Team Elves to tackle the Isle of Man TT

[davegess]

A long time TT racer, Kevin "Ago" Murphy has purchased a XB12R race bike and entered it in the Isle of Man Senior TT race. The Senior is not a golf match for old guys but the featured race for TT week.

The entry is not yet accepted so you guys can help by chatting it up at any or all of these three sites.

http://www.ttwebsite.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=536

iomtt.com/forums/thread/70291.aspx (http://www.iomtt.com/forums/thread/70291.aspx)

paddockgossip.com (http://www.paddockgossip.com)


Team Elves will be helping him out along the way, posting on the above sites is the first step in that.

Thanks

Dave Gess

[davegess]

The above sites all start with www but I can't post that yet as i am a newbie.

[gwcrim]

Most Kewl! I want to go watch.

[davegess]

I want to go watch too, unfortunately I don't think I can swing the bucks at this point. Air fare is $1200 bucks round trip and that is a stretch but then I need place to stay (the joint is pretty booked by this point and I am not much for sleeping in a tent) and some way to get around. You can't rent a bike on the island and I would not be too excited about a car if I could even get one of them.

[jssport]

Dave,

Is Aaron W involved in this effort ?

[doc]

I fixed the links for ya. I wish I could go watch too!!

[aswracing]

Jimmy ... only as a member of TE. If there's anything I can do to help'em out, though, I will.

[Matt]

Most dangerous course in the world and a win there is priceless IMHO. Just running a Senior TT puts you in league with the giants of the past.
Matt

[davegess]

Team Elves has offered to help in any way we can. Aaron is a member so sure he is involved, BUT the bike is owned by a fellow in the IOM and the crew chief/mechanic is none other than Carl Fogartys old mechanic 'Slick' Bass so I doubt we will be doing much actual work;)

We are trying to help get is entry accepted, that is not certain, and then we will do what we can help him go fast but 'Slick' not only knows what he is doing but also prefers to run the show his way.

We may also try to sell some shirts but only if the bike owner wants us to. He is driving the train, we are along for the ride.

This is more of TE supporting someone racing their own Buell not at all like the LSR efforts were.

[davegess]

Don't think a win is in the cards;) Qualifying will be nice, actually finishing 6 laps we be toast all around. Not being the last finisher would be nice too.

The Senior is an odd race, it is open to everything from full on world superbikes down to lightly modified 600s with a few of the "whatever we think is interesing" tossed in. The Buell would be this last class and is likey to be faster than a lot of the 600s it will be very slow compared to the superbikes. The top men are geting 130 mph laps, Kevin will be in the 110+ range.

Still it is cool and quite a challange. Finishing will be a big accomplishment.

[gwcrim]

Still would be quite a kewl "road trip". And for your pal Kevin, quite a nice mountain to climb.

[cwissler]

When is the TT & will it be televised at any point? I'd love to catch that!http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m54/cwissler/dragracewheelie.jpg

[jssport]

It sounds very cool, the Isle is a classic to be sure.

.... is BadWeb is involved?

[davegess]

Badweb is involved, stirring the pot, flaming the fire of enthusiasm, getting people to post on the TT sites to help convince th epowers that be to let it run.

[jssport]

Why wouldn't they let it run?

[davegess]

Well taht is a long story. First up is the way entries are done. The top thirty from last year are in if they want in. The next thirty are in based on the fastest laps they have run in the past. Because it is the 100 anniversary a lot of fast guys who have not raced there in a few years have applied for entry thus sucking up a lot of spots that Kevin might have gotten. He is not the fastest guy out there, 49 years old and all. He did not qualify last year so that hurts him also.

Second part is that the bike does not fit into any of the existing classes and would have to be one of "interesting other bikes" . They use this sparingly so that hurts also.

Third they are not convinced that the bike/rider combination is fast enough to qualify, you need a little over a 110 mph lap speed - the winner at Daytona was not lapping that fast, nor are they convinced it can finish. We have been working to correct that impression BUT who knows. Since the entries are predetermined having an entry not qualify leaves an open grid spot and they really don't like those.

[randytelecaster]

I always wanted to see some type of Buell or Harley-davidson effort in the Senior TT. I think they might even let a pushrod motor run a little more displacement. I don't know that for sure but i read the rules a few years ago and it seemed other displacements might be considered.

[A 4 liter V8 eater]

What is the status of this? Will it be attempted next year?

[davegess]

What is the status of this? Will it be attempted next year?

Fraid not. Kevin quest was not to be. None of the air cooled bikes make nearly enough HP to compete here. The 1125 maybe and certainly the EBR bikes could do it but I suspect that rather doubt that anyone will do it in the near future.

[A 4 liter V8 eater]

What is the status of this? Will it be attempted next year?

Fraid not. Kevin quest was not to be. None of the air cooled bikes make nearly enough HP to compete here. The 1125 maybe and certainly the EBR bikes could do it but I suspect that rather doubt that anyone will do it in the near future.

How about an XBRR?

[davegess]

How about an XBRR?


You got one? I think they would have a tough time being fast enough. They ran with the 600s not the 1000s the one time they really ran. I don't think you can make enough HP out of an AC HD engine to run the TT. The Senior and F1 TT, the only place for these bikes at this time, feature long stretches of over 150 mph with 200 mph touched at one point. The average lap speed is over 130 mph. I don't think these engines can pull that.