Michael Dunlop is busy trying to amass a record at the Isle of Man TT that will rival that of his uncle, the late, legendary Joey Dunlop. During one of several wins he took last year (this was the 600 Supersport event), the following video was recorded . It begins with Dunlop leaving the pits on lap 3, and is perhaps the best way to experience the Isle of Man at the professional level without actually riding it. The video gets quite dark as he goes through a tunnel of trees during several sections of the lap, but hang in there and watch the whole video. It is worth it.
My brain simply does not process information at that speed.I would be overcome with emotion,mostly fear and panic
Exactly what I was thinking and that was on a 600..My brain would probably explode just watching the 1000’s.
I am not worthy.
I’m nothing to do with the company or software, but there are a couple of old playstation2 games which have the Isle of Man circuit, and other road racing circuits, to race round.
I picked up the platform and the game for little money. I’m happy to say that I’ve ridden around the TT circuit and the other big two (NW200 and UGP). the experience on the game is very good and I can tell you that learning the TT course (37 miles) at home is a fun thing to do, not to mention safe and cheap.
I’m not a computer game fan. but when I eventually managed to get around in less that 18 minutes, I could have wept. I certainly gave the place respect in August when riding around it for real.
Unbelievable…incredible…amazing…thank you so much motorcycledaily for sharing this with the world.
Oh Lord, the pass around the 11:00 mark was just awesome! Such great riding.
Superhuman!
It would be one of the greatest road courses on the planet … if it weren’t for the trees, building, brick fences, etc. As it is, it is a death trap. That people ride at that speed in that place is utterly insane. You might just as well race without a helmet.
Takes your breath away! As much as I admire Vale, Lorenzo, Marquez, etc.—they don’t race here—guys like Hailwood, Read, Redman, Ago, Dunlop, etc. raced here on rock-hard tires in the old days—just WOW!
Incredible- there must be something in the Dunlop DNA. If you haven’t watched VFour Victory starring Joey…now is the time. You will see Joey on a 850 V Four run a 120mph lap in 1983 (?) The sound of the V4 does it for me
Great to see this. Ive ridden the Manx GP several times and the first International Production TT, and this brings it back — on steroids! A small link to Dunlop– Joey and the Ballymena Coal hauler bought my TR3 as Joeys first fast bike..I had been running it with 0.5 thou clearances and a careful running in of the chrome bores.. and it worked incredibly well.. and fast// I asked them to leave the bike as it was set up for their first practice checkout (I also gave them the untouched spares kit we used to get).. but then made the mistake of telling them Id done 2000 racing miles on it! so they never tried it.. pity it was the fastest and most torquey starter and i cant recall anyone getting off the (push start) line faster all season..I simply could not believe how long the barrels and pistons were lasting using this ultra close piston clearance setup.. but maybe it had something to d with the fancy two stroke oil Shell research had come up with for me..
in common with others on this thread– I can barely believe my own memories of the races–which were far slower than today of course.
Thanks for the posting. Ive saved the BIG (400Mb) version
I was dead by the 0:34 mark… the first serious dark patch after coming up from the bottom of Bray Hill, I lost all me see through and missed my braking markers. the Motul banner I smacked into at Quarterbridge (like so much LAWN DART) made for a nice burial shroud.
Now that’s FUNNY…………in a sadistic way…………but I couldn’t stop laughing.
excellent footage and can I stop tucking in my elbows now?
There are several things to notice…
1) I’m not sure how close to production machine these are, it’s insane how well the machine keeps to ground even with elevation changes that makes the bike flight (of course the abilities of the rider accounts for a lot of the handling) you can just amaze yourself of the quality of suspensions in the machine.
2) Brakes… this can’t fail even a single bit
3) On another video I was checking that they hit 180mph, I wonder what’s the top speed of the “little” cbr on this video, if modified I guess they’ll be hitting 300kph in sections
4) Respect… for real it’s insane the amount of risk they go through
5) How good everyone is, if the rider in front of you fail for half a sec you may die, same for behind you
6) I wonder what’s the percentage of this machines that get engines totaled, it’s insane the amount of stress to which machines are exposed.
one day I have to set a travel to watch this in person.
Insane! I now feel like my ability to ride a bike is equivalent to a little old blue haired lady in a Buick.
Is there a single traffic light on that whole island?
The IOM makes a really great vacation destination, and something that every dedicated motorcyclist should put on his bucket list. If you want to avoid the huge crowds, go for the Manx and you’ll get to see not only great racing, but an island wide vintage motorcycle show as well. The IOM itself is well worth seeing, and there is more to do than just enjoy the amazing races. I rode the course on a BMW K1200S and hit 100 mph (the ton) a couple of times. Just a casual joy ride, but the course can still scare the hell out of you! Real road racers are much different from you and me.
As motorcyclists, most of us have at least some degree of risk taker in us. I probably have a little more than average, but this is just insane. I don’t think, even as a 20 year old, I would have had the stones to ride this course anywhere near this fast.
It’s easy to see why so many have died here.
Not to make light of obviously insane speed through unforgiving surroundings, the camera always presents an even more intense view than what the rider has. Those dark areas don’t seem to be the complete blackout the camera makes it look like and the eye and head of the rider can keep the horizon somewhat level. More of a controlled insanity than just barely making it with the help of the BIG guy upstairs.
Scary as it seems, doesn’t watching this get the old riding juices flowing and the heart beating a bit faster? (Honey, can you get me one of my nitro tablets?) 🙂
Good video.
The video quality makes this video special
Frightening video looking at the risk level that the rider has assumed. Each curve (segment) memorized to ride at this speed, almost flat out. However, any wrong move means death.
The audio quality makes this video very special.
No time to rest. Sounds like the reciprocating parts want out.
This guy must need special made pants to fit the set he must have to race like this. The Isle race never ceases to amaze me. I could only dream of being as good a rider.
These racers give new meaning to the word brave.
Not human.
It made me exhausted just watching it. I would have gladly pulled off for a pint at about 8:00.
In the 80’s we used to get up at 4am and have a blast around the course before any traffic! We sometimes met the lone milkman on his rounds but that was about it! My best time was just over 37 minutes on my Honda CBX 550! So proud of myself at the time and looking back, lucky I never killed myself in the process! They were great times and one of the things I miss now I live in Canada.
“First gear (honda honda) it’s alright (faster faster)
Second gear (little honda honda) I lean right (faster faster)
Third gear (honda honda) hang on tight (faster faster)
Faster it’s alright”
The stones, shadows, buildings, trees, possible animals running across the street……….INSANITY !!! No wonder since Freddie Spencer top road racers refused to race this way. This is why every year some of the TT racers get killed. 1 thing for sure, if you hit something you will be dead before you feel it.
Well the headline says it all really…no matter how many times I see footage of this event it looks as frightening as ever. This footage so far is the most ‘realistic’ and best quality I have seen. Every single time I watch these guys I fear for them like no other event I have ever seen. Would I do this?..could I do this?..thank God I will never find the answer to that question!!.
My feelings exactly. I find it so frightening I can’t even enjoy watching it.
Simply… WOW ….
As a Canadian living here in England for the past 7 years, I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve yet to go to the Isle of Man for the TT races.
Shame on me eh?
But thank you Dirck for this incredible footage and for re-setting my to do list for 2014.
I absolutely have to get over there and witness in person this type of motorcycle road racing at its finest.
Incredible….
Thank you.