Racing again (at last)

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C’mon Ralph... you‘ve racing long enough to know the rules... the best way to ensure that you do NOT need a spare is to make sure you have one...

And, of course, vice versa...!
 
Moto55UK said:
Sorry no, this is the 920 commando i'm talking about and John is a fearless pilot who is not afraid of taking on much faster bikes , as he found out at the Classic TT parade lap when 2 much faster bikes passed us going into Ramsey, John gave chase only to end up in the wall at the top of May Hill! At the last thunderfest he rode at he got a written warning off Frank Melling ! I try my best to calm him down but it doesnt always work.View attachment 17755
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I remember that being crashed against that wall Mike in the IOM when we were spectating a few years ago as we stay at Berrule Park just up the road.
Moto55UK said:
Sorry no, this is the 920 commando i'm talking about and John is a fearless pilot who is not afraid of taking on much faster bikes , as he found out at the Classic TT parade lap when 2 much faster bikes passed us going into Ramsey, John gave chase only to end up in the wall at the top of May Hill! At the last thunderfest he rode at he got a written warning off Frank Melling ! I try my best to calm him down but it doesnt always work.View attachment 17755
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Remember seeing that Mike at Cruickshank's on May Hill parked at the side of the road wondering who's it was... Off camber bend catches you out
 
Seeley920 said:
Definitey not me Chris. I was a CRMC member for over 30 years, now they don't want pre-72 bikes, so f&** them.

I'm out of the country and everything is in storage til next year at least
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Unfortunately it seems to be the same the whole world over! I have no idea how to stage a comeback for '70s 750 twins in particular!
 
storm42 said:
I have only ridden a TZ350 once, it was an E and I really struggled to get my head round its inability to move with anything less that 8000 revs on the clock, 8001 and it wanted to turn over backwards, horrible thing.
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To Quote Swiss Tony" Riding a TZ Yamaha is like making love to a beautiful woman, be gentle but Firm!"
 
John
Long as your ok mate. Al has gone BHR. I'm still choosing were to run & who with and missing them all. My bikes are also in storage! What a time not to have them at home.
 
I would be riding with the BHR but it doesn't look like they are going to do anything this year and I wanted to test my over winter mods, Is that Alan Foster you mention?
 
Yes that! Al Foster lol. I believe he lived at Darley Moor once. At least when I went, the field we camped in Al told me used to have cows in it. I must admit I have a penchant for the place. Was really surprised when I went out for practise a noticed the sheep in the infield.
I will speak to him .
 
I was hoping he would turn up a Darley, but I found out his reasons for going to the BHR are well justified. :)
 
This topic has taught me that you don't really want something until you cannot have it. I drove past Winton Raceway yesterday and wanted to go in to see when the next motorcycle race event would be happening. But I knew I would be wasting my time. I now desperately need a fix of road racing.
 
Chris said:
Yes that! Al Foster lol. I believe he lived at Darley Moor once. At least when I went, the field we camped in Al told me used to have cows in it. I must admit I have a penchant for the place. Was really surprised when I went out for practise a noticed the sheep in the infield.
I will speak to him .
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My friend had a road-going Manx Norton. He was riding home on a country road in the pouring rain, so he had a choice - ride slow and get drenched or ride extremely fast and get drowned. He chose fast to get home quicker. He was close to the ton when he came around a bend and found a sheep walking across the road. Thankfully the sheep kept walking and he went behind it.
 
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Hi Chris , Ralph , Mike ..i would love to go to Darley however , newly rebuilt motor not even started this year would make me a wee bit nervous about giving it some thrash....and to be blown into the weeds by some jap bike down the straights ;)
 
Ashphalt Al said:
Hi Chris , Ralph , Mike ..i would love to go to Darley however , newly rebuilt motor not even started this year would make me a wee bit nervous about giving it some thrash....and to be blown into the weeds by some jap bike down the straights ;)
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You can make a lot of time up at Darley on the fast bikes at the chicanes and bends. There is only one long straight.
 
SteveA said:
Unfortunately it seems to be the same the whole world over! I have no idea how to stage a comeback for '70s 750 twins in particular!
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People like doing historic road racing because there is probably no alternative offered which will accommodate old bikes and serve as development classes. An old bike is one which is over ten years old. In Australia, our Australia Day International Challenge is now mainly large capacity four-cylinder motorcycles. When you race a pre-73 model bike, it is 50 years old. I don't like historic races because I think it destroys too many good old motorcycles. I'd rather do some form of classic racing, but you would have to define the race classes on the basis of technology, so the playing field would be level. For myself, I sometimes get my Seeley 850 onto a race circuit with other air-cooled twin cylinder machines, but the occasions are very few and far between. Racing against any air-cooled Ducati would be great - but for me, I will never get that opportunity. Our event organisers are too pre-programmed to think in only one way.
The race class does not have to be '70s 750 twins. - Air-cooled twin- cylinder four-stroke machines up to 1000cc maximum capacity, would be great. You'd get all the air-cooled Ducatis, BMWs, Guzzis and Harleys. and most of them are not 4-valve. If nothing else, at least the races would sound right.
I can assure you, I would not be last in one of those races. It takes a pretty good modern bike to beat my Seeley around a short road race circuit.
 
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There are very few large capacity motorcycles which have twin-cylinder air-cooled engines, and which also have 4 valves per cylinder. I think the only ones are very late BMW boxer twins.
 
FastFred said:
You can make a lot of time up at Darley on the fast bikes at the chicanes and bends. There is only one long straight.
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With a Commando, it is 'horses for courses' ? - I think that as you raise the overall gearing to suit bigger circuits, the game remains almost the same. I don't ride at Phillip Island because I think the cornering speeds would scare me silly. Down the straights is the easy bit. With my bike, I brake before the corner, then gas it really hard all the way through. On a big circuit, that would not be pleasant.
 
Ashphalt Al said:
Hi Chris , Ralph , Mike ..i would love to go to Darley however , newly rebuilt motor not even started this year would make me a wee bit nervous about giving it some thrash....and to be blown into the weeds by some jap bike down the straights ;)
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Hi Al, hope you and Kate are well. The Jap bikes are getting mullered by the Ducatis now Mr Molnar and Moto Luigi are building them and putting fast riders on them, quite funny really but the racing isn't very interesting for us old farts, they are like 80s proddy races.
 
I'm entered at Darley this weekend as 44 on the TZ350G (first time out after 28 years so not expecting much) and 71 on the Honda k4 as reserve - number 71.
Mike are you going his weekend as I will bring that screen back?
 
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