[Closed] Guy Martin Helmet cam Scary fast

Insane!

Commit to a corner and hope you remembered the right one!

I don't know how *anyone* comes back alive. Looking forward to watching it on telly tonight though.

I don't know about stopping at the pits for fuel and a tyre change, I'd be changing my leathers too! 😯

I guess it is different in real life but the dark to light transitions when the road is in the shade make it virtually impossible to tell where the edge of the road is!

Hats off to that!

Scary enough watching it let alone riding it.

I regularly do that section on my bike !!! However, my bike has pedals, so is considerably slower. I can just about get the front wheel airborne on Ballaugh bridge, if I pull on the bars enough.

Still no racing today yet, as typical manx weather, I am basking in sunshine in the north, and the rest is shrouded in mist and fog

Bruce Anstey's fastest ever lap was on telly late last night with helmet cam & normal footage - nuts. He was balked a few times and over shot one corner, so had it been a 'perfect' lap, it would conceivably been a lot quicker. 132.298 mph average..!!!

That was indeed a mad lap. I love the sidecars though.

Flippin ell

Flippin Ell x 100

I couldn't quite focus on that myself and I'm sitting comfortably in my orrifice chair..

Flippin Ekker'slike. 😯

I've so much respect for all that take part..

it's the noise of the engine when the rear wheel's fighting and loosing grip that scares me. I get my traction control light flash up on my bike but only in the wet and at 30mph and I'm brickin' it. My brain can't comprehend that video.

😯

I remember the 80cc riders in the grand prix back in day say that you could get more revs out of the engine if you tilted the bike to one side. As this alters the gearing you give the bike a bit of an easier time.
I'm wondering if some of the rev changes you hear in this vid are due to lean angle, more than backing off for a corner.
Whatever, the man is (they all are ) a legend for hacking through the scenery at that speed- nuts!

sangobegger - Member

I'm wondering if some of the rev changes you hear in this vid are due to lean angle, more than backing off for a corner.

Definitely does happen over the mountain still, I remember John McGuiness talking about it. Mad.

Sango, you can tell which is gear changes and which is the rolling radius decrease by the way in which the revs rise.

When tipping into a corner with constant throttle what actually happens is you decelerate. So a small throttle input is required to maintain speed due to higher wheel speed as it goes over.

Sudden Increase = Gear change

Smooth rev rise = Same gear

Even slowed down, thats way too fast for me.

How much of Guy's action during that lap is the result of conscious thought, and how much is pure programmed muscle memory of the course? Looking at that, I can't see how his conscious brain would be able to influence it much.

If they weren't concious of at least something, then the riders would be thrown into a brick wall as soon as something vaguely out of the ordinary happened.

They do think, just a lot quicker than you or I. They also do a lot of unconcious feeling, which they will somethimes think about if it doesn't feel right. How the bike feels, the levels of grip etc....all thought about at an unconcious level. They aren't running on pure muscle memory like a golfer does during his swing.

Also, the conscious brain influences a lot less than you probably think.

Not human. That's the only way these beings can do this.

If they weren't concious of at least something, then the riders would be thrown into a brick wall as soon as something vaguely out of the ordinary happened.

I guess I meant 'normal' circumstances, in terms of line choice for every sequence of corners, body position, throttle, brake etc. Obviously there's a certain degree of conscious 'overseeing' of progress, but I can't imagine all that much real-time decision making.

I suppose if I'm driving along a winding road, I'm not always consciously choosing to keep in my carriageway and keeping appropriate speed, or even the appropriate gear, it's mostly automatic until something unusual happens.

Good lord

I remember the 80cc riders in the grand prix back in day say that you could get more revs out of the engine if you tilted the bike to one side. As this alters the gearing you give the bike a bit of an easier time.
I'm wondering if some of the rev changes you hear in this vid are due to lean angle, more than backing off for a corner.
Whatever, the man is (they all are ) a legend for hacking through the scenery at that speed- nuts!

I recall an interview (possibly MCN) with Randy Mamola where he spoke of a critical corner in one if the GP's - he was talking about how tyre profile combined with lean angle combined and affected gear ratio, and how he could 500 rpm higher revs in a corner exit, meaning he gained about 5 mph on the following straight... It was about 1987 ish & I realised I will never be a GP rider.

Those 500 revs are much more important on the 500cc two stroke bikes that had powerbands only 3000 revs wide.

I get scared playing the TT video game.

😀

Now that made my bum twitch.

I cant ride that fast but I do find that the more fast riding you do the faster you get. Like your brain gets used to working faster. And it gets easier the more you do it. But those fellas are mad 🙂

The force is strong with those lads.

Anybody else find themselves leaning let and right through the corners ?

He didn't catch the guy in front and it is always easier following another rider down a track

blah - I would have been faster when i was in my prime*

*not even pretending to be serious

Of course, when it goes tits-up, it goes [i]really[/i] tits-up!

[img] [/img]

The dark object in the bottom right is Guy's foot, the other dark object in the upper left, with flame behind, is the bike's fuel tank!
He got a bit singed... 😯
Another one he walked away from...

[img] [/img]

S'all right, it'll polish out...

...And that video has a very high sphincter-factor, I'm still trying to get my cheeks to unclench.

How on earth did he ever get back on a bike after those crashes?
Balls of steel and a great down to earth bloke.
Legend.

They are all nuts
My 4 year old daughter has tipped me off that for Father's Day I might be getting a signed copy of Guys book 🙂
Not one single hint was dropped either so I am impressed the wife even knew about it let alone getting a signed copy

I'm not much for autobiographies, but I was looking at Guy's in Waterstone's on Saturday, and I'm going to have to buy a copy.

TBH watching it on video is completely different to the real world. It's not a true representation of events at all.

I used to race with a bloke called Dan Hegarty. He was the factory Norton rider last year at the TT (along with another guy), this year he's back again and lapping in 122mph+.
Now, Dan was cleaning up winning races at Derby Phoenix, but wasn't ridiculously quick by any means. I sponsored him a bit when he moved up to British Superstock (after racing in the R6 cup) and he was lucky to get inside the top 10.

Where I'm going with this is, guy Martin is extremely quick yes.. but the video isn't showing the speed well, it's showing almost a video game representation of it.

I have masses of respect for them all as this was my dream back when starting club racing, which I never accomplished due to not being good enough.

They've got bigger balls than my brain, tell me though, sidecar passengers, saw them on tv on a night shift. Theyre all sectioned shirley?

Im also amazed that they dont really get paid for it. Compare what they do with say an F1 driver.

Trimix - Member

Im also amazed that they dont really get paid for it. Compare what they do with say an F1 driver.

Indeed.. considering the risks, you'd think they'd earn more. guy Martin does OK, but that's more his personal sponsorship than actual salary. There's a decent prize money for the TT but I did have to laugh watching something the other day about the Greyhound Derby, the first prize was £100,000 for the dog/owner... that's WAY more than the TT winners get... (I think it was £25,000 last time I checked)

RIP Bob Price 🙁

I think my brain is wired differently to theirs, not just the speed but the speed going past a dry stone wall with a normal 4" kerb 😯 I guess that is why most years somebody dies at the TT and it is very rare for somebody to die in short circuit racing 😥

Hooli,

But that's the thrill and the joy of the road circuits. Both for riders, TV and spectators.

Don't know much about motorbikes. Where do these top TT riders race/earn a living for the rest of the year?

Loved Bruce's lap - cocking it up & getting pegged back by slower riders & still gets lap record 🙂 - 132mph in a straight line is quite enough for me thanks

Normal jobs, most of them. Dan Stewart works in a motorcycle dealership. Guy Martin spanners trucks though probably doesn't have to these days with the telly work. John McGuiness races short circuits.
Chapeau to the guys like Wade Boyd who's been going for years from the US and has never finished in the top half! It's a way of life for some.

A friend of a friend died last month at the North West 200.

When googling to read the story I stumbled across footage from the race. There are very very few things that I truly wish I could remove completely from my memory, but that is one 🙁 Really wish I hadn't seen it.

I get a real buzz out of watching road based events, I can only imagine what it feels like to race them. But the risk involved, for me anyway, would mean I'd probably stick to the track!

i remember back in the 80s, when the bbc strapped a camera onto the tank of joey dunlops honda vfr, they asked him how he handled the speed and he explained 'you say its fast, but it it doesnt seem that fast to me, because im used to it'
or words to that effect, it was a long time ago.
i reckon its partly just a matter of getting used to it.
when i was younger, if on a motorway i would drive at about 80mph, rarely going any faster, just like my dad.
nowadays, conditioned by a 62mph speed limiter on the bus, i rarely touch 70mph in the car, it feels quick to me now.

I think a lot of people see these vids and don't realise the progression involved to get to that level.

I remember selling a 2003 Aprilia RSV Mille which I was pretty handy on and bought a 2004 Kawasaki zx10r. It took a couple of weeks for my brain to get used to the higher acceleration. Blurred peripheral vision and a giddyness were common.

Road racing is about the only thing in life that blows my skirt up.

Guy Martin is averaging a higher speed there than I would get to if I jumped out of an aeroplane.

When it doesn't go quite so well!!

[url= http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DS4S5gyWEqM ]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DS4S5gyWEqM[/url]

Or this one

[url= http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sL8YXQDLzVc ]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=sL8YXQDLzVc[/url]

Martymac, I think that's from V four Victory. Another film worth watching to appreciate what goes on in these guys' heads is The Road Racers, from the 80s.

I used to do a bit of pure roads racing but never went to the island. Fast as my old 250 was, I cannot get my head round lapping at those speeds.

I remember an interview with Bradley Smith when he moved from Moto2 to MotoGP, the first thing he had to learn was to think faster, only then could he learn how to get the most from the bike.

They really do have different brains to most of us, but they obviously have to train those synapses as well as the body.

Watched the onboard clip of Anstey's too, and it just blows my mind. Followed bike racing for years but never the TT in much detail, but I just can't get over how on the limit they are. It's nuts - you wouldn't have a hope of proposing something like that now, but for as long as people want to do it, I reckon they should.

It's not for me, though - I know I ain't got the minerals for that.

weeksy - Member
Hooli,

But that's the thrill and the joy of the road circuits. Both for riders, TV and spectators.

Agreed, I always enjoy watching moto GP but when TT comes around, going back to moto GP is just not the same...

@peterfile - Simon Andrews? I've heard it was bad and I've seen the stills but I don't want to watch it, he was one of the one's I felt like I knew from the TT Legends series he did last year. I was gutted when I saw he's passed away.

I love the TT, just been listening to the build up on the radio, mild panic when a truck spilled a load of cow shoot at Ramsey Hairpin, you don't get that on the Moto GP 😆

prawny - yup.

He slides past the camera at some speed, hits a kerb, which sends him flying. Horrible. The sound is not something I'll forget in a hurry.

Enough to put me off wanting a bike.

Nothing would put me off having a bike.

But

Nothing would make me go racing, especially on the roads. Thank god there are plenty that do want to, I'd miss it if it wasn't on.

I'd have loved to have been part of the memorial lap for Simon at the weekend, that must have been awesome.

Nothing would make me go racing

I'd race again tomorrow if money/circumstances allowed

I'm a wuss.

Edit - I bloody love motorbike racing though. And car racing for that matter. And mountain and road bikes.

A spectator saw a nut come off Guy Martins bike, contacted a marshall who black flagged him. Sure enough a front wheel nut was missing from Guys bike - what incredible eyesight. 😯