IoM - Mad Sunday

Baketech · 06-08-2003, 1:57 PM

Any of you lucky bastages ridden Mad Sunday?

What kind of speeds?

firebladetoronto · 06-08-2003, 2:12 PM

allred · 06-09-2003, 7:39 PM

Yeah, I did.....but it was 32 years ago....does that count?

I think it was crazier back then (even though our bikes weren't as fast as today's. The rule is that everyone goes the same way.....well they didn't tell that to some fools out there and in the first few miles we met idiots coming the other way. Once the organizers got that sorted out it was a lot better!!! It is just crazy and it is aptly named MAD SUNDAY......but you gotta do it!!!

Baketech · 06-09-2003, 8:48 PM

Hell yeah it counts...!!!

What were you riding?

allred · 06-09-2003, 9:34 PM

It was a 600 Norton Dominator wideline cafe racer with Dunstall cam, pistons, gas flowed head, etc. It pushed out 60+bhp at the crank, about 52bhp at the back wheel....which believe it or not was pretty radical back then!!!!! On my return I bought a new Honda CB750........and, as they say, the rest is history!!!

Baketech · 06-09-2003, 9:39 PM

Still sounds pretty radical to me....would be fun to ride today just to see how flippin crazy you were at the time...LOL

allred · 06-09-2003, 9:48 PM

Yeah, If I were to ride that Norton again today it would probably shake me to pieces, the brakes would feel like they were non- existant (one 8' twin leading shoe drum!&#33 and I would be reminded just how crazy I was then. Sure was a different ride to the 954!!!

Baketech · 06-09-2003, 9:51 PM

A Twin?

I can hear this thing in my head....nothing like a cammed, hi compression motor cackling back to get your adrenaline flowing .....

allredhome · 06-09-2003, 10:21 PM

Until Honda came along with that CB750, (and the Triumph/BSA triples), twins were about the only choice you had. With lots of tuning goodies and careful preparation it was amazing how much speed you could get out of them, but they were stressed beyond belief. With the radical cams and high comps pistons etc. a top end overhaul at 8,000-10,000 miles was the norm, and a full engine rebuild was necessary at 25,000-35,000 miles. But that was all there was then, and it was normal........you sure became a good mechanic very quickly!!!

Baketech · 06-09-2003, 10:31 PM

Did you get to hear one of the Norton rotaries while you were on the Island?

allredhome · 06-09-2003, 11:10 PM

I remember Norton 'grasping at straws' and developing the rotary, but I don't remember ever seeing one. At the time no-one I knew held out any real hope for it. The Commando was their last ditch effort, and it was plagued with problems even from the early models. Basically a 750 Atlas engine (which was a modified form of the 650SS, and the 600, and the 500 over the years) taken out of the proven featherbed frame and put in a new single spine frame with complicated rubber mountings to ease the vibration. Meanwhile Honda was making an overhead cam, 4 cylinder, five speed, bike with four pipes, a disk brake, which produced more horsepower, was smooth, comfortable, reliable and looked like a million bucks.