AHRMA Roebling Road 2016

As the first race of my 2016 racing season approached, I was hoping to race my 350 H-D Sprint ERTT and my 1946 Moto Guzzi Dondolino, but both were in doubt.  I had dropper the ERTT motor off with Bill Himmelsbach on my return from my last race of 2015 to see if he could determine the reason for all my missed shifts and a mysterious cutting out (more than a misfire) on the Daytona oval, but not on the infield.  And, inevitably, there were delays and I was starting to wonder if Bill would finish it in time to make the 27-28 Feb. Roebling Road meeting.  So, I finally got off my duff and started putting together the Dondolino, after it had been apart since October, 2014.  Ken Rosevear had made me a new crankshaft assembly, and that had been delayed by the flimsy excuse of his triple bypass heart surgery.  And the assembly was slow going in part just locating parts that had been moved around for a year and a half.  In the end, parts arrived and Bill finished the Sprint motor a week before I planned to leave for Ga.  Bill met me part way on I-78 in N.J., and we transfer the motor from his van to mine.  The next day was unseasonably warm and I was able to install it working outdoors.

  But, as usual, things took longer than plan and I ran out of time to finish the Dondolino.
Aleksey Kravchuk of Works Manufacturing and his 350 Honda came with me.  We left Brooklyn around 8p and drove through some intense rain and stopped for the night in south Jersey, just short of the Delaware Memorial Bridge.  Thursday's ride was smooth and we got to the track in the evening and did a partial unload to grab some turf, then drove into Savannah to have dinner and spend the night with a good friend.  

When we got to the track the next morning, the temperature was right around freezing, but sunny, and there was a pretty stiff wind from the west.  I didn't intend to go out for Fri. practice, but I did start my bike and throughly warm it up and all seemed good there.  Aleksey had a very successful day, completing every practice session on his Honda and as a passenger on Brian Carroll's BMW sidecar.  Everything worked well and he didn't lift a wrench all day.  This was in stark contrast to last year when he struggled with oil leaks on the Fri., then the motor died the next morning, with me in the saddle, because of the top end being starved for oil.

Sat. morning, it was again around freezing when we got to the track, and practice was postponed a half hour to let things warm up a bit.  I went out in group two practice and, on the second lap the motor started mis-firing and died completely a little ways into the third lap.  I found my battery was at 5.5 volts (the bike has a 6V, total loss, points ignition) and I put it on charge.  I couldn't find anything else wrong, so re-installed the battery, now reading 6.5V, though the smart charger hadn't yet gone to green.  In the second practice the bike ran well and after I got in, I put the battery back on charge until it did 'go green'.

My first race was my bump-up race, the 500 Premiere and I was gridded on the front row with the only other entry in the class, Tim Joyce, probably the fastest classic racer in the Americas, on Maurice Candy's 500 Manx Norton, probably the fastest 500 Premiere bike in the Americas. 

On the grid with Tim Joyce on Maurice Candy's 500 Manx Norton.  Terry Dremel photo

Behind us were the 500GP,and Formula 500 classes in the first wave and the 500 Sportsman and Vintage Superbike Lightweight classes in the second wave.  Tim shot into the lead, but immediately Buff Harsh, on his Todd Henning Racing  F-500 CB 350 Honda based machine, came by me and kept Tim honest.  At about turn #5, Mark Morrow, on his RD 400 Yamaha F-500 bike, stuck a wheel in on me, but didn't make the pass.  I expected Mark back any second, but didn't see him again.  Apparently he had seized in practice and did a frantic top end swap with used cylinders, but failed to tighten one of the carbs and it was falling off.  So, that's how we finished: Tim, Buff, then me, second of two in class and third overall.  Brad Phillips, on his 500 BMW Sportsman bike was closing from the second wave and finished about 11 seconds behind me with a fastest lap that was almost 0.7 seconds faster than mine. I was happy enough with this result and didn't do anything to the bike before my primary race, the 350GP.

I started my bike for the 350GP race, but there was quite a delay.  After several minutes of blipping the throttle, the motor died.  Someone helped me push it a couple of times, but it didn't start.  I put it on some rollers as the field was gridding up after completing their warm-up lap, but the motor still wouldn't start after several tries.  I ran and got a new sparkplug after the field had left and Dave Hollingsworthworth installed it.  The bike started right up, and I joined the race as the half way flag was out.  I got half way down the straight and the motor died again.  

After I got a ride back to the paddock from the pick up crew., I checked the battery and it was 5.5 V.  I fiddled around and checked for spark, then checked the battery again and it was 3.5V.  My battery was bad.  I borrowed a battery from Pete Talabach, and the bike started right up.  No guarantee, but that was looking like my problem.

Terry Dremel photo

Sunday morning it was even a little colder and again they delayed practice a half hour.  When I got out,

the motor ran well and I did 6 or 7 laps.  After I took the checkered flag for the end of the session, near the end of the straight, the bike lost power and almost seemed like it was seizing.  I backed out of the throttle and the motor seemed free, so I putter back to the pits.   My tach had stopped working in the session and I found that my sorry mechanic (me) had failed to tighten the bolts on the points cover, which holds the tach drive.  And, the ground lead on the battery that I borrowed was loose and fell off when I went to disconnect it.  I thought one or both of these might explain the loss of power, though I was clearly grasping at straws.  The spark plug looked lean, so I went one bigger main jet size.

In the second practice, it immediately lost power when I gave it full throttle, so I came right back into the pits.  It still looked lean, so I went up another main jet size.  I checked the fuel flow, the fuel tank vent, and took the float chamber apart.  I changed the ignition coil with a new one.  One theory was that inadequate oil  was coming out of the big end onto the cylinder  causing the piston to over heat and start to tighten up, but when I backed out of the throttle and reduced the load, it cooled and freed up.  That's a bit farfetched, but I took off the oil line feeding the crank and spun the rear wheel in gear, and the oil seemed to pump normally.

Al Hollingsworth ponders.  Terry Dremel photo

I did a 'scrub lap' on the warmup lap of  an early race, and it was the same thing; the engine would slow with full throttle.  I decided to go up another jet size and start the 500 race to try to analyze it further, but if I thought that I was hurting the motor, I'd pull off.

I took off gently and was immediately swamped by a gaggle of bikes.  By the time I got to turn #3, the red flag was out.  Someone had been clipped and knocked down at the start and Aleksey had nowhere to go and hit the fallen rider and then gone down himself.  Aleksey was a bit beat up, but OK.  The guy he hit was taken away in the ambulance.  But, Aleksey's bike was trashed enough that he couldn't  race it anymore 

We restarted and I realized the motor ran fine if I kept it to 1/3-1/2 throttle.  It would rev fine and I decided that I wasn't hurting it, so I stayed out and once again finished 2nd (of two) in class, but

this time 14th overall, not 3rd, with a fastest lap almost 8 seconds slower than Sat.

For the 350 race, I went up two more jet sizes .  At the start, John Stephens came past me, but then missed the 1st to 2nd shift, so I was just about able to stay with him.  

Chasing John Stephens.  Terry Dremel photo

I was able to get by him in the twisty bits and then just about draft him down the straight.  My bike did seem to be running a bit better and John and I started to close on the group in front of us.  Then Ake Smith came by on his 350 Sportsmam bike from the 2nd wave and I had another bike to draft and the three of us closed more on the two in front of us.  

Ake Smith joins John and me.  Terry Dremel photo

Unfortunately, the race was reduced to 5 laps, and we didn't quite catch them, but 3rd through 7th finished within a half sec., 0.478".  Ake, John, and I had a faster lap than those in front of us except the winner, Jack Parker.  So, it was a fun race, but a bit frustrating and I'm left wondering what's the problem.  Erik Green came up with the theory that some debris gotten by the main jet, but not the needle jet, and this would effect mixture mostly when the needle was fully out of the jet. I took the carb totally part when I got home and found no debris any where, but it almost seemed that the problem passed right at the end of the last race.  My fastest lap in Sunday's 350 race was more than 8 seconds faster than Sunday's 500 race, though still almost 2 seconds slower than Saturday's 500 race despite having good bikes to draft and feeling like I was riding harder.  We may not know until the next event.

The 500 Manx Norton's of John Lawless and Dick Miles.

Hall's Custom Vintage Classic 650 Bonneville

Douglas

Recently, I took a quick road trip with a friend down to visit my friends Will and Elaine Paley just outside of Asheville, N.C.  Since I had last seen Will in October, he had picked up a new bike: a 1950 Douglas Mk IV.

Will Paley photo

 As far as I know, all the bikes Douglas made were opposed twins.  Before WWII, most Douglas's had the cylinders fore/aft.  In 1934, they made their first transverse opposed twin; after the war, they were all transverse, like a BMW.  But, unlike a BMW, they used chain, rather than shaft, final drive.  And, the bike has unusual suspension with torsion bar springing for the rear swing arm and short leading link front suspension.  Will's bike seems quite straight and original, if not concours.  The Mk IV was followed by the Mk.V, then the Dragonfly, a similarly configured 350 opposed twin, but with more conventional suspension of telescopic forks and coil sprung rear shocks.

The torsion bars for the rear swing arm are in the lower frame tube you see above the exhaust pipe.  Will Paley photo

I helped him change the ancient front tire (3.25 X 19")for a good NOS IRC.  It's quite impressive how many parts the Brits can pack into an assembly.  Changing the tire required removing the front mudguard and one of the two stays.  When Will withdrew the axle, loose parts showered down on the floor.  We found that there was no rim band over the spoke nipples, so we substituted duct tape.  After we got the tire mounted, wheel balanced, and brake de-glazed, we slapped it back together, then discovered another spacer washer stuck to the magnetic parts tray.  But, did it come from the Douglas and, if so, where?  Fortunately, Will had a manual and parts book and, after one false start, we figured out that it did indeed belong to the Dougie and where.

Short leading link front suspension and a modest, but very effective front brake.  Phyllis Aschenbrenner photo

Will offer me a ride on the bike which I readily accepted despite the fact that it was just stopping raining and the bike wasn't registered.  I just took it to the end of his dead end road (known as a 'cove' in those parts) and back, but that was perhaps 2.5 miles each way of very curvy road.  Will had a little trouble starting the bike, which he put down to still learning how to recognize what the engined wanted as far as spark retard, tickling, choke, and throttle.  And, perhaps the jetting wasn't spot on as there was a bit of hesitation at part throttle under load, but otherwise it seemed reasonably lively for a 350 of substantial weight.  It shifted and steered very well and I was quite impressed with the single leading shoe brakes.  Of course, it wasn't a long enough ride to form a definitive opinion, but the initial impression was good.  And, in any case, it's worth having and riding just for the 'odd ball' factor.

I love the cast aluminium tool boxes.  Phyllis Aschenbrenner photo

A Gentleman's touring bike.  Will Paley photo

T-Day weekend 2015 T-Day weekend 2015

Again, I went up to my brother's in Haddam, Ct. and again, we had mild weather.  We had the traditional and excellent Thanksgiving day meal with neighbors.  Friday, we went for a end of season ride, Amy, on her '71 CL350 Honda, Doug on his '64 Norton Electra, and me on my '53 Moto Guzzi Airone Sport.

We rode to N. Madison where we met Rich Hosley, who was riding his '73 750 Norton Commando Interstate (one of the last 750s) after having a technical issue with his Norton International.  We headed north and west with Doug leading first through Durham and Northford.  Then Rich took the lead as he was more familiar with the roads to the west.  He took us through Wallingford, past Quinnipiac University, and into Cheshire where we had an excellent lunch at the Notch Store.  From there Rich led us through Prospect, Bethany, Seymour, Woodbridge, Hamden, North Haven, Northford, North Branford, East Haven, Branford, and Branford Center, where we left Rich at his business after looking at his pile.  This includes a '42 Ford Convertible (one of the last before production stopped for the war), an Ossa Wildfire and a 175 Sport; a Norton ES2, 650 SS, Combat Commando Roadster, a Fastback, and a Manx; a Royal Enfield Interceptor; a Matchless G-12, etc., etc.  From there, Doug led us through North Branford, Guilford, North Madison, Killingworth, and back to Haddam.  All told, it was about 150 miles through south central Ct., in excellent conditions with the leaves off the trees allowing one to see around the corners and into the woods and clean roads.  And, though it got more populated as we went west, traffic wasn't bad.  Doug drained the oil out of the Electra and the Honda hot.
The next day was cooler and showery and I went riding mountain bicycles with another neighbor, Cheryl,  and her dog, in Cockaponset State Forest.

 I hadn't been out in the woods on a bicycle for a couple of years, well before I had my right ankle replaced.  I only crashed once, so I obviously wasn't trying and Cheryl had to do a lot of waiting for me to catch up.  She is nearly 20 years younger than me and has a pretty trick bicycle and is very fit and experienced.  But, it felt great to be out in woods.

 As long as I'm on two wheels, I'm happy.
Sunday, we went to the British Iron Association breakfast at Pete and Sandy Swider's house in Salem.  My old sparing partner, Phil Turkington, was one of the dozen or so who showed up.  Phil and I had many dustups in 250GP races, he on his Bultaco, me on my CRTT.  A few years ago, he badly broke his femur and quit racing, but still rides vintage bikes on the street.  It was good catching up with him.  And it was good hearing Ad Coppens' classic immigrant story.  He arrive in the U.S. from Holland with $28 in his pocket, knowing no one and little English.  He worked three jobs, built up some capital, and started a tire business, importing and exporting tires to Europe.  Eventually, he sold out and started doing what he really loves, restoring AJS and Matchless and supplying part for them from his shop in Salem.
Back in Haddam, Doug took out his '64 260 Benelli and I fired up the Airone and went for a 10 mile burn up, then dumped the fuel and oil to put them away for the winter.

Doug returns from warming up the oil in his Benelli

Ya own a Guzzi and ya live under it.  Amy Roper photo.

After draining all the fuel and oil, we lowered all the bikes into the basement.

Amy's CL 350 Honda goes in first.

The 175 CZ goes down.

Amy receies the Norton Electra

Doug lifts his Benelli

My Airone being lowered

We saved the biggest for last.  Amy reaches for her 2016 V7 II

This completed the ancient Roper Family tradition of stowing of the bikes and the end of another good season of riding.

2015 Race Record

In 2015, I raced at 13 events at 13 different venues, all of which I had raced at before.  I entered 47 races and started 44.  I had 22 wins, seven 2nds, three 3rds, four 4ths, four 5ths, and one DQ (forgot to mount the transponder).  I had five DNFs, three of which were crashes.  Three crashes is about my average for a year.  One was on oil, and one might have been as a result of a mechanical failure, but maybe I was pushing too hard.  I raced 13 different bikes owned by 10 different people.  A reasonably successful season and I won the AHRMA 350GP championship again, though it seems like I had more than my share of mechanical issues.  This completes 44 years of racing, without missing a year.
In addition, I did the Lap of Honour at the Isle of Man, three Tiddler Tours, and a Moto Giro.

AHRMA Daytona 2015

From Barber, I drove the back roads to Phenix City, Al., and spent the night.  The next morning, I drove to Pasaquan, near Buena Vista, Ga.  Pasaquan was the home of of Eddie Martin, a mystic visionary folk artist with a psychedelic bent.  I had stopped there last year on my way from Barber and was blown away.  The site is being restored by the Kohler Foundation and is not officially open yet, but the workers seem totally comfortable with visitors wandering around.  Much progress had been made in the year and they hope to officially open the site by May 2016.  If you're in west central Georgia, I highly recommend a visit.

Pasaquan 10/14

Pasaquan 10/15

From Pasaquan, I drove through rural, central Georgia to Savannah where I spent a few days with good friends in an enchanting city, filled with history and architecture.

Thurs., I drove down to Daytona and got set up in 'Sprint Central' with the Hollingsworths and John Basore and Jim Dillard.  I changed the gearing from Barber and checked everything over.

You couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a H-D Sprint, the  Hollingsworth's 350GP, 250GP and 200GP bikes in the foreground, with my ERTT behind, and Jim Dillard's 250GP and 200GP CRTTs in the backround  with Frank Dittomaso's Historic Production LW 350 Sprint.

AHRMA shares the track with the modern bike organization, ASRA, and races on Fri. and Sat.  Again, I was racing the Dennis Latimer tuned CT-1 Yamaha and my ERTT. 

The two Latimer CT-1 Yamahas.   Jason Roberts was going to race X65, but the gearbox failed in practice.

 Practice went well with both bikes, though I ended up gearing my H-D taller than I had the past several years.  In fact, checking my race records, I had only once turned a faster lap in all the years we had been using transponders than I did Fri. morning, despite missing more shifts and even having it pop out of gear.

But, the problem was that the 350GP and 200GP were scheduled in the same race.  I talked to Cindy Cowell, the race director, to see if she could change that, but she didn't see a way to.  Because of the limited track time that AHRMA has sharing the track with ASRA and the pathetically small entry, many classes have to be combined in each race.  So, I raced the Latimer CT-1 and was scored in both classes, as 350GP is a legal 'bump-up' for the CT-1.

I led about 85% of the 200GP race, but never led across the start/finish line.  Each lap, Denny Poneleit on his amazing 200 Honda would motor by me on Nascar #4 onto the front straight.  I would pass him in turn#1 or #2 and lead through the infield and onto the banking.  It seemed that I had acceleration on him, but he had top end on me.  So I was 2nd 200GP less than a second behind, even though I had a slightly faster fastest lap than Denny, but also 2nd 350GP, as only Jack Parker was ahead of us.  BTW, Denny won the 1971 AMA Junior race at Daytona and has raced there since the mid '60s.  He knows how to build a bike for Daytona.

Rick Remy, Dennis Latimer's nephew, gets ready to put the stand on the CT-1.  Don Hollingsworth photo

For Sat., I decided to race my Sprint in the 350GP race and race the CT-1 in the 250GP race.  In practice, I was missing shifts more regularly and it jumped out of gear several time, with the revs going to the moon.  And, twice on the front straight, the motor started misfiring and cutting out, but then would run fine on the infield.  When I looked at the spark plug after the first round of practice, I found the gap was about 0.002"and I could see a mark on the piston from where it had touched.  I wondered if my big end bearing was going south, but turning the motor with the outside flywheel, it felt alright, as much as I could tell without taking down the top end.  So, I put two washers on a new spark plug, installed it, and went out for the second round of practice.  Again, the motor ran fine through the infield but would misfire and cut out on the banking after a while at full throttle.  Now, I thought the big end must be going and I decided to pull in.  But, exiting the chicane, the motor cut out completely and I had to push the bike in.  I removed the spark plug, expecting to see the gap closed again, but it hadn't changed a bit.  I started looking for another problem and when I barely touched the ground lead from the battery, it fell off.  Oh, that was my problem.  So, I repaired the lead putting new, redundant eyelets on the cable, and was ready for the 350GP race.

Al Hollingsworth puts the stand on my ERTT while Rick works on the CT-1.  Don Hollingsworth photo

But, the 250GP race was first.  I ended up a distant 2nd to Jack Parker on his 250 DT-1 Yamaha in the 250GP, which was probably as good as I could expect, but my fastest lap on the 175 CT-1 Yamaha was 2.225 seconds slower than I had gone the day before as it seemed the motor was losing it's edge. 

Right from the start of the 350GP race, I realized that the ground lead was only one of my problems, as the motor was still cutting out on the front and back straights.  Again, it would run fine in the infield, but ran so badly on the banking that my fastest lap was slower than I had gone earlier in the 250GP on the CT-1.  Now I decided that it must be fuel starvation as it seemed to be a matter of how long I held the throttle open.  The entry was light enough that I still finished 2nd to Jack Parker again. That 2nd and the one for the day before, was enough to cinch the AHRMA 350GP championship for the umpteenth time.

After the race, I took the fuel taps out of the tank expecting to see their filters clogged, but they were clean.  I took the top off the float bowl and that filter was clean, too, and the float seemed to be working fine.  So, I'm at a loss to explain what the problem was.  Don Hollingsworth had a somewhat similar problem Fri., and after brother Al had completely gone through the carb, changed the coil in desperation and that seemed to cure it.  So, maybe I have a coil problem, but that doesn't sound right to me.  And maybe I had a plugged fuel tank vent, which I haven't gotten around to checking yet.  After all my increasing shifting problems, I half expected to see some gear dogs come out when I drained the oil, but the oil was quite clean.  I got in touch with Bill Himmelsbach and he agreed to look at the gearbox again and I stopped at his house on my way home and pulled the motor out and left it with him.

AHRMA announced their schedule for 2016, and Daytona isn't on it.  They've finally come to the realization that Daytona in the fall has become an anticlimax after the huge Barber event.  There's some talk that it may be back in the spring in 2017,  but I may have raced there for the last time.

Jack Parker's DT-1 Yamaha

Jack's front tire.  If it's dry, they work fine as they become more like a slick

Doc Batsleer's Garden Gate Manx

Paul Allender came from England to race his TZ750 Yamaha at Daytona

The TZ has a frame and fuel tank made in Canada by Dennis Curtis

The workmanship on the chassis is superb.

A line up of Yamaha twins that came from Texas

2015 Barber Vintage Festival

On my way to Barber M/S Park from Weaverville, N.C., I stopped at the Wheels Through Time museum in Maggie Valley, N.C.  The museum has exclusively American motorcycles and the majority of them were Harleys.  But, there are quite a few other more obscure brands, lots of memorabilia, and the odd car.  Dale Walksler, the proprietor, is a dynamo and is very approachable.  Dale fired up a bike and rode it around the museum.  There's a very good competition section with lots of race bikes, posters, trophies, leathers, and photos.
From there, I drove straight to Barber and got set up Thurs. afternoon.

For the AHRMA Barber event only, there is practice Thursday and/or Friday, but none on race day because the entry is so big and there are so many races, there isn't time.  Practice went well on the ERTT, though I did miss the odd shift.

I also rode the the CT1 Yamaha that Dennis Latimer built for David Ecker, and that I rode last year at Barber.
  It was geared too tall initially and the clutch slipped when it was cold.  By the time that we got the gearing close, the clutch was slipping all the time.  This was fixed by changing the whole clutch pack.  Then Dennis jetted it down and we were ready.

On the Dennis Latimer tuned CT1 Yamaha.  Don Hollingsworth photo

It rained pretty heavily over night and the track was still wet for the first race, the 250GP.  The second race was the 350GP gridded behind the Formula 500, in the second wave.  I didn't get a very good start and I was a bit tentative, figuring out how wet the track was.

Here I lead #112 Kevin Thurston (F-500, CB 350 Honda), #950 Don Hollingsworth (350 H-D Sprint), and #76 Stu Carter (Seeley 7R), but Jack Parker is long gone.  Neville Miller photo

But, Jack Parker, who had just won the 250GP race and knew exactly how wet the track was,  nailed the start on his DT1 Yamaha.   I passed several bikes after I got going, but never caught him and ended up second in class, almost 11 seconds behind, and 6th overall.
The 200GP race was in the afternoon, by which time the track was totally dry.  I started on the 10th row, having no points in the class this season.  It took me a couple or three laps to get in the lead and I won the race, but was surprised after to see that Chris Spargo, on his LS2 Yamaha, had finished less than 0.3 of a second behind me and his fastest lap was only 0.112 seconds slower than mine.

Cory Levenson photo

Sunday dawned beautiful and for the 350GP I was ready.  I got a much better start, although Jack Parker (who had again won the previous 250GP race) and Paul Germain both beat me off the line. I got by Paul first and, after a lap or so, got by Jack.  He came back by, but I was able to pass him back and pull a small gap, finishing just over 3 seconds ahead of him and again 6th overall.

Here I'm ahead of Jack Parker #18 (DT-1 Yamaha), Bobby Birdsall #x2 (350 Aermacchi) and John Stevens (250 Aermacchi).  Neville Miller photo

 My fastest lap was more than 2 seconds faster than I had gone on Sat., while Jack had gone only less than half a second quicker.

Jack and I went back and forth.  Neville Miller photo

The 200GP was similar to Sat.  I had a little better starting position, based on the point I had earned Sat., and was quickly chasing Chris Spargo.

leading Chris Spargo through the back straight chicane.  Neville Miller photo

We swapped back a forth a couple of times and I was just able to hold him off to the checkers, winning by 0.171 seconds., with a fastest lap 0.351 seconds faster than Chris, and 1.329 seconds faster than I had gone Sat.

Chris Spargo on his LS-2 Yamaha chasing me on a CT-1 Yamaha.  Don Hollingsworth photo

I packed up having had two good races with good competition and both bikes seeming in good shape for Daytona the following week.

Joe Gardella, winner of the Century Race for bikes at least 100 years old.

Beno Rodi on an Indian in the Century Race

A belt drive Triumph for the Century race.

And, speaking of belts, I love the belt damper on the front suspension

As long as I'm on two wheels, I'm happy.  Cory Levenson photo

2015 Classis TT addendum

Mike Peavey spotted me on the Team Obsolete 1954 E-95 AJS Porcupine in a Velocity Channel broadcast of the Classic TT Lap of Honor and spent me a clip.  I believe this is approaching Ballacraine and following me in Jim Redman who, at 83 years old, is still going strong.