Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128620
lLeft) The star of the show: Benelli 's new Tornado 900. lRight) Carruthers signs autographs for a Scottish man in traditional garb. IBe low l Benellis of all types and ages filled th e display area near the paddock at t he Isle of Man. M y m o unt fo r m y sing le l ap aro und t he 37. 7-rnile TT co urse wou ld be a Benelli 250cc fou r-c ylinder stree tb ike , on loa n from A lan Cathc art and abo ut to be hi s son's day cru iser when his m otorcycle -testin g peri od was co m plete and he was granted a license. My partner in crime was Moto rc yclist Magazine editor Mit ch Boehm , anoth er wh o was relying on a Ben elli from the Cath cart co llection - his an original T omado. We o pted , li ke m ost ch ickens, to start ou r parade lap from th e back of the ho rde. Better to pass than be pas sed , and by th e loo k s of some of the grizzled veteran s aro und us we were indeed the few up sta rts in th e g roup of some 150 rea dy to push their lu ck around th e Island. A lap of th e Isle of Man sta rts not with an innocent little sect ion to warm th e refle xes, but inste ad it all begins with the dau nting Bray Hill. Flat out (I was n't) down a hill that is stee p by anything other than San Fr ancisco m easures, Bray Hill tak es you through a Douglas ne ighborhood to a slowish right-hander. With th e on e comer I kne w about go ne, I was off on my li ttle adventure, foll owing B oeh m as cl o sely as possibl e (he had at least done a lap of the place in a car). It do esn 't take you long to be am azed by th e TT ci rcuit and ev en more ama zed th at m en ac tually rac e he re - and have for a zillion year s. You're flying (relat ive ly sp ea k in g ) alo ng trying to take in as m uch as po ssible while also realizing that th is isn 't th e time or pl ac e for sightseeing . I' d lov e to be abl e to tell yo u how I storm ed th ro ugh Crosby, Ball acra ine and Sarah's Cottage, how the road w ent left he re and right th ere. But I can 't. It woul d be co m plete and utter garbage to say that I remem ber any th ing other th an a few thing s. One of th e sections I r emem ber is Ballaugh Br idge - ma inly becau se Bo ehm was making jumpi ng gestures with his left arm as we made o ur app ro ach to th e sec tion th at qu ite li ter ally is a jum p . I'd also lik e to say that I hit Ball augh with an inc redi ble amount of sp eed , got bot h wh eels off th e ground and ta nk ; slapped m y way into th e next co m er, m ak ing m y way ont o the cov er of th e next Duke Video box. A ga in , t hat would be rubbish. Instead, we encountered a small pack of other ri ders The author 151 and Motorcyclist magazine editor Mitch Boehm 171 prepare for a la p. at B allaugh , and I ha d to ya nk on the ba rs of th e little 250 just so the spectator s th ere co ul d see a tad of daylight under its f ro nt tire. J er emy McG rath co uld rest easy for another day. As it turns out, where we 'd sta rted was perfect. We were able to pass severa l riders du ring our lap whil e o nly being passed by a few . Natu rall y , tw o of them were TT legends Phil Read on a new MV and Jim Redman on a Honda fo ur. Both of them fle w past in a hurry, the shrill of the old Honda scaring th e shit out of m e. Someone on a Yama ha T Z also flas hed p ast - as did th e o rganizer of the entire ri de, All an Robinson . Sadl y , Isle of Ma n Legend E dgar Jessop faile d to materialize as promised. I had almost co mpleted m y lap without in cident when we ca m e up on a m an ridi ng a Matchl ess G50 in to Brandish, a fast left -h and er li ned o n eith er side by green ba nks - hi gh eno u g h to preve nt you f ro m seei ng ar o u n d the c o rne r . Boehm m anaged to get aro und th e G50 on the entr anc e to Brandish whil e I o pted to wait, not kn owing exactl y wha t to ex pect from the road ahead. Th e GSO fli cked in and disappeared , and th e next th ing I knew all hell had brok en loo se an d I was in avoi d -fallen -riderispinning- motorcy cle m ode. With th e hap less rider sl iding face first and alr eady unco n scious, I o pted to pull to th e le ft to take m y chance s with the c spi nning motorcycle. Fo rtunately , I made it th roug h just as Boehm looked ov er his sho ulder to see it all happening . I pulled o ver an d leaned the B en ell i aga in st t he ins ide ban k , but the next rider through waved m e on as m ar shal s were alrea dy attending to the inj ured rider. A t this point there was nothing I c ould do , so I restarted the bike and carried on, feel ing a bit ill for t he next few m iles back into Dou glas. Wh en I arri ved at Governor's Br idge. I saw m ore wa ving ye llo w flags as someon e else had tak en a tumble - this one far less harrowing as Governor's Brid ge is possibly the slowest co m er I have ever bee n arou nd. From th ere it was a run to the fini sh line and back to th e paddock where all th e typica l bench raci ng took place. My fath er was th ere waiting , his relieved look ma tch ing th e on e I'd had fro m earlier in the day when he'd do ne his lap . A lth ou gh init ial reports were th at our falle n comrade had b rok en both hi s legs in th e tumbl e at Brandish , it la ter became offi cia l that he'd regained co nsc io usness wi th "j ust" a broken sho ulder. The Isle of Man TT course is everYV>ing you 've ever heard it is and much , mu ch m or e. It can only be truly ap pr eciated by doing a lap on a m oto rcycle wh en th e co urse is closed to traffic. Wha t I gained m ost from m y tr ek aro und th e Mountain course wa s a new fou nd respect for tho se who have co n qu ered the c ourse fast eno ugh to wi n or do well . Th ey are heroes and sho uld be tr eated as such. ue I e n e _ so • J ULY 5 , 2000 45