Here we go again!

[Charlie G]

I kind of expected the Bush got rained out this last weekend, I'm glad they got to run it.Are the tires on the bike in the fore ground for wet? I haven't seen the tires they use in the rain before. I loved the sound of the classic racers. Thank for the pictures, they look great.

Johnny, you better start looking for a bike for your daughter to ride. I was riding a 8 years old.

cg

[Johnny Drummond]

Armoy "race of legends"2012

Once again it's race report time.The Armoy races have been run since 2009 through and around the village. Sadly this year it was blighted early on by light rain then a steady downpour for 2 1/2 hours,But all 10 races in the programme were run and it was well worth standing in the p***ing rain for!,Michael Dunlop got a hattrick( Supersport-600cc's,Open-600cc to 1000cc and the main race of legends again600 to 1000cc) Ryan Farquhar won 2(Moto 450-450cc single cylinder 4 strokes and the Supertwins-650cc paralell twin 4 stroke)although it was just unlucky for his junior team mate Jamie Hamilton as he was 3/4 of a bike length behind Farquhar on the last lap only to slip off-thankfully walking away.Hopefully here is a video clip from today and there are more on my photobucket page:-johnny237's albums maybe this won't work but enjoy-oh and look for the clip where you can see the rain falling,then watch it again to see how much daylight is under BOTH wheels and tell me that these guys and girls aren't specially gifted.Johnny

[Buffalo Bill]

Nice work!

Nice work Johnny, good view of them over the rise.
I could tell the order of the videos, by the cloud mass moving to the right in the sky. As it moved to the right, the road became dryer as well.

Those twins are somewhat ho-hum, compared to the 4's.

Bill

[Johnny Drummond]

Hi Bill,the rain was coming from right to left in the videos,and yes the twins are slower,they only put out 85-90 BHP(I think) in race tune which is about the same as a 250 twostroke whereas a 600cc four in race tune makes around 130-150BHP!,they still took off though and the lap times are similar to the 250's as well it's just that they are an easier way to get into racing and are relativley cheap to buy and maintain.Glad you liked the videos and sorry that there are no paddock photos it was just too wet and the bikes were all inside tents.The Dundrod 150 and Ulster Grand Prix are in 2 weeks so I will do my best to get photos then.Johnny

[Johnny Drummond]

a thing of beauty(at least it is to me!)

I didn't get any photos from the paddock yesterday-sorry folks BUT I did manage to photo this:- a rotary Norton that Robert Dunlop raced in the 1990 season,I was lucky enough to see Robert do a couple of demo laps at the Ulster Grand Prix some years ago.Seeing him ride it even at 60% was fantastic he even got it to flame from the exhaust-magic




And just for Charlie G,the chief fast response doctor's bike-this guy usually follows at the back of the pack for the first lap,and nearly always overtakes 2 riders!this guy is FAST for a non racer,probably the only doctor who can get his knee down and go over the jumps with both wheels off the ground


.Johnny

[Buffalo Bill]

A couple questions Johnny:

So, where does the Doc carry his black bag?

I don't see any place to stow his kit?

What kinda bike is that, anyway, Honda VFR?

[pete]

Good stuff Johnny, thanks for keeping us up to date

Those guys are mad! But only in the best possible way of course

Bill, that'd be a KTM RC8 I believe...

[Johnny Drummond]

A few answers

Okay, Bill first:- the doc carries all of the kit he needs on webbing,looks kinda like military ammo pouches, 2 large ones attached to a belt,4 small ones 2 on a chest harness and 2 around kidney level and a backpack.The back pack has a small de-fib unit and plasma etc,he is basically like a mini ambulance and because he is a quick rider and most offs occur on the first lap when the tyres and brakes are cold and the bikes have full fuel loads and a bit unstable he follows along with a collegue just to make sure he is in the right place,3 years ago he gave life saving aid to a spectator who had a heart attack while watching the race-from the marshal called it to race control until he got to the scene took 2 minutes,he stabilised the man and kept him alive until one of the ambulances arrived-the man made a full recovery and thanked him personally 3 weeks later-at another race!!.but it is funny seeing him go over jumps at near race speed and watch all the gear flapping about like a spaniels ears.I have to bow to Pete's superior knowledge on the bike as far as I know it was a road bike that he dropped at a short circuit meeting wrecking the road plastics so the entire paddock clubbed together and bought him the race bodywork and fitted it,as well as hotting up the engine a little as a thank you for all his work.This guy gets no payment to do the work he does he just turns up every season and does all the international,national and short circuit races.He is an ordinary MD(G.P. as the uk readers of this forum would know it) for the rest of the year-a truly amazing guy who was given a royal honour for his services to racing.
Pete:- Actually this is for you as well Bill, if you want to get a hard copy of the newspaper reports with photos just PM me your postal addresses and I would be glad to oblige,I already send these to Charlie G and Leigh from here so it would be no problem,but you will be getting them a month at a time to make postage reasonable(it costs around £2.85 to send to either the U.S or Australia) so it's not expensive and the wider I can advertise our little pastime here the better-it also freaks out our newsagent staff when you buy 4 copies of the same paper then explain how far they will be travelling hahaha.Look forward to hearing from you,Johnny

[pete]

Thanks for the offer Johnny, very generous! I'm happy just to follow along on here for the moment as I haven't even been able to get into my local Australian Motorcycle News these days since I stopped catching the train to work...

As for the KTM, the tail, tank, and fairing give it away for me as they're quite unique... but the KTM on the right engine cover helps

[Johnny Drummond]

Just a thought

UMMM,you do have a library/reading room in your house don't you?,you know the type with one seat,is always warm and has tiles around the walls.Johnny

[pete]

UMMM,you do have a library/reading room in your house don't you?,you know the type with one seat,is always warm and has tiles around the walls.Johnny

Hahhaaha yeah true... no magazine rack in ours though

[Johnny Drummond]

You're a handy fella-make one,just tell her indoors that it's for the living room but you need to dry the wood out a bit and the bathrooom is the perfect place.Or you can get those plastic boxes that can stack together or fold down nearly flat,thats what i use(they hold about 40 magazines so you can both use it).Johnny

[pete]

Man you gotta have a much bigger toilet than me! Hahahaha

[Johnny Drummond]

Nah mate, about 8 foot by 6.the space between the throne and the basin is enough to store all the reading material.Johnny

[pete]

Aaaah you've got the combined job! The dunny's separate here so 'tis a little bit smaller than your spacious library