Well, I guess I can't really call it a journey since, from my friend's farm house in north Shropshire to the Liverpool was all of 40 miles  However, an 0900 Thursday morning check in time and never having been to Liverpool meant that I had to get underway at the crack of dawn. Worried that I would miss the ferry, I hardly slept a wink that night. Before the sun had risen, I was underway to Liverpool. Due to my early departure, I beat the rush hour traffic and after a few wrong turns (no GPS) and with the helpful directions from a bus driver, I made it to the ferry docks with plenty of time to spare.

The two-wheeled eye candy began make an appearance as more bikes started to arrive.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The original sport touring bike, an R90S

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Laverda Triple

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Honda RC30

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


A beautifully restored Norton

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The Steam Packet ferry arrived, a high speed catamaran

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Just about every vehicle on board was a motorcycle

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The ferry had us arriving in Douglas in little under 3 hours. It was a bright blue day and since it was too early to check into my hotel, there was nothing left to do but head off for a lap of the TT course  If you're like me, having grown up reading accounts of past TT races in the magazines then, the names of the course sections are embedded in your memory banks. With a mixture of awe and reverence, you pass sections that you recognize from having watched so many TT documentarys on VCR.

One of the many hairball sections of the course, Rhencullen. The fast blokes keep the throttle pinned WFO through here

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


By the time I made it to Ballaugh Bridge, I had worked up a bit of a thirst so, nothing in it but to pull over at the Raven Pub for a pint of Okell's 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


I sat on the veranda sipping beer and watching all the cool bikes ride by. Across the road, I noticed a plaque embedded in a house.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Closer inspection revealed the plaque was a tribute to German factory BMW rider, Karl Gall who was killed at this spot in 1939

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


After finishing off the pint, I continued on the TT course headed towards Douglas. At the end of Sulby Straight, some cheeky bugger had modified a 5 MPH speed limit sign to read 180 MPH 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


At Parliament Square in Ramsey, more bikes were parked up to watch and pose

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Heading up the Mountain Section looking back towards Ramsey

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Arriving back in Douglas, there is more eye candy parked along the promenade in front of the numerous hotels. Notice required oil puddles

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


There was no racing on Friday with a late practice scheduled for 1800 hours so, with the fine weather still in place, I set off to explore the island. Heading north from Peel along the west coast road with the Irish Sea in the background. Note to self: next time, don't book a hotel on the Douglas promenade but try to find a nice quiet B&B in the countryside. At 0500 hours Friday morning, the ferry arrived from the mainland and disgorged hundreds of roaring bikes onto the Douglas promenade. So much for sleeping in 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


A couple riders lean into the Gooseneck signaling the beginning of the climb up the Mountain Section and the beginning of no speed limits

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Blasting out of the Gooseneck

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Looking back towards Guthrie's Memorial with Ramsey in the distance

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Kate's Cottage

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Creg-ny-Ba marks the end of the Mountain Section. Speed limits back in force

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


I arrived back in Douglas late in the afternoon so, I decided to go by the grandstands to view the race preparations.

Parc ferme

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


A phalanx of Manx

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The array of wonderful machinery at the Manx GP is astounding. It is as if someone waved a magic wand and all the mythical bikes from your youth are recreated before your eyes in pristine condition.

The original Z1

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Or perhaps you prefer Castrol on your corn flakes

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


A tidy Honda cafe racer

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Serious Enfield

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Yoshimura power circa 1970s

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Not sure what it is but, too much for my blood 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


For the younger readers who may not know, back in the early 1980s, before the Japanese manufacturers got their act together in regards to chassis design, a small group of aftermarket chassis constructors rushed in to fill the void with exotic handcrafted frames. The Rickman brothers were former motocross racers who made dirt bike frames before venturing into the street bike scene

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Even exotica becomes commonplace at the Manx GP

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


One of the nice things about the Manx as well as the TT is the laid back atmosphere. Unlike other big races, there are no security officers telling you to keep out. The entrance to the pits are wide open for anyone to have a bit of a walkabout to check out the machinery

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Saturday race dawned with yet more blue skies shining overhead. I decided to watch the races from a paddock at Lezayre just before Ramsey. It's a great place to spectate albeit, with one drawback meaning that once you're there, you're not moving until the end of the day's racing. Fortunately, there was a food trailer selling hamburgers and drinks.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


One awesome aspect of spectating at the IOM is the sounds of racing. As the first race bike approaches, you pick up the sound of an engine being held at "full chat", the rider occasionally backing off momentarily to negotiate a kink or a bump then, back to WFO. As they pass by, you then listen to the engine note as it recedes into the distance, still wailing at full chat  For roughly the entire 30 or so seconds that the bikes are within earshot, the engines are being held almost to their red lines  Awesome 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Incredibly, Sunday would be yet another day of glorious sunshine. There was no racing today so, I took advatage of the break to go watch the Manx Two Day Trial

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Late in the afternoon, I headed north to Jurby for the Jurby Festival of Speed where classic bikes are put through their paces

A cast of thousands

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


More two smokes

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Old Vincents never die

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Bella macchina 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Matchless

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


visitors can't see pics , please register or login


MV Agusta triple

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The sound of an MV Agusta being fired up is an ear splitting experience yet, dozens gather round to willfully have their hearing impaired

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


John Player Norton. I'm not sure if this is an original monocoque bodied one.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Replica of the 250cc Honda four RC166 with its awesome 20,000 RPM red line 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The day had a tragic note as two riders (not racers) were killed and a third one injured in a horrible head on accident on the Mountain Section. A German rider and a British rider were the unfortunate victims. So sad to happen on a holiday. The course has numerous signs posted in German reminding riders to "Ride left". Not sure if the German was in the wrong so, I won't speculate. Both bikes caught fire and damaged the road surface but, crews worked through the night to repair the course for the races.

Awesome report Orson. I especially enjoyed the JPSs.

Amazing.  All of it.  Thanks for posting so many photos!  That Triumph was gorgeous.