Austrian GP crash

Barry did race on the iom. 125cc. It was not for him. Lots of people love it. Your choice & no one can call you on it.
 
Hmmm... I wonder if this might be an option for either of the bikes...

Austrian GP crash
 
Nice idea, but wouldn't work in some parts of the world, as some low lying toerag would nick practically the whole of that bike that you'd find a blank spot the next day :(
 
My friend was the CEO at Winton Raceway. He was amused when I told him motorcycle road racing is safe. A lot is in the definition. If the risks are all minimised to a tolerable level, the activity is safe. How would you like to be defusing booby-trapped bombs during the blitz in London ? I have worked in places where you could literally lose your life in a flash. It would be as though you had never been here. To me, road racing is as safe as houses, as long as the risks are minimised. I don't think anybody ever seriously races on the IOM. If you approached the corners with the same mindset you use on a normal circuit, you would probably die very quickly.
 
My friend was the CEO at Winton Raceway. He was amused when I told him motorcycle road racing is safe. A lot is in the definition. If the risks are all minimised to a tolerable level, the activity is safe. How would you like to be defusing booby-trapped bombs during the blitz in London ? I have worked in places where you could literally lose your life in a flash. It would be as though you had never been here. To me, road racing is as safe as houses, as long as the risks are minimised. I don't think anybody ever seriously races on the IOM. If you approached the corners with the same mindset you use on a normal circuit, you would probably die very quickly.


There speaks someone who has never been. Keyboards are safe. Go there before you die, then when you've seen it, please give us all a thorough report about how they're not racing. Or, just see if "MySeeley" is still in your shed ..........
 
Cant reply to this. Watch Hicky racing at the island safely. He says not at 100%. All I can say is they all are!
Anyone who rides on the roads is a hero.
 
There speaks someone who has never been. Keyboards are safe. Go there before you die, then when you've seen it, please give us all a thorough report about how they're not racing. Or, just see if "MySeeley" is still in your shed ..........
Went there, after many years of wanting to go, just to watch, not race, all I can say is there are two types of racers, one who is trying to win, the others who go fast, but at their own pace. Wouldn't want to go there myself, except for a few areas, there isn't any run off places so no safe place to crash.
This was what made me get off the highway onto a racing circuit. I still rode on the highway, but not at racing speeds.
 
My friend was the CEO at Winton Raceway. He was amused when I told him motorcycle road racing is safe. A lot is in the definition. If the risks are all minimised to a tolerable level, the activity is safe. How would you like to be defusing booby-trapped bombs during the blitz in London ? I have worked in places where you could literally lose your life in a flash. It would be as though you had never been here. To me, road racing is as safe as houses, as long as the risks are minimised. I don't think anybody ever seriously races on the IOM. If you approached the corners with the same mindset you use on a normal circuit, you would probably die very quickly.
Hmm. Try watching some Irish roadracing, then decide whether or not these blokes are "seriously racing" or not. Buggers are absolutely mad, but very serious indeed.
 
Ken Blake was one of the better Australian riders, He lasted almost one lap on the IOM, then hit a post. He always rode very aggressively. Guys who saw him during that race said he was trying too hard and riding too fast. When you race on a normal circuit, you see the same corners many times and adjust to suit them. To go fast on the IOM, you would need to go there a lot of times and have an excellent memory. Even then the risks would probably be too great. So you need luck - the odds need to be in your favour.
I have done some dangerous things in my life. The main thing is not to repeat them too often. But with road racing, the more you do, the safer you become. I could race on the IOM, but my first few laps would be very slow.
 
So once again Al stating something without checking facts! And more to the point rubbishing Kenny Blake!

"Lasted almost one lap"

One he died on the fifth lap
Two according to the TT website he competed from 1978.
Coincidentally when he left Australia to compete in Europe.
For f**k sake check your facts
 
I can understand it that someone who doesn't check their facts despite having the WWW at their fingertips, but one or two of us are getting old now and suffering all sorts of problems, some have dementia and cannot remember how many times they have posted the same old, same old. . . . now where was I? :)
 
I can understand it that someone who doesn't check their facts despite having the WWW at their fingertips, but one or two of us are getting old now and suffering all sorts of problems, some have dementia and cannot remember how many times they have posted the same old, same old. . . . now where was I? :)

You were about to tell us about "My Seeley", drum brakes and pudding. Heavy cranks that can't be stopped but self steer whilst upright. Wait, that would be a car wouldn't it ? Now it all makes sense :eek:
 
I don't like to even think about Ken Blake. I would certainly never read the reports about his death. I did read that he rode a Gus Kuhn Norton when he arrived in the UK. But apart from that, I don't want to know. What I know about his ride on the IOM is simply hear-say which I did not want to hear. Every year in Melbourne on about the 6th of June, there is a gathering in memory of Ken Blake. Even though I knew him quite well I have never attended it. I think that when Ken rode for Ron, he was always under a bit of pressure to perform.
Recent happenings in regard to Ken, don't make life any easier. Some people just don't know how to behave.
 
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I would think all pro-riders are under some type of pressure to perform , just like all pro athletes ...... your tune is getting repetitive .... we all choose what we do to make a living..... some perform very well at the edge others not so much .... don’t often hear how dangerous stuff is from those that have done such things though ....
 
I have never had a sponsored race ride in my life, nor would I ever seek one. I have always raced what I can afford - usually what I have built myself. Most guys who win races do not build their own bike, somebody else usually does that. I have won very few races. But for me, racing is mainly about developing the bike. When you build a bike and put a rider on it, you rely on that rider's brain for feedback about what the bike is doing. When I race, I know immediately what is right and what is wrong.
I once got on Bob Brown's 250cc Ducati and could have got a sponsored ride. It was the only time I have ever been scared when riding a motorcycle. Bob brought Kevin Magee through his crash and burn stage.
 
Don't understand you. .. .
If you are afraid of racing a 250 Ducati, of all things- and this was the very first bike I rode on the track- then you are clearly not cut out for racing! If anyone offered me sponsorship- I would have grabbed it with both hands!
 
There is a bike here in Australia which has crashed every rider which has ever got on it. It is a 250cc Moto Parilla production racer. Even the best riders have crashed off it. One second you are all tucked in and going like the wind, the next you are picking yourself up off the ground.
Crashing motorcycles is a disease - if it does not kill you, you get immunity. These days if I crashed, by the time I reached the ground, I would be doing walking speed.
When you accept a sponsored ride, you take it warts and all. Someone such as Herb Becker is probably pretty good. But some guys who sponsor have never ridden themselves, so all is speculation. If you have an inexperiened rider giving you feedback to modify the bike, where are you ?
Bob Brown raced the 250 Ducati himself and crashed . When he had Magee riding for him - everything was development, for himself, Magee and the bike. The bike ended up as a four valve, air cooled, methanol fueled Ducati of about 900cc. It won a lot of races and Magee went international. But Bob Brown was an exception.
 
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Sometimes I have stood in the pits at a race meeting and have seen a bike 100 yards away which has had an obvious fault which could kill you. There was one guy in particular which had an ex Barry Sheene TR750 Suzuki. It was scaring him shitless and he did not know why. You only had to stand back and look at it. Yet the owner would have put some young guy on it to ride for him.
 
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