Chapter 2 - The IOM would be a 1,000 mile round trip

The Isle of Man would be at least a 1000 mile round trip with a huge three day party in the middle, and the prospect of ‘Mad Sunday’ thrown into the heady mix. We were all looking forward to it. It’s not everyone who could say they rode as fast as they possibly could around the historic course with no speed camera or Old Bill to hassle you and spoil the fun. (Though most in my opinion should at least aspire to fulfilling this achievement).

I was hoping to secure a TL1000R in the quickest possible time that funds and opportunity allowed. I’d made my mind up that I wanted one whilst in the States at the annual Oktoberbikefest at Daytona Beach Florida the previous year. Don’t get me wrong the Harleys were awesome, swathe after swathe of the chrome eagles circled round and around……and around the Main Street circuit 24/7. The place never closed, but with the amount there, it was hard to remain interested. They infested the place, they were too clean, the riders well trimmed generally, the majority of these bikes had been trailered in not ridden, just ridden whilst there and then trailered back home again.

The bike that stood out for me the whole weekend was the aforementioned TL ridden by one of the Starboyz, loitering in a car park away from the madding crowd. His tyres were worn, it had a bit of rash on the side and the guy obviously rode it a lot! I wanted one,

I don’t know why Ed wanted one but our desires were the same, both of us had set our hearts on this quirky little number. The styling was mostly hated by everyone else; they all raised their eyebrows, tutted and warned us of the unwholesome porkiness associated with this bike. In some ways I agreed, it did look big and heavy, even ponderous, but for me it didn’t matter. It actually had a slightly shorter wheelbase than the previously established and seminal ‘S’ model and also had the added advantage of twin fuel injectors for some meaner and more efficient fuel burn, lastly it had a better fuel tank range than the ‘S’ which would be an advantage on our trip.

Phil owned an ‘S’ model with a full stoating Yoshimiura system bolted on to accompany the flowed heads fettled by the shadowy figure of ‘Mr. Burn’, he’d chalked up a few track days under his belt to good effect and it was fair to say that Phil had got the measure of his mount.

I first met Phil when he wandered into the bike shop I was working in at the time, the man looked like he should have been on the front cover of any late punk album, but I knew that he was obviously a serious biker. At the time he rode a Moto Martin framed big bore Kawasaki Z1100R with loadsa home made bits ‘n’ pieces on board. To look at frankly it was a fucking mess. I’ve never seen him or heard him confess to cleaning his bike unless a particular component was practical for the essential running of the machine (Sorry Phil I did see you with a cloth in your hand threatening to clean the ZX-10 once). Over the months he kept coming back for this or that, only really fixing it when it broke, usually haggling for a deal, bemoaning poverty etc, but it was all good humoured bandinagerie. The Moto Martin finally ended up with a single side swing arm, suspension and wheel from a random early VFR750, he was hoping it would cure the handling problems which he perceived were the cause of the stock spindly swing arm. I’m not sure if the single sider cured the problem, but as it probably weighed about three times a s much as the original, it probably kept the bike more firmly planted..
Finally he gave up on the long term ongoing Project Moto Martin and bought his first new bike. The Mighty TL1000S.

This was the age of the spectacular 916,996 Ducati V-twin dominance. The whole package was an overnight success, from the launch of the 916 V-twins were suddenly popular, very popular , everybody wanted one, not many could afford one let alone keep one running.
Thankfully those crafty men of Nippon know how to rapidly engineer, copy and in some cases exceed the original they are plagiarising, then sell it for half the price of the Italian number. The TL is still talked about today, most of the ones I see these days are streetfightered and are beloved by their riders who in the main don’t look like the original crop of sports riders who first flung their leg over. But the hooligan element is still lurking, with the motor only until recently withdrawn. Up until then it was a donor lump for many machines. It was the perfect bike for Phil he wanted a piece of that. The moniker ‘TL Phil’ was born.

Now Edmund or ‘Fast Eddie’ (no relation to the once Motorhead guitarist) as he was called in the early years was a different kettle of fish. He also started visiting the shop after his wife had cared for the proprieters wife when she was ill
Eddie and his wife had exported themselves from Northern Island to seek fortune in life elsewhere. Eddie was a keen biker and needed a bike shop to frequent, he checked us out and I’m glad to say he kept coming back.

Eddie worked in telecommunications and was a true rock n roller (though he kept it under his hat well), he usually commuted to and fro work 60 miles a day donning his suit in the middle of the day.
Ed’s hero is the great but sadly late Joey Dunlop. Growing up in Larne on the east coast of Ireland he smoked about on the tarmac of the emerald isle, the Irish love their bikes and are known for how tough, tenacious and talented they are when on two wheels, typified by Dunlop. It was hard for Eddie not to be interested in bikes from youth to maturity.