Cost Cutting - How

[SCB 0]

I heard a story recently of a NL rider having his helmet taken off him by a machine examiner. The helmet was cracked, most agreed with that. The young rider in question kicked off as he'd just spent £400 having it painted and personalised. He was a NL rider, he had paid 3-4 meetings worth of earnings (without taking out expenses) on a helmet paint job FFS!

 

When I hear of riders doing things like that i struggle to have much sympathy for them when they plead poverty.

 

Before we standardise bikes, why not start by standardising helmets?

Edited October 21, 2014 by SCB

[Star Lady 5,400]

I heard a story recently of a NL rider having his helmet taken off him by a machine examiner. The helmet was cracked, most agreed with that. The young rider in question kicked off as he'd just spent £400 having it painted and personalised. He was a NL rider, he had paid 3-4 meetings worth of earnings (without taking out expenses) on a helmet paint job FFS!

 

When I hear of riders doing things like that i struggle to have much sympathy for them when they plead poverty.

 

Before we standardise bikes, why not start by standardising helmets?

 

It does make you wonder what their mentality is. The number of times I've seen riders vans with International Speedway Rider sign written on it. Who the hell cares really except themselves on an ego trip. It's a bit of a reflection of the attitude of the times IMO. Youngsters want to be the best at things (nowt wrong with that) but don't seem to want to put in the hard work that's the foundation for success.

 

On the subject of engines, I had a conversation with Buster Chapman many years ago and he said he would like all promoters to own a stable of engines and maintain them with riders drawing lots for them before the meeting. That IMO would slash costs immensely and possibly improve the racing quality. I've not spoken to him recently about it so he may well have changed his views. It would mean quite an initial outlay by promoters but think of the costs that could be cut. There would be no suspicion of illegal engines either. Cloud cuckoo land probably like many good ideas that are just too difficult to put into practice

[Sotonian 610]

I heard a story recently of a NL rider having his helmet taken off him by a machine examiner. The helmet was cracked, most agreed with that. The young rider in question kicked off as he'd just spent £400 having it painted and personalised. He was a NL rider, he had paid 3-4 meetings worth of earnings (without taking out expenses) on a helmet paint job FFS!

 

When I hear of riders doing things like that i struggle to have much sympathy for them when they plead poverty.

 

Before we standardise bikes, why not start by standardising helmets?

I couldn't agree more. It may be the norm in other motorsports but they don't have helmet covers rendering the whole exercise futile.

[iris123 20,992]

I agree,scb.

 

Remember a few years ago one well informed speedway fan asking on the net about a rider.She was on the motorway and a van passed her or she passed the van and it had some giuys name and a photo of him doing speedway and stated "speedway rider".Might even have said international speedway rider or something.She had never heard of him.One official from a track posted that he remembered him as he attended a couple of training sessions a year or so before and then gave up!!!!!!! This is an extreme case,but all so often at an early stage riders seem to want to set themselves up like international level guys

 

If costs are cut for riders,i doubt they will be asking for less money.Will it make a bit of difference to the sport?Maybe attract more youngsters.That is about it.And ok that is a positive step

Edited October 21, 2014 by iris123

[moxey63 1,785]

SCB is right, in my opinion, as regards even younger riders having to appear as world beaters, with fancy-Dan helmets, specialised vehicles, even the best bikes they cannot afford. I think it is all about today's society - the need to be famous before anyone really knows you. It seems to be all about vanity.

 

I think young uns are afraid they may get laughed at f they wore an old, tatty pair of kevlars or even leathers, if they turned up on a bike that was several years hold and owned by an ex-rider. We can't have kids being picked on as being povs, can we?

 

I read Jon Armstrong's piece in the Star recently, how he's using an old bike, old van and is getting as much enjoyment from the sport as he did 20 years ago.

 

But how do you educate a youngster, for example, who has these designer things done, costing hundreds of pounds, which doesn't increase his ability one bit, just adds to expenses, which I know the club isn't paying at this standard (National League) but it just delivers a bad example. The sport cannot support this kind of thing.

 

Team suits are another aspect. Wasn't somebody (Craig Cook) left out of the recent World Cup, because he wasn't able to take a call or something at the time, and his £500 racesuit (for just a few meetings that week ) had to be prepared?

 

It has to be addressed.

 

Grand Prix stars having different sets of kevlars, helmets with different colours... that's all very well. But domestic speedway must get a grip and start to manage itself properly.

[Bruiser McHuge 589]

£400 to paint a helmet !.....some riders don't half waste money..

 

I can't see a standard engine ever being brought in worldwide....most professional sports get dictated to from the very top and there are too many vested interests involved for that to be brought in....these GP riders are running 9 or 10 bikes , all professionally tuned...they aren't going to give that up easily regardless of whether the sport as a whole would benefit..

 

I've always been amazed at the money some riders spent which never needed to be spent....going back to when my brother in law rode he did a full British League season on one bike and one engine...it didn't look fancy and I saw him hammering rocker arms straight in my garage to save a few quid...he drove a knackered old van to meetings that riders took the Mickey out of...he did all the bike maintenance himself.....at the same time I saw junior riders getting engines back from Otto Lattenhammer at ridiculous expense, wear the flashiest of leathers, the smartest looking bikes....I cringed at their outgoings and their was no real need for it at their level at the time

I do think costs need to be cut but while the GP riders are earning what they earn and run 10 bikes at the same time then they will call the shots and nothing will really happen

[Blackadder 280]

League riders are underpaid for the job that they do, and the risks they take. As there are no signs of a few extra thousand fans coming through the turnstiles any time soon, the only realistic way to increase their income is to substantially reduce their costs. Let the GP riders ride what they like, but changes to equipment used in British leagues need to be done with urgency. There aren't very many winters, if any, left before it's too late.

[ford 26]

 

Until riders start using 'standard' engines with selected parts...

 

Then have a clause that any one can buy the winning engine from the rider for retail price plus a bit more to cover the cost of an engine rebuild the rider might have incurred.

[highside 118]

Promoters can agree on a pay scale and ALL stick to it .riders go back to having 1 bike half a dozen spanners instead of 3 bikes and a toolbox bigger than a F1 garage,and a car with bike on the back not a fancy van/motorhome .Simple but will never happen.

[speedibee 3,091]

I heard a story recently of a NL rider having his helmet taken off him by a machine examiner. The helmet was cracked, most agreed with that. The young rider in question kicked off as he'd just spent £400 having it painted and personalised. He was a NL rider, he had paid 3-4 meetings worth of earnings (without taking out expenses) on a helmet paint job FFS!

 

When I hear of riders doing things like that i struggle to have much sympathy for them when they plead poverty.

 

Before we standardise bikes, why not start by standardising helmets?

And I would agree , however most machine examiners are completely unqualified to pass judgement on the safety or otherwise of helmets . In my own experience of machine examiners . one asked me how to adjust the chain on his sons bike who had just started riding which pretty much demonstartes a lack of mechanical nowse . this was in october . and so you can imagine how shocked I was come the following march , when the same bloke approached me proudly displaying his SCB machine examiner tags !! and was none too pleased when I refused to let him examine my sons bike and Insisted on the chief examiner doing the scrutineering

[Bruiser McHuge 589]

Promoters can agree on a pay scale and ALL stick to it .riders go back to having 1 bike half a dozen spanners instead of 3 bikes and a toolbox bigger than a F1 garage,and a car with bike on the back not a fancy van/motorhome .Simple but will never happen.

I remember as a kid even world champions turned up in cars, the Citroen Safari seemed to be the car of choice, with a bike strapped to the back and all the tools and accessories in the back......imagine that now !...that was only in the late 70's and early 80's.

I think the only van I ever saw was Ivan Mauger's and the kids loved it....a van !.....all sign written as well...brilliant

Then Kenny Carter had that huge massive motor home that could never fit in the pits...sponsored by the Ham brothers I think before they took over Bradford....that was a huge thing and must have done about 2 miles to the gallon !! ...

When was the last time you ever saw a car with a speedway bike with name cover on the back.....

[Leicester Hunter 381]

I remember as a kid even world champions turned up in cars, the Citroen Safari seemed to be the car of choice, with a bike strapped to the back and all the tools and accessories in the back......imagine that now !...that was only in the late 70's and early 80's.

 

I remember having to move a CX Pallas estate around the forecourt at the garage I worked at in the early 80's, and getting them to stop smoothly was quite an artform until you got used to it. Like the DS before it, it didn't have a brake pedal, but a brake button. Gawd, talk about left foot braking....

 

I think the only van I ever saw was Ivan Mauger's and the kids loved it....a van !.....all sign written as well...brilliant

 

Ole Olsen was only other rider I remember having a van, a Custom Ford Transit, paid for, I believe by Castrol, who were one of his major sponsors at the time. But yes, Ivan certainly knew how to get a sponsor.... that van was Volkswagen LT, fully kitted out and signwritten by VW GB themselves. And it was a great advert for the sport at that time.

 

When was the last time you ever saw a car with a speedway bike with name cover on the back.....

I can't remember. All the riders seem to have vans these days, usually a Mercedes Sprinter, fully signwritten and everything.

 

Going back to the cars, most seemed to be Fords, either Mark 2 or Mark 3 Cortina's, Zephyr's or Zodiac's of varying vintage, or for those with a bit more of a budget, either an early Consul GT or a Granada. Now they really were the high speed loadluggers of the day. Unless you were Garry Middleton, of course. Then, only a Rolls Royce would suffice....

Edited October 21, 2014 by Leicester Hunter

[topsoil 2,498]

I don't know if this would save money or not, but I've always thought it would make more sense for each club to own all the bikes, engines, machinery in a pool and let the riders use these. At least that way, if nothing else, the club has some proper "assets". Okay each one could be specified to each individual rider's liking if needed.

These could be transported in a single vehicle, saving a bit of travelling costs.

Also, does every rider need his own mechanic(s)? Again, I've always thought it would make more sense to have maybe have a few mechanics all working for the club, on a part-time basis, looking after this "pool" of bikes.

[SGP 49]

MOTORSPORT by its very nature is something that costs money. Whilst cost-cutting is good in theory, it's something you can't apply without watering down the prodcut.

 

The only way it could be slightly controlled in the UK; would be for the BSPA to wage-cap. This initself presents many problems, but it would ensure pay continuity regardless of team.

[PHILIPRISING 7,298]

I remember having to move a CX Pallas estate around the forecourt at the garage I worked at in the early 80's, and getting them to stop smoothly was quite an artform until you got used to it. Like the DS before it, it didn't have a brake pedal, but a brake button. Gawd, talk about left foot braking....

 

Ole Olsen was only other rider I remember having a van, a Custom Ford Transit, paid for, I believe by Castrol, who were one of his major sponsors at the time. But yes, Ivan certainly knew how to get a sponsor.... that van was Volkswagen LT, fully kitted out and signwritten by VW GB themselves. And it was a great advert for the sport at that time.

 

I can't remember. All the riders seem to have vans these days, usually a Mercedes Sprinter, fully signwritten and everything.

 

Going back to the cars, most seemed to be Fords, either Mark 2 or Mark 3 Cortina's, Zephyr's or Zodiac's of varying vintage, or for those with a bit more of a budget, either an early Consul GT or a Granada. Now they really were the high speed loadluggers of the day. Unless you were Garry Middleton, of course. Then, only a Rolls Royce would suffice....

I MAY have mentioned this before somewhere, but Niels-Kristian Iversen told me in Latvia that he just changed vans (a Merc Sprinter, the most popular brand because it drives like a car apparently) and that his previous one had done 660,000 kilometres. But with "one careful owner!"