Kind of pricey....

Bernhard said:
Your description of Mike the bike holds true, but wouldn't we all like to have his talent?
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I sometimes watch video of the IOM. When I race, I rely on my judgement of the speed as I approach bends and corners. The thought of racing on the IOM horrifies me. How would you ever gain the confidence to feel safe on that circuit ?
 
acotrel said:
I helped fix the Dunsters' Manx which Mike rode at Winton in the 70s. I watched him race. He was most unimpressive - all he was, was super smooth and extremely fast. He obviously knew how fast he could get around the corners and simply went that fast.
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We‘re talking about a motorcycle racer here right?

Smooth and fast and having excellent judgment of the maximum speed for any given corner and then doing that speed was UNIMPRESSIVE ?!? hmmm... sounds like a perfect racer to me.

Exactly what would he have had to do to impress you Al? Do it naked? Blindfolded? Whilst juggling?

Honestly, calling Hailwood unimpressive is just ridiculous.
 
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Fast Eddie said:
We‘re talking about a motorcycle racer here right?

Smooth and fast and having excellent judgment of the maximum speed for any given corner and then doing that speed was UNIMPRESSIVE ?!? hmmm... sounds like a perfect racer to me.

Exactly what would he have had to do to impress you Al? Do it naked? Blindfolded? Whilst juggling?

Honestly, calling Hailwood unimpressive is just ridiculous.
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I actual think thats what he meant.

The slow guys are all action and spectacular.

The fast guys look like they are going slow
 
I remember watching Hailwood race a Seeley 500 single at Mallory Park, he lead from start to finish, some of the other guys finishing behind him commented that he was a bit early on the brakes etc, but having not raced a 500 single for over 20 odd years, nobody attemped or were successful in getting past him. Plenty of moaners out there, but as Hailwood said a long time ago, "When the flag drops, the bullshit stops"
 
grandpaul said:
How is that a valid argument?

Other guy brakes early, you fly past and beat him to the apex.
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??

Not if it makes you go in too hot and get your knickers in a twist. No point being first to the Apex and in the wrong place...

The man said ‘early‘ not ‘hard’... I think the argument is that being early on the brakes was a part of what made him deceptively smooth... and that enabled him to carry more corner speed. This is especially the case if you’re on an underpowered bike and need to maintain momentum.

IIRC Peter Williams was similar.
 
Yes, it seems "early" in this instance should be replaced with "perfectly" as he led from start to stop...
 
If you watch Mike Hailwood in this video, you will see him ride a perfect race. He simply waits his opportunity and takes the high line around John Cowie under brakes. Which is the Ducati's strength. If he had taken the lead early, he would have had a fight on his hands. It is pretty obvious that he knew completely what he could do with the Ducati.
 
Fast Eddie said:
??

Not if it makes you go in too hot and get your knickers in a twist. No point being first to the Apex and in the wrong place...

The man said ‘early‘ not ‘hard’... I think the argument is that being early on the brakes was a part of what made him deceptively smooth... and that enabled him to carry more corner speed. This is especially the case if you’re on an underpowered bike and need to maintain momentum.

IIRC Peter Williams was similar.
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My bike is underpowered but it oversteers in corners. I don't worry about race lines. I just brake as far into the corner as I can while cranked over, then get straight back onto the gas. The bike does the turning for me and stays more vertical. The only problem is, you have to have your head around the corner before you enter it, and know how much the bike is going to turn when you gas it.
 
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