TT Visitors Down By 5%

[ManxTaxPayer]

I think previously I have been underestimating your age.

 

It's got nothing to do with age, when you've done as many miles as I have on motorbikes, in all weathers, you get to know what works. It's a miserable form of transport.

[manxb&b]

 

I think previously I have been underestimating your age.

 

It's got nothing to do with age, when you've done as many miles as I have on motorbikes, in all weathers, you get to know what works. It's a miserable form of transport.

 

Aye, delivering pizzas in the middle of winter must be a bastard.

[dilligaf]

 

It's not really possible to go very far over here!

 

More seriously, the likes of the Trumpet Street/Speed Triple have flyscreens and those funny sticky outy bits in front of your knees that do a decent job of keeping the wind away.

 

Give me a massive full fairing with handlebar muffs and heated grips any day.

 

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/videos/handle-bar-explode/3990/

 

I knew I'd seen those heated grips somewhere before

[ManxTaxPayer]

Aye, delivering pizzas in the middle of winter must be a bastard.

 

Well, quite.

[manxie44]

It is world renowned within motorcycling circles.

And there are more bike motorsport fans than we will ever be able to accommodate.

I think the North West 200 backs up that statement. Around 150,000 are in Northern Ireland each year for the Event, and apparently the vast majority are Irish. Many more Irish would be here for the TT/MGP , if there were boats to bring them , they are ' genuine ' Motorcycle Road Race Fans. Not many VIPs , so Skelly and his vision for our Race Meetings will not be interested.

[GD4ELI]

 

It is world renowned within motorcycling circles.

And there are more bike motorsport fans than we will ever be able to accommodate.

I think the North West 200 backs up that statement. Around 150,000 are in Northern Ireland each year for the Event, and apparently the vast majority are Irish. Many more Irish would be here for the TT/MGP , if there were boats to bring them , they are ' genuine ' Motorcycle Road Race Fans. Not many VIPs , so Skelly and his vision for our Race Meetings will not be interested.

 

 

A mate down here is a big, big bike enthusiast. The reason he and his buddies don't visit the IOM is the price of the crossing and they don't want to sleep in a tent.

[manxie44]

 

And there are more bike motorsport fans than we will ever be able to accommodate.

But I dont think all of them want to sit in a hedge all day to watch a bike pass for 2 seconds every 15 minutes and then retire to a rain soaked tent.

I think you over estimate your "fan base".

Many fans think this is ' Pure Magic ' compared to watching a couple of dozen bikes going past on Airport Runways every 30 seconds from a Grandstand a mile away from the action, and paying £100 for the privilege . Personally I think watching Road Racing, from a hedge watching around 90 riders pass at intervals is wonderful, and the ' Fan Base ' you decry, is massive. It's all down to ' the History and Magic ' of the TT. 40,000 visitors to the Island each June would seem to back this up

[manxie44]

 

So are you saying that the motorcycling events here cannot get any bigger?

I am saying that in our tiny microsm, the TT is the biggest thing in the world. Where as the reality is, in the larger, wider world when compared to actual world renowned events, the TT is barely a foot note.

Can the "event" get bigger here? Probably. Whether it will be of any appreciable amount will have to be seen.

Will the "event" be about motorcycles? To a dwindling amount. The TT will become less about the racing and more about the flaff tacked on top of it.

It already has, thanks to ' the Vision ' of some idiots who think they understand the TT. The TT will however survive beyond these self - important individuals. I do not include any ' true ' supporters of the TT / MGP in the above. The ' New Vision ' experts will try to blur what The TT Fan is , but those of us who love the Event for what it is know who they are - ' The Real Future of the TT '

[manxie44]

 

 

It is world renowned within motorcycling circles.

And there are more bike motorsport fans than we will ever be able to accommodate.

 

I think the North West 200 backs up that statement. Around 150,000 are in Northern Ireland each year for the Event, and apparently the vast majority are Irish. Many more Irish would be here for the TT/MGP , if there were boats to bring them , they are ' genuine ' Motorcycle Road Race Fans. Not many VIPs , so Skelly and his vision for our Race Meetings will not be interested.

 

 

A mate down here is a big, big bike enthusiast. The reason he and his buddies don't visit the IOM is the price of the crossing and they don't want to sleep in a tent.

And when did this become a new problem? It depends how dedicated fans are. How many are there under canvas at Glastonbury every year. It depends what you will put up with to enjoy your love of the Event

[ManxTaxPayer]

 

A mate down here is a big, big bike enthusiast. The reason he and his buddies don't visit the IOM is the price of the crossing and they don't want to sleep in a tent.

And when did this become a new problem?

 

When the general tourist industry collapsed, and with it the number of available boat and bed spaces.

[notwell]

 

 

It is world renowned within motorcycling circles.

And there are more bike motorsport fans than we will ever be able to accommodate.

I think the North West 200 backs up that statement. Around 150,000 are in Northern Ireland each year for the Event, and apparently the vast majority are Irish. Many more Irish would be here for the TT/MGP , if there were boats to bring them , they are ' genuine ' Motorcycle Road Race Fans. Not many VIPs , so Skelly and his vision for our Race Meetings will not be interested.

 

 

A mate down here is a big, big bike enthusiast. The reason he and his buddies don't visit the IOM is the price of the crossing and they don't want to sleep in a tent.

 

Firstly, with a small amount of planning there is plenty of non tent accommodation.

 

Secondly, is it really THAT expensive?

 

To put it in to context - I paid £200 a day for a very very average caravan in your neck of the woods for 4 days. And that was about all we got. And the caravan was crap for the money.

 

I doubt coming over to the IOM for TT for a "big big bike enthusiast" would be that expensive. A week abroad no doubt would be much dearer.

It sounds more that your mate isn't really that big an enthusiast. Either that or you are speaking total shite again.

 

In fact, I was so sure you were speaking shite that I just had a quick nose on the IOM SPC. You can get a bike and passenger over on the MOnday, Tuesday and Wednesday of race week and back Sunday for £190-240 return. And a trip up the motorway.

 

Out of interest, what is expensive about that?

[notwell]

 

 

A mate down here is a big, big bike enthusiast. The reason he and his buddies don't visit the IOM is the price of the crossing and they don't want to sleep in a tent.

And when did this become a new problem?

 

When the general tourist industry collapsed, and with it the number of available boat and bed spaces.

Plenty of boat space. Just checked. Cheap too.

[Max Power]

 

 

 

A mate down here is a big, big bike enthusiast. The reason he and his buddies don't visit the IOM is the price of the crossing and they don't want to sleep in a tent.

And when did this become a new problem?

 

When the general tourist industry collapsed, and with it the number of available boat and bed spaces.

Plenty of boat space. Just checked. Cheap too.

 

I think that this is something which Vision Nine have identified too, the demand is to get here at the middle weekend and home on the Tuesday. Plenty of space from thereon but the hotels etc are booked up for the fortnight. Many won't take part bookings and we don't have that many beds any more so camping is the option.

That's why they are organising events around the latter part of TT week and beyond. I can't see how they will get everyone home on time though?

[notwell]

There is plenty of scope.

My own view is that more will be focused around the latter part of race week and scaled up accordingly.

There is accommodation here. And the capacity to create more.

[one hung low]

I believe something that has lost many TT supporters and interest is the closing of the iomtt.com website forum.

 

That was a fantastic forum and it had a wide range of users. Over the years all our visitors used that forum regularly and some I noticed logged on at least a couple of times every day. We kept in touch via the forum and everyone became part of the build up towards the TT. It was informative and a good laugh at times although like any internet forum it had its moments. (It even had regular visits from mtp).

 

Some of our visitors who were always big fans of the TT have given it a miss this past couple of years.

 

So yes, I blame it in no small part to the closing of that forum which had grown to become an asset for the TT, throughout the world.

 

But typically 'manx', small mindedness won through.

 

 

 

ps I know there is another forum, and masses of respect to Malcolm, but it is a very different kettle of fish. I visit once a month rather than the at least daily I did with iomtt.com.