Well i am going to throw my thoughts into the great strokers debate & wether it should be re instated or not .
Firstly i have never raced a bike although i was involved when my brother raced , i have no real idea on technicalities of bikes , & i dont know how much money is generated during the TT , i know how much can be made in the Hotel industry having been brought up in one , but i dont know how much the goverment banks , but hey they are entitled to make some money somewhere , at the end of the day this is still regarded by many as the greatest free show on earth .
Ok the boats are a litle OTT as some may say are the flight charges , but go to any big festival anywhere in the world & its no different .
I have spectated at every race from when my parents took me as a baby up till this years event , the only one missed being of all TT s the millenium TT due to working off the Island & taking exams at the same time , which i failed anyway , mind elsewhere methinks .
Anyway back to the issue , two stokes should they be here now , in my opinion no they should not , dont get me wrong i loved to watch the strokers as much as any road race fan some of the races involving these machines where awesome , in the mid seventies you had GP spec equivalent TZs being raced here by Mortimer , Williams , Tom Herron , Takazumi Katayama & a few others all who too in the GPs a well as he roads .
The early seventies onwards the programme was stacked with TZ Yamahas in all classes , you could run a 350 TZ in the Senior , The Junior & The Formula 750 / Classic race , throw in a 250 & perhaps a proddy three bikes top , which is no different to now , maybe two would suffice now , but as is the norm the top riders will have one for each class & each
spec . Which has never been any different .
One comment many are making is all the racing is the same , well if had been here in 74 you would have winessed Phil Carpenter winning the Senior on a TZ 350 , Charlie Williams the 250 on a Yam , Clive Horton the 125 0n a Yam , Tony Rutter the 350 on a Yam & Chas Mortimer the F750 on yes you guessed a 350 TZ , a real mixed bag there , & that was the diet of racing for many years until the 4 strokes started appearing , or should i say re appearing , as they had already been here en masse before the first two stroke armada in the mid sixties .
Dont know if any of the people who are moaning now would have moaned then , or are some just getting a little old & dont like change .
This years event was one of the best for years & not just because of the weather . The entry was as good if not bettere than it has been for a long time , every single manufacturer had top representaion on the grid some like Hawk testing the water out & i am sure coming back next year .
The quality of newcomers recruited over the last couple of years has been outstanding Cameron Donald Wow! Les Shand , Jeremy Toye & fellow American Mark Miller this year , Mark Buckley , & many more .
I spoke to Ian Lougher on the friday after the Senior & he coud not believe that he had just lapped in excess of 128 & still only managed fourth place .
The Centeneray promises to be even better with more teams possibly entering as well as the ones already here .
More top newcomers as well .
Why on earth would they want to re introduce a class that is slowly but surely dwindling , the numbers are not there , the depth of class of the field is not there , most of the bikes are a few years old .
My mate Shorty was running a 400 Honda here a couple of years ago & lying in around third place when it went bang , the bike was 10 years old .
This is the TT where the very latest the manufacturers produce should be on the grid , obviously Moto GP bikes will never race here but we have WSBK & BSB spec bikes here which is brilliant .
A classic race is a definite no no the MGP runs one & very successfully . Singles where a waste of time , there proggression was such that the first race won by Moodie in 94 was the quickest of the six singles run up to 2000 .
No matter what people say the races here will be & have always been swayed by the manufacturers products of the current generation , & in spite of what some think the TT needs the works teams & manufacturers to carry on supporting the event otherwise it will become another MGP , not that there is anything wrong with the MGP it is a fantasic event run well by the MMCC but a different animal to the TT .
Personally i think the format is pretty good at the moment , the racing this year was asolutely superb . Speeds fantastic , think Paul & Milky have got there eye on the ball , maybe some of the older members dont like to see young pups getting in & shaking it a bit .
Anyway thats my opinion , uneducated , untechnical , just what i think .
PS someone mentioned the sidecars in one of the earlier postings , the sidecars ae an integral & much needed part of the TT long may they keep going .
Cheers Shaun