Could this be the year for Norton at the TT?

Although the poor old boys leg is in tatters! Hopefully he can be back on form for the TT. Nobody has the level of experience he has.

His leg is still in a brace, doesn't come off till end of March.
 
According to what he wrote in MCN, McPint has 49,500 TT miles under his belt!

That’s what I call experience!

As you say, I just hope his leg heals according to plan.
 
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On Vintagent site today ... DeOrleans has essay on greatest TT ever .... entertaining story involving a rider by name Staples (10) time winner , story takes place in 1935
Hope this isn’t a thread messer
Craig
 
When the TT becomes about superbikes, it becomes absurd. A 350cc Aermacchi would be more fun, and more a test of rider skill rather than big balls. I look at those onboard videos which are taken on 1000cc bikes and I cringe, and I am no wilting violet. Imagine throwing the crank out of your bike at those speeds. - It is no wonder the MotoGP guys gave it away.
 
Yeah, watching footage of the big boys at the TT makes me cringe too! But that’s the difference between them and us I guess.

If you think about it though, today’s bikes are faster and more powerful than the Grand Prix bikes of the 70s when they pulled the TT from the GP calendar cos they were ‘too fast’ for the circuit!

To lap the TT at 130mph+ is a staggering feat of human achievement. Given all the many, many opportunities for failure, and the fact that they are so close to crossing that line so often, it's probably statistically impossible !!
 
acotrel said:
When the TT becomes about superbikes, it becomes absurd. A 350cc Aermacchi would be more fun, and more a test of rider skill rather than big balls. I look at those onboard videos which are taken on 1000cc bikes and I cringe, and I am no wilting violet. Imagine throwing the crank out of your bike at those speeds. - It is no wonder the MotoGP guys gave it away.
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Big balls have been a prerequisite for top riders since Hildebrand met Wolfmuller.

Put 'em all on air-cooled 350 singles and see who shows up and buys a ticket.

Blow-ups are rare anymore, but a ground-to-powder gearbox put Guy Martin on his ass. Besides a 350 will kill you just as quick if you hit a tree or a stone wall.

Kenny Roberts started the safety consciousness that caused the GP to leave IOM. There are more deaths there yearly and have been for many years than MotoGP experiences in a decade. Brains in the skillset toolbox to go along with those big balls prevent the retirement-by-death plan so many top real road racers experience. Going fast is never going to be completely safe, but approaching 200 mph on public roads, even closed ones, is insanity to the nth power. Limiting them to 150 or 130-mph machines would only make it incrementally safer, especially with those old 130 mph brakes and suspension.
 
The way I ride, I would hesitate to get on any 1000cc superbike and ride it on our local 3Km circuit, let alone the IOM. If you rode there the way you would ride on a short circuit, you would die very quickly. And that is what Kenny Blake found out. He was a top Australian A-grader - lasted about two laps, then hit a post. There is road racing and there is road racing - the IOM is different. I had the chance to ride there when I was a kid - I would have come home in an urn.
You can talk about big balls - it is all bullshit. If you are ego-driven, you become a candidate for the morgue. What do you prove by racing on the IOM with a 150 BHP motorcycle ?
 
It would be interesting to know how many Australian riders have been killed while racing in Europe. I can remember about six and the other day another one was mentioned - killed in East Germany. Many were excellent riders - killed in their prime. Nobody ever seems to remember them if they didn't win a few races.
 
More die on Everest each season than die in the whole year on the IOM. I would ride any bike on the IOM, but at my own pace.
As for Guy Martin there was nothing wrong with his gearbox, Honda were culpable and should have withdrawn from the TT prior to it starting. About 10-12 years ago a Honda team chief was on the TV during the TT and said you can not use a GP bike on the IOM - they are not rugged enough.
The same fault presented itself in Ireland just weeks prior to the TT causing a major accident. The whole bike was flexing so much in the TT it was selecting gears and neutrals various and had been during practice - surely history should have come to the fore, nice smooth track and the GP bike is safe, public roads and the bike is in a different environment.

Good luck Norton, if you can finish, you can win TT, its that type of race!
 
https://www.manxradio.com/
Tune in (select the AM channel) and get all the action live. Practice this week. Brookes just interviewed. Says suspension is a bit harsh for the course but this is the week to sort it out.
 
Could this be the year for Norton at the TT?
Could this be the year for Norton at the TT?
Could this be the year for Norton at the TT?

Yes McPint is grounded this year but Josh is flying in practice.
 
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