IOM TT 2026 Carnage

The TT does need a complete review. What’s the point of racing 200+BHP bikes if the riders can’t use the power that’s available and they won’t ride them in anything but perfect conditions. Dean Harrison chose to race the Superstock in preference to the Superbike because it was easier to ride fast.
Steve Hislop apparently told Moly back around 1994 the solos were getting too fast when the lap record was 124mph. Now just about everyone is recording those lap times or above.
 
Mike Hailwood , when he was racing the Honda 500-4 at the Island , reckoned 90 bhp was the ideal power output for the IoM !!

He also reckoned the 500 was too much of a handful , and the 297 cc four was the much better prospect .

This was nearly sixty years ago , with sixty years ago tyres , suspension , brakes and chassis of course .........

.... and road surfaces .... I wonder how many corners have been eased or sections " improved " over the years to cope with modern ( everyday ) traffic ........
 
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Andy J said:
The TT does need a complete review. What’s the point of racing 200+BHP bikes if the riders can’t use the power that’s available and they won’t ride them in anything but perfect conditions. Dean Harrison chose to race the Superstock in preference to the Superbike because it was easier to ride fast.
Steve Hislop apparently told Moly back around 1994 the solos were getting too fast when the lap record was 124mph. Now just about everyone is recording those lap times or above.
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Reminds me of when the superbikes were lapping Donnington & Assen quicker than the GP500 two strokes. Dunlop on the Paton is doing 124 mph laps, absolutely amazing to think it’s a 650 Twin.
 
And with a dual shock rear end. Top speeds on the straights are one thing; I wonder what percentage of the lap average comes from speed increases on the straights versus speed increases on the bends, or even if it's possible to measure that separately. The former affects the latter. It's interesting to see that the 300hp Turbo Kawasaki had a higher top speed but a slower lap speed. Food for thought.
 
The RVF750s were geared for approaching 200mph back in the 1990’s so it’s just a case of going faster just about everywhere. When you watch the top guys drifting, sliding, backing in etc and Davy Todd getting his elbow down over the tramlines at the Bungalow, it’s not unlike watching riders at MotoGP/Superbike circuits.
 
Andy J said:
The RVF750s were geared for approaching 200mph back in the 1990’s so it’s just a case of going faster just about everywhere. When you watch the top guys drifting, sliding, backing in etc and Davy Todd getting his elbow down over the tramlines at the Bungalow, it’s not unlike watching riders at MotoGP/Superbike circuits.
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When I first went it was the rule “ you don’t ride it like short circuit “ and not riding to the limit ( was it 9/10s quoted?) give it respect, only go fast enough to win and the one I hate, “throttle goes both ways.”To my mind Hislop & Fogarty changed all that by riding out of their skins, they raised the bar. I saw Hislop on the Norton, knee down, sliding, leaving a black line curb to curb- no one had seen that before..
Now, that’s how you have to ride. Jarno Saarinen did the same thing in the GPs, no going back.
 
The road was specially resurfaced for the event, a little used road in many ways, and people complain about money being spent on maintaining the TT Course which are some of the most used roads on the island.....
 
It was a tough TT. The racing is incredible, but when you hear about multiple fatalities, it really puts everything into perspective.
 
piranha-bro2 said:
People have been dying trying to climb mountains in the Himalayas for 100 years as well - lots of people. As the doc says, you know the risks and you openly accept them.
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There's a french expression: to whom does the crime profit?
Be it mountains or road racing, tourism mobilises a lot of money.
Paul
 

Not exclusively about the TT ........ and not particularly pleasant viewing either , for a number of reasons ...........

Roger " Foot in the door " Cook attempts to interview Vernon " I`ve received death threats " Cooper .

It would be nice to think things have improved since the days when the extremely unpleasant Cooper headed the ACU ...... ( Another Cock Up ) .........

The Dave Potter death and the subsequent actions taken were unforgivable .........

The horrible Brown / Huber accident ...... ( Brown mistakenly deciding to slipstream a coasting Huber ) ...... was , it could be said , more down to rider error than anything else ...... but again the actions taken in the immediate aftermath left much to be desired ........

Make your own minds up ............


( On a lighter note. ........ have a little smirk to yourself at 6 : 40 when the BBC adds some noisy motorbike sound effects to Horton`s GPZ 1100 ..... ) .......
 
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