Report by Nomads Trials Club Member, Brian Barson, to the Isle of Man, August – September 2008
The Isle of Man is probably most noted in motorcycling terms for the TT, which celebrated its centenary last year. It however certainly doesn’t stop there though. Apart from many other events, the Manx Grand Prix takes place at the end of August each year, with a modern national trial the preceding weekend and the Manx Classic Two Day Trial the weekend after it. In addition there are rallies, beach racing and sprinting slotted in that week. The Manx Grand Prix is essentially the amateur version of the TT and caters for newcomers as well as classic bikes. So if your particular motorcycling interest lies anywhere in there, then it is a very good time to visit the island. It’s their autumn so the weather can be a bit cool for us, but the evenings are still long and there is plenty to see and do.
I have had the great privilege of a few visits, including competing in the Manx Classic Two Day Trial twice, and my wife Mary thought it appropriate that I should celebrate my 60th birthday with my family there and ride the trial again. Such plans have to be made well in advance in order to get flights, accommodation, trials entry in, and so on, as the island is very busy at that time. My previous rides in the trial were very much thanks to the generosity of Hans Klein and Earl Krause in arranging a bike for me, and it was again Hans and Manchester based John Cane of Trail and Trials that provided a Yamaha TY 175 for me. Hans had also put in an entry for the trial, but unfortunately a persistent back problem forced his withdrawal. He nonetheless selflessly continued with all other arrangements as if he were riding, including bringing the bikes over on the ferry, and providing me with some very necessary and appreciated back up.
To put things into a chronological order though, my family and I arrived in the IOM on the Saturday while the modern trial was in progress. I didn’t get to see any of it that day, but instead watched another event for which the IOM is now becoming known; the World Tin Bath Championships. This takes place in Castletown harbour and is a paddle race between contestants in tin baths. Some take it seriously, but for most its just fun and many paddlers go down with their ships. There are also attempts to fly bicycles and other contraptions off the quay, as well as attempts to drop through an inner tube from an overhead cable. As you can imagine there are very few dry contestants afterwards, and they probably all get soaked later in the pub anyway.
The next day I managed to see part of the modern trial and can tell you they have some very talented riders. This event also incorporates a leg of the national sidecar championship. This is something that has to be seen to be believed, as the sidecars do some of the same sections as the solos. The passenger and rider have to work as a team if they want to have any success at all. They ride to the same rules as the solos; except the passenger may not touch the ground otherwise they will get a five and fail the section.
The Monday is the first day of the Manx Grand Prix and the first race is for newcomers on modern bikes, followed in the afternoon by the senior classic race. The latter is for 350-500cc machines with the likes of Norton, Matchless, BSA, Honda, Paton, Velocette, Ducati and Aermacchi taking part. Some of these bikes are modernized by the use of modern technology and parts but are still true to their origins. The smell of Castrol R is probably what brings many of the die-hards back. The days’ racing was however delayed because of poor weather conditions and some of it was cancelled. The full 37,7mile TT course is used and it is not uncommon for the mountain section to be shrouded in mist resulting in racing being suspended. The normal programme is that racing is on the Monday, Wednesday and Friday with each following day being kept open in case of postponement. As it happened the whole week was a series of delays and postponements with much of the racing cancelled altogether. Racing on the Isle of Man has always been a very dangerous sport because there is little or no room for error. Although there are padded straw bales on most corners, light poles and other street furniture, accidents can still have tragic outcomes. This year a veteran rider of twenty five years standing crashed as a result of hitting oil dropped by another bike and died of his injuries.
A regular event is the sprint on the promenade at Ramsey. All sorts of bikes take part from scooters to purpose built specials with wheelie bars. The pits and bike park are just as interesting as the non-stop action on the strip. There was one gross bike there deliberately covered in road kill, and not far away a pristine Brough Superior worth thousands. Bikes you would normally see in a museum are parked amongst other less exotic ones. One such bike was a Swedish Nimbus. It has an external frame, four cylinders and shaft drive but is more than fifty years older than its modern counterparts. I always like to see the specials and hybrids that you don’t see anywhere else. Maybe it’s my background as my father built many specials (cars) in his day, and as it happens my brother has just found one of his cars on Google, a 1938 Alvis Barson Special that has been competing in the United States in historic meetings and is now on sale in England for £99500!
The sand racing is a sort of motocross event that takes place on Peel beach in the evening at low tide. They have races for quads and bikes, and the bikes were as usual dominated by local Manxman and reigning world enduro champion, David Knight on a KTM.
One of the events that the weather doesn’t stop is the classic two-day trial that started on Saturday morning in typical overcast weather. Apart from local and British entries, this event drew entries from Italy, Germany, Sweden and South Africa. The event is essentially for pre-65 trials bikes in several classes including girder fork rigid, tele-fork rigid, two stroke rigid. Pre-unit springer, unit construction four strokes, two stroke springer, specials, and twinshock. The eligibility for the twinshock class is that the bikes cannot have modern features such as disk brakes, water cooling, monoshock rear suspension or tubeless tyres. The TY 175 I was using in this class was a 1976 model that had been very well prepared by John Cane and incorporated a number of his developments including a 200cc kit and electronic ignition that had already proven their worth on several other bikes. Bikes in the other classes typically include Triumph, Ariel, James, Norton, BSA, Cotton, Greeves, Francis Barnet and more. In the twinshock class there are more modern names like Yamaha, Honda, Bultaco, Ossa and Fantic, as well as lesser known (as trials bikes) Parilla/Bianchi and Moto Guzzi.
The trial consists of 35 sections per day on a one-lap course situated in the southern part of the island on the first day, and a similar set up in the north the next day. The sections are very often the same as in previous years, which is a definite bonus for those who ride every year. The twin shock class has two “handicaps” imposed on it. One is that they start ahead of the field on both days and the other is they have half an hour less to complete the course. The first one has earned the class the reputation of being the “rock movers”, which is a distinct advantage for following riders especially on the many loose rocks and streams where a definite line develops. The sections are really good. They are often long by our local standards, but they do not have any of the very tight turns and massive steps found in modern sections. That being said, some are nonetheless quite difficult and would be a challenge for me on my modern Gas Gas. One group of three sections at Cluggett Gate is in a fast flowing stream with slippery rocks and there is little to choose from as to where to ride. This group caused a bottleneck on the second day where I lost a lot of time that I was unable to make up. Some sections are in dense forests where it is quite dark, while others are in stone quarries over sharp broken slate. The going between sections is on a mixture of public roads and track. The bikes have to be licensed for the road, but they only need to have a number plate on the rear mudguard. Track can mean anything from a smooth forest road to a free-for-all across the moorland. The latter strewn with bogs to trap the unlucky or unobservant rider. Still others have miles of existing track where the ruts are so deep you are committed to them once you’re in them. All in all it’s an experience that we simply don’t have here. It can be very tiring because it’s long and you cannot afford to lose concentration and the time limit is tight.
My ride started quite well until leaving a group of sections fairly early in the trial, the bike cut out. Fortunately John Cane wasn’t too far behind and was able to get me going again with a new CDI unit. Up till then I thought my trial was over, as one wouldn’t usually have such a spare handy. This problem then repeated itself a number of times right up to the last group of the day. The problem was put down to a faulty batch of CDI units and it is only thanks to John and Hans and others that came to my rescue that I managed to finish the day, albeit four minutes late, incurring time penalties. After the first day the complete ignition system was changed and I started the next day determined to do better. The bike never missed a beat all day and I had some good rides, but also unnecessary fives for missing a gate or getting neutral. The course was definitely much harder and this together with the bottleneck at Cluggett and another at Agneash Mines resulted in my being fourteen minutes late, incurring yet more time penalties. At various sections the South African Supporters, complete with rainbow flag, consisting of Mary, my two daughters, Lee and Amber, and Hans and Diane were very much in evidence bringing a splash of colour and fun with it.
I ended up in eighteenth place in my class, a bit disappointing, but nonetheless very happy to have finished. The overall winner was Dave Thorpe on a Triumph Cub. Back in the ‘seventies Dave was a guest of Nomads as he was invited by John Fulcher to come to Cape Town to show us how to ride. He is even older than me, and is still an exceptional and very respected rider who can ride better than he can walk. His bike, like the classic racers in the MGP, and many of his rival’s machines, has been upgraded and developed over the years to be a very effective and better machine than it originally was.
The Isle of Man is not only about motorbikes and racing and trials. It has a fascinating and rich history far removed from modern life, and the various castles and museums are well worth the visit.
One of the quaint customs is to pay ones respects to the fairies at Fairy Bridge. There people put notes and messages in the tree tied with bows and ribbons, and some of them are obituaries to rides who have lost their lives racing in the Isle of Man. One is supposed to greet the fairies every time you drive past the bridge, otherwise there could be consequences. Maybe I would have done better if I had shown more deference .
Our visit is never complete without a visit to the spot where ex-Nomads member Nigel Haddon crashed during practice for the 1996 MGP. A small plaque on the fence, set well back from the road, is inscribed, “remembered by all your friends in Cape Town”
My trip would certainly not have been possible without the involvement of Mary, Hans, John, and others, and I thank them all for making my birthday a very special one.
Brian.
