Joey Dunlop - mesmerising smoothness, pulverising speed

[Bender]

It's been 10 years since Joey Dunlop died (actually on July 2) and I've just received the MCN special edition commemorating his death.

I like JD. I have a couple of DVDs of him on the IOM TT circuit and I can watch him race time and and again because he is just so smooth. Makes it look easy (I reckon the only other person who approaches JD in this regard is Bruce Anstey but that's a whole other debate.)

The special edition talks about an early film made about the Armagh Armada - three Irish road racers - which is also now available on DVD, bundled with a film called V4 Victory. I've ordered it - I love these old films, made with massive cameras strapped to the tank and in this case, with the camera battery held between Joey Dunlop's knees during full-race laps of the NW200.

There are a few neat comments in the MCN spec.ed that I particularly liked.

(Kudos to writer Guy Proctor for the following excerpts, nice work.)

"He was his usual invincible-looking self on each of the three years he attended the (Tallin) races - mesmerising smoothness masking pulverising speed." How's that for an epitaph?

The following isfrom Neil Tuxworth who was the GB Honda boss in the day.

"He was so easy on his bikes. I was always amazed at how few spares Joey used. He never over-revved them. They never broke. He was so smooth in everything he did. Foggy used to have a new clutch every single race when he was riding our RC45 superbike. Joey had the same clutch in his RC45 for three years.

"I remember one time Joey rang up to say he needed some piston rings for a rebuild job. I thought he'd need gaskets, seals, bearings, things like that if he was rebuilding an engine so I asked the boys in the workshop to fix him up with a package of parts. Two weeks later I got a package back from Joey with all the parts we sent him, minus the rings. In the package was a note saying "I only asked for the bloody rings."

"The Japanese had tremendous respect for Joey. His name was revered in the factory.

"I remember the first year Head of Honda Motorsports Michihiko Aika (a Japanese engineer who had been a mechanic for Hailwood in the 60s) came to the TT. We were running RC30s with flatslide carburettors. They cost 20,000 pounds per set which at that time was a fortune and they arrived from Japan with a memo that simply said "look after these."

"I picked Mr Aika up from the airport and asked him if he'd like to go to the hotel. But he wanted to see Joey at the workshop. Joey had this place at Mannin Tyres near the marina and it was absolutely pouring with rain. When we arrived there was no Joey to be seen but there was his RC30 outside in the pouring rain, heads off the engine with 5mm of water sitting in the bores on top of the pistons. I was absolutely horrified and then we spotted the carburettors. Joey had used a twig to hang them by their cables over the side of the wall, above a stream. I expected Mr Aika to blow his top but he just looked at me and said "It's ok Neil-san, we all know about Joey Dunlop."

[Maha]

The songs a bit morbid but......

[MIXONE]

Thanks maha that was excellent.

[Nonbeliever]

Joey Dunlop, now there's a REAL iom hero

[gixerracer]

I was lucky enough to race Joey at the NW200 in 1999 600 supersport race he passed my early on and I was climbing all over my bike like a monkey typical dumb young fella and he was just sitting on his bike doing to me what looked like nothing and he just pissed me off lol.
'We went to his pub a few days later for a beer and had our photos taken with the great man, probably some of my greatest racing memories.
He did die on my birthday which pissed me of as I had just been racing at the IOM that year and was sleeping in the honda team race shed on the floor upstairs in the office and Joeys factory RC45 woke us up every morning as the floor shook so much. Dam them some good memories

Just reading this again it was in fact the vtwin sp1 that was our alarm clock with Aaron slights world superbike engine in it

It's been 10 years since Joey Dunlop died (actually on July 2) and I've just received the MCN special edition commemorating his death.

I like JD. I have a couple of DVDs of him on the IOM TT circuit and I can watch him race time and and again because he is just so smooth. Makes it look easy (I reckon the only other person who approaches JD in this regard is Bruce Anstey but that's a whole other debate.)

The special edition talks about an early film made about the Armagh Armada - three Irish road racers - which is also now available on DVD, bundled with a film called V4 Victory. I've ordered it - I love these old films, made with massive cameras strapped to the tank and in this case, with the camera battery held between Joey Dunlop's knees during full-race laps of the NW200.

There are a few neat comments in the MCN spec.ed that I particularly liked.

(Kudos to writer Guy Proctor for the following excerpts, nice work.)

"He was his usual invincible-looking self on each of the three years he attended the (Tallin) races - mesmerising smoothness masking pulverising speed." How's that for an epitaph?

The following isfrom Neil Tuxworth who was the GB Honda boss in the day.

"He was so easy on his bikes. I was always amazed at how few spares Joey used. He never over-revved them. They never broke. He was so smooth in everything he did. Foggy used to have a new clutch every single race when he was riding our RC45 superbike. Joey had the same clutch in his RC45 for three years.

"I remember one time Joey rang up to say he needed some piston rings for a rebuild job. I thought he'd need gaskets, seals, bearings, things like that if he was rebuilding an engine so I asked the boys in the workshop to fix him up with a package of parts. Two weeks later I got a package back from Joey with all the parts we sent him, minus the rings. In the package was a note saying "I only asked for the bloody rings."

"The Japanese had tremendous respect for Joey. His name was revered in the factory.

"I remember the first year Head of Honda Motorsports Michihiko Aika (a Japanese engineer who had been a mechanic for Hailwood in the 60s) came to the TT. We were running RC30s with flatslide carburettors. They cost 20,000 pounds per set which at that time was a fortune and they arrived from Japan with a memo that simply said "look after these."

"I picked Mr Aika up from the airport and asked him if he'd like to go to the hotel. But he wanted to see Joey at the workshop. Joey had this place at Mannin Tyres near the marina and it was absolutely pouring with rain. When we arrived there was no Joey to be seen but there was his RC30 outside in the pouring rain, heads off the engine with 5mm of water sitting in the bores on top of the pistons. I was absolutely horrified and then we spotted the carburettors. Joey had used a twig to hang them by their cables over the side of the wall, above a stream. I expected Mr Aika to blow his top but he just looked at me and said "It's ok Neil-san, we all know about Joey Dunlop."

[satchriossi]

Here's my favourite Joey vid from the 1999 Ulster GP; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wStMC...ext=1&index=20

The sound his '45 is making at 5:24 sends shivers down my spine!

[Rick 52]

He was a star ! We have watched him drop jets in the long grass in the paddock working out the back of his old Merc van brilliant ,he was embaressed at winning every race at the Southern 100 on his own he couldn't carry all his trophy's ,I was in the pits for my mate i think it was 1998 it was pissing down they reduced the race from 4to3to2 laps when JD came past on the first lap changing up gears wheel spinning every gear we could hear him all the way down Bray Hill wheel spinning .I got over to the TT for the first time in 6 yrs this year I have a nice pic of me and his memorial at the Bungalow a real star . The video is that the one you can hear the bike coming and the old guy is bringing the cows in ? Brilliant

[jellywrestler]

Here's my favourite Joey vid from the 1999 Ulster GP; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wStMC...ext=1&index=20

!

kiwi blair degerholm has an early third place in this race too

[manxkiwi]

Always loved Joey's quote on the V Four Victory DVD. The on board is somewhere like Cronk-y-Voddy, absolutely flying. The interviewer says something like 'look at how fast the white lines are going past'. Joey says: 'Aye, you'd have trouble countin'em!' Legendary!!