Nothing crazier...

Van · Post by **Van** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:33 am

Nothing.

Amazing On-Board Footage of John McGuinness Lapping IOM

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2012/06/ ... pping-iom/

And here's a little extra...

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:36 am

why ain't you in tune town?

Van · Post by **Van** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 2:19 am

Trampis · Post by **Trampis** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:08 am

Thats Crazyballs fast.

To be able to go that fast and live to a ripe old healthy age is quite the accomplishment. Makes us motocrossers look like we're standing still.

The Seer · Post by **The Seer** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 4:35 am

What would happen if a cute little bunny decided to cross the road in front of the bike???

Carson · Post by **Carson** » Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:31 pm

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 1:17 pm

Y'know, picking 5 TTers for your death pool picks wouldn't be a bad idea.

Just hitting on one twenty six year older with cause of death could put you in the winner's circle, assuming Bsmack doesn't decide to call every fifty year old death in the country, again.

Is "laws of physics" too vague for cause of death?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 3:43 pm

Cause of Death: Riding While Stupid

Dinsdale · Post by **Dinsdale** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:32 pm

Roach wrote:They are also saying it didn't even qualify as being a DonerCycle

Sure it does -- the rider is certainly "done."

Not to go all spellsmack, but...

a 5 letter word, and you missed it?

Mikey · Post by **Mikey** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:54 pm

Dinsdale wrote:
Roach wrote:They are also saying it didn't even qualify as being a DonerCycle

Sure it does -- the rider is certainly "done."

True, but he's not any "doner" than his passenger.

ChargerMike · Post by **ChargerMike** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:18 pm

Enough smooth road crap...check out a desert race people..and no, the vid is not sped up.

Moving Sale · Post by **Moving Sale** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:33 pm

Pussies.

Sin,

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:24 pm

Nah. The competitors at the Isle of Man TT and other TTs go a lot faster than 251 kph, and they do so while also having to dodge through tree-shaded streets (meaning suddenly damp in certain spots) that in some places are barely twenty feet wide. Also, those streets are lined with cement walls, lamp posts and actual buildings, not just more snow.

I don't know what the fatality rate is at those speed-skiing competitions, but a fortnight at the Isle of Man or Estonia TT usually results in at least a death or three.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:36 pm

Van wrote:Nah. The competitors at the Isle of Man TT and other TTs go a lot faster than 251 kph, and they do so while also having to dodge through tree-shaded streets (meaning suddenly damp in certain spots) that in some places are barely twenty feet wide. Also, those streets are lined with cement walls, lamp posts and actual buildings, not just more snow.

I don't know what the fatality rate is at those speed-skiing competitions, but a fortnight at the Isle of Man or Estonia TT usually results in at least a death or three.

rack.

take that ski run, put in a few off camber turns and line it with oak trees, stone walls, landrovers and screaming drunken englishmen. then it would be almost as dangerous as the IOM TT.

I can not think of a single event on the planet that requires the level of skill and complete lack of a self preservation instinct as a public road TT.

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:17 pm

smackaholic wrote:I can not think of a single event on the planet that requires the complete lack of a self preservation instinct as a public road TT.

Dating Katy or Perk.

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 8:59 pm

'Spray, I don't suspect that you follow motorcycle roadracing much, but there's this guy named Valentino Rossi who is generally regarded as the greatest rider of all time. He's the Michael Jordan of two-wheel racing. As a Moto GP competitor (the motorcycling equivalent of F1 auto racing, and he's been offered a contract by Ferrari to race for them in F1 multiple times), he routinely rides at well over 300 kph before having to break like a maniac for a chicane or some shit. Well, he recently attended the Isle of Man TT as a spectator. After watching what those guys do and where they do it, he just shook his head and said, "These people are insane."

He also threw out some sort of Italian phrase which roughly translates to 'titanium testicles.'

Fortunately, all those guys lived.

Now, here you ride onboard during the (at the time) fastest lap ever recorded at the Isle of Man, replete with Martin's funny ass British-accented commentary. This will give you a better idea of how narrow some of these streets really are, and how fast he's really going...

Every time he catches air there he'd better have the damn thing pointed where it needs to be because if he doesn't there simply isn't time to straighten it back out. Fucking terrifying.

When someone later commented to him that what he does is unbelievable, he responded, "Nonsense. Someone eating his own head...now that's unbelievable."

Yep, I think you'd love these maniacs. You should make a point of getting over there to see this event at least once in your life. Definitely someone like Dins should, if for no other reason than the drinking. Supposedly the locals are just as insane with their nonstop partying as the riders are on their bikes.

Goober McTuber · Post by **Goober McTuber** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:03 pm

Van wrote:'Spray, I don't suspect that you follow motorcycle roadracing much

Are you kidding? He's a participant:

l to r: shutyomouth, more shutyomouth

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 9:11 pm

~one of Sam's motorcycle PET trips finally pays off~

Van · Post by **Van** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:19 pm

Papa Willie wrote:You know - aside from the part that those guys have bigger gnads than anybody on earth - it's almost a 40 mile fucking road course? I'm wondering how many times this guy had run it to get where he's at. Obviously - death has little meaning to him, but I'm astonished at the memory it takes to do that. He HAS to pretty much remember every inch of the course -- OR HE'S DEAD!

All I can (very meagerly) equate it to is our local Mosquito Ridge Road run. Starting in Foresthill, a little mountain town east of Auburn high in the Sierras, there's a 36-mile stretch of super windy canyon road that rises back into the forest before concluding at French Meadows Reservoir. It sees very little auto traffic. Mostly it's just logging trucks and the occasional SUV heading up into the mountains to go camping.

The road starts off as a very technical ride featuring endless switchbacks, similar to Tennessee's "Tail of the Dragon" in Deal's Gap. At the eleven-mile mark it begins its ascent into the deep forest, rising all the while through deeply shaded, armco-lined sweepers. No buildings, street lamps or cement walls to worry about, just the occasional 1000-foot drop if you get something very wrong. Oh, and animals deciding to cross your path, especially deer. At sunset or sunrise it's a real bitch, worrying about those suicidal deer.

I've often thought that this would be a perfect place for California to hold its own version of the IoM TT, only I know our country and state are so litigious that it could never happen.

Anyway, there are stretches where you'll go 150 mph if you dare, which I long ago stopped doing. I was never even remotely one of the fast guys on that road. Timing myself, I recall how excited I was when I broke the eleven-minute mark, and I eventually got it down into the nines. The local fast guys? Who the fuck knows. They were just gone.

The thing is, they didn't do it as a time trial, the way it's done at the IoM TT. Actual side-by-side racing there, at that level? Complete carnage. No fucking way. On our road, yeah, people race. These maniacs go so hard that they push each other off onto dirt shoulders, and when you're riding on slicks that really ain't too cool.

Anyway, to answer your question just a little, I rode there most every weekend for a few years. I only crashed once, on a BMW of all things. Being a total dumbass, I tried to eke out one last ride from a nearly bald rear tire, and my buddy was on a much faster Yamaha R1. (He later died right in front of me after screwing up and launching himself into the grill of an oncoming tour bus full of river rafters. This was on a different road and a couple of years later, and I believe what happened was that he had a diabetic seizure and locked up his front brake, which made him do a stoppie where he least could afford one.) I was one bike-length behind him in a medium-speed lefthander, maybe 60 mph, and my shot tire let go. I slid just a few feet more to the right, onto the dirt shoulder and down into a little ditch that ran parallel to the road. I couldn't get out of that ditch. It carried me straight into the mountainside. I wasn't going too fast by then, and all I managed for my troubles was a totaled BMW and a broken collarbone.

Riding that road as often as I did, I don't know, but I'd say it took me a year to learn every turn, bump, rise, off-camber section, gravel-strewn section, etc. Besides the occasional animal crossing our path, the one thing we could never account for was a rock slide that might leave a shitload of large rocks in the road, or maybe just a huge number of small rocks and massive debris in a corner. Those were scary. Oh, and there were also the errant drivers of said SUVs who would cross the center line as they meandered down the road, thinking they had the whole mountain to themselves.

It did take a decent while, but eventually I got to where I knew which gear to be in everywhere, along with all my braking points, dips and potholes to avoid, habitual damp places, places to safely use the entire road, etc. Because it was up in the mountains and mostly a much tighter, curvier run, I would imagine that there are more variables to deal with there than there are in a closed-course TT which mostly takes place in a well-established city, but then we also didn't have to worry about those damn walls, curbs and buildings.

I know one guy who rode the IoM TT, a local racer of mid-level talent. Some of the faster guys around here would easily stomp him, but he managed to get sponsored to go over there and do it, which isn't easy for a Californian.

I also know I would never try it in a million years, not at my snail's pace version of full speed, anyway. I wouldn't even try our local Mosquito Ridge at anything approaching my fastest, never mind the Isle of fucking Man TT. I can't even imagine it. I can certainly imagine learning every bump and turn of the whole course—that'd happen easily enough over time—but I can't imagine being willing to hold the throttle of a factory-sponsored 200+ hp Superbike all the way open through 90% of that run.

Hell no.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:49 am

Van wrote:... there's a 36-mile stretch of super windy canyon road .....

.....I recall how excited I was when I broke the eleven-minute mark, and I eventually got it down into the nines. The local fast guys? Who the fuck knows. They were just gone.

no math whiz here, Van, but, I do believe you might have gotten a figure or three wrong here. I kinda doubt you are doing canyon roads at an average of well over 2 bills.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 3:47 am

smackie, yep, you're right, I was thinking of the first eleven-mile twisty section down to the bridge, not the entire 36-mile run. Never timed myself over the whole thing. Good thing, too, since I was terrified of the 25-mile part of the run that began at the bridge and concluded at the French Meadows dam. I sucked there. Too many fast sections through deeply shaded forest where really bad things could happen. The first eleven-mile section down to the bridge was what I practiced most because I felt so much safer there. In fact, my timed runs always started at the bridge and finished back at the gas station in Foresthill. Reason being, I felt safer and faster going uphill than downhill, plus I like lefthanders more than righthanders.

In any case, good catch. My error. Figure eleven miles in nine-plus minutes. My bike didn't compute seconds, only hours and minutes, so I don't know if it was closer to nine-flat or 9:59. In any case, it was a bunch of posted 15 mph switchbacks connected by the occasional 45 mph posted short sweeper or straight, and I got it down to something like a 70 mph average. The really fast guys got it down into the eight-minute range, so figure 80+ mph.

In the fast forest section, forget it. I never had the balls to go all out there. I didn't even have the balls to go all out in the first section. I never went harder there than maybe 75% of my comfort level, plus I was nowhere near as skilled as a lot of the other guys.

'Spray, MotoGP, World Superbike and the American Superbike championship are shown on Speed Channel, but I'm not aware of any live televised coverage of the Isle of Man TT. I would imagine it would be a tough event to televise since it's a series of time trials, not a race where all the competitors run at the same time, plus it's a 37-mile course. Where would they place the cameras? With each racer zooming by one at a time it would be difficult to determine how well anyone's doing, other than by showing their times through various splits on the track.

Also, consider the fact that racers die there every year. At least for American TV, I don't know how thrilled any of our networks would be over the idea of televising what could rightly be called a bloodsport.

Anyway, hell yes, a Hwy 1 TT would be beyond fucking epic. Start at Hearst Castle and end at Bigsby Bridge in Big Sur. 65 miles on one the greatest roads in the world, with the Pacific Ocean to the left and gorgeous mountain scenery to the right as the constant visual backdrop? It'd be absolutely incredible.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 4:13 pm

Van wrote:'Spray, MotoGP, World Superbike and the American Superbike championship are shown on Speed Channel, but I'm not aware of any live televised coverage of the Isle of Man TT. I would imagine it would be a tough event to televise since it's a series of time trials, not a race where all the competitors run at the same time, plus it's a 37-mile course. Where would they place the cameras? With each racer zooming by one at a time it would be difficult to determine how well anyone's doing, other than by showing their times through various splits on the track.

Also, consider the fact that racers die there every year. At least for American TV, I don't know how thrilled any of our networks would be over the idea of televising what could rightly be called a bloodsport.

Anyway, hell yes, a Hwy 1 TT would be beyond fucking epic. Start at Hearst Castle and end at Bigsby Bridge in Big Sur. 65 miles on one the greatest roads in the world, with the Pacific Ocean to the left and gorgeous mountain scenery to the right as the constant visual backdrop? It'd be absolutely incredible.

I would pay to watch a PCH TT. The scenery is amazing, the racing would be cool, but, the best part would be the occasional unfortunate soul that would low side it, then catch air for 20 seconds or so till he hit the pacific.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 5:19 pm

Acually, smackie, it's those armco guardrails lining PCH in certain spots that'll really do in a motorcyclist. Came upon the aftermath of one of those poor souls one late afternoon during a group ride. Like an idiot, he'd gone and lost his head. Literally.

I never understood it, either. It happened on a long stretch of nearly straight road. Just a gentle lefthanded sweeper, if that, but there it was, a vivid crimson slash on the asphalt that stretched for a good fifty yards beyond the obvious crash site in the armco railing. How in the fuck did dude manage to crash there?

In any case, the armco decapitated him while his passenger came away with nothing more than some roadrash on her forearm. She told us about it a month later at our usual breakfast joint. She was riding her own bike by then.

"I really don't know what happened. I have no idea why he screwed up so badly there. It's not like I ever had the chance to ask him..." was her sighed explanation.

Todd, I lived in Sepulveda near that Tommie's on Roscoe Bl in 1983 and '84. By '94 I was living in a condo on the beach in Port Hueneme before moving up to Sacramento in April. I was on a '94 Honda VFR then. Never owned a GT750 so nope, that wasn't me. The only Suzukis I've ever owned were a '96 GSX-R750, an '01 SV650, an '03 GSX-R1000, an '03 V-Strom 1000, and an '04 SV1000. Oh, and we also got Susan a GS500 back in '95.

Angeles Crest Hwy, Mulholland Hwy or Palomar down by Mikey's neck of the woods would be perfect spots for a California TT. Besides the same litigious roadblocks we'd encounter anywhere in America I see only two problems with these locales: deer, and dickhead locals. The deer problem can crop up anywhere. These are mountain roads, often in unincorporated areas. The dickhead locals issue is more specific to Angeles Crest Hwy, where the locals grew so tired of people using their main thoroughfare as a racetrack that they began sabotaging certain blind corners with handfuls of thumbtacks and/or marbles in an effort to scare riders away. I don't know how kindly they'd take to seeing their little slice of heaven immortalized on TV as the perfect public raceway, which would only draw even more motorcyclists up there.

socal · Post by **socal** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 7:26 pm

PCH, Angeles Crest certainly. Mikey's to Dins's in T1B TT is where it's at. Smackoholic and Wags get their shot at California and U & L redemption. Divide it up in circuits or just make it a Cannonball Run-style straight through.

Don't worry TTB, no grass clippings for that $54K SUV.

Van · Post by **Van** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:22 pm

smackie, in all seriousness, why don't you go to the IoM TT? You live in Connecticut. It's really not that far from you. Five hours ahead. BFD. I'm sure you'd have a blast taking in the whole Manx experience, plus you could rent a bike and take a leisurely lap of the Mountain Course.

Get your ass over there. That would make for a PET well worth reading.

Diego in Seattle · Post by **Diego in Seattle** » Tue Jul 10, 2012 11:45 pm

Seems like I saw IoM TT showing on some hd channel like HDNET or somewhere up there on the Comcrap dial. I'll see if I can refresh my memory later as to what channel it might have been.

An eastern CA to OR course would be epcot, but the cost of putting on such an event would be prohibitive.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 12:58 am

Just can't envision the lawyers here ever allowing it. I also can't imagine what the insurance premiums would run for the promoters of such an event.

Maybe Zyclone could get it done.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 4:41 am

It is, and you absolutely should.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:55 am

There's no better way to spend time with your wife on a vacation. It's not like a car trip where the destinations are the goals and the only things you generally remember. When you're two-up on a bike with helmet-to-helmet communication, the journey matters at least as much as the destination; in fact, the planned destinations almost become secondary as the entire trip becomes a continuous destination.

Rent something comfortable, kick back and take it easy. You don't have to haul ass. You can pick your spots and enjoy little adrenaline rushes here and there without having to go fully mental. I guarantee you that the next time I do it I'm going to slow down and make sure to smell the roses.

M2 · Post by M2 » Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:28 am

A Steve McQueen redo... from his famous chase scene in the movie "Bullet".

I give you...

The Streets of San Francisco

ULTIMATE URBAN PLAYGROUND; SAN FRANCISCO

Moving Sale · Post by **Moving Sale** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 5:44 pm

Van wrote:I don't know what the fatality rate is at those speed-skiing competitions, but a fortnight at the Isle of Man or Estonia TT usually results in at least a death or three.

My point was that your thread title is hyperbole. Russian roulette with a glock is one example of something crazier. TT racing is crazy and I've seen it many times, but so is speed skiing (which I've done) with no brakes or horsepower or wheels or steering on a track that is a few inches wide and made of H20 is pretty crazy too.

smackaholic · Post by **smackaholic** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 7:32 pm

Moving Sale wrote:
Van wrote:I don't know what the fatality rate is at those speed-skiing competitions, but a fortnight at the Isle of Man or Estonia TT usually results in at least a death or three.
My point was that your thread title is hyperbole. Russian roulette with a glock is one example of something crazier. TT racing is crazy and I've seen it many times, but so is speed skiing (which I've done) with no brakes or horsepower or wheels or steering on a track that is a few inches wide and made of H20 is pretty crazy too.

I would think that regular downhill competitions are more dangerous than the flatout speed competitions, since the downhill courses have all sorts of off camber turns and jumps. I assume your typical speed event is straight and smoove.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:04 pm

Toddowen wrote:No American has represented yet-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sn ... _accidents

Kind of shocked and a little dissapointed, actually....when you look at the sheer numbers.

Lots of bragging rights for the limeys.

Six fatalities during last year's event. What other modern, government-sanctioned sporting endeavor would ever be allowed to endure following such a death toll? (Edit: I'm sure TVO will be able to come up with some third world event that involves even more annual carnage. Granted.)

Nope, there's no way in hell something like that would ever fly in America.

The other thing about that list that was amazing: competitors who died during the parade lap! C'mon, it's just a fucking parade lap!

When you can die simply from participating in the opening ceremony of an event, you know you've got something more than a bit psychotic going on.

Van · Post by **Van** » Wed Jul 11, 2012 9:08 pm

Moving Sale wrote:
Van wrote:I don't know what the fatality rate is at those speed-skiing competitions, but a fortnight at the Isle of Man or Estonia TT usually results in at least a death or three.
My point was that your thread title is hyperbole. Russian roulette with a glock is one example of something crazier. TT racing is crazy and I've seen it many times, but so is speed skiing (which I've done) with no brakes or horsepower or wheels or steering on a track that is a few inches wide and made of H20 is pretty crazy too.

Fine, TVO, yes, playing Russian Roulette is even crazier, and my thread title does contain hyperbole. Happy now?

Speed skiing, however, does not rate, not compared to competing at the IoM TT.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:11 am

Moving Sale wrote: Russian roulette with a glock is one example of something crazier.

Please try it and let us know how it works out.

Derron · Post by **Derron** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:12 am

Roach wrote:Read TVO's post carefully. Even more crazy than crazier is playing Russian Roulette with a Glock. See, glocks are autoloaders, not revolvers. Put one cartridge in the chamber, and you get a 100% chance of "winning."

Crazy, man.

Don't be telling him that shit..we want him to try it..to prove it can be done..

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:14 am

Glock or revolver, playing RR with either is still crazier than racing the IoM TT. Since that's the pressing point he somehow felt compelled to make, I'll give it to him regardless of the type of weapon.

Hooray for TVO pointing out the painfully obvious!

Diego in Seattle · Post by **Diego in Seattle** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 12:57 am

A race down PCH is undoable for liability issues, but also practicality ones as well. It's one thing to close off several streets in one part of town is one thing; to close off a major highway for a long distance (PCH or 395 in eastern CA) would be nearly impossible to pull off. But it sure would be cool to watch.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 1:14 am

So, like I said, let's do it on Mosquito Ridge!

Beartooth Pass near Yellowstone...

...would also be ideal, as would Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Van · Post by **Van** » Thu Jul 12, 2012 2:18 am

Because Hwy 101 is nowhere near PCH through most sections leading from San Simeon to Big Sur. If someone lives in, say, Lucia, they pretty much have to be able to use PCH to get in or out.

Still, BFD. Probably about nine people live really close to PCH over that entire stretch of road.