What makes the Classic TT such and amazing event?
The TT is bigger but the Classic TT has bikes to take your breath away
Racers love the Classic TT. Compared to the red hot competition at the Isle of Man’s main event, it’s pleasantly chilled with as much focus on the bikes and their often ingenious engineering as there is on the racing. While the star riders draw the attention, it’s the eclectic mix of exotic machinery that pulls the crowds. Many of the bikes pounding around the Mountain Course at the Classic are faster now than they were in their original guise two, three or four decades ago, and selecting just a handful that fully represent the engineering commitment and passion their owners and riders put into making them so quick is an impossible task. But here we go anyway, with four bikes that took our breath away at last week’s super Classic TT, presented by the men who built and rode them.
PATON 500 B1C500 8V RU 1968 REPLICA
Team Team Winfield Paton Rider John McGuinness Race position 1st
The bike By Roger Winfield, Team Winfield Paton
The BIC500 is hand-built by Paton in Italy – and they only make one a year. They’re based on the 1968 parallel twin Angelo Bergamonti rode to win the Italian 500 championship. They’ve won the Classic TT ten times now, and John McGuinness is the class lap record holder. This is bike number 18, which has won the Classic TT six times and we also have bike 11 which has won twice. We paid 85,000 Euros for John’s bike, when the exchange rate was favourable, and they are around the same price now (www.paton.it). Power from the 498c, eight-valve air-cooled twin is around 74bhp, and with John on-board that equates to 145mph at the end of Sulby Straight; some of the lighter riders are a little quicker at 147-148mph. We service the crank every 1200miles, and modified the fairing for the TT and tried to improve the brakes, but otherwise it’s the bike you’d buy from Paton.
‘Once you’re tucked in it’s comfortable’ JOHN MCGUINNESS
Riding it By John McGuinness
The Paton is only small, but it’s not hard to ride or physically draining. Once you get tucked in it’s actually comfortable, and you get loads of feeling through the bars. The gearbox is slick but you have to remember to use the clutch on downshifts. The brakes are good because it has twin discs and is light, only 140kg, which is about the same as the rider!
The hardest bit is keeping the momentum – brushing the brakes, not jamming them on; keeping the corner speed high and staying tucked in. I try not to overstress the bike over jumps as I always have the finish in mind. Engine note, clutch, throttle: all sweet.