Stranded Isle of Man TT rider borrows a fan’s bike; caught speeding by police

Sam West had a bizarre start to the Isle of Man TT - after he was accused of speeding by a policeman while riding a local person’s motorcycle.

West had no choice but to leave his BMW at Ballacrye when the chain snapped on Wednesday night during the TT session.

He borrowed another bike from a spectator, so he could return to the paddock and resume on his Supertwin machine.

But as he travelled back to Douglas he encountered a policeman carrying out speed checks near Jurby.

West explained the remarkable ordeal on social media.

“Well my run of bad TT luck continues,” he wrote.

“Chain snapped on the BMW at Ballacrye which is rare enough. I've never had a chain snap here before in any class but these things do happen.

“A very generous bloke lends me a Grom to ride back to the paddock so I can get back out on the Supertwin.

“Whilst riding back in the middle of the countryside looking for the way to Ramsey I see a copper so head over to him for directions.

“Except he's holding a speed gun and apparently that bit of deserted countryside is a 30 limit and I'm doing over 40!

“I never even thought about it, it was an empty country road somewhere near Jurby where most roads are derestricted.

“So I have to explain to the polite but confused policeman why I'm speeding, on a borrowed bike, don't know the owners name, don't know the bike reg or age or model name (it's just a Grom??), I don't have license on me or phone to show any proof of insurance…

“After some explanation he gets all my details and I'm allowed to head back to the paddock.

“Eventually I do get back to the paddock and leave the Grom at my awning, sprint back up to parc ferme with 2 minutes to spare only to find the session ended 5 minutes early... so just missed getting out on the Supertwin anyway.

“So with 2 days left of qualifying I haven't qualified any bikes and have completed just 2 timed laps. Hard work sometimes.

“Roll on tomorrow. Hopefully the sun shines and we get some laps in.”

West was unable to head out on Tuesday when weather cancelled the TT session.

And, remarkably, his luck got even worse when Thursday’s session was also cancelled, this time due to a road traffic accident.