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Just came across this tonight :- THE UN-RIDEABLES - 70s/80s/90s 500GP bikes in all their ridiculous glory.. 😆
should be fun watching the old masters at play
ITV4 8-9pm tonight ...
8)
Cheers for the heads up!
Violent powerbands ahoy! 😀
Is this the same one that was on a few weeks back? Missed most of it but was hoping it was some kind of series?
I imagine it's the same one but it was bloomin great. Would have loved to have seen what Rhossi or Stoner or any of the recent hard chargers would have made of them. Some of the highsides were EPIC!
Aye the bit I seen was good, got it set to record 😀 cheers OP!
Good job 😀
I'll be watching that!
Wasn't Rossi the last one to win the championship on a 500cc?
I think Stoner would've taken to them pretty nicely, his style seemed very 2-stroke! 🙂
Top shout there! I'll record that! 🙂
[i]Wasn't Rossi the last one to win the championship on a 500cc?[/i]
But the 500's by then had changed to be more manageable, electrics probably.
Wicked - on record.
Cheers for the heads-up...
Danny B
Schweet, thanks for the heads up.
Awesome!
How did Schwantz catch so many nasty twitches? 🙂
But the 500's by then had changed to be more manageable, electrics probably.
Weren't they all 'big bangers' and twins by the twilight years. Still 200bhp squeezed into a tiny powerband/on off throttle action but the tyres had a little more chance of catching it and putting it onto the track.
They might've been drugged tigers but they could still bite yer bum! 😉
Anyone know if there's going to be more covering the 90's?
Just spoke to the guy who put 'The Unrideables" together and he's currently working on a sequel that centres around Wayne Rainey, featuring the man himself. Not sure when it's due to be released yet though.
Rossi was actually more likely to be on a screamer than a big bang 500.
As everyone got engines that were more usable, those that could use them properly, went looking for more power.
Big Bang firing order was good for conserving tyre life as it gave the tyre a chance to recover between power pulses.
But then the likes of Garry McCoy, cappirossi and Rossi discovered that if you got the bike moving and tyre sliding, then the tyre performance was more consistant over the duration of the race, rather than gripping, then dropping off suddenly at 3/4 race distance and becoming "Unridable"
Once they had got the hang of slidiing from the start, and got the lines adjusted etc, then they started to move towards the old screamer style motors that were more suited to breaking traction and gave more power too 😀
2strokes are ace, I miss the 500`s, proper "Big BAlls" bikes......
500cc and 200BHP, and about 130KG 😀
I still kick myself over not buying a Krauser 500cc motor from an Outfit when I was offered it complete a few years ago...
Just rebuilt, ready to run with Pipes, Carbs, Gearbox everything.....
It had no class to race in anymore so it was obsolete and effectively worthless......
£1200 would have brought it......and it was 185hp !!
Came across an RG 500 on the A3 one time ( In the early 90s) and was surprised how quick it was. The FIreblade had the legs at top end but I had to chase quite hard through the 2 stroke smoke. I thought it easy prey, how wrong was I.
Those were the days in the 80s when you could just wander round the pits at Silverstone on unofficial practice day:
Spencer '81 (OK it's a 4-stroke):
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Roberts '83:
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Sheene '83:
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As everyone got engines that were more usable, those that could use them properly, went looking for more power.
I seem to remember a quote that Doohan favoured the screamers to the big bang motors cos 'they seemed a bit tame'! 😯
But then he was a bit of a tough chap. Should be having your leg off after a bad accident? Nah, just sew it to the other one to keep the blood supply going until it can be saved properly and then just lift me from the wheelchair to the bike and bungee the leg on! 🙂
No wonder riders always retire to warmer climes, it makes me ache just to think about it!
transmute - Member
...I seem to remember a quote that Doohan favoured the screamers to the big bang motors cos 'they seemed a bit tame'!
But then he was a bit of a tough chap...
Basically he was a disabled rider whopping all the fit guys.
I loved watching McCoy. The other advantage to his riding style was the bike became so wide no-one was game to pass.
YUP - McCoy was backing it in before the phrase was coined - they have to hang a leg out now to "aid stability" ...
Yeah right !!
Bah, caught the end of it the first time around and it looked cool but completely missed this repeat.
Enjoyed it, showed how broken in the head Freddy Spencer was/is. If he had kept a lid on his demons he would of won so much more.
Found it on the ITV4 player here:
[url= https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/the-unrideables ]https://www.itv.com/itvplayer/the-unrideables[/url]
Oranj - Member
Found it on the ITV4 player here:
Thanks