#JohnMcguinness

Yes, it rained for the better part of two weeks. Until it didn’t. And then all hell broke loose on the Mountain Course. The pubs, hotels, and campsites emptied, the Parc Fermé lit up, and qualifying and racing got underway as an unusual and stirring race fortnight on the Isle of Man drew to a fitting climax.

The 100th meeting of the Isle of Man TT is nearly upon us, with competitors getting ready to tackle the 37.73-mile Snaefell Mountain Course.

Is print dead? I consume current events almost exclusively online lately, reaching for my beloved old leatherbound tomes usually only in the last half-hour before toddling off to Dreamland with a warm glass of milk. Some magazines are hanging in there, but many are slowly sliding off to oblivion. There’s just no way for a thing printed on dead trees to match the speed of the internet. But maybe that’s a good thing for really good books worth reading? Just in time for the holidays, we’ve rounded up the Best Books for Motorcyclists. (Having said all that, most of these are also available electronically.)

Lost in the worldwide hate storm being spewed on Romano Fenati after he pulled the dumbest move in racing history, is this clip from the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Here we have the proper way to reach out and get the attention of a fellow rider.

Team Mugen presented the latest version of its TT Zero-winning electric racebike at the 2017 Tokyo Motorcycle Show. John McGuinness, and Guy Martin will ride the Mugen Shinden Roku (“roku” meaning “six”) in this year’s race.

Fan favorite Guy Martin is returning to the Isle of Man TT, signing on to join longtime Honda factory rider John McGuinness to ride the new CBR1000RR SP2. The two will ride the Fireblade in the Superbike class in both the Isle of Man TT and the North West 200.

Ride along with the 2006 MotoGP World Champion and Honda World Superbike rider Nicky Hayden as he hosts the fifth installment of Honda Racing TV. Join Hayden at his Owensboro ranch and spin some laps on the family’s backyard flat track, while discussing his racing roots. Travel to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, listen to an in-depth interview with TT legendJohn McGuinness, and travel back in time through the history of Honda motocross bikes. Stay tuned for new episodes at HondaProRacing.com/tv, or subscribe to youtube.com/hondaproracing.

Having just recovered from my 8th annual trip to the Isle of Man, and already planning for next year’s endeavor, it’s time to look back on what was, by any measure, one of the great TT fortnights in the storied 108-year history of the event. And, to premiere the 2015 edition of the Motorcycle.com TT Review video, five minutes of sights, sound and motion from the greatest motorsports event on Earth.

I have heard the future. And if you listen closely to the video snippet below, you will as well. It’s the whining sound barely discernable under the commentary on the loudspeaker and the beating rotors of the helicopter. That is John McGuinness rounding the corner at Creg-ny-Baa on his way to winning today’s Isle of Man TT Zero race, at a new lap record of over 119 mph. The snippet following that is of Lee Johnston on the Victory electric prototype. Johnston claimed third place at 111.620 mph, a stellar accomplishment for the American brand that is pressing forward into segments and markets virtually unthinkable just a few months ago. Johnston had been running increasingly faster laps throughout practice as he became more familiar with the bike, and he rode his fastest lap when it mattered most.

Week one of the 2015 Isle of Man TT race meet, humbly called Practice Week, is wrapping up, with the usual mix of triumph and tragedy. I arrived on the Isle just as qualifying started, and made my usual rounds: Checked in to the Arrandale Hotel, ideally situated within walking distance to the grandstand, paddock and Douglas Promenade. Picked up a roarty little Triumph Street Triple, and did a few laps of the TT Course, followed some off the beaten path back roads, where the soundtrack of the three-pot mill acted as a handy sheep repellant. I registered at the TT Marshal’s hut, hit the Woodbourne Pub for reconnection with old friends (IoM pub reports to follow), and started to immerse myself in the wonder that is TT Practice Week which challenges TT Race Week for atmosphere and spectating with the added benefit of un-crowded motorbike touring.

Andrew Capone, in his Top 5 Storylines For The 2015 Isle Of Man TT article, poses two significant topics: 1) How far are we from ‘Peak Speed?’ and 2) Will electric racing motorcycles finally capture our fancy?

The Isle of Man TT, which kicks off yet again this Saturday, May 30, occupies a special place in the world of motorsports. An unmatched two-week spectacle in an idyllic setting with almost unimaginably brave athletes, the TT proudly sticks a middle finger in the face of the banality and conformity that rules modern life and more pedestrian sporting events.

Grab a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and a cold beverage. It is Australia Day weekend over here and the biggest classic bike event Down Under is on. Time to soak up the atmosphere and fumes of the largest historic motorcycle racing festival in the Southern Hemisphere.

The 2014 Isle of Man TT fortnight concluded on a beautiful, sunny Friday afternoon, with Michael Dunlop propelling himself into history by winning the big one, the PokerStars Senior TT race. This was the second-consecutive year that Dunlop has won four races in a week, giving him, at only 25 years of age, 11 career TT race wins. His uncle, the late, great Joey Dunlop, eventually went on to win a record 26 TTs.

The 2014 Isle of Man TT is finally upon us, with the Superbike TT and the first of two Sidecar TT races kicking things off. To get your juices flowing on one of the world’s most storied motorcycle racing events, this edition of the Weekend Awesome offers the official 2014 Isle of Man TT trailer.