Dennis Pogson wrote:

Currently The IOMSPC operates the modern Ben My Cree and a faster
SuperSeaCat2 which take 3.5hrs and 2hrs respectively for the 70-mile
crossing to/from Liverpool.

The attraction? Currently the Manx Grand Prix motor-cycle races and The IOM
TT races are far and away the finest motor-cycle races in the world,
attracting huge entries from enthusiasts desperate to try their luck on the
torturous mountain circuit.

I've spanner'd at the MGP and ridden on open roads, but never sailed
there, however:

"If Frederico Fellini ever gets a little farther out and wants to film a
truly bizarre spectacle taken from real life, he should bring his camera
crew and sound men into the cargo bay of the Isle of Man ferry on a
night when approximately 500 motorcycles are being cranked over or kick
started all at once, packed together in a steel room about the size of a
small gymnasium and lighted by a dim row of 40 watt light bulbs. The
microphones would pick up an ear splitting confusion of shrieking RDs,
high-revving unmuffled Fours, and the general chest-pounding thunder of
Ducati 900s, Norton 850s and 750s, Harleys, Triumphs, BSAs, BMWs and
piston slapping British 500 singles, all of it bouncing off the walls in
an incredible rising and falling wail. The camera crews would get
footage of several hundred leather-clad people flipping down face
shields and punching starter buttons, with others in the mob of bikes
heaving up and down on kickstarters like erratic pistons in some kind of
insane smoke machine, headlights flaring on to make a blanket of
brilliance and flashing chrome at the bottom layer of the smoke cloud.
They could catch the bikes launching themselves row by row up the ramp
into the dark night, people spinning their tires on the oil slick steel
ramp or catching traction in half-controlled wheelies. What no film
could capture is the mixed smell of Castrol R, several dozen brands of
two-stroke oil and all the other choking thick exhaust fumes, or the
instant, furnace-like heat given off by hundreds of motorcycles lighting
their engines in a confined space. Also, they'd have to film it through
the distorted star-burst pattern of a really scratched yellow face
shield, just to get the last effect of profound unreality... Our turn
came and we slithered up the ramp with a wave of other bikes. We landed
on the docks and the white gloves of a row of nearly invisible policemen
directed us onto Manx main street. We were on the Isle of Man."

Peter Egan [Cycle World Oct'82 v21,n10,p38]
http://www.deathstar.org/~flash/isleofm.html

I'd rather sail than race there, but like the OSTAR or Jester Challenge,
I'm not worthy enough to comment on those that choose to take part...

(Side note: I once sailed on the Ionian with a bike-racer-friend - I put
him on the helm and tweaked the sails for speed - he watched the log and
counted up from 4.9 to 6, to 7.4 knots. When the rail dipped; he
exclaimed "Whoo! We're in the groove now!" - I pointed out that in a
fortnight's time he'd be peaking at 170 mph at the MGP[0], and he
replied "Yeah, but this is *fast*!" ;-)

rgds, Alan
[0] this year he got a race average of 106.91mph.
--
99 Ducati 748BP, 95 Ducati 600SS, 81 Guzzi Monza, 74 MV Agusta 350
"Ride to Work, Work to Ride" SI# 7.067 DoD#1930 PGP Key 0xBDED56C5

(Alan Frame) wrote in news:1hkwrcp.lpinmb1x1zs7qN%
:

99 Ducati 748BP, 95 Ducati 600SS, 81 Guzzi Monza, 74 MV Agusta 350
"Ride to Work, Work to Ride" SI# 7.067 DoD#1930 PGP Key 0xBDED56C5


Back in the 60's I bought a Ducati 450 one cylinder beast. It had rear
view mirrors on it but we could never figure out why. You could never
see anything in mirrors bouncing up and down that hard on each stroke.
If you rode it 20 miles, you couldn't stand up by yourself to get off it.
The vibration was the best chick magnet we ever saw....(c;

Guzzis....I had a 700, 750 and my last one was an 850 police special I
bought from the Tampa Police Department for my winning sealed bid of $300
in fine condition, taken care of by a loving cop. They de-militarized
it, put new tyres, brakes, generator belt, plugs and points in it plus
fixed a few other "safety items" the police department wouldn't sell it
without fixing. I drove it for many years, selling it for far more than
I paid, even including maintenance.

Aren't Magneti Marelli electrics just so much fun to continuously
repair?!

Fed up with swapping starters, I took the last one into an auto starter
shop that had been in business since the Model A Ford was new. He took
one look at it and said, "It's a Fiat starter, but they've swapped the
brushes around so it would run backwards. That's why it has a pinion
solenoid." He swapped the brushes in a rebuilt Fiat starter and handed
it to me. "Try that and bring it back if it doesn't work." It was the
last starter problem I ever had with Mother Goose....

It ended up with maintenance-free HONDA 750 handlebars and switches.
Problem solved. Other Guzzi enthousiasts were horrified. Fiat 850
points fit it, too...(c;

My father "borrowed" a Guzzi V-twin from a couple of dead Italian
soldiers in North Africa during the war. There were many of them running
great in Allied hands, prized because there was no water cooling in the
desert. It was like a little pickup truck with a motorcycle front
end....like those little Italian delivery vans with motorcycle handlebars
I saw in Naples in the '60's. I think they were 2-stroke Vespas, though.

Ok, back to boats. Thanks for the great story. I'd like another Guzzi,
but can't see paying the same for one as a new Lexus.



--
There's amazing intelligence in the Universe.
You can tell because none of them ever called Earth.

Alan Frame wrote:
Dennis Pogson wrote:

Currently The IOMSPC operates the modern Ben My Cree and a faster
SuperSeaCat2 which take 3.5hrs and 2hrs respectively for the 70-mile
crossing to/from Liverpool.

The attraction? Currently the Manx Grand Prix motor-cycle races and
The IOM TT races are far and away the finest motor-cycle races in
the world, attracting huge entries from enthusiasts desperate to try
their luck on the torturous mountain circuit.

I've spanner'd at the MGP and ridden on open roads, but never sailed
there, however:

"If Frederico Fellini ever gets a little farther out and wants to
film a truly bizarre spectacle taken from real life, he should bring
his camera crew and sound men into the cargo bay of the Isle of Man
ferry on a night when approximately 500 motorcycles are being cranked
over or kick started all at once, packed together in a steel room
about the size of a small gymnasium and lighted by a dim row of 40
watt light bulbs. The microphones would pick up an ear splitting
confusion of shrieking RDs, high-revving unmuffled Fours, and the
general chest-pounding thunder of Ducati 900s, Norton 850s and 750s,
Harleys, Triumphs, BSAs, BMWs and piston slapping British 500
singles, all of it bouncing off the walls in an incredible rising and
falling wail. The camera crews would get footage of several hundred
leather-clad people flipping down face shields and punching starter
buttons, with others in the mob of bikes heaving up and down on
kickstarters like erratic pistons in some kind of insane smoke
machine, headlights flaring on to make a blanket of brilliance and
flashing chrome at the bottom layer of the smoke cloud. They could
catch the bikes launching themselves row by row up the ramp into the
dark night, people spinning their tires on the oil slick steel ramp
or catching traction in half-controlled wheelies. What no film could
capture is the mixed smell of Castrol R, several dozen brands of
two-stroke oil and all the other choking thick exhaust fumes, or the
instant, furnace-like heat given off by hundreds of motorcycles
lighting their engines in a confined space. Also, they'd have to film
it through the distorted star-burst pattern of a really scratched
yellow face shield, just to get the last effect of profound
unreality... Our turn came and we slithered up the ramp with a wave
of other bikes. We landed on the docks and the white gloves of a row
of nearly invisible policemen directed us onto Manx main street. We
were on the Isle of Man."

Peter Egan [Cycle World Oct'82 v21,n10,p38]
http://www.deathstar.org/~flash/isleofm.html

I'd rather sail than race there, but like the OSTAR or Jester
Challenge, I'm not worthy enough to comment on those that choose to
take part...

(Side note: I once sailed on the Ionian with a bike-racer-friend - I
put him on the helm and tweaked the sails for speed - he watched the
log and counted up from 4.9 to 6, to 7.4 knots. When the rail dipped;
he exclaimed "Whoo! We're in the groove now!" - I pointed out that in
a fortnight's time he'd be peaking at 170 mph at the MGP[0], and he
replied "Yeah, but this is *fast*!" ;-)

rgds, Alan
[0] this year he got a race average of 106.91mph.

Wonderful description Alan, only someone who has experienced the spectacle
could adequately describe it like that!

My parents had a Brough Superior combination in the thirties and were
regulars at the TT Races.

Dennis.