Speedway Bike

[conk98 2]

hi my son has been doing some grasstrack on a 125cc

he now wants to have a go at speedway,so any advice would be help full

 

if to stay on 125cc and how much a decent 2nd machine will cost

or to move up to 250cc

[steve povey 14]

Why not pop along to Mildenhall on 13th May for the British championships,once the meeting is over come along and talk to all thje Dads they will help.

[AFCB Wildcat 1,362]

This is a tricky one and I would say it depends on how old your boy is and how quickly he is likely to progress. Most training tracks welcome solo grasstrack bikes so if he has a 125 then I see no problem with him trying it out on the shale to see how he goes.

We were advised not to move up to a 500cc machine until you can ride a 125 flat out and I think that’s good advice so the options for speedway bikes are older upright frames fitted with Honda CG or CB 125 engines which can be bought for around £400 or a modern laydown frame fitted with a 125cc pitbike engine which would probably cost around £600 - £700. The former is fine for practice but if he wants to compete at this level the latter would be better. Chinese pitbike engines are very cheap with 140 & 160cc versions available and I have seen lads on these machines post times as quick as 500cc bikes on smaller tracks.

250cc speedway engines are quite rare and very expensive so the pitbike engine could be your best bet. While the laydown chassis can be easily upgraded to 500cc as he progresses, you will find buying the engine and clutch parts individually quite expensive.

Even amateur standard second hand Jawa laydowns seem to cost in excess of £500 and with the cost of all the clutch parts required it is often as cheap to buy a complete machine.

I would consider buying a complete amateur / National league standard 500cc bike which can be had for sub £1000 and converting it to a smaller pitbike engine which can be bought for under £200 new on eBay. That way you have all the parts required for when he’s ready to move up and you can learn about the bike at the same time.

As Wingnut says you can learn a lot from the other dad’s experiences at the training tracks but be prepared to be offered a lot of conflicting advice!

Edited May 4, 2012 by AFCB Wildcat

[conk98 2]

thanks for all your advice my son has just gone 14 by the way

we have been looking at a bike with a 125cc honda engine

 

just to practice on,so the 125 honda is no good for amater meetings,i guess they lack power etc

 

i was thinking of a 500cc in a year or so when like you say till he can ride his 125 flat out and with control

 

 

how old are the lads that race the 125cc i guess they are a lot younger than my lad

[blade2001 4]

i think you would be better getting a 250. my boy got a 140 last year used it twice and he had to move up to 250.that was the best money we spent.we got the 140 last june my boy was 14 he has now moved to a 500.if you use 250 for a year then you would be ready for 500 next year.and you cant race a 500 till you are 15

[AFCB Wildcat 1,362]

thanks for all your advice my son has just gone 14 by the way

we have been looking at a bike with a 125cc honda engine

 

just to practice on,so the 125 honda is no good for amater meetings,i guess they lack power etc

 

i was thinking of a 500cc in a year or so when like you say till he can ride his 125 flat out and with control

 

 

how old are the lads that race the 125cc i guess they are a lot younger than my lad

I guess Blade's post backs up my first point in that it depends on how quickly he is likely to progress which is an unknown quantity and I suppose you can only base this on his previous experience on bikes. My lad didn't start until 14 and had not even ridden a motorcycle of any type before riding a 125 on a training track. We went down the Honda CG125 route and it served him well for learning because with his lack of previous experience he was unlikely to be riding it flat out after a couple of outings. Rider ability is a bigger factor than the type of bike so I'm not saying you can't compete on the Hondas but the pit bike engines can be very quick in the right hands!

At competitive youth level you will find that a lot of 14 year olds have been riding bikes for many years and are only on a smaller engine because as Blade says they cant ride a 500 until they are 15 rather than they aren't ready for one so its hard to be competitive as a beginner when the catagories are age based.

At 15 it is often easier to be competitive as a beginner because the adult catagories are ability based rather than age based and a little success spurs you on!

Good luck with what ever you decide. I don't know where you are based but it's good to join an amateur club and you will find plenty of choice in the 'training track/amateur' section of the forum.

[kiwi 49]

A 250 everything is in the right place the right size and shape, the transition to a 500 is easy. A 250 is so much easier to ride than a 125.

There's a 250 for sale in the for sale thread, when he's ready for a 500, just sell the engine, you'll get your money back there's so few of them