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Just seen this on facebook
Guy martins helmet cam on the TT bike left me dizzy and awestruck
Insane!
Commit to a corner and hope you remembered the right one!
I don't know how *anyone* comes back alive. Looking forward to watching it on telly tonight though.
I don't know about stopping at the pits for fuel and a tyre change, I'd be changing my leathers too! 😯
I guess it is different in real life but the dark to light transitions when the road is in the shade make it virtually impossible to tell where the edge of the road is!
Hats off to that!
Scary enough watching it let alone riding it.
I regularly do that section on my bike !!! However, my bike has pedals, so is considerably slower. I can just about get the front wheel airborne on Ballaugh bridge, if I pull on the bars enough.
Still no racing today yet, as typical manx weather, I am basking in sunshine in the north, and the rest is shrouded in mist and fog
Bruce Anstey's fastest ever lap was on telly late last night with helmet cam & normal footage - nuts. He was balked a few times and over shot one corner, so had it been a 'perfect' lap, it would conceivably been a lot quicker. 132.298 mph average..!!!
That was indeed a mad lap. I love the sidecars though.
Flippin ell
Flippin Ell x 100
I couldn't quite focus on that myself and I'm sitting comfortably in my orrifice chair..
Flippin Ekker'slike. 😯
I've so much respect for all that take part..
it's the noise of the engine when the rear wheel's fighting and loosing grip that scares me. I get my traction control light flash up on my bike but only in the wet and at 30mph and I'm brickin' it. My brain can't comprehend that video.
😯
I remember the 80cc riders in the grand prix back in day say that you could get more revs out of the engine if you tilted the bike to one side. As this alters the gearing you give the bike a bit of an easier time.
I'm wondering if some of the rev changes you hear in this vid are due to lean angle, more than backing off for a corner.
Whatever, the man is (they all are ) a legend for hacking through the scenery at that speed- nuts!
sangobegger - MemberI'm wondering if some of the rev changes you hear in this vid are due to lean angle, more than backing off for a corner.
Definitely does happen over the mountain still, I remember John McGuiness talking about it. Mad.
Sango, you can tell which is gear changes and which is the rolling radius decrease by the way in which the revs rise.
When tipping into a corner with constant throttle what actually happens is you decelerate. So a small throttle input is required to maintain speed due to higher wheel speed as it goes over.
Sudden Increase = Gear change
Smooth rev rise = Same gear
Even slowed down, thats way too fast for me.
How much of Guy's action during that lap is the result of conscious thought, and how much is pure programmed muscle memory of the course? Looking at that, I can't see how his conscious brain would be able to influence it much.
If they weren't concious of at least something, then the riders would be thrown into a brick wall as soon as something vaguely out of the ordinary happened.
They do think, just a lot quicker than you or I. They also do a lot of unconcious feeling, which they will somethimes think about if it doesn't feel right. How the bike feels, the levels of grip etc....all thought about at an unconcious level. They aren't running on pure muscle memory like a golfer does during his swing.
Also, the conscious brain influences a lot less than you probably think.
Not human. That's the only way these beings can do this.
If they weren't concious of at least something, then the riders would be thrown into a brick wall as soon as something vaguely out of the ordinary happened.
I guess I meant 'normal' circumstances, in terms of line choice for every sequence of corners, body position, throttle, brake etc. Obviously there's a certain degree of conscious 'overseeing' of progress, but I can't imagine all that much real-time decision making.
I suppose if I'm driving along a winding road, I'm not always consciously choosing to keep in my carriageway and keeping appropriate speed, or even the appropriate gear, it's mostly automatic until something unusual happens.
Good lord
I remember the 80cc riders in the grand prix back in day say that you could get more revs out of the engine if you tilted the bike to one side. As this alters the gearing you give the bike a bit of an easier time.
I'm wondering if some of the rev changes you hear in this vid are due to lean angle, more than backing off for a corner.
Whatever, the man is (they all are ) a legend for hacking through the scenery at that speed- nuts!
I recall an interview (possibly MCN) with Randy Mamola where he spoke of a critical corner in one if the GP's - he was talking about how tyre profile combined with lean angle combined and affected gear ratio, and how he could 500 rpm higher revs in a corner exit, meaning he gained about 5 mph on the following straight... It was about 1987 ish & I realised I will never be a GP rider.
Those 500 revs are much more important on the 500cc two stroke bikes that had powerbands only 3000 revs wide.
I get scared playing the TT video game.
😀
Now that made my bum twitch.
I cant ride that fast but I do find that the more fast riding you do the faster you get. Like your brain gets used to working faster. And it gets easier the more you do it. But those fellas are mad 🙂
The force is strong with those lads.
Anybody else find themselves leaning let and right through the corners ?
He didn't catch the guy in front and it is always easier following another rider down a track
blah - I would have been faster when i was in my prime*
*not even pretending to be serious
Of course, when it goes tits-up, it goes [i]really[/i] tits-up!
The dark object in the bottom right is Guy's foot, the other dark object in the upper left, with flame behind, is the bike's fuel tank!
He got a bit singed... 😯
Another one he walked away from...
S'all right, it'll polish out...
...And that video has a very high sphincter-factor, I'm still trying to get my cheeks to unclench.
How on earth did he ever get back on a bike after those crashes?
Balls of steel and a great down to earth bloke.
Legend.
They are all nuts
My 4 year old daughter has tipped me off that for Father's Day I might be getting a signed copy of Guys book 🙂
Not one single hint was dropped either so I am impressed the wife even knew about it let alone getting a signed copy
I'm not much for autobiographies, but I was looking at Guy's in Waterstone's on Saturday, and I'm going to have to buy a copy.
TBH watching it on video is completely different to the real world. It's not a true representation of events at all.
I used to race with a bloke called Dan Hegarty. He was the factory Norton rider last year at the TT (along with another guy), this year he's back again and lapping in 122mph+.
Now, Dan was cleaning up winning races at Derby Phoenix, but wasn't ridiculously quick by any means. I sponsored him a bit when he moved up to British Superstock (after racing in the R6 cup) and he was lucky to get inside the top 10.
Where I'm going with this is, guy Martin is extremely quick yes.. but the video isn't showing the speed well, it's showing almost a video game representation of it.
I have masses of respect for them all as this was my dream back when starting club racing, which I never accomplished due to not being good enough.
They've got bigger balls than my brain, tell me though, sidecar passengers, saw them on tv on a night shift. Theyre all sectioned shirley?
Im also amazed that they dont really get paid for it. Compare what they do with say an F1 driver.
Trimix - MemberIm also amazed that they dont really get paid for it. Compare what they do with say an F1 driver.
Indeed.. considering the risks, you'd think they'd earn more. guy Martin does OK, but that's more his personal sponsorship than actual salary. There's a decent prize money for the TT but I did have to laugh watching something the other day about the Greyhound Derby, the first prize was £100,000 for the dog/owner... that's WAY more than the TT winners get... (I think it was £25,000 last time I checked)
RIP Bob Price 🙁
I think my brain is wired differently to theirs, not just the speed but the speed going past a dry stone wall with a normal 4" kerb 😯 I guess that is why most years somebody dies at the TT and it is very rare for somebody to die in short circuit racing 😥
Hooli,
But that's the thrill and the joy of the road circuits. Both for riders, TV and spectators.
Don't know much about motorbikes. Where do these top TT riders race/earn a living for the rest of the year?
Loved Bruce's lap - cocking it up & getting pegged back by slower riders & still gets lap record 🙂 - 132mph in a straight line is quite enough for me thanks
Normal jobs, most of them. Dan Stewart works in a motorcycle dealership. Guy Martin spanners trucks though probably doesn't have to these days with the telly work. John McGuiness races short circuits.
Chapeau to the guys like Wade Boyd who's been going for years from the US and has never finished in the top half! It's a way of life for some.
A friend of a friend died last month at the North West 200.
When googling to read the story I stumbled across footage from the race. There are very very few things that I truly wish I could remove completely from my memory, but that is one 🙁 Really wish I hadn't seen it.
I get a real buzz out of watching road based events, I can only imagine what it feels like to race them. But the risk involved, for me anyway, would mean I'd probably stick to the track!

