Rising Costs For Only 14 Meetings!

[WIE-JA 72]

im going to annoy some with this post but , to be a speedway rider is your own choice nobody is forceing you to do it , it is a fantastic often painfull career/hobby , you have to sacrifice just about everything to do it , no other motorcycle sport pays you anything other than prize money to compete, you dont have a given right to earn money at it ,especially at NL level , it takes a silly amount of money to compete above NL level and although sponsors are great and well recieved why should you expect someone else to pay for your privilage/hobby/passion, as brits yes we do get less backing from our govening body than say Denmark,Sweden or Poland but it will never change , i do sympathize with anybody trying to get started in the sport ,the fact is it costs a stupid amount of time and money and your always going to be on a loser , but the sport dosent do anything to help out with costs , ive been going around in circles for long enough now to know how it works ,and when i think of the money i lost around 1997-2001 trying to compete in the premier league it makes me cringe ,i was traveling to berwick and glasgow for home meetings but i wanted to be a rider and thats what you have to do no matter how much money you lose , i actually didnt lose money last year by doing my own engines and frame straightening and wheel building , im just seeing out my career this year and having fun , hopefully all you young new riders will get to the top and make loads of money from speedway , but what im trying to say is to be a speedway rider is a privalige not a right and to get to the top its going to cost you in money/time/effort/tears/heartache/sweat and blood , enjoy the ride

 

Or look at it another way. Your doing a job for someone when you're racing in a profesional league so should be earning money from it. NL is classed as semi-profesional so should at least pay most of the riders costs.

[THE DEAN MACHINE 4,750]

Or look at it another way. Your doing a job for someone when you're racing in a profesional league so should be earning money from it. NL is classed as semi-profesional so should at least pay most of the riders costs.

it does pay some of the costs , it pays travel expenses and it pays points money and nowhere else will you get that racing motorbikes , ,but untill you get to at least a second string in the premier league you shouldn't be thinking about getting anywhere near breaking even and not treating it as a job , it would be wonderful if speedway was raking money in and could afford to pay riders decent money but it cant, i'm not saying riders riders don't deserve getting payed for it ,i'm just saying that with what speedway does pay you should be grateful that you get something that you love doing , and to be honest if you are doing speedway to make a fortune and earn a good living ,then you are in the wrong job , cause unless you get to the top it isn't going to happen ,that does sound a little harsh but its a fact , speedway itself could do something to make it more affordable but it wont , costs will just keep rising and about 80% of British riders wont get past premier league standard in their career and will not have made any sort of money , but 99% will say they had a fantastic time trying

[portgunner 1]

Duch grasstrack could you possibly give us the name and telephone number for this supplier of legal gaurds that take the old covers would be obliged...

alan belham sell the gaurd ,think there made by ev fibreglass but with the push bar they are roughly the same price as the gp gaurd

[21st century heathen 220]

the new guards will now just chop your fingers straight off instead of burning your skin

 

I'm not saying you'e wrong, but surely with point is that the risk of getting anything 'sucked in' has been reduced as there is far less room between the guard and the tyre? I assume that there is a gap sort of to the side of the tyre rather than dead centre, and it's if you got your fingers caught in there that they would dragged under the bottom edge of the guard? If that's right could this be solved by extending the guard sides so that its bottom edge is level with the wheel rim rather than at a higher level? Or perhaps it's needs to be a more 'chunky' design with rounded edges?

 

20 century heathen..Pedersen ,Crump and the like can hardly be compared to the kids in the National League who can not be classed as professionals at this level as every penny earned.. and much more goes into maintaining bikes ,vans ,, excessories ..

 

My own grandson Ben Morley is badly in need of sponsers for the new season,,However small all financial assistance is greatfully recieved .And that is the real world...

 

The Dean Machine being a rider of many years experience is also correct in the effect on fingers..They have been designed with only legs and arms in mind..so still dangerous....Oh and most tracks dont pay for second half racing........

 

I wasn't comparing them as riders. My point was that these riders have had really severe burn injuries to their arm/leg (delete as appropriate). It doesn't matter who they are or at what level they race.

 

As I stated, I'm not suggesting it's easy. It's not, if it were we would all be doing it, but where in the 'brochure' did it say being a speedway rider is a walk in the park? If I had money to burn I would happily help out young Brits, and I suspect a great many supporters feel exactly the same. But at the end of the day the fact that we pay 'x' in travel costs, £10 to get in (NL), couple of quid for a programme (although I don't), probably at least a few quid for drinks/food, and perhaps 'x' at the track shop on DVD's, programme boards etcetera is the only reason that riders are getting anything back.

 

I accept Dean's word that the guards still present an injury risk. Although it may not be perfect surely it's an improvement and in a fundamentally dangerous sport any baby steps towards safety has to be welcomed with open arms in my opinion. More importantly, it should be welcomed at all levels. Any suggestion that the NL should not benefit from any safety improvement is a nonsense as the safety of Ben Morley is every bit as important as that of Jason Crump et al.

 

Im not saying if it is a valid safety measure it shouldnt be brought in but i totally agree with Deano that they are actually more dangerous. Unlike road bikes that have smooth tires speedway tires have knobbles and could grip a finger or hand and rip them into the guard. with no chance of doing anything about it with the new guards. No way of getting hand or arm out of guard like i have seen done in the past as there was room in old style guards.

 

21st century heathen you mention the likes of Pedersen, Crump, Nicholls as much as i take your point if they were so revolutionarily safe then surely these such riders would of started using these guards straight away without having to have the new ruling come in.

 

Perhaps I am wrong, and only time will tell. But I still think that with a smaller gap the chances of any body part, whether it be a finger or a leg, getting caught in the first place must be reduced. It's easy to say that someone could lose a finger against the new guard, but could it not be argued that you could more easily lose a finger by getting one caught in the chain or between the spokes? These are far more open, but riders aren't losing fingers all over the track. In fact before Morten Risager's injury last season how long has it been since a rider lost a finger/thumb?

 

Perhaps because they are relatively freak accidents and they don't think it would happen again? Perhaps they just don't like them? Perhaps they have a stock of 'old' style to use rather than just bin? I have no idea.

 

can I ask, do you ride or have you ridden or have a son that did/does?. Genuine question

 

Life long fan that finally had a crack at Scunny back in Dec last year. I ride on the road so every single reflex and reaction was completely wrong. The result? I fell off five times in less than fours hours, and everything hurt for a week afterwards! I got a unique insight into Claus Vissing's life as a speedway rider.

 

im going to annoy some with this post but , to be a speedway rider is your own choice nobody is forceing you to do it...but what im trying to say is to be a speedway rider is a privalige not a right and to get to the top its going to cost you in money/time/effort/tears/heartache/sweat and blood , enjoy the ride

 

Quote trimmed due to length.

 

Excellent post.

 

Or look at it another way. Your doing a job for someone when you're racing in a profesional league so should be earning money from it. NL is classed as semi-profesional so should at least pay most of the riders costs.

 

They can't give you what they haven't got. It's swings and roundabouts. Everyone is crying out for riders to be paid more, and I wouldn't deny them a penny of it, but on the flip side there is a strict pay structure in place so even the clubs that get better crowds (thinking of the Heathens as the most obvious example) and could afford to pay riders more aren't allowed to. If the Heathens could pay riders the most it could afford I bet you fans of other clubs would be moaning that we were getting all the best riders because we can pay more, it's not fair, they're buying the league (paying more is no guarantee of success I hasten to add) etcetera. How many would be saying at least that's 7 lads getting more money which is better than none?

[THE DEAN MACHINE 4,750]

I'm not saying you'e wrong, but surely with point is that the risk of getting anything 'sucked in' has been reduced as there is far less room between the guard and the tyre? I assume that there is a gap sort of to the side of the tyre rather than dead centre, and it's if you got your fingers caught in there that they would dragged under the bottom edge of the guard? If that's right could this be solved by extending the guard sides so that its bottom edge is level with the wheel rim rather than at a higher level? Or perhaps it's needs to be a more 'chunky' design with rounded edges?

 

 

 

I wasn't comparing them as riders. My point was that these riders have had really severe burn injuries to their arm/leg (delete as appropriate). It doesn't matter who they are or at what level they race.

 

I accept Dean's word that the guards still present an injury risk. Although it may not be perfect surely it's an improvement and in a fundamentally dangerous sport any baby steps towards safety has to be welcomed with open arms in my opinion. More importantly, it should be welcomed at all levels. Any suggestion that the NL should not benefit from any safety improvement is a nonsense as the safety of Ben Morley is every bit as important as that of Jason Crump et al.

 

 

 

 

i am not really opposed to the new gaurds except in looks maybe , i just think its a change that will just change the injury rather than eliminate it ,and if you think how many races have been run for years and years with the current style gaurds how many riders have got caught in the mudgaurd? , the bikes are a minefield for getting tangled up with and suffering burns but thats the nature of racing motorcycles and always will be and as for safety at all levels what about rear wheel spoilers , it is now a rule at all levels you have to use them to stop fingers getting caught in the back wheel except in the GPs ? ,why what so special about the GPs that makes them exempt from the rule ,

[WIE-JA 72]

i am not really opposed to the new gaurds except in looks maybe , i just think its a change that will just change the injury rather than eliminate it ,and if you think how many races have been run for years and years with the current style gaurds how many riders have got caught in the mudgaurd? , the bikes are a minefield for getting tangled up with and suffering burns but thats the nature of racing motorcycles and always will be and as for safety at all levels what about rear wheel spoilers , it is now a rule at all levels you have to use them to stop fingers getting caught in the back wheel except in the GPs ? ,why what so special about the GPs that makes them exempt from the rule ,

 

Wheel spoilers are only compulsory in this country.

[Humphrey Appleby 13,960]

Or look at it another way. Your doing a job for someone when you're racing in a profesional league so should be earning money from it. NL is classed as semi-profesional so should at least pay most of the riders costs.

 

For me, the equation comes down to whether my 'employer' is making money or not. If yes, then I'd want a just cut of the proceeds. If they're running the enterprise as a labour of love, especially if it costs them money, then it comes down to whether I do it for fun or in the hope of getting a better job on the back of it.

 

The reality of the NL is undoubtedly that there's little money in it, and if riders have to be excessively subsidised to race, then there simply won't be tracks to ride at.

[21st century heathen 220]

i am not really opposed to the new gaurds except in looks maybe , i just think its a change that will just change the injury rather than eliminate it ,and if you think how many races have been run for years and years with the current style gaurds how many riders have got caught in the mudgaurd? , the bikes are a minefield for getting tangled up with and suffering burns but thats the nature of racing motorcycles and always will be and as for safety at all levels what about rear wheel spoilers , it is now a rule at all levels you have to use them to stop fingers getting caught in the back wheel except in the GPs ? ,why what so special about the GPs that makes them exempt from the rule ,

 

It's fair comment to say that very few have had the severe burns mentioned earlier, thankfully. But I would then turn that back around to you say equally then that moving forward there would be equally few, or less in my opinion, similar incidents in future. I think that we would agree that speedway is a fundamentally dangerous sport where injury to a greater or lesser extent is virtually guaranteed. Any attempt to improve safety is okay by me, and I'm just standing on the terrace watching on.

 

As for rear spoilers - they seem a good idea to me and should be used. I understand there were some potential issues with using them at the front though when the dirt hits them side-on?

[THE DEAN MACHINE 4,750]

now that it looks like less teams in the league unless any new teams come forward, places are more scarce than before and the big money that was paid to some riders a couple of years ago is not so widespread and its about 50/50 that get paid £10 per point and 10p per mile and those who get more , so i think its about time the bspa did their bit and made some efforts to reduce riders costs , standardisation of bikes/engines ?, the price of the licence ? ,new tyres ? .speedway has got to start reducing costs somewhere it might as well be at the bottom and work up

[TMW 533]

This could be worth a look at

 

http://www.fbraceplates.com/

[Greg 123]

Also seem now guys that Newport is over.

[speedy bill 154]

I have posted on another post about rear guards, take a look at the ones used by ice racers they would be even safer.

[Roger MARTIN 128]

im going to annoy some with this post but , to be a speedway rider is your own choice nobody is forceing you to do it , it is a fantastic often painfull career/hobby , you have to sacrifice just about everything to do it , no other motorcycle sport pays you anything other than prize money to compete, you dont have a given right to earn money at it ,especially at NL level , it takes a silly amount of money to compete above NL level and although sponsors are great and well recieved why should you expect someone else to pay for your privilage/hobby/passion, as brits yes we do get less backing from our govening body than say Denmark,Sweden or Poland but it will never change , i do sympathize with anybody trying to get started in the sport ,the fact is it costs a stupid amount of time and money and your always going to be on a loser , but the sport dosent do anything to help out with costs , ive been going around in circles for long enough now to know how it works ,and when i think of the money i lost around 1997-2001 trying to compete in the premier league it makes me cringe ,i was traveling to berwick and glasgow for home meetings but i wanted to be a rider and thats what you have to do no matter how much money you lose , i actually didnt lose money last year by doing my own engines and frame straightening and wheel building , im just seeing out my career this year and having fun , hopefully all you young new riders will get to the top and make loads of money from speedway , but what im trying to say is to be a speedway rider is a privalige not a right and to get to the top its going to cost you in money/time/effort/tears/heartache/sweat and blood , enjoy the ride

 

Great post Dean and it's always great to see you when you come down to Plymouth, one of my favorite rider's at the SBA, not the best but will give 100% on the track.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Devildodger