An Opinion

I feel some what kinship to Burt Munroe d/t what the P!! did to me and others and came very close to dropping out school to be a gangsta to fund racing development in between jail or prison. I do not feel in same league as IOM racers risking it all for fame and fortune but do have a sense of their terror and exhilaration.

To get what I want out of Peel will require handling more energy in turns than the best moderns can, which have evolved most a decade since Peel project past point of no return. It is mind bending to contemplate and mind dissolving to me to remember those G levels and mind evaporating what might be next. Wonder about what it'll be like on non ice heaved and truck pounded patched gaped surfaces w/o rails or bluff faces a few feet from apexes on honest to gosh full street tires with some softness instead of hard wearing compound.

If you ever get a chance to examine race tires, check to see if any of them have skin tags drawn out from groove edges ~1/8", instead of abraded away like wire brushed or melted into greasy globs from a torch. Another tattle tale to look for is to see exact impression of road texture grit imprinted w/o any smearing of the details. This may be possible on the newest moderns with traction control that I've not had chance to observe yet. In between states will show slight pocket marks with tiny melt ridges smearing like finger nails in wax.

Hobot ,If you have terror during a race, you are dead. I don't believe that riding on the IOM is much about terror, however I do think you would have a certain level of anxiety. If you watch that video 'Race of the Power Bikes', it mentions that Dave Croxford lost track of where he was during a lap of the island, and I think that is the real danger. If you look at the modern clips, lining the corners up must be done by memory. You couldn't possibly do it by reacting as they come at those speeds. I know that when Australian rider Maurie Quincey went to the island in the fifties, he spent the months on the boat learning the circuit from a map. Doing a 100 MPH lap on a 50 BHP manx would still be difficult due to the high cornering speeds on the tight stuff. And Quincey ended up in Noble's hospital. Watching the superbikes do it is horrible, I know what would happen if I tried it.

As far as Burt Munroe is concerned, how many of them do you want me to name ? The world has changed and that is something that worries me. We seem to have lost our resourcefulness. There is hope however - Kenny Cummins and Herb Becker and some others are great. Learn by watching them. I think we have to fight for our sport or it will disappear. Then we will all end up playing computer games and getting clogged arteries. We will be good little robots.

Ugh, Alan, bravery vs brains splattered is something I have to face every time I ride as I know you give up full control once in the saddle. The only track I was on had blind dips with turns below crests out of sight so learned to aim at stuff in the distance, a sort of leap of faith you remembered it right before hand. This only 'race' on track experience/schooling, I ended up out zipping instructors and racers practicing on real race bikes, which both delighted and scared the shit out of me. What scares me most is others riding dangerous things they don't realized just how freaking close to the edge they are. It don't take me very long to know how my ride behaves in various ways just short of crashing, out of control, that way most the scare is avoided afterwards. It scares me to watch what moderns/pilots can do on IOM and other tracks, and they are getting really good at laying way over and traction control allowing WOT coming out of turns into opens leaving rubber strips w/o falling down. This only leaves the laying down of more power entering up to apexes to get ahead of em, then back to power/wt/resistance contest. Narrow and dangerous is routine play for me, on capable cycles, so think I've what it takes to race, but only want to attempt it on Peel, as I feel I'd lose it on anything else old or new.

acotrel said:

I do think you would have a certain level of anxiety.

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I say it's the right amount of anxiety that keeps you alive and fast.

Anxiety is not knowing what is going to happen next that could hurt. Elation is finding out w/o pain. The instant before finding out feels similar to a hot as fire or cold as dry ice branding iron up the spine. If that works out well then one resets up the tolerance level for next Spike of hot as fire cold as dry ice fear-wisdom barrier. Could make ya an adrenalin junkie that forces trip outs to power crash into the ground for kix. I know I can't handle modern to do this painlessly and pretty sure I'd die trying for it on the famous vintage racers.