iom trip

more from tonys collection.
the Pint was being enjoyed outside the glue pot, well known to visitors  to the TT and southern 100 and mgp

i.o.m trip

so i was away in the isle of man, capital of road racing. called to see Tony East, he has a fantastic collection of vintage motorcycles and is a great guy. He opened his collection for me to see at 9am on a monday morning. All his cycles are runners, as he said "no ghosts in my collection". heres some shots, more to follow

to the isle of man

off to the isle of man on saturday. home of the greatest motorcycle racing in the world, the TT races. if youve never been to the TT you dont know what youre missing

stolen--but now back

Bsaroos stolen A7 is found and in the process of being picked up. Great result.

thruxton

nicked from rocket garage, great site for cafe racers

this is a beauty

TT heroes-Geoff Duke

Lancashire born Geoff Duke came to prominence after winning the 1949 Senior Clubmans TT and the Senior Manx Grand Prix. He was snapped up for the Norton works team for the 1950 TT, finishing second in the Junior and shattering the lap and race records on winning the Senior! He took three more victories for Norton before changing to Gilera in 1953. In 1955 he won the Senior, and was declared the first rider to lap at 100mph, but this was corrected two laps later to 99.97mph. His final race was the 1959 Junior when he finished fourth on a Norton. Duke, a six-times TT winner and six-times World Champion took the sport to a whole new level with his professionalism. He was the first rider to wear revolutionary one-piece leathers, was crowned Sportsman of the Year in 1951, awarded the RAC Seagrave Trophy and, in recognition of his services to motorcycling, was awarded the O.B.E. in 1953.

stolen

the world has plenty of scumbags. one of them stole bsaroos A7 , if you see it or are offered suss parts email me at mark.kenyon1@virgin.net
description:
My BSA A7 was stolen last night/early morning I live in Tonbridge Kent. bike details are Reg TSL 120,engine number CA7 4727 frame GA7 6363 colour green tls front brake alloy rims alloy head.

 this is a daily ride for the past 20 years. hope it gets back to him

beemer cafe racer

today is a bmw day by the look of it, this cafe racer may not be a brit but it is a lovely bit of kit

beemers

i like these..

nice bits of kit, inspiration for a beemer bobber perhaps?

deserted filling stations

Thers a haunted quality to desrted places....

the pumps at this one look as if they are looking up and waiting for something...

cafe racers

TT Heroes

Hailwood first raced on 22 April 1957, at Oulton Park. Barely 17, he finished in 11th place, but was soon posting successful results.^[1] In 1958, he teamed with Dan Shorey to win the Thruxton 500 endurance race. By 1961, Hailwood was racing for an up and coming Japanese factory named Honda. Riding a four-stroke, four-cylinder 250 cc Honda, Hailwood won the 1961 250cc world championship.^[3] In 1962, Hailwood signed with MV Agusta and went on to become the first rider to win four consecutive 500cc World Championships.^[1][3] After his success with MV Agusta, Hailwood went back to Honda and won four more world titles in 1966 and 1967 in the 250 cc and 350 cc categories.^[1][3]

Honda RC162 as ridden by Hailwood in 1961

Mike Hailwood won the 1965 Hutchinson 100 Production race at the Silverstone racecourse on a BSA Lightning Clubman in heavy rain, beating the Triumph Racing Team's Bonnevilles. The 'Hutch' was the main production race of the season, so it was very important to manufactureres to establish the racing credentials of their latest range. Triumph Bonnevilles were ridden by World Champion Phil Read and ex works rider Percy Tait. BSA Lightning Clubmans were ridden by Hailwood (with a large number 1 on the fairing) and factory rider Tony Smith. Conditions were poor and Smith was out of the race at slippery Stowe Corner. With little regard for the rain, Hailwood was achieving laps of 83 mph (134 km/h) to establish his winning lead.^[4]
Hailwood is remembered for his accomplishments at the famed Isle of Man TT. By 1967, he had won 12 times on the island mountain course including three straight wins during the 1961 event,^[3] losing the fourth when his 350 AJS broke down with a broken gudgeon pin whilst leading. He won what many historians consider to be the most dramatic Isle of Man race of all time, the 1967 Senior TT against his great rival, Giacomo Agostini.^[1][5] In that race he set a lap record of 108.77 mph on the infamous Honda 500-4, that stood for the next 8 years.^[1][6]
On June 3, 1978, after an 11 year hiatus from motorcycling, Hailwood performed a now legendary comeback at the Isle of Man TT.^[1][2] Few observers believed the 38-year-old would be competitive after such a long absence. Riding a Ducati 900SS, he was not only competitive, but managed a hugely popular win.^[6][12][13] He raced the following year at the Isle of Man TT before retiring for good at the age of 39. In that final Isle of Man appearance, Hailwood rode a two-stroke Suzuki RG500 to victory in the Senior TT.^[6] He then opted to use that same 500cc bike in the Unlimited Classic and diced for the lead with Alex George (1100cc Honda) for all 6 laps in yet another TT epic. A minute or two apart on the road, they were rarely a few seconds apart on time each lap, Hailwood losing by just 2 seconds.
Here was a rider from the 'old-school' (he was the first to complete all 6 laps of the magnificent yet notorious Mountain Circuit at over 100mph on a single cylinder 500cc machine) coming to terms with vastly different machinery after 11 years away - the tyres, frame, brakes and engine power having undergone a quantum leap in capability, even the full-face helmet and brightly coloured padded leathers must have seemed strange - and yet still being able to get as a much from it as any rider around.

In 1968, Honda pulled out of Grand Prix racing, but paid Hailwood £50,000 (equivalent to over £620,000 or US$1.1m at 2006 prices) not to ride for another team, in expectation of keeping him as its rider upon return to competition.^[1][7] With no other factory racing teams available to compete against MV Agusta, Hailwood decided to pursue a career in auto racing.

TT heroes

giacomo agostini, my boyhood hero from the iom TT races:
Giacomo Agostini is considered perhaps the greatest Grand Prix rider of all time. Over the course of a remarkable career of 17 years, the peerless Agostini won 15 world Grand Prix titles (8 in 500cc and 7 in 350cc), 12 Isle of Man TT crowns, an astonishing 122 Grands Prix, and he rarely ever fell off his machine during all those years. He became motorcycling's first genuine world superstar and, whether riding a 350cc or 500cc, he was nearly always the man to beat whenever he took up his position on the starting grid. In America, Agostini won the Daytona 200 in 1974, bringing unprecedented recognition to the race.
Agostini cut his racing teeth in European hillclimb events (racing up hillside roads, not the American style of hillclimbing) before being offered a place on Morini's works team in 1964. He immediately began to impress and was soon given a world championship ride by MV Agusta as understudy to Mike Hailwood. Hailwood became something of a mentor to him

safety first

not always a bad thing..but we should be able to chooseif we belt up or lid up ourselves