mikebv 10,273 Posted February 16, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, foamfence said: Personally I see it as a single maybe ten club league or totally amateur and based around weekends and bank holidays, there's too much dead wood dragging it down. I do like to think that part of the plan to bring on the UK lads is to try and ensure their availability allows more meetings to take place going forward in the future at the 'best' times. (ie weekend and BH's).... Brexit, Polands dictatorship of World Speedway, and the gradual erosion of Greyhound racing, are big threats, so having a good many domestic competitors has to be something that helps defend the sport over here against the first two threats in particular... Finding new homes as Greyhound tracks close is going to be a major threat, however there are plenty of examples currently of tracks which started out 'rustic' and developed from there so a blueprint does exist... To move forward though, it has to be in charge of its own destiny... And they will only have that when they can decide who races, where they race, and what time and day of the week they race on... Edited February 16, 2021 by mikebv Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HertsRacer 222 Posted February 16, 2021 1 hour ago, cityrebel said: I also fear a lot of dog stadiums could fall by the wayside, which will lead to a natural reduction in club numbers. And this is speedway's main problem. Once a track goes, thats it, there is nowhere out there to replace it. In the old days if a track closed there was plenty of stadiums available to introduce a new team, but one by one the stadiums have all gone, leaving the sport with just the bare bones. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OGT 612 Posted February 16, 2021 On 2/14/2021 at 7:24 PM, Jonny the spud said: I saw Tommy ( the mad wellie) Wilkinshaw in 1952 and he used to ride with a rusty Brillo pad on his helmet” This was actually the first known example of sponsorship in speedway. Clever lad was Tommy, an abrasive character, but a dyed in the steel wool stalwart of his time. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonyd 165 Posted February 17, 2021 19 hours ago, foamfence said: Personally I see it as a single maybe ten club league or totally amateur and based around weekends and bank holidays, there's too much dead wood dragging it down. I think your right, I believe speedway in the UK has to take a couple of steps backward to be able to move forward to stand a chance of survival. Semi professional / amateur riders with weekend racing where possible I think would be a good starting point. A professional league with there super fast expensive laydown bikes and the rest on upright machines and before anyone says another bike is more expense remember many riders today have 3 or 4 bikes to run and maintain back in the 60 /70s most riders had one upright machine that they used and kept going for a full season. I wait to be shot down by some. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Vince 9,458 Posted March 1, 2021 On 2/17/2021 at 11:37 AM, tonyd said: I think your right, I believe speedway in the UK has to take a couple of steps backward to be able to move forward to stand a chance of survival. Semi professional / amateur riders with weekend racing where possible I think would be a good starting point. A professional league with there super fast expensive laydown bikes and the rest on upright machines and before anyone says another bike is more expense remember many riders today have 3 or 4 bikes to run and maintain back in the 60 /70s most riders had one upright machine that they used and kept going for a full season. I wait to be shot down by some. I think you are right in many ways but am still to be convinced that an upright is any cheaper to run than a laydown of the same specification. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,071 Posted March 2, 2021 12 hours ago, Vince said: I think you are right in many ways but am still to be convinced that an upright is any cheaper to run than a laydown of the same specification. I have never fully understood why speedway moved to laydown engines. I believe the argument is lower centre of gravity, so a rider can go faster around corners. But there are people who say the bikes are too fast. I wonder if the sport changed to laydown for the sake of it being novel and gave engine manufacturers and tuners an opportunity to make money, as the riders switched. 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted March 2, 2021 21 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said: I have never fully understood why speedway moved to laydown engines. I believe the argument is lower centre of gravity, so a rider can go faster around corners. But there are people who say the bikes are too fast. I wonder if the sport changed to laydown for the sake of it being novel and gave engine manufacturers and tuners an opportunity to make money, as the riders switched. Remember Kelly Moran giving one a try and saying how much more difficult it was to handle...and this from one of the most naturally gifted riders! Personally I felt that it was yet another move that only resorting in making the sport more expensive with riders having to adapt and for what benefit? 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonny the spud 2,281 Posted March 2, 2021 1 hour ago, steve roberts said: Remember Kelly Moran giving one a try and saying how much more difficult it was to handle...and this from one of the most naturally gifted riders! Personally I felt that it was yet another move that only resorting in making the sport more expensive with riders having to adapt and for what benefit? Using that argument won’t switching to upright make it more expensive as all the lay down engines / frames will become obsolete as everyone has to buy uprights? also second hand kit will become worthless so anyone starting up would have to shell out a fortune as only new stuff would be available 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted March 2, 2021 20 minutes ago, Jonny the spud said: Using that argument won’t switching to upright make it more expensive as all the lay down engines / frames will become obsolete as everyone has to buy uprights? also second hand kit will become worthless so anyone starting up would have to shell out a fortune as only new stuff would be available Of course...but my comment was based on the original transition during 1995/96 (?) when that was the exact scenario and the same discussion that took place then. Going back to uprights would only re-create the same issues and for whose benefit? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,071 Posted March 2, 2021 25 minutes ago, Jonny the spud said: Using that argument won’t switching to upright make it more expensive as all the lay down engines / frames will become obsolete as everyone has to buy uprights? also second hand kit will become worthless so anyone starting up would have to shell out a fortune as only new stuff would be available I wasn't suggesting we should switch back to uprights, just wondering about the wisdom of why speedway switched in the first place. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonny the spud 2,281 Posted March 2, 2021 1 minute ago, Ray Stadia said: I wasn't suggesting we should switch back to uprights, just wondering about the wisdom of why speedway switched in the first place. because a majority of riders found them easier to ride than uprights Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ray Stadia 1,071 Posted March 2, 2021 3 minutes ago, Jonny the spud said: because a majority of riders found them easier to ride than uprights But not including Kelly! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted March 2, 2021 5 minutes ago, Jonny the spud said: because a majority of riders found them easier to ride than uprights May have been the case...I recall Andy Smith having issues with them and some riders were quoted as saying that they were sometimes unpredictable with the low centre of gravity causing the bike to lift. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jonny the spud 2,281 Posted March 2, 2021 8 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said: But not including Kelly! When they were introduced I was riding grasstrack and longtrack throughout Europe ( albeit on a sidecar) but I would mix with riders every weekend throughout the season. I can only go on what they told me. 3 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
steve roberts 9,246 Posted March 2, 2021 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Ray Stadia said: But not including Kelly! I remember talking to Peter Collins at Oxford when he was supporting his son Chris and asking him what had changed most during his time since having left the sport. He told me that in his opinion the bikes had got too fast but the tracks had basically remained the same. Edited March 2, 2021 by steve roberts 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites