June 1st, 2023 – London, England to Castletown, Isle of Man: ~ 325 miles – we finally get to the Isle of Man!
Did you miss Day 4? We check out the Crighton CR700W rotary superbike.
The area we were staying in had lots of expensive cars go through, several of which had been ruined with over-the-top body kits modified by tuning companies who bump up power and change up the cosmetics, like this Mercedes G-Wagon done up by Hamann Tuning. I’m guessing that the driver thought I was taking a photo of his/her car because he/she thought I was impressed, but this thing makes me sad. Give me a 80s G-Wagon with a stick shift and plaid seats any day! Hell, even Mercedes agrees with me – when they produced their 500,000th G-Class SUV they half-assedly turned it into a retro version of it to celebrate. I realize I’ve already gone way off the deep end away from motorcycles, but if you agree with me and have more money than I do, then you should check out a company called Arrows in Japan because they’ll build you a sweet Mercedes W124 (1984 to 1996) station wagon or a 1st gen G-Wagon in the coolest (read: least gaudy) spec.
We made our way to Heathrow in and checked in to our flight with Loganair: “Scotland’s Airline“. We had been warned by lots of people that the flight was always late and that the service wasn’t good but our flight was just fine. With that said, we had some friends join a day later on the same flight number and they were delayed over half an hour because the luggage crew kept getting confused about which bags were supposed to be on their plane.
The plane was a ATR 42. a high-wing turboprop powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines. The “42” in the name comes from the passenger capacity of the original design, which dates back to 1984. I’ve gotten on passenger planes directly from the tarmac before but they were larger and required independent staircases up to the plane. I’ve never been on a plane where you just…hop up the built-in stairs.
I normally don’t bother writing about in-flight service, but I was given a Tunnock’s caramel wafer biscuit (quite delicious) and was stunned to see that they apparently make over 7 million of these things a week.
It’s finally happened – we’re at the Isle of Man!
The capital of the Isle of Man is Douglas, and that’s where the main airport is. As several readers noted in my request for Isle of Man advice, Douglas can be a bit of a zoo during the TT so it can be beneficial to stay in another city close by. With the benefit of hindsight, I’d say that I’d probably deal with the madness and stay in Douglas anyway as the proximity to the madness is great during the event, even if it’s a little hectic.
Our lodging at the Isle of Man had been arranged six months ago by a buddy named Keith, who flew into the island a few hours before we did. Keith is a wonderful client of Iconic who has joined us for several track days and has a serious passion for adventure motorcycling. He’s constantly traveling around the world and is involved with a touring and rental company called Ride Adventures. When we landed and we got phone service again, Adam’s phone lit up with a text from Keith. “I got us beer.” I like Keith a lot.
I loved seeing this sign.
Any country that uses motorcycles as an example of why you should live there is A-OK in my book.
We walked outside the airport to figure out how we could get to our rental home in Castletown and I saw a few motorcyclists waiting to pick up passengers from the same flight. It’s always cool to pick someone up from the airport on a bike – I’ve only done it once, when Vy flew in to Vancouver to meet up with me for my ride up to the top of Alaska and back.
The reason why the “Three Legs of Mann” have become the symbol of the Isle of Man has been lost to time, though historians have been able to trace it back to the 13th century. It is specifically called a “triskelion,” and it’s composed of three armored legs with golden spurs. It’s also seen on their flag, and there are connections to Sicily and Norse mythology.
We hopped in a cab and he dropped us off to where Google Maps said the home would be, though that turned out to be the wrong address. It was close enough for our friend Keith (who was already at the house) to come get us in his rental car, though it was a tiny Vauxhall Viva that didn’t have room for all of us so he picked up the ladies and our luggage while Adam and I started walking back. I prefer walking in these situations anyway because then you get to see things that you might have otherwise missed – like the height of this comically small door that I asked Adam to pose next to for scale.
But that wasn’t the smallest door we found…
We got about halfway to the home on foot by the time Keith had dropped off the girls and returned for us. That gave Adam and I time to find some beautiful landscapes.
Here’s our home for the next couple of days! Spoiler alert: we loved this place so much that we’ve already booked it for next year – hopefully we’ll see you there!
The property is on a farm, so one of the yards was actually a grazing pasture for a few horses.
The ladies assigned me to this room because of the “Lord” pillow. I was happy to oblige.
We walked into town for some dinner to find that this mini-castle was our neighbor. I have to be honest – it wasn’t until I was writing up this post that it finally clicked to me why the name of the “city” we were staying in was called Castletown.
We encountered a lovely Land Rover Discovery in town and had to take a moment to admire it.
The owner overheard us excitedly talking about his truck and he came outside to let Adam start it:
There was a West Honda Pons-inspired minibike in a small store that caught our eye. If the shop was open, Adam would have probably bought it.
This is Castle Rushen, which was initially built in the 10th century, repeatedly changed handes between the English and the Scots, and was completed in the 16th century. After the English Civil War it lost its’ value as a defensive castle and eventually became an administrative office, then a mint, then a court, a meeting place, and even a prison! It was restored in the late 1800s and then transferred from the British Crown to the Isle of Man Government in 1929. In 1988, the castle was handed over to the Manx National Heritage and now it’s a museum.
Adam got some cash from a local ATM, and that’s when I discovered that the Isle of Man has a different look for their pounds.
We all got dinner at Secret Pizza, which I highly recommend.
The food is good and the staff has a sense of humor – both in person and in notes.
Speaking of staff: the Isle of Man grows from roughly 85,000 people to nearly 130,000 people during the TT. As you can imagine, that means lots of restaurants, hotels, and other service industries need to crew up for that period.
A group of bikers rode by and I squatted on the side of the road to get photos. The rider of the Aprilia Tuono hit me with the double guns, which is why he’s the only one I’m featuring here.
I couldn’t help but notice a few barriers and corner signs on the roads back to our home. Turns out the road our home was on was part of the Southern 100, a series of races which include a Pre-TT event and Post-TT event – though the Post-TT races were recently cancelled after the IoM moved the Senior TT to Saturday.
Adam, Tija, and I went into Douglas to check out the town. It’s the capital of the Isle of Man, the largest city (population of 26k), and the center of nightlife. More importantly, it’s where the paddock and start/finish line are. We borrowed Keith’s rental car and I drove – it was the first time I’ve driven a RHD car with a stick shift, and it was quite odd to shift with my left hand.
As soon as we parked, Adam was immediately recognized in his Iconic Motorbikes jacket. It was quite rewarding to be on the other side of the world and have people recognize what we’re up to over in Los Angeles!
There were several cool bikes parked – I’ll do a separate Picture Intermission sharing some of my favorites from England and the Isle of Man, but here’s my highlights from Day 5:
Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello. I haven’t had the pleasure of riding one of these yet but I’m looking forward to it. This is the first production bike with active aerodynamics, and it’s the first Guzzi to come with modern tech like a six-axis IMU, riding modes, cornering ABS, cornering lights, and Ohlins electronic suspension. Seems like it would make for a fun (and slightly different) sport-tourer. Have any of you ridden one yet?
Kawasaki H2 SX. These things are hideous but that motor is glorious and I’ll always have a soft spot for it because it’s the bike I went coast to coast with in less than 50 hours for an Iron Butt Association challenge.
Yamaha R125. These were introduced in 2008 as a four-stroke replacement for the TZR125, and it’s geared towards young/beginner riders. It’s actually built by MBK, the evolution of Motobecane. It’s a budget learner bike so there’s nothing special from a technology standpoint, but it’s something we don’t get in the US.
One thing I was surprised to see was the quantity of dirt bikes. Here’s a Husqvarna (I think a FE 350 but I’m not 100% sure) that’s recently had a good time. Turns out there’s a lot of great off-roading out in the Isle of Man, and I’ve been told it’s an excellent way to get in between viewing spots on the race course.
Note Adam in the background, snapping a Triumph Rocket III
Lastly, there was a Bimota BB3. This utilizes the engine out of a BMW S1000RR, and Bimota made just 26 of these between 2013 and 2015! The BB2 was just a prototype that never made it to production, so this was just the second Bimota built that used a BMW motor. The other one was the BB1, which featured the (Rotax) single from a F650. We’ve actually got a 1-mile BB1 over at Iconic if you want to learn more.
We all walked into a local hotel for a drink, though I was a few minutes behind Adam and Tija because I was chatting with the Bimota owner for a bit. When I finally walked into the hotel, someone came up to me asking if I remembered who he was. He looked familiar and I knew the face but I couldn’t remember his name. He had been to Iconic before and he has an amazing collection of motorcycles. He’s also got a NR750 windshield with a scratch, and he’s looking for a mint example if you know of one!
I liked the Bushy’s logo but I went with a gin and tonic.
Once 2 am rolled around, we figured we should get back home. Seeing all the bikes everywhere just kept putting a smile on my face – and tomorrow would be even better!
