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TT Legends — Episode 5: The Isle of Man TT, Part 2

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It’s Wednesday, so that means another installment of the “TT Legends” documentary. For Episode Five, we find the boys still at the Isle of Man TT, the namesake for the Honda TT Legends team.

2012 was a particularly eventful year for the TT, as Simon Andrews escaped with his life in a harrowing crash, the Senior TT was cancelled, for the first time ever on account of rain, and John McGuinness finally won a Superstock TT race.

As usual, the episode is a great watch, and this time around things focus pretty heavily on John McGuinness (we even get a glimpse of him on his electric superbike, the Mugen Shinden).

With 20 TT wins to his name now, McPint will be looking to make further progress on Joey Dunlop’s record during the 2014 outing. Standing in his way will be a bevy of powerhouse riders, including the recently announced Michael Dunlop, who will be racing with a factory-backed BMW S1000RR.

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Electrics to Compete Against Gas Bikes at the Southern 100

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The ACU (governing body of motorcycle races in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, and Isle of Man) along with the Southern 100 Club (the organization behind the Southern 100 road race on the Isle of Man) have seen it fit to allow electric motorcycles to compete alongside petrol-powered machines at this year’s Southern 100 road race. Booyah!

Accordingly, Darvill Racing will be the first team to enter an electric bike alongside the current crop of internal combustion machines, and will campaign Brammo’s eSuperStock and TTXP2 machine at the other Manx road race.

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TT Legends — Episode 4: The Isle of Man TT, Part 1

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We are now halfway through with the “TT Legends” documentary, with today’s fourth of eight installments featuring the venerable Isle of Man TT. Part one of two, Episode Four introduces one of the most iconic races in motorcycling.

Over 100 years old, every motorcycle enthusiast should make a pilgrimage to the Isle of Man — the only downside is that once you go, you will want to go again, and again, and again…

Raced on city streets, with speeds hitting over 200 mph down the Sulby Straight, it is easy to see why Honda Pro Racing’s factory road racing and endurance squad borrows its name from the TT.

Featuring some of the best IOMTT riders on its team, to keep things honest, the Isle of Man TT is really where the Honda TT Legends team shines. Enjoy!

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Superlatively “The World’s Most Awesome Road Race”

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Monster Energy doesn’t really have a reputation for being understated, so we should probably cut them some slack when “The World’s Most Awesome Road Race” is the title of the their four-and-half-minute tribute to the Isle of Man TT. After all if you have seen TT in person, you will probably agree with Monster’s assessment. As the kids say, it’s cray.

The title sponsor for the two Supersport races, and the personal sponsor to a number of riders, namely the King himself John McGuinness, Monster Energy is a great supporter of this iconic road race, and has been doing its part to help cross-polinate athletes with the Manx race, so it’s good to see them promoting the sport even further with videos like this.

If you are like us and going through a bit of Isle of Man TT withdrawal, here is a little something more to help you ease those pangs. A video of the “most awesome” road race is after the jump.

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Trackside Tuesday: From Over the Hedge

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The Isle of Man TT is widely acknowledged as the most demanding motorcycle road race on earth for both rider and machine.  For a motorsport photographer the 37.75 mile course offers a wealth of opportunities as well as a unique challenge.

The opportunities are obvious: stunning scenery, spectacular jumps and spectators literally within arms-reach of the riders as they blast through towns and villages.

It goes without saying that capturing a sharp image of a 200bhp motorcycle can be tricky even when they are not moving particularly quickly.  In my opinion, the difficulty level at the TT is greater due to the sheer speed the bikes are travelling at.

The key to successfully photographing the TT has nothing to do with technical ability or gear, it is, as with most things in life, down to experience – although a bit of location planning and local knowledge doesn’t hurt either.

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Trackside Tuesday: Do Motorcycles Dream of Electric Sheep?

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Now the dust has settled on another TT, a look back over the numerous pages of lap times and race results can only tell us so much. With so many incredible stories to be told it is difficult to choose one for this article.

From the blatantly obvious, such as; Dunlop’s incredible four wins, McGuinness’ new outright lap record or Ian Lougher rounding out his career on the Mountain course, which spanned four decades, tallying nine wins plus an additional nineteen podiums.

To the equally awe-inspiring, like; David Johnson’s impressive return to the island on privateer machinery, Dave Madsen-Mygdal completing his 100th TT race, and the first ever Chinese competitor at the TT, the likeable Cheung Wai-On.

Above all these, one team’s story caught my eye – the Buckeye Current team from the Ohio State University’s College of Engineering, whose Honda CBR1000RR-based electric motorcycle was tackling the Mountain course.

Consisting of a number of students from various science and engineering programs, the team’s RW-2 bike was the sole American entry from an educational institute and was pitting itself against three other teams from similar institutes and six non-collegiate teams from across the globe.

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Dainese’s The TT Trilogy – Part 3: The Legend

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The final installment in Dainese’s TT Trilogy, “The Legend” appropriately features famous World Superbike racer Carl Fogarty. Talking first about The Fairy Bridge and the supersitituions that motorcycle racers have, Fogarty goes on to explain how important the Isle of Man TT is to him, as a former racer of the course.

We couldn’t agree more with his assessment of how laid back and approachable the TT paddock is for fans and racers — it truly is the best part of the two-week long show. With famous names trolling Glencrutchery Road every day, it isn’t just movie magic to see a legend like Foggy talking to riders, and signing a few autographs for fans. Mega.

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On-Board Joey Dunlop’s Honda RS850R at the 1983 IOMTT

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We’ve just about wrapped up our coverage of the 2013 Isle of Man TT, but I wanted to leave you with this final video. On-board with Joey Dunlop during the Formula 1 practice session for the 1983 Isle of Man TT, you can hear the roar of Joey’s Honda V4 RS850R production racer, and watch one of the greatest riders ever on the Mountain Course.

With its ultra-short stroke, titanium valves, magnesium case covers, and a reported 135hp at the rear wheel, the RS850R is the machine that Joey took to his first win with the Japanese brand — a landmark occasion, which HRC just celebrated the 30th anniversary of at this year’s TT, with John McGuinness wearing Joey’s old livery.

We can’t think of a better way to end the TT season, nor can we think of a better way to remember Joey. Listen carefully as he narrates the course, you are listening to a true legend of the sport.

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Dainese’s The TT Trilogy – Part 2: The Race

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The second installment of Dainese’s little Isle of Man TT video series, we get to hear from Milwaukee Yamaha rider Conor Cummins. “You should be fully focused on the road ahead, because it bites hard,” says Cummins in the video. No rider should know the truth of those words better than Conor, as in the 2010 TTT the Manx man had a horrific crash that he was lucky to survive.

Back to full-health now, Cummins clocked a third in the Lightweight TT, a fifth in the Superbike TT, and a fifteenth in the second Supersport TT. The fastest Manx rider ever around the Isle of Man’s Mountain Course, Cummins is the pride of the Isle, and a serious contender in any race he enters.

However, Milwaukee Yamaha didn’t get the results they wanted this year, but you can’t rule Cummins out for 2014. As he says himself,  “we’re not going racing to finish second. We’re going to win.”

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Video: Still Think Electric Motorcycles Are Slow?

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The progress in the last five years on electric motorcycles has been astounding. Taking their first laps around the Isle of Man TT Mountain Course, a 87.434 mph pace was the best an electric motorcycle could do at the prestigious road race in 2009 — a pace that was on par with the 50cc record set in 1971. Since that time though, the development of these machines has grown by leaps and bounds.

In just five years after the first laps were taken by electric motorcycles at Snaefell, these machines have grown their average lap speeds by over 20 mph at the TT Zero race, setting a new record of 109.675 mph in 2013, and boasting a rate of improvement of roughly 5 mph each year since 2009.

If hitting 142.2 mph down the Sulby Straight speed trap wasn’t further proof of the speeds these bikes are achieving, maybe some visual evidence will help support the notion. Checkout the on-board videos of Michael Rutter (on the 2013 MotoCzysz E1pc) and John McGuinness (on the 2013 Mugen Shinden Ni) after the jump.

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