A Photo Tour Of The Isle Of Man

Dave Gess
by Dave Gess

The Isle of Man TT is billed as a festival and it is certainly more than just races.

This Vintage Motor Cycle Club meet is one of many held during two weeks in June that combine 75 beautiful and rare old bikes with one of the most scenic spots in the British Isles, "The Sound" at the southern tip of Manx. In all, you have a very special event that every motorcycle fan should experience.



Kawasaki returned to the TT after an absence of several years with Jason Griffiths on board. He started first and was running ninth when he crashed on the last lap breaking a toe.

The 30 mph sign behind him is about 100 or so mph off. Since you can't see the turn because of the rise, Joey Dunlop says he aims at a telephone pole that is over the top of the hill. Some bikes are accelerating so hard that even slow guys lift the front wheel -- but the really fast guys like Dunlop or #9 Phil McCallen get up much higher and are leaned over more while they do it. In this shot McCallen's rear tire is just barely touching the road.

Sidecar race one's winners Nick Fisher and passenger Boyd Hutchinson pound through the S-bend at Bradden Bridge. The fast guys lift the wheel when the passenger moves to the right for the next right-hand turn before the sled has finished navigating this left.

Left: Phil McCallen on his way to victory in the Formula 1 TT aboard the Castrol Honda RC45. He is taking an unusually wide line at Quarterbridge, everyone else clips the apex late and is very close to the curb at this point. Phil took a very early apex and than ran wide before turning. It gave photographers a scare as he headed right at them and looked like he had lost it. McCallen did it every lap, and it seemed to work.

Middle: You can see how much closer to the curb Joey Dunlop is at the same spot. Dunlop rode this Castrol Honda to victory in the Senior TT for his 19th TT win. Will anyone ever top him?

Right: The TT race is not just a great race but a great race in a very pretty place. The church yard at Bradden Bridge is a very popular spot to watch the sidecars race.


750 Superbikes flash by the crowd at 180 mph as they hit the bottom of Bray Hill. Spectators stand not 20 feet away with nothing but a wood railing between them and the 450 pound bikes flying by. Bray Hill is the first of many points on the course where the bikes bottom their suspensions. Running out of suspension travel while leaned over and traveling flat out on a factory Superbike is an awesome sight to see.
There are many things to do and see in Manx. This is Peel castle, one of two ruined castles you can visit.
Mick Lofthouse at Ballaugh Bridge. Lofthouse fell in Parliament Square in Ramesy but kept the bike running and his knee down so as to avoid damage to the pipe. His 6/10th of a second loss to Baldwin is the closest finish since the TT stopped using massed starts.

Dave Gess
Dave Gess

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