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22 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

where does it say if you ride a speedway bike you have to make money at it ? costs to riders are what they are and that is vastly inflated by themselves having all the latest bling that isn't needed , ive seen riders lately buy a complete new set of rear sprockets and then sell them for another set because they changed the colour scheme ,not cause the sprockets were worn or in some cases even used but because hey the fans will pay for it, strangely you don't hear motox riders saying they want paying cause their costs have risen, I know exactly what the costs are but if you don't like it then go do something else, sick to death of hearing this costs this and this costs that, go do some other motorsport and tell the organisers you want paying because the price of diesel has risen or you just had an engine serviced, they will tell you to go away, we are talking about the lowest league riders and they want paying about £300 to do something they supposedly love, they should be greatful they have a league to ride in, ive tried to put forward ideas to reduce the costs to the riders but they are not interested and give a million reasons why they need this and that, if your big sprinter van doesn't do 40mpg get a smaller van that does or cant you fit the girlfriend in the back ?

Dean, how old was you when you started riding speedway, & got paid ?

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10 minutes ago, proud panther said:

Dean, how old was you when you started riding speedway, & got paid ?

23 I think 

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11 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

23 I think 

Did you ever have ambition to be the best, or was it a paid hobby for you ?

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1 minute ago, proud panther said:

Did you ever have ambition to be the best, or was it a paid hobby for you ?

I had Ambition to be the best  up until I left Berwick in 2000 and then I just did it for fun after that 

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I respect Deans opinion even though it is a while since  he has ridden speedway ...But as in all sport to get to the top which is the aim of most sportsmen ,,firstly you need talent ,enthusiasm,dedication,,,and the best equipment you can get including the best tuners,,...This unfortunately in speedway costs loads of money ,,Many talented lads have failed because of that fact alone.........

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As I’ve said before I’ve been crucified on social media from some quarters and that’s fine I’m not bothered by it but the bit that grates is I may be in the wrong and my thoughts my not be a way forward but nobody is doing anything, we are plodding on piddling about with rule adjustments, nobody is getting hold of the sport, so if your going to say I’m wrong then at least offer some alternative , the sport needs structure and strict machine and finance control 

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One things for certain and i agree with Dean on this,,, costs in all areas of the sport need to come down dramatically if the sport is to survive....

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2 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

As I’ve said before I’ve been crucified on social media from some quarters and that’s fine I’m not bothered by it but the bit that grates is I may be in the wrong and my thoughts my not be a way forward but nobody is doing anything, we are plodding on piddling about with rule adjustments, nobody is getting hold of the sport, so if your going to say I’m wrong then at least offer some alternative , the sport needs structure and strict machine and finance control 

Certainly not going to get any arguments from me that the sport at all levels needs to change however there are so many hypocritical elements throughout that its going to need to be radical. Clubs will complain about riders demands but then take no interest in a rider unless they have new & flash looking bikes. Clubs will complain about not enough decent 3 pointers about then do nothing to support 2nd halves. Fans demand successful teams but don't want to see an admission increase to support it. 

Its no secret clubs need to cut their cloth accordingly. I for one would like to see clubs stand together and not bow to wage demands, set the limits, make them public and find out who really wants to ride. 

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Yeah there needs to be a Gentlemans & Ladies agreement between the clubs ( yeah i know this sound like crazy talk n probably is ) regarding wages or else in a few years there will be a league with a hand full of teams involved .  Surely the bigger clubs would see more profit if they werent paying a heat leaders 30 + and reserves 20 + a point ?  Or more !! 

If every rider knows theres no free tyres n all the extras from a club then the clubs big and small can take a sigh of relief and see some sanity back in the sport .

A good rider will always find ways with sponsorship etc to make ends meet  , a reserve at a less well funded team does it every week . if they are lucky they score 3 points that almost pays for the tyre they just wore out .. 

my 2 cents .. let the ridicule begin haha

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37 minutes ago, raddog said:

Yeah there needs to be a Gentlemans & Ladies agreement between the clubs ( yeah i know this sound like crazy talk n probably is ) regarding wages or else in a few years there will be a league with a hand full of teams involved .  Surely the bigger clubs would see more profit if they werent paying a heat leaders 30 + and reserves 20 + a point ?  Or more !! 

If every rider knows theres no free tyres n all the extras from a club then the clubs big and small can take a sigh of relief and see some sanity back in the sport .

A good rider will always find ways with sponsorship etc to make ends meet  , a reserve at a less well funded team does it every week . if they are lucky they score 3 points that almost pays for the tyre they just wore out .. 

my 2 cents .. let the ridicule begin haha

Sounds like austerity to me

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18 hours ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said:

I had Ambition to be the best  up until I left Berwick in 2000 and then I just did it for fun after that 

You make a lot of good points regarding costs, & if a few of the younger riders took your advise, & kept their costs down in their early years, they would probably be about long enough to improve, & earn some money. 

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11 minutes ago, proud panther said:

You make a lot of good points regarding costs, & if a few of the younger riders took your advise, & kept their costs down in their early years, they would probably be about long enough to improve, & earn some money. 

Very true although it has become an institutionalised issue. I have lost count of how many times ive heard riders say "hopefully i get a NL place soon and start to earn some money" usually met with me chuckling for several minutes. The NL is not there to earn money but if you are good you could subsidise your hobby but even then be prepared for big spending. 

Im certain we have all seen riders and thought "they won't make it" not because they don't have the ability but because the funding just isn't there even for a basic level of competitiveness.  

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2 minutes ago, Sings4Speedway said:

Very true although it has become an institutionalised issue. I have lost count of how many times ive heard riders say "hopefully i get a NL place soon and start to earn some money" usually met with me chuckling for several minutes. The NL is not there to earn money but if you are good you could subsidise your hobby but even then be prepared for big spending. 

Im certain we have all seen riders and thought "they won't make it" not because they don't have the ability but because the funding just isn't there even for a basic level of competitiveness.  

A sad fact is a good percentage of young riders don’t understand the importance of a good clean air filter but strangely think it’s important to have an anadized joker throttle 

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7 hours ago, raddog said:

Yeah there needs to be a Gentlemans & Ladies agreement between the clubs ( yeah i know this sound like crazy talk n probably is ) regarding wages or else in a few years there will be a league with a hand full of teams involved .  Surely the bigger clubs would see more profit if they werent paying a heat leaders 30 + and reserves 20 + a point ?  Or more !! 

If every rider knows theres no free tyres n all the extras from a club then the clubs big and small can take a sigh of relief and see some sanity back in the sport .

A good rider will always find ways with sponsorship etc to make ends meet  , a reserve at a less well funded team does it every week . if they are lucky they score 3 points that almost pays for the tyre they just wore out .. 

my 2 cents .. let the ridicule begin haha

Two or three years ago the NL agreed to do just at the AGM that but it went out of the window as soon as everyone left!!

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