Moto GP

[The Nal]

Brown trousers

[eFestivals]

Brown trousers

Big time!

When I had a Yam XS1100, I bottled it at 140mph on an empty motorway in good weather at 3am in the morning.

Last time I rode a bike - must be 20+ years ago now, I guess - it was a brand new Yamaha of some sort (my memory fails me, but I think it was another 1100. It was the fastest bike you could buy at the time) ... a friend had just got it, and handed me the keys and said "take it for the afternoon".

I rode about a mile up the road before I'd scared myself silly (tho admittedly, part of that worry was crashing his lovely new bike), turned round and took it back to him. It was far too nutty for me.

[The Nal]

Same Neil. Grew up with my Dad riding bikes - he still has a Honda Fireblade - and I dabbled with mopeds and 125s but fell off and gave up after that.

I was looking at a Yamaha 250cc when I was about 18, my old man wasn't against it but I remember him saying "you will come off it at some stage and end up badly hurt, its inevitable". To be honest I think he was equal parts relived and disappointed! Sort of taking the piss out of the me the other day to my missus about how I chickened out! But you basically have to be willing to die/be horrifically injured.

Fucking bikers, lunatics.

Edited June 11, 2015 by The Nal

[eFestivals]

But you basically have to be willing to die/be horrifically injured.

Fucking bikers, lunatics.

which brings things back to the fucked knee I've mentioned in the fucked-knee threads in the glasto forum, or the screw in my hand (that I can't remember mentioning here before).

I don't think I'd have another bike - the missus wouldn't let me anyway - but I do miss riding them. There's nothing quite like it.

[whisty]

I don't think I'd have another bike - the missus wouldn't let me anyway - but I do miss riding them. There's nothing quite like it.

Never goes away that feeling. 56, something like 10 years without one, still want one! The oh I'll just take it easy & ride safe voice in my head tries to win out, the other bit of me knows better.

Top marks to The Nai's old man, always wanted a Fireblade but they really are pushing the limit. GSXR 1100, down to a 1200 Bandit, now open top car, nearest thing to the real deal

Oh and I had a kind of race with a pal going to Brands Hatch, it was a bit downhill. When we stopped my mate said you know we were doing over 165, I was too scared or wise to look at the clocks so would never have known. Hundreths of a second of lack of focus at those speeds can very quickly become lethal. I only did it that one time.

Forgot about the TT, thanks for the reminder.

Edited June 12, 2015 by whisty

[The Nal]

Anyone been watching? Very exciting first half of the season. Rossi vs Marquez in Assen was incredible. 

 

Rossi just keeps on giving. How many last lap classics has he had over the years?!

 

https://youtu.be/09YJ7Ben4Js

[eFestivals]

thanks for that, not seen or heard a jot since it left the beeb, great to see Rossi back on his game.

[whisty]

Sure is good stuff this year, after Lorenzo won 4 on the bounce was looking like his runaway championship year, now Marquez with the 2014 frame looks like a different rider. looks like any one of 3 can win the title,

 

Danny Kent, Moto 3 deserves a shout out, 66 points in front already & could be the 1st world champ from UK since Sheen. I know it's not the top class but that will surely be something to celebrate & who knows, could lead to him eventually getting a ride on a race winning bike in the top tier. 

Edited July 14, 2015 by whisty

[eFestivals]

oooo, what happened in MotoGP with the scrawny ginger Brit (was that another Danny?), and the big Brit (Scott someone, I think)?

 

The ginger geezer had done a season I think, but Scott was about to step up to the big class as far as I remember.

 

Moto3 reminds me of the Yamaha watercooled racing in the 80s, where they all had the same bike and the only way to win was to be more nutty than the other guys. I'm never quite sure if skill is really in play with that sort of thing.

Edited July 15, 2015 by eFestivals

[whisty]

Danny Kent went up to Moto 2 last year, didn't have the best of bikes and has gone back to Moto 3. His team mate and everybody else including Danny are baffled by how well he's doing this year,  last race was .5 of a second faster than his team mate on same machine. Looks like he's hit the sweet spot. 

 

Scott Redding in Moto 1 has a shit bike. Bradley Smith has Crutchlows old Yamaha second string factory bike & 6th in championship. Only 4 bikes can win it, the factory Hondas or Yamahas. Suzuki are back this year but are underpowered but great to see them back. 

 

BT sport messed things up taking it on but do provide some great coveredge. Had to bite the bullitt and subscribe after missing so many races last year but of course  you can get a stream, the Nai knows the places for streaming or if time or the compunction allows download it all & watch at your leisure but maybe you'll have to put up with Aussie or Spanish commentators

 

Indianapolis next, shit track but hey ho.

 

Oh and btw, I used to race those aircooled Yams in the 80s. Not the stuff on TV, just club racing along with many others, grids of up to 40 bikes or more of nutters as you call them. That was after they put learners down to 125 CC and there were loads of second hand 250s available for next to nothing. To this day remains the most exciting or frightening thing I ever did, I was shit at it in case anybody wonders but like all things, you get a better appreciation of what's actually going on, albeit in a small way. Sorry to ramble but did love those days so much

Edited July 15, 2015 by whisty

[eFestivals]

Scott Redding in Moto 1 has a shit bike. Bradley Smith has Crutchlows old Yamaha second string factory bike & 6th in championship. Only 4 bikes can win it, the factory Hondas or Yamahas. Suzuki are back this year but are underpowered but great to see them back.

thanks for the update.

That suggests to me that Scrawny Ginger is doing better than Crutchlow did?

 

Oh and btw, I used to race those aircooled Yams in the 80s. Not the stuff on TV, just club racing along with many others, grids of up to 40 bikes or more of nutters as you call them. That was after they put learners down to 125 CC and there were loads of second hand 250s available for next to nothing. To this day remains the most exciting or frightening thing I ever did, I was shit at it in case anybody wonders but like all things, you get a better appreciation of what's actually going on, albeit in a small way. Sorry to ramble but did love those days so much

 

I said watercooled. It was the LC250's or LC350's, I forget which. The bikes were provided by Yam and the riders drew their keys out of a hat.

 

(they were literally the road bikes, with a few bits and pieces taken off to avoid the track being covered in plastic when they crashed)

 

The racing was fantastic! I went to a race at Brands where the guy who won had fallen off mid-race and still got back to the front by having fewer brain cells than everyone else.

A mate of mine worked for Yam back then and had the pick of the bikes and access to all of the Yam tuning info ... so, for example, chopping out the bottom of the air-filter box on my bike (XS1100) added an extra 10(ish - I forget) bhp, and a 2mm hole drilled in the underside of the exhaust added another 10(ish)bhp - who needs to spend a fortune on tuning shops and upgrades?

Edited July 15, 2015 by eFestivals

[whisty]

thanks for the update.

That suggests to me that Scrawny Ginger is doing better than Crutchlow did?

 

 

I said watercooled. It was the LC250's or LC350's, I forget which. The bikes were provided by Yam and the riders drew their keys out of a hat.

 

 

Oops, yes meant to say watercooled, LC250 I raced and remember the series with keys from hat very well. Prob have some pics in a box somewhere. At least i have a 3 pic series of me falling off at Brands and breaking my wrist, taking the current champ of Brands off with me, he was less that impressed but f it, it was a practice day & I was a novice but falling off coming out of Druids was really embarrassing, most people mess up up on entry or mid corner, not coming out of the corner! I only broke my wrist due to trying to stand up whilst sliding along at who knows what speed. Kinda like that jumping off a bus thing when it's going too fast, being an idiot is easy

 

Club racing was essentially the same as the TV series. Bike had to be as per production, with no external dimensions changed. Could tweak a few things but not much. Gave everybody a chance as kept costs relatively down.

 

Ginger is falling off a bit less than Crutchlow did & he's beating his team mate which Crutchlow struggled to do 

Edited July 15, 2015 by whisty

[The Nal]

Two excellent documentaries on the 500cc era

 

[whisty]

Great ^^^, thanks

[whisty]

Anybody going to catch Lorenzo I wonder!

[The Nal]

Anybody going to catch Lorenzo I wonder!

 

Nicely setup for Silverstone now!

[The Nal]

Rossi is unstoppable in the rain!

[whisty]

Rossi is unstoppable in the rain!

 

Yep, master in the wet. Shame a few of the others fell off, might have given Rossi a bit more breathing space points wise had they stayed on. Shout for Danny Kent winning Moto3 by a long chalk, around 70 points in the lead, looking good for him barring injury.

[The Nal]

Next race in San Marino is huge, just huge. From the last 7 races there - 3 wins for Rossi and yep, 3 wins for Jorge!

[The Nal]

Looking forwar to this. Out today. Available to order on Sky if you have the Sky box hooked up to the internet.

 

[whisty]

Next race in San Marino is huge, just huge. From the last 7 races there - 3 wins for Rossi and yep, 3 wins for Jorge!

 

Rossi came out of that one so lucky, was so disappointed by the tyre choice that I almost missed 2 brits on the podium, possibly for the 1st time ever. 

[The Nal]

Rossi came out of that one so lucky, was so disappointed by the tyre choice that I almost missed 2 brits on the podium, possibly for the 1st time ever. 

 

Couldn't believe it! How bad did Yamaha fuck up?!

 

And yeah, very lucky. Although you could argue other riders falling off, like Marquez last time, isn't lucky. Marquez fell off chasing Rossi and Jorge fell off yesterday trying to catch up after a tactical shit sandwich from Yamaha.

[whisty]

Looking forwar to this. Out today. Available to order on Sky if you have the Sky box hooked up to the internet.

 

 

What a cracker, up there with Closer to the Edge and Senna as the best motorsport movie/docs I've seen. Could write for an hour about it and still have more to say. Good stuff, thanks for the heads up.

 

58

[The Nal]

What a cracker, up there with Closer to the Edge and Senna as the best motorsport movie/docs I've seen. Could write for an hour about it and still have more to say. Good stuff, thanks for the heads up.

 

58

 

Its great isn't it? As I said to you, even my missus enjoyed it! This is after years of "oh God not this again" when she sees me watching the GPs.

 

Now if they'll make another one after Rossi wins it all this year!

[whisty]

Haven't watched yet but know Rossi only has to come 2nd to Lorenzo in the remaining races to win. Looking good for him.

 

There are 2 other movies made by the same guy that made Hitting the Apex, they're just as good and take you back if you like that kind of thing, my memory is like that of a goldfish so good stuff for me