Just a bit of fun mucking around on another Xmas Day spent at work offshore. I thought I'd share some photo's rotating as my desktop/screen-saver, vids that stick in my mind etc, hope you enjoy them as much as I do.
The Tamburini bikes are "princess" bikes, very "Julie Andrews", just so sweet/pretty it's almost sickly. My ol' 851/749R/799RS bikes are anything but, some loved the sound of them, some kinda liked the look of them, but nobody swooned over them the way they did the 916 - 998, my bikes are more unconventionally attractive. As mentioned in the previous post, the 851 is best compared to Margot Robbie/Harley Quinn, mad as a box of frogs. The 749R/799RS are different again, I love the look of them in race trim but I'll admit they are more G.I. Jane than Julie Andrews. Purposeful rather than pretty.
So given I don't have a sweet Julie Andrews-spec 916 - 998, this seems like a more appropriate version of her Christmas classic for my bikes. The language is a tad "colourful" so maybe/definitely not the best time to have one of the kids curled up in your lap when you press play:
Which also suits the earlier years of WSB and the 851. This is Marco Lucchinelli's '89 851, all "go" and zero "show".
From the same era: after so much success downunder with Kevin Magee and a 4 valve TT2 (not a typo), Bob Brown went the other way with the "new and improved" 851 Superbike, replacing the EFI with FCR carbs, Krober ignition, extra frame rails instead of the small gussets on the SP/Corsa frames, 2 into 1 exhaust etc etc. So much original thinking and trusting his gut:
Hence this pops up as my desktop now and then:
It's funny, folks think of the 500cc strokers as "crude" these days. They may have been devoid of electronics (maybe except for Itoh's injected NSR, first GP bike to exceed 200mph) but there was no shortage of cutting edge tech. For pushing the envelope (at the time) the Cagiva V593/C593 is hard to go past: carbon swingarm, carbon wheels, carbon fork tubes, carbon brakes, they even trialled a carbon frame, it had semi-active suspension, data logging....and, well, just look at the thing:
Fast forward 30 years and the Suter MMX500 is a fav, would luuuurve to see/hear one in action:
And if it was Fast Freddie wheelin' it around, all the better:
But for a good photo it's hard to go past a couple of modern legends. John McGuinness will always be "The Man" for me, not just a legend at the TT but an all around top bloke:
I'm not quite so engaged with Michael Dunlop, but like that front wheel, he's carried the Dunlop dynasty to new heights:
Jorge Martin has turned the tables and captured photographers around the world in 2023:
But as brilliant as he is he's only following in the tyre tracks of those who went before:
How good was Stoner? I just don't have the bandwidth to comprehend how hard it must have been to ride a peaky 800cc bike with +200 hp, that weighed just 148kg and appears to have absolutely no flywheel mass whatsover (max volume bro'!):
Another Motogp legend, except he worked on the other side of the pit wall: Guy Coulon of Tech 3 fame. It just tickles me that a guy who was incredibly successful at the very highest level just wants to go home and play with bikes in his "Off" time. Apologies, but what this clip lacks in quality is made up with passion. No helmet, no gear, no worries, "I'm just gonna go for a rip on my home built 300cc six cylinder racebike".....as you do:
Troy Bayliss is another all time hero. Even if he was bested here, what a gift he and Colin Edwards gave us:
Which probably makes this photo a lil' strange? Not Bayliss, Lorenzo Lanzi on the mighty 999F06:
But for all the riding genius above would any of them have thought of this? Just brilliant:
Finally, this is what stays on my screen with the most regularity. Even if it wasn't Nicky Hayden there's just something about this shot....I wish this format allowed me to fill the screen with the image the way it fills my head:
All the best to you and yours for 2024, thanks for riding along.
