THE
KNOW HOW
THE TOUR GUIDE
Stephen Davison has snapped countless bikes in mid-air, written six books about road racing, and has recently appeared in the documentary Road.
with Stephen Davison
‘Right. I want my money back’
‘I’m a size 8.
Y
INTERVIEW – BENJAMIN LINDLEY. PICTURES – PACEMAKER PRESS INTERNATIONAL.
And the track is only twelve of my feet wide’
2015
EVENTS
Stephen’s pick of this year’s Irish road racing events
>> 1-2 May Tandragee Five and a half mile mini-TT tandragee100.co.uk
>> 3-4 July Skerries As narrow as a crazy-golf course loughshinnymotorcycleclub.com
One night, Stephen Davison measured the back section of Skerries where the road racers blast past at 160mph. Want to go and see that in real time? Read on
>> The big races are the North West 200 and the Ulster GP. All the big names and quality of entry is very high. But the smaller National road races will wow you. Nationals are more relaxed, racers are more generally Irish, and you normally don’t have to pay a penny to watch. But the racing is still every bit as committed and aggressive as British Superbikes. >> Tandragee is like a mini TT course. Last of the really old National road circuits. At five and a half miles much longer than other Nationals. The section after Marlacoo has bikes approaching corners at 180mph, taking the bends at 150mph, and then turning onto a ‘road’ that’s more of a motocross track. Even experienced riders like Joey Dunlop have been caught out by Castle Corner and Cooleyhill. >> All about the tracks. You’ll see big jumps, bumps, super-fast corners, and tight hedgeshearing turns at these circuits. There’s a far greater sensation of speed on these slim country roads than on wide-open internationals, and you’ll be blown away 110
by the pace of racers like Michael Dunlop. Take a brolly – races even happen in hail. >> Visiting in July? Armoy in the North shouldn’t be missed. The bikes are off the ground for 50 feet after Lagge Jump. This is only a small rise in the road, but at speed it becomes a rumble into the unknown. Have a Guinness at McClafferty’s Bar, and watch the riders race right into the village. Stand near Acheson’s Leap or Turnarobert and you’ll see the bikes leaned over taking off. Easy to walk to from the village. >> Armoy is steeped in modern history. People talk about the glory days of the first Dunlop generation, but we’re living those again. These are special days for Irish Road Racing, as they were in the ’70s and ’80s. What Michael, William and people like them are doing is extraordinary. Go into the paddock at Armoy and have a chat with Sam Dunlop, the brothers’ cousin, whose father Jim is the only surviving member of the Armoy Armada. If you’re lucky, Jim will be helping prepare Sam’s bike. Bring a bottle of red wine and he might chat.
THE BRIEF
with Andrew Dalton
>> 24-25 July Armoy Hunting ground of the Dunlops amrrc.com
>> Skerries is the old track of racers like Martin Finnegan, who lived just down the road. The first corner is named after him, and if you watch from here you’ll see a lot of passing manoeuvres. The most spectacular part is Gillies Leap. Bikes come up to the top of a hill and the road just falls away in front of them. They take off and wheelie down the other side and then the road narrows to less than 12 feet wide. >> Expect a carnival atmosphere at Skerries. Just outside Dublin, so forget about riding your bike and head to Temple Bar – the friendliest pub district in the world. Go to Armoy if you want to ride some of the best roads in Ireland. It’s just off the infamous North Ireland coast road: the A2. This runs all the way from Belfast to Londonderry. Check out the Glens of Antrim, the Giant’s Causeway, and the coastal section of the North West 200. If you only ride one road in Northern Ireland, make it the inland route between Cushendun and Ballycastle. >> Racing later in the year? Go to the Ulster GP in early August. It takes place on the
A demon combination of utterly fierce racing in a virtually horizontal atmosphere
Dundrod circuit and claims to be the fastest road race in the world. Bruce Anstey holds the record at 133.975mph. There are no jumps, but at Deer’s Leap bikes wheelie over the hill. Stand on the inside at Lougher’s and you could touch helmets going past at 160mph right underneath you. Another great place is the approach to Quarterlands. Stand at the top of the ditch and see the bikes coming from Cochranstown right under your nose. If it’s raining, watch the bikes go down the Flying Kilo on the opening lap. That is terrifying.
GE T T ING T H E RE >> Holyhead to Dublin ferry takes 2-3hrs. Ticket for one bike and rider upwards of £105 return from irishferries.com. Search stenaline.co.uk for fast ferries from Liverpool to Belfast. Their Superfast ships get you there in 2.5hrs at £40 each way. Or book an 8hr overnight crossing for £135.
>> For Skerries, stay in Dublin. In Armoy there’s everything from five star hotels to cosy B’n’Bs. If you’re visiting Tandragee, stay 20 minutes away in Armagh.
ou march, jaw set and determined, into your local dealers. With a gimlet stare you demand your money back. You are then told to sod off. There are more urban myths and false expectations about what your consumer rights are than in just about any other field of law. I once defended a claim brought by/for a disgruntled motorcyclist who bought a hypersports bike for track days. He got somebody else to adjust his suspension, change the pipes and then got the bike resprayed. He then decided he wanted his money back. He was so convinced that he was right to ‘reject’ the bike as he felt it was rough to ride on bumpy roads that he actually took the dealer to Court. Luckily for him, once the Judge had pointed out the errors in his case, the dealership let him quietly discontinue his case. He was still convinced that if he was unhappy with his purchase he was well within his rights to get his money back. So what exactly are your rights? If you buy a consumer item, be it a £12,000 bike or a £35 pair of gloves, if it is not fit for purpose, or if it is misdescribed or does not meet reasonable expectations as to quality or durability, you have the right to reject it in the first six months. You do not get to decide what reasonable is, nor does trading standards. The Judge does. Reasonableness is the key concept. If you buy cheap PVC over trousers your reasonable expectations of those will be a lot lower than Rukka trousers. Judges, contrary to widely held
‘You do not get to decide what reasonable is, nor does trading standards. The judge does. And judges, contrary to widely held opinion, are neither stupid nor detached’ opinion are neither stupid nor detached from the real world. So if you buy a helmet and then decide that it makes too much wind noise you do not have the right to be reimbursed. If the visor falls off, you do have the right to reject. It is not a case of buyer beware. The tests for demanding your money back is not ‘I do not like it anymore’ or ‘I did not try it on and it does not fit’. However most bike dealerships trade on reputation so a reasonable stance is a better bet than striding in knowing your rights because I know your rights, and they are not quite as strong as you might think they are. Make it easy for the dealer to give you your money back by returning goods which he can then resell. Shouting the odds always gets an equal and opposite reaction. And unless you really know your rights and are prepared to enforce them, making it easy for the dealer to reimburse you is always a better plan. Andrew Dalton, Senior Partner at White Dalton Motorcycle Solicitors, has 20 years of legal experience (as well as a nice Triumph Tiger Explorer)
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