According to BSN, the Dept of Tourism and Leisure and the MMCC are scheduled to sign an agreement for the organisation of the Centenary and future TT races before the end of July, "having negotiated a number of changes to improve the running of the races". Wonder what those changes will be :?: :shock: :shock: :shock:

Well if they came to their senses they would try to make the fortnight a bit more varied. From what I have been hearing the bikes and races look like heats of the same race.
If MotoGP can have 250s and 125s it is just sad that the TT only has what the big teams tell them to have.
The public will soon get sick of production bikes whispering around albeit very quickly and skilfully ridden.
If you go to a motor sports event you want to hear a bit of noise and smell a bit of smell.
In essence you want a bit of variety.
They even have scooter races at Macau, it is about time the MMCC did their own thing and gave the public what the public want rather than cave in to commercial pressure.
We can only hope for a miracle.

Don the S100 has everthing but shhhhhh dont tell everybody.

If 125/250/400s are still good enough for the NW200 how come they're not good enough for the TT?

:idea: I'd like to see a 'catch-all' class for the above plus single cylinders. There are some fairly ingenious singles around at the moment - 450cc moto-x motors in 125 chassis for example. Be nice to see them at the TT again. Also, if any MGP runners fancied a go I'd allow them to without being banned from the Manx as per the Production TT.

So, how about it Paul?

By the way, not everything has to be prefixed 'Super' to appeal to us fans you know! But if you like you can call them Super-Lightweights..

"If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values ---------"
Martin Luther King Jr.

Don, I loved that quote!

It is good to see some sensible suggestions being made about the TT!
Yes, I have to say that I now look to my many TT memories to draw on when I visit. Remembering the great times against the wonderful backdrop that is the Isle of Man and its unique TT mountain course.
I love the island (we both do) and would enjoy a visit even without the racing.
As the racing gets more "samey" what is there to draw people apart from the Island itself?
I know that bookings are amazing for 2007, but genuienely fear for the long term.
As I am approaching retirement and may have to consider stopping soon, the decline in interest will help me to tear myself away.
But it shouldnt have been like that!!
I should be feeling devastated that I cant afford to go much longer.
But, am I?
No, not really.
It isnt too late, or is it?
Lets have some mixed classes, singles, prototypes (I just threw that in!) 125s , 250s and 400s. and is it out of the question to have Classic racing? SAFE Classic racing?
I dont know what else to say.......

MV

Pykey, The S100 even let unsafe, once or twice a year Holiday Racers like me ride, but dont tell Mr Porker that !!!!

I agree a bit more diversity is needed and it could be done. I went to Hengelo recently (where is that I hear cried aloud). In the Netherlands and it is not the big Hengelo you will find easily on the map but confusingly the little one, in Gelderland but nearby. A nightmare to get to by public transport but I got there. It is organised largely by the local farmers, a once a year event, and is a real road race and they had the lot - 125s, 250s, classics, supersports, Dutch superbikes and the 3 Nations Cup plus, for the first time, the Women's European Cup (big grid for that). No sidecars though, sadly. The local farmers put up stands in amongst their crops and the whole event is fantastic AND VARIED. Well worth a visit and the stands are free, I think, but it shows what a bit of local enthusiasm can do. One interesting problem for the racers amongst you. It had rained a lot for the 2 weeks prior to the event and rained immensly hard from the Friday night through practices on Saturday, until Sunday morning. How do you wheel a race bike 150m through unbelievable mud from a tent to the start line in a fit state to race???? I'll tell you how we did it later.

this sounds fascinating, jasjas...can we have a full report from you?

Well, I'd better await some suggestions from those here who race on the question of getting a bike to the start through the mud. I was merely there as "support" for a racer. Great fun though depite the rain and interesting getting the caravan, tent et al out of SUCH a muddy field. All credit to the local farmers though, although there must be some "official" input - Dutch ACU or whatever.

Cant understand why everyone keeps going on about the various classe of racing at the TT now , the racing here this year was absolutely first class the speeds are tremendous , the riders in general are more proffessional & fitter than at any time i can remember in all the years i have spectated . The preparation & presentation of all the machines is exemplary from sidecars to solos , everything is more proffessional .
Think all most people who constantly gripe about the lack of classes are simply missing sound , nothing else , i remember from the early seventies probably up to the mid seventies , all you ever heard around here was the sound of TZ Yamahas , mainly 350s . The classes where filled with TZs , the 250 , 350 & also Senior TT & even Formula 750 where dominated by TZ Yamahas with the odd Triumph or BSA which was languishing at the back of the field to break the monotony of Yamaha engines , at the time the sound of a four stroke on the pace would be music to everyones ears .
Now the situation is reversed the field is made up of all four stroke motors so what ? This should not matter the races are all about speed & reliability & ultimately cost to the ones with pockets not as deep as others .
The strokers are expensive to run less reliable & most of the ones we see in Ireland & the UK are all a few years old . The fields are not big as was pointed out to me after Southern , there where 250s but not many .
The 400s are not even produced anymore so they would be a non starter at th TT .
Think the balance is pretty good at the moment , there will probably be anothe race on the card next year , would imagine it will be a Superstock 600 or something .
The TT ultimately has to follow to a degree what the manufacturers produce & sell & the classes run usually reflect what the manufacturers ar turning out .At the end of the day , they want people to go out & buy proven machines which have shown reliability & can be bought as replicas by all who see the event .
My opinion for what its worth .

I agree with Shaun. For a while the racing used to be dominated by 2 strokes, now it's the turn of the 4strokes, who know's what it will be in 10years time.

http://www.sinclairc5.com/

You are probably right Shaun, but nostalgia for really loud exhausts and that beautiful smell is hard to shake off.
Perhaps if the organisers could negotiate an increase in the allowable sound levels us old whingers would be appeased.
Don't forget, the older we get the less we can hear!

"Nostalgia isn't what it used to be."
Peter De Vries

Hi Don i fully understand & appreciate the sound you are talking about , was only young in the sixties when the 250 Honda six , Benellis , etc where in the prime of there racing era however i have heard the sounds & they are with out doubt awesome , i agree open pipes on the current bikes would be brill , however we know that health & safety & do gooders wont allow this .
My own personal favourite sound to this day is standing at the top of Bray Hill on a clear sunny night & listening to the BMW Rennsport sidecars making there way out through Union Mills superb , the engine notes give away every twitch of the outfit .
I also have a recording of Florian Camathias going in & out of Governors when he had the Gilera motor in his sidecar wow , mind blowing .
Sound is good & the sound of all todays machines is more or less the same but i suppose we have to live with that .
Anyway talking hard of hearing i am only 44 & have two hearing aids , listened to to much Punk Rock music when young , even more reason for them to turn the exhausts up . Cheers Shaun.

First of all, to reply to Shaun Hogg, I agree, this year's TT was fantastic and I wasn't knocking it or any others. Just giving a little known real road race in Holland an airing. Perhaps I should have started a new thread. But also, it's true to say there still are 125s about because that is what you have to learn on, so maybe they could race 4 stroke 125s, but I know nothing of the feasibility of that, so let others put me in my place. To answer The Witch, you can see loads of photos of Hengelo if you search Hamove.nl - sorry, don't know how to put the proper site address on here. It's all in Dutch but look for Wegraces and foto's and you should get there. As for getting through the mud in tact, clingfilm - around the tyres and the rider's boots and we got him to the start mud free. Cracking circuit and big crowds despite the weather. Well worth a visit.

Shaun.

NOW you are talking!!
Its funny that you mention Bray and listenting to Rennsports.
That for me is still in the top 3 or 4 sounds to stir the TT memory!
..and waht better place to experience it.
You got the full blast as they bucked their way down the hill followed by a gap whan all seemed to go quite. But then......?
If you were lucky, you could hear them well on the way to Ballacraine.
My very first TT sound memory was as i arrived for my first TT in 1967.
(Yes Ian, I know "amateur!")
It was abota from Liverpool at about midnight.
As we came within sight of the Island in the beautiful morning sunlight (no
honest!) there were the unmistyakable sounds of works 500 MV and HONDA. I will never forget that moment and the fact that the sound could be heard so far out to sea! I am told it could be sometimes heard in the Lake District!
I am truly grateful to have experienced those years and am also grateful to be still going.
Dont get me wrong Shaun, I am not decrying the modern bikes. Just nostalgic for the old sounds.
By the way. Thanks for putting me in touch with Ralphy Dawson and the lovely Dena.
I dont know if he has mentioned our meet, but for me it was amazing.
Rolling back the years.
A I stepped (nay struggled) out of the car the banter was instant!
Me "how long have you had that white hair Dawson?"
Ralph "how long have you had that limp Mikey?!"
Me "Limp what?"

...and so it went on.
I wish we could meet more often.
I guess I had better try to get across?

Thanks again Shaun