My opinion on this has always been very clear, I like competition and I like the Patons and MVs, but I personally think the huge disparity in speed between a the manxes etc. and the Patons/MVs is down to a fundamental problem with the rules.......

The classic rules have always allowed 2 strokes upto 1967 and four strokes upto 1972. The reasons for these dates were to allow the people with Commandos etc (upto 1972) to race in the 750 class whilst stopping really fast 2-strokes from beating all the manx nortons, aermachis, seeleys etc in the other classes, since the development of these bikes had completely stopped by the late 60s. This rule worked perfectly because nobody was racing 'exotic' machines at the time.

The problem is that people are now replicating these 'exotic' machines and are looking at the rules and thinkning "what shall we make".........and the obvious answer is the most technologically advanced Paton, MV etc that the rules allow.....i.e the one that was being raced in 1972. The problem is that these bikes had been developed far beyond a manx norton because they were competing against really fast 2-strokes which are currently forbidden by the rules. Therefore they are racing in a completely different class to what they were developed to race in. Like flying a Harrier Jump jet in a battle against a sptifire.

The same goes for the honda K4 it was rubbish for racing when it was made because it couldnt get anywhere near a 350 Yamaha, but take away the 350 yamahas and they have a substancial advantage (though not as substancial as a Paton or MV).

I propose that the rules should be modified to make the cutoff date for everything 1967, and allow exceptions for special cases (commandos in the 750 class for example) then Paton would have to come back with a 2-valve head, the MV may have to change a bit (dont know much about MVs) and all the races would be fairer. Either that or allow 1972 2 strokes like oversize aircooled 350 yamahas, TR500 suzukis, and Konigs into the race.....as well as replica of full factory watercooled 2-strokes......