Injuries

[Daniel Smith 5,666]

Interesting to note Kelvin's Tatum commentary last night on the difficulty riders are having controlling their machines with the new silencers.2nd time in a week Kelvin has mentioned this,last night it was after the fall suffered by Rohan Tungate.It may only be one voice but someone of Kelvins experience and technical knowledge should not be ignored.If the risks to rider safety are increased this issue needs to be addressed.

 

Peter Johns & Gary Havelock Tweeted that Kelv talked crap & lives in the past regarding those comments though. But, I'm not sure a modern day engine tuner is likely to agree with Kelv is he as that would be a sure fire way to destroy ya own business.

[BWitcher 12,453]

Precisely. The new silencers are the best thing to have happened for Peter Johns.

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

TALK to just about any GP rider, as I do, and they all agree with Kelvin's comments about the silencers and the problems they cause. As does, incidentally, Barry Briggs.

[ch958 2,395]

an independent ruling body would deal with this sort of matter without links to individual tracks, riders, manufacturers so that sensible decisions are arrived at. Currently the sport is essentially leaderless and makes knee jerk decisions..

[SCB 0]

A few in the know reckon the rear tyres nowadays are dangerous also... And a big problem.

This always perplexes me. Speedway as we know is about getting the power from the bike to the track. The only contact is with a tyre. Surely the easiest way to slow the sport down, speed is up, make it safer etc is to change the rear tyre? Why only one type of tyre? Surely a deep grippy track required a different type of tyre to a slick track?

 

TALK to just about any GP rider, as I do, and they all agree with Kelvin's comments about the silencers and the problems they cause. As does, incidentally, Barry Briggs.

No doubt Briggo has a solution too that'll only cost £2000. I'd listen to pretty much any current GP rider about current machinery over someone who hasn't raced for 30 years. Yes Briggo was good then but what does he really know about riding a current bike? Probably more than me but nothing compared to a GP ridr surely?

[The White Knight 9,039]

Peter Johns & Gary Havelock Tweeted that Kelv talked crap & lives in the past regarding those comments though. But, I'm not sure a modern day engine tuner is likely to agree with Kelv is he as that would be a sure fire way to destroy ya own business.

 

Engine Tuners seem to be the only people making money out of Speedway these days.

 

Time to go back to Engines that can be maintained by the Rider/Mechanic.

 

Awaits Flak.

[The Know 221]

TALK to just about any GP rider, as I do, and they all agree with Kelvin's comments about the silencers and the problems they cause. As does, incidentally, Barry Briggs.

 

I thought they didnt even have silencers when Briggs last rode ? Problem not the silencer but the 30 year old design air cooled motor. Tatum still a twit though and talks rubbish

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

BRIGGO still has more knowledge about the characteristics of a speedway bike in his little finger than most could dream of. Ever since the new silencers came in a variety of riders, including some who use Peter Johns as their tuner, will tell you that they are much more difficult to ride and therefore potentially more dangerous. Even a slight lag in a speedway engine picking up or maintaining its revs, which is fundamental to how they react, can cause problems.

 

Few if any speedway tracks have a completely consistent race surface which only compounds the problems.

 

Stand next to Kelvin Tatum at a GP practice and he can tell you just by listening how an engine is performing. Just because he, or Briggo, haven't raced competitively for years doesn't diminish their knowledge or experience and only a dimwit would suggest otherwise. Kelvin also has his own dyno and has carried out a number of tests to supplement his views.

 

The fact is that the FIM pushed through the new silencers regulations of sound grounds alone and failed to listen to many people, including Dave King, who could have achieved their objective without causing riders the difficulties they are currently encountering.

 

As for rear tyres, speedway is probably unique in that riders have to use the same spec tyre in all conditions, slick or deep, wet or dry. There are solutions to that which would not actually cost riders any more than they are paying now but it is another area where the FIM have a blind spot, although new Track Racing boss Armando Castagna is much more receptive to riders' view than his predecessors.

 

This is another area in which Kelvin has strong views and he maintains that by allowing a different rear tyre, especially in wet conditions when the current one can become like a slick, more meetings might actually go ahead by giving riders more confidence in racing on less than perfect conditions.

 

Talk about trying to slow down speedway bikes has been around since the old king died and isn't the solution to safety concerns. Track preparation, air-fences that do the job they were designed for and admitting that there are alternative silencers that could conceivably reduce the number of accidents are more viable options.

 

I thought they didnt even have silencers when Briggs last rode ? Problem not the silencer but the 30 year old design air cooled motor. Tatum still a twit though and talks rubbish

 

EVEN by your pathetic standards that is a stupid remark. Kelvin has a huge engineering background, not just in speedway, and I would back his knowledge against yours any day of the week.

[The White Knight 9,039]

BRIGGO still has more knowledge about the characteristics of a speedway bike in his little finger than most could dream of. Ever since the new silencers came in a variety of riders, including some who use Peter Johns as their tuner, will tell you that they are much more difficult to ride and therefore potentially more dangerous. Even a slight lag in a speedway engine picking up or maintaining its revs, which is fundamental to how they react, can cause problems.

 

Few if any speedway tracks have a completely consistent race surface which only compounds the problems.

 

Stand next to Kelvin Tatum at a GP practice and he can tell you just by listening how an engine is performing. Just because he, or Briggo, haven't raced competitively for years doesn't diminish their knowledge or experience and only a dimwit would suggest otherwise. Kelvin also has his own dyno and has carried out a number of tests to supplement his views.

 

The fact is that the FIM pushed through the new silencers regulations of sound grounds alone and failed to listen to many people, including Dave King, who could have achieved their objective without causing riders the difficulties they are currently encountering.

 

As for rear tyres, speedway is probably unique in that riders have to use the same spec tyre in all conditions, slick or deep, wet or dry. There are solutions to that which would not actually cost riders any more than they are paying now but it is another area where the FIM have a blind spot, although new Track Racing boss Armando Castagna is much more receptive to riders' view than his predecessors.

 

This is another area in which Kelvin has strong views and he maintains that by allowing a different rear tyre, especially in wet conditions when the current one can become like a slick, more meetings might actually go ahead by giving riders more confidence in racing on less than perfect conditions.

 

Talk about trying to slow down speedway bikes has been around since the old king died and isn't the solution to safety concerns. Track preparation, air-fences that do the job they were designed for and admitting that there are alternative silencers that could conceivably reduce the number of accidents are more viable options.

 

 

 

EVEN by your pathetic standards that is a stupid remark. Kelvin has a huge engineering background, not just in speedway, and I would back his knowledge against yours any day of the week.

 

Well said Sir.

[Grand Central 2,654]

It's a funny thing about Barry Briggs, isn't it?

 

His long and proud history in the sport has won him quite an army of followers for whom the great man can barely do wrong.

And I'm sure that Philip Rising will offer the point that this is the view held by those that really matter.

 

And yet simultaneously.

He is also looked upon my many in - to put it kindly - the most poorest of lights.

They offer nothing but vitriol.

 

Is it just a PR problem?

 

 

.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Grand Central

[oldace 1,678]

BRIGGO still has more knowledge about the characteristics of a speedway bike in his little finger than most could dream of. Ever since the new silencers came in a variety of riders, including some who use Peter Johns as their tuner, will tell you that they are much more difficult to ride and therefore potentially more dangerous. Even a slight lag in a speedway engine picking up or maintaining its revs, which is fundamental to how they react, can cause problems.

 

 

Short stroke motors and super lightweight flywheels dont help though, it may get to peak revs pretty darn quick but will die a death as it hits any resistance, i.e dirt. For a rider only a few feet from a fence and going the wrong direction this is a mega problem, by the time the bikes got back enough revs to slide the back wheel and make a turn the rider is already under the fence

[SCB 0]

Short stroke motors and super lightweight flywheels dont help though, it may get to peak revs pretty darn quick but will die a death as it hits any resistance, i.e dirt. For a rider only a few feet from a fence and going the wrong direction this is a mega problem, by the time the bikes got back enough revs to slide the back wheel and make a turn the rider is already under the fence

And there you have hit a snag. Riders want safer but also want faster/quicker/easier to win on. The reality is, as with everything in life, is striking a balance.

[Bream 29]

Different tyre types isnt really what speedway needs. It would not lower the price of tyres needed and would only raise the budget needed. After speedway I rode motocross just or fun and thought about racing also. Found out that you need 3-4 sets of tyres to different surfaces (deep sand, hard clay, hard packed soil..). 150-200 euros per set. It would not make racing any worse if there would have been only one tyre type. But with specific tyres for every condition it is like Cold War, you have to have them to be competitive.

[The Know 221]

BRIGGO still has more knowledge about the characteristics of a speedway bike in his little finger than most could dream of. Ever since the new silencers came in a variety of riders, including some who use Peter Johns as their tuner, will tell you that they are much more difficult to ride and therefore potentially more dangerous. Even a slight lag in a speedway engine picking up or maintaining its revs, which is fundamental to how they react, can cause problems.

 

Few if any speedway tracks have a completely consistent race surface which only compounds the problems.

 

Stand next to Kelvin Tatum at a GP practice and he can tell you just by listening how an engine is performing. Just because he, or Briggo, haven't raced competitively for years doesn't diminish their knowledge or experience and only a dimwit would suggest otherwise. Kelvin also has his own dyno and has carried out a number of tests to supplement his views.

 

The fact is that the FIM pushed through the new silencers regulations of sound grounds alone and failed to listen to many people, including Dave King, who could have achieved their objective without causing riders the difficulties they are currently encountering.

 

As for rear tyres, speedway is probably unique in that riders have to use the same spec tyre in all conditions, slick or deep, wet or dry. There are solutions to that which would not actually cost riders any more than they are paying now but it is another area where the FIM have a blind spot, although new Track Racing boss Armando Castagna is much more receptive to riders' view than his predecessors.

 

This is another area in which Kelvin has strong views and he maintains that by allowing a different rear tyre, especially in wet conditions when the current one can become like a slick, more meetings might actually go ahead by giving riders more confidence in racing on less than perfect conditions.

 

Talk about trying to slow down speedway bikes has been around since the old king died and isn't the solution to safety concerns. Track preparation, air-fences that do the job they were designed for and admitting that there are alternative silencers that could conceivably reduce the number of accidents are more viable options.

 

 

 

EVEN by your pathetic standards that is a stupid remark. Kelvin has a huge engineering background, not just in speedway, and I would back his knowledge against yours any day of the week.

 

I take it your some sort of pratt them Phil living in the past, a bit like others you mention. You dont know my background and i tell you now, i will go up agaist Tatum anytime, regarding BIKE,CAR,BOAT,PLANE engines or Lifts as i KNOW my stuff.

[The White Knight 9,039]

I take it your some sort of pratt them Phil living in the past, a bit like others you mention. You dont know my background and i tell you now, i will go up agaist Tatum anytime, regarding BIKE,CAR,BOAT,PLANE engines or Lifts as i KNOW my stuff.

 

So does Kelvin in my opinion. I don't happen to think that Briggo is ignorant either. In fact I reckon that they are more in 'The Know' than you are.

 

Remember they are BOTH former World Champions in different disciplines.