Eastbourne 2016

[GASBLOKE 20]

If I were Kelsey I'dbe doing all I can to prove them wrong for not picking him. Whether he can cut it on that big track remains to be seen

Have just seen the u21 semi final line up at Kent. How very sad, Kelsey Dugard, unattached. That has to be wrong, he's good and with time on his side lets hope he makes it somewhere. Go on and win it Kelsey, although with Shanes on his own track, 2nd place would be good.

[Alex2000 266]

I think we should he getting worried. Kent riders seem to be practising a lot more than last year and still quiet on the eastie front. Jake Knight saying still hasn't got on bike so my guess a practise was cancelled today.

[catinthehat 115]

Yep another wet day in the South, but i am sure that someone from the Eastbourne management has their eye on the practice problems, but there is nothing to stop them doing the whole weekend when its dry, i think there is only so many laps someone can do before they are back in the swing of things, i always remember Alan Moggride saying one day at training school when i was at Hackney, Practice does not make it perfect, if you practice the wrong thing time and time again you end up getting it getting it wrong.

 

 

Practice is there to make sure bikes run ok and get them set up, all the boys can ride but i guess just setting up the bikes and finding the correct lines around the Arlington track wont take long with the right help from riders in the team maybe Niall Studwick will be able to help the boys as he must have done more laps then any other member of the team.

[00000 1,279]

Been reading about the Elite League woes: Lakeside let Bjarne go; Leicester with no real No 1, Lynn still looking for a No 1--makes you glad Eastbourne are not part of that anymore.

 

It would have been a nightmare for the Eagles, being a Saturday track.

[catinthehat 115]

I have to say speedway looks like in a bit of a mess the only league that looks like its got somthing going for it is the NL. I have a friend in Poland who has told me that they have already have next year 2017, So with the GP as well speedway really needs to start again from Grass Roots, Standard bikes / Engines lets go back to no silencers and bring the noise back like it used to be at Wimbeldon and Hackney. Formular 1 cars are so loud and they run in city centres so why cant we. Bring back the old speedway as we all loved it.

Edited February 22, 2016 by catinthehat

[*JJ 512]

I have to say speedway looks like in a bit of a mess the only league that looks like its got somthing going for it is the NL. I have a friend in Poland who has told me that they have already have next year 2017, So with the GP as well speedway really needs to start again from Grass Roots, Standard bikes / Engines lets go back to no silencers and bring the noise back like it used to be at Wimbeldon and Hackney. Formular 1 cars are so loud and they run in city centres so why cant we. Bring back the old speedway as we all loved it.

That really will finish speedway off!

[TurnTwo 317]

Nice and sunny today

[catinthehat 115]

2017 will be the year of the standard bikes for the UK, I think sudden sam is on to it or even the engine that Tattum is involved with will be a standard, why would Kelvin be involved with lakeside if he wasnt going to push the engine into the sport?

 

Seems i might be right also it was talked about at Rugby the other day so not too far away i think.

 

Hey nice and sunny up here too so maybe time to get out on a bike or 2 at the weekend and smell the fuel and oil in the air, (thats from the bikes not a fire)

Edited February 23, 2016 by catinthehat

[Sings4Speedway 3,247]

2017 will be the year of the standard bikes for the UK, I think sudden sam is on to it or even the engine that Tattum is involved with will be a standard, why would Kelvin be involved with lakeside if he wasnt going to push the engine into the sport?

 

Seems i might be right also it was talked about at Rugby the other day so not too far away i think.

 

Hey nice and sunny up here too so maybe time to get out on a bike or 2 at the weekend and smell the fuel and oil in the air, (thats from the bikes not a fire)

 

If they enforce standardising and other ridiculous expenses upon riders it will be the end of the sport for me and maybe in general.

 

Whilst a level playing filed sounds like an ideal the facts are that continually enforcing expensive silencers and potentially entirely new engines will drive many riders from the sport, force the riders that do remain to request more money and therefore require increased prices at the gate.

 

By all means make the engines available to riders as if they are competitive enough they will use them but the continuation of enforced regulation changes will be the death of the sport. (rant over?)

[Alex2000 266]

Nice and sunny today

should stay dry all week. So hopefully this weekend but that's if the track isn't under a foot of water

[Ben91 1,743]

 

If they enforce standardising and other ridiculous expenses upon riders it will be the end of the sport for me and maybe in general.

 

Whilst a level playing filed sounds like an ideal the facts are that continually enforcing expensive silencers and potentially entirely new engines will drive many riders from the sport, force the riders that do remain to request more money and therefore require increased prices at the gate.

 

By all means make the engines available to riders as if they are competitive enough they will use them but the continuation of enforced regulation changes will be the death of the sport. (rant over?)

 

Until standardisation is introduced to the sport worldwide it will be one of those things that sounds like a good idea but isn't. Bring it in for the NL and the top boys will have to have two sets of bikes because they will be the ones riding PL also against riders who can do as they please (within limits) with their bikes. Bring it in for the EL and we'll see the few top riders that can be bothered to race over here decide it isn't worth their time because they'll need to be investing in new gear just for Britain, that's not going to happen.

 

If bike standardisation is high on the BSPA's agenda I fear for the future of the sport in Britain. Focus needs to be on how we can get more fans into each and every meeting at all levels, how we can make the Elite League a viable proposition for the best riders in the world and most importantly of all how we can develop our own talent to be competitive on the world scene in the next 10-15 years.

Edited February 23, 2016 by Ben91

[mac101 1,201]

So every engine that's out now could be obsolete unless they can be made to standardisation regs how many NL riders could afford to buy a couple new standard engines how many riders will cheat who will check engines if anybody follows PJR on Facebook he basically says bad maintainance causes most failures this is what he says good read

 

Our engines are STD a very high STD and when looked after they last a long time. We use the best parts that go the distance. I was not sure about the use of titanium when the rules were changed 3 years ago but I can't believe how long these parts last and the amount of races you can do with no power loss. We have had guys doing > 80 races between services. Educating people to look after engines would be a lot more cost effective. The biggest killer of engines is DIRT, closely followed by over revving. This over revving normally HAPPENS IN THE PITS! why rev engines to > 14k on the warm up? corrosion of parts due to water ingress, when bikes are washed is another problem. These issues will affect any engine and are quite easily avoided. Engines being used in the UK should last forever. The tracks are small and we have no extreme ambient temperatures like you get in Poland. For an example of running costs we had one of our higher profile customers do 52 races on a engine from new before service. This included 2 18 point maximums in > 35 degrees heat in Poland, a GP win & rostrum place. The Total cost for the service was less than £400. You can't get better value than that.! Speedway is a simple, cheap motorsport.

[catinthehat 115]

Well the way i look at it as i have just done a little bit of investigation the last few days, an Engine from a good tuner is approx £4500 (Engine 1) but some are more expensive but i used that a example, Tatums Engine is £5000. so £500 more.

 

Engine 1 will do 40 races or 160 laps before a rebuild at a cost of £400 a rebuild (spring, rings, big end ). so looking at 4 to 5 rebuilds a year.

Tatums engine is ment to do a full season. so a service at the end of the year £500.

Jawas new engine is ment to be £2000 ( Sudden Sams Engine)

 

so to run engine 1 for a season and a purchase is £6500

Tatums Engine is £5500

Sams Engine is £2000 says £300 a rebuild and 3 rebuilds a year round it up to £3000 total

 

so a cost saving of £3500 so far per rider, then times that by 7 thats £24,500 for the team.

 

now lets look at it another way, £24,500 divide that by £5 as thats what you like to take of the gate price, 4900 people could come in at £8 for NL price, which then divide that by 9 meetings means 544 people a meeting which is about right for NL lower crowds.

 

Trying to get people back in the gates i guess is the main thing and its money i think thats is the real crunch. family of 4 could whats speedway for £20 max £32 which is cheaper then going to the cinema.

 

I would like to see that happen standard bikes, they do it in other motor sports and gokarting. why not try it. stand alone and do a deal with Jawa or Tatum or Even GM, or just go back to 2 valve engines.

 

If more tracks drop out then speedway will really be in the brown sticky stuff, bums on seats is needed.

[Reviresco 708]

Wasn't 'Ermolenko's' Jawa discovered to be 570cc and therefore unusable in league speedway?

[Sings4Speedway 3,247]

I see the logic you are applying to this however most riders have engines in place already so the initial purchase price is negated.

The Gerhard/Tatum engine is only alleged to be able to complete a season with no services / power loss but has yet to be verified & as above Sam's engine is over bore and ineligible.

 

Based on your logic

To run engine 1 for a season and a purchase is £6500

Tatums Engine is £5500

Pre owned engine & service (£0 purchase, £2000 services) = £2000

 

Whilst I completely agree that gate prices need to drop even at NL level I feel that would be more easily achieved by set points limit brackets rather than imposing further restrictions upon riders with more expensive regulation changes.