the street lights off at 8PM because there was no place to go except the pubs (everything closed at 5:30PM), so you had no reason to need lights. Even the police station closed, but all of the “bobbies” had their home phone numbers listed in the book in case you needed one after normal business hours. When a commercial flight was on final approach to the only airport (Ronaldsway) at night, they would turn on the runway lights until the plane’s landing gear touched down, then switch them off again. No sense in wasting electricity………..

I really was an enormously charming life style when the Southern Hundred or TT motorcycle races were not going on. 16X32 mile island with 56-57K population, not counting the sheep. But when the races were on, the population more than doubled, so you can imagine what that was like.

Wow. That is kind of what I had heard....why would you leave?

[san rensho]

Road racing on real roads is no sport for old men. Joey Dunlop, probably the greatest TT racer, died at 48, racing in Estonia.

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by coreseller

Wow. That is kind of what I had heard....why would you leave?

At the time, I was a "corporate gypsy" following the business money trail (I headed the mergers and acquisitions group for a major NYSE player), but I still go back to visit from time to time..

[lahalte]

The Macau race is also a dangerous event where some riders do not even want to enter.This video gives a feel of the narrow coursemacau12 race2 fin - YouTube

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by san rensho

Road racing on real roads is no sport for old men. Joey Dunlop, probably the greatest TT racer, died at 48, racing in Estonia.

I first met Joey in the early 1980's when he was a "privateer" Ulsterman out of Ballymoney in Northern Ireland (where he ran a pub) and raced on the Isle of Man in the other road race series, the Southern Hundred, which is held on a brutal road course in the southern end of the island. At the time, Joey built and drove his own bikes, and was so strapped for cash that friends used to bring his bikes to the IOM on Irish fishing trawlers because he had no money to buy a transporter. Joey was a short, bow-legged Irishman with a nearly incomprehensible brogue, but a persistent twinkle in his eye and a quick laugh. Joey and his bikes quickly became the dominant racers in the Southern and the TT, and caught the eye of Honda.

Later, he became a “works rider” for Honda, repeatedly wining the TT in record setting times on his infamous “V-for Victory” Hondas, winning a total of 26 times, more than even Mike Hailwood (The King of the Mountain course). Joey became known as “King of the Roads” on the island as well as Europe. Indifferent to personal wealth and scornful of celebrity, Joey was a throwback to another age; he raced simply because he loved it.

Joey was killed doing what he loved on July 2, 2000, at “Pirita-Kose-Kloostrimesta” road circuit near the medieval walled city of Tallin in Estonia. He was given an Irish state funeral attended by 50,000 fans, and broadcast live on national television.

[coreseller]

Originally Posted by JFP in PA

At the time, I was a "corporate gypsy" following the business money trail (I headed the mergers and acquisitions group for a major NYSE player), but I still go back to visit from time to time..

JFP.........You have a Helluva "Life Resume" when it comes to the Race / Car Section....Would love to buy you a beer or ten and hear the stories. Merry Christmas....