Berwick Survival.

[Ray Stadia 1,071]

Worrying times with the Recession. Folk don't have the disposable income that they used to have what with a

Costs rising and Wages fairly static. According to the News yesterday only 20% of Government Cuts have come through and affected us to date. That means there is another 80% to come. Heaven help us.

 

You only have to look at the Utility Price Rises in the pipeline (no pun intended) to see that things are going to get a lot worse by Spring/Summer next year.

 

Let's just hope that Speedway can get through this and survive.

 

I believe it will be that bad. :sad:

 

The BSPA need to find a way for as many teams as possible to just keep going somehow, for as we know, once a track is closed, it is harder to reopen, for many reasons.

 

Foreign rider reduction has to be a good option to reduce costs, as has already been mentioned. Good local sponsorship would be great, but in the current climate, is it realistic? I just hope the BSPA are looking at the big picture and not navel gazing.

[Teal 74]

Standardised machinery !! That's one way of improving racing - which in turn may lead to new, returning fans!

 

[DSC67 1,465]

Standardised machinery !! That's one way of improving racing - which in turn may lead to new, returning fans!

This was proposed a few years ago , engines were provided by a major manufacturer and a couple of test meetings took place , the idea was thrown out by the BSPA , an opportunity missed IMHO .

[Tsunami 10,219]

This was proposed a few years ago , engines were provided by a major manufacturer and a couple of test meetings took place , the idea was thrown out by the BSPA , an opportunity missed IMHO .

 

Bollocks. It was Honda in 1998 and it was a total fiasco. 650cc engines with gearboxes, too heavy and not enough power, the riders did not like them and speedway would have been finished in a couple of years.

[spin king 1,923]

Bollocks. It was Honda in 1998 and it was a total fiasco. 650cc engines with gearboxes, too heavy and not enough power, the riders did not like them and speedway would have been finished in a couple of years.

Or was it because changing would have meant riders would have been obsolete equipment that was why they did not endorse the change.

[YAMYAMBANDIT 560]

Bollocks. It was Honda in 1998 and it was a total fiasco. 650cc engines with gearboxes, too heavy and not enough power, the riders did not like them and speedway would have been finished in a couple of years.

 

None of the large motor cycle companies are going to develop a speedway engine, nothing in it for them, far to specialised, there are no road versions of speedway bikes for the companies to profit from.

 

As far as the Premier league is concerned, a standardised engine with a limited tuning potential would be a benefit, it would certainly cut the costs to riders. PL could be run on club racing lines, all riding similar equipment, with the best rider that wins. This would then allow the clubs to get the riders point money down to a sensible level, for instance No1 £60 per point, No 3&5 £50, No 2&4 £40 and No 6&7 £30.

[Tsunami 10,219]

Or was it because changing would have meant riders would have been obsolete equipment that was why they did not endorse the change.

 

No. The idea of using a road engine with a gearbox that could not be removed, meant you were riding around with a big lump of heavy metal doing nothing, and with the 650 being on petrol there was no high energy explosion to get rapid acceleration. It was OK for riding around in a big curve but there would not have been cutbacks and slipping up the inside because you couldn't change direction that quickly.

Talking about obsolete equipment, the riders had a similar dilemma when laydowns came on the scene about the same time. It was not too bad then because you could get a conversion kit to keep the engine running until you bought a proper factory made laydown engine.

[Brough Diamond 60]

Standardised bikes are unlikely unless you get the whole FIM involved. Look at the complaints about the exhausts, but making it compulsory across the major leagues meant it finally happened.

Where the BSPA do miss a trick though is bulk buying for other items. Getting methanol, shale, team leathers, race jackets, programmes etc from a single UK supplier could surely reduce the cost. Current suppliers could be asked to bid to create competition and bottom out costs.

[The White Knight 9,039]

Standardised bikes are unlikely unless you get the whole FIM involved. Look at the complaints about the exhausts, but making it compulsory across the major leagues meant it finally happened.

Where the BSPA do miss a trick though is bulk buying for other items. Getting methanol, shale, team leathers, race jackets, programmes etc from a single UK supplier could surely reduce the cost. Current suppliers could be asked to bid to create competition and bottom out costs.

 

Would that not create a monopoly which could, in the long term, make things even more expensive for Riders/Clubs?

 

The other Suppliers would go to the wall, leaving the chosen Supplier in the position of charging what they like, because they would have no competition to force them to keep prices realistic.

[YAMYAMBANDIT 560]

Would that not create a monopoly which could, in the long term, make things even more expensive for Riders/Clubs?

 

The other Suppliers would go to the wall, leaving the chosen Supplier in the position of charging what they like, because they would have no competition to force them to keep prices realistic.

 

What opposition, Jawa have packed up, so only GM left, as far as engines are concerned. When an engine is tuned, it is rarely with GM parts, but expensive replacements. If riders were made to run on standard production engines, with limited tuning potential, it would massively reduce costs.

[Brough Diamond 60]

Would that not create a monopoly which could, in the long term, make things even more expensive for Riders/Clubs?

 

The other Suppliers would go to the wall, leaving the chosen Supplier in the position of charging what they like, because they would have no competition to force them to keep prices realistic.

 

Not if it changed from year to year. Also most of those suppliers do other forms of motor sport - grass track, motor cross etc.

 

If all the tracks go under they wouldn't get any business any way.

[WIE-JA 72]

What opposition, Jawa have packed up, so only GM left, as far as engines are concerned. When an engine is tuned, it is rarely with GM parts, but expensive replacements. If riders were made to run on standard production engines, with limited tuning potential, it would massively reduce costs.

 

Probably not. Some of the alternative, more expensive parts are chosen because they last longer than the standard parts.

[scaramanga 902]

Probably not. Some of the alternative, more expensive parts are chosen because they last longer than the standard parts.

this is 1 off the things standard motors are rubish and need upgraded to stop them failing

maybe the clutch area is 1 that could be restricted to save a little money

[jenga 2,998]

try making the riders do 2 meetings on 1 tyre. i know at times one team will race on a new tyre, while the other will have a mew tyre,, naa , thats not going to work. how can a racing motorcycle be bought ready to race out of the crate. but NOT be good enough to race against very silelar types of bikes. in motocross 250 race against 450, and beat them. its all down to the jockeys you put on em..

 

 

carl foggerty on a 125 racing against 250/450 and putting them into the weeds, sseen it in rossendale with my own eyes.. awsesome

Edited November 3, 2012 by jenga

[Fromafar 10,360]

I would suggest put some dirt on the track and that will make for much better racing once the riders adjust their style and bikes to suit conditions.