Vince

I always put the tube in the tyre first as I find it much easier to get the valve through the wheel. Put the tyre in the sun for a couple of hours and as great central says use plenty of lubricant (windowlene is good if you have no tyre soap). Then just take your time and take tiny little bites with the lever. If that doesn't work just take it into the pits and say "This tyre is so tight I don't think anybody could manage it" There'll be a queue to prove you wrong!

You can be a sporting God or a war hero on a Playstation or PC without any real effort or any risk of getting hurt. Unfortunately many people, not just kids, think that's the same excitement they would get from doing it for real.

Where was the best Speedway in the 60's or 70's or whatever? At different tracks at different times and it was pot luck whether you saw a good meeting or not, just like it is now so you're asking an impossible to answer to your satisfaction question. Of course the clip doesn't confirm that which is why I quite clearly made the point that it proves nothing any more than a TV meeting quoted by yourself does. I could equally make the point that I saw some bad meetings at just about every Southern and Midlands track throughout the late 60's, the 70's and 80's so Speedway must have been really poor then. However I also saw some really good meetings at most of those tracks as well during the same period. But to answer your question I have seen some really good races in the past decade or so at Poole, Oxford, Reading, Eastbourne, Newport, Kings Lynn, Mildenhall, Coventry, Stoke, Buxton, Scunthorpe, Sheffield, Newcastle and Edinburgh that I can think of easily. Strangely I have only been to Somerset two or three times and never seen a good meeting, however I am willing to accept that I have been unfortunate and take other peoples word for it that the track usually provides great racing. Of course I have also seen some poor races but it's my OPINION that what I see now is generally better. Riders that are at the very least a match for the best I saw in the early period (and in my opinion are actually better) would include Rickardsson, Pedersen, Crump, Woffinden, Holder, Sayfutdinov, Hancock and Adams. My idol as a youngster was Mauger with Briggo close behind but I think todays riders are more skilled and while Mauger was exceptionally professional in his day the majority of top riders would meet or exceed his standards now. The way of riding now may have changed a bit but to dismiss it as less skilled si crazy, it's just different. Dave Lanning best Speedway commentator ever, World of Sport great coverage of Speedway? I remember just how exciting it was to see Speedway on the TV because it was a rarity and also only ever highlights. So much easier for a commentator to avoid the repetition and so much easier for the Speedway to be memorable when it's a rare treat than when it's on TV several times a month. Could modern Speedway be improved? Of course it could but not by harpng back to some fictional past but by embracing the positive side of the sport then bringing the rest of it into the modern era in my opinion. Of course there are lessons to be learned from the past but during most of the wonderful times being quoted the sport spent periods of being on the verge of extinction with very short periods of boom times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOf1faSgS9Y Highlights from one of those wonderful World Finals (first one I went to and like every other one we went to my dad swore we wouldn't be going again because the racing at Wembley is rubbish!), highlights and no passing and some seriously spread out racing. Evidence that Speedway was rubbish in the 60's......except it wasn't. Or possibly like I said earlier you have always had good and bad meetings with the odd great one thrown in, one or several poor tv meetings is no evidence of the overall standard of racing.

The FIM are outstanding at spending money unwisely therefore the amount that filters to the ACU will be far less than it could be. The ACU then have a good crack at wasting a few quid before they have to ask what Speedway actually is!

Like the main national motorcycle federation, the ACU being part of the FIM. ACU and FIM says it all really, if you ever expect either to be efficient and look after the best interests of motorcycle sport, the clubs or members who provide the funding you will be very quickly disappointed. There are some great people who really know their sports involved in both but they appear to be overruled by the self serving administration most of who wouldn't know one end of a motorcycle from another as far as I have ever been able to tell. The BSPA look like a thoroughly efficient organisation in comparison! Under the old system had the World Final been held at Cardiff the year he happened to have a terrific meeting Chris Harris could have been World Champion let alone qualify which he would have done several times comfortably. Ideally the GP's would be like most Motorsport World Championships and generate enough income for the riders to make a good living but the sport just doesn't have the clout to bring in the money.

I can't because some meetings are good, some bad and now and again you get a great one, much the same as it ever was. Just that in my opinion the average meeting is a bit better than it used to be. There are the GP's where I would say you are more likely to see a very good meeting than a bad one and having been to Wembley for World Finals that were apparently fantastic I can say I never saw one that was as good as even an average GP. The general feeling on a coach going to Wembley was always that the track never provided good racing but you always went for the atmosphere. Now it seems that those people on the coach moaning about how much better the sport used to be now remember the era they were complaining about as a great one!

As close to being official as makes no difference. The supposedly much missed second half where the points money was generally divided up before the racing started and everybody knew it. The promoters making no secret of chucking a rider a few quid to not make the gate and disappear, the riders doing favours or taking a bung to not take points off somebody in a qualifier or even a World Final. These things all went on and people knew it and accepted it. Wasn't it your favourite era when the News of the World had a huge effect on the sports credibility? The joker and double points rule I can't argue with, to my way of thinking they should never happen but then I don't think the original tac sub should either. It's still the case that neither rule will keep newcomers away. Speedway is 4 blokes on a dirt track with no brakes going as hard as they can to win races, that's what it is and that's all it ever has been and it's brilliant.

You enjoying your Speedway isn't the same thing as it being better, just being younger means you were probably less cynical and any sport is usually more exciting when it's new to you. That's why I have a 'thing' about this! It's not a simple fact that Speedway is not as good as it was years ago, it's an opinion and one I mostly disagree with. There's nothing truthful about it in any way, it's an opinion, no more or less than that. The only thing I think was better was the atmosphere because of bigger crowds, in my opinion the racing today is the best I have ever seen in my 40+ years of watching Speedway. If you and I could take the same newcomer to his first Speedway meeting he would quite likely enjoy it with me because I would tell him what I think is so fantastic about the sport. On the other hand with you he would come away disenchanted because he hadn't seen the top riders and every race wasn't exciting like it used t be when you were a lad. I just watched what was a pretty average GP these days, it was far better than most of the one off finals I ever saw and the best GP's are fantastic entertainment and better than any racing I saw in previous decades. You can claim that's untrue if you like but it's my opinion and a look at some Pathe reels will suggest I may well be right. Somebody else claimed that the crowds have dwindled as the top riders left British racing, I wonder if that's true or if the riders have left because the crowds and the money have dried up.

Those lost thousands drifted away for a reason, tempting them back will be a short term fix at best. Whatever the reason they drifted away will resurface before long. If the price to do that is bankrupting clubs by employing riders they can't afford I can't see how that could be justified. Much better in my opinion to concentrate what are very limited resources on trying to create a new generation of Speedway supporters. It's never going to be easy as there is so much they can do without investing time or much money, including watching Speedway on TV or Youtube. I'm not even convinced that Speedway can do much other than shrink down to a very small professional sport with the majority of clubs surviving like most motorsports clubs do by running events for paying riders with one man and his dog watching. I do know that continuing to tell everybody who looks on the net that modern Speedway is crap compared to what it used to be in whatever generation you happened to start going is doing nothing to help and probably a good deal of harm. So far I've heard that the old days are better when standing on the terraces in the 60's, 70's, 80s, 90s, 00s and up to very recently. I'm not sure exactly when these golden days were but for sure they were never in the now!

How does having the big stars riding rejuvenate the sport when the non Speedway fan, the one's needed for increased attendances, have no idea who they are. Run an EL meeting tomorrow featuring 14 GP riders and you won't attract any newcomers to the sport, you will see a good crowd because current fans will turn up from further afield. However that's because it would be an unusual event, if that was how it was every week you would very soon be back to the same supporters you have now. Speedway has to attract new spectators and that is everything to do with image and value and nothing to do with riders they have yet to hear of. Whoever happens to do well their first night will be a top rider until somebody tells them how much better it could be if only they rode Douglas' in black leathers and leg trailed.

He doesn't have tattoos so must be the perfect role model, possibly wouldn't want him opening the fete at the local girls school though!

Personally I would say the exact opposite and that the riders of today are the best ever. You can never know for sure as so much has changed but I have many more 'how the hell did he do that?' moments now than I used to. Perhaps one of those who maintain the racing was so much closer in the old days could explain why they needed to handicap 5 riders in every race at one stage. Not only that but they could still win their fair share of races. Speedway has always gone through it's ups and downs and I suspect the current number of clubs is at the upper end of the scale (though I haven't bothered to check). There are nowhere near so many people attending live sports these days with the exception of top league Football and the major annual events like the F1 GP or Wimbledon. Even Football has suffered in the lower leagues so Speedway is not alone. Maybe we just have to accept that league Speedway has found a level that hopefully won't go too much lower and just like in the past will benefit from periods of increased popularity.

One thing that is absolutely certain and that is that modern Speedway no matter what the rule changes, how deep the tracks or how team minded the riders can ever hope to equal the sport of some peoples rose tinted memories! Just perhaps if people looked for the positives in what is a bloody good sport newcomers would read something good on the net and take a chance on spending a few quid to see for themselves.

A couple of pages about the subject then loads of pedantic bitching, just a normal day then!

He became World Champion by beating the best riders in the World over the course of a GP season. I doubt any rider ever became Champion without any of his rivals being injured and there were top riders not injured last year as well.. You are right it's not like it was years ago when good or bad luck with your gates in the final could decide who was Champion, or when a one track wonder could win a Championship. In the GP series you have to be the best throughout the course of a season on a variety of tracks. Tai was World Champion, he worked hard for it, earned it and won it fair and square and nobody can ever take it away from him. Is there anything you actually like about modern Speedway?

Think that's the place inhabited by most motorcycle racers!

Can't disagree with what you say at all but it's not so long ago they used to say you couldn't be a World Champion without racing on the variety of tracks that Britain offered!

We have GP referees who can't work out how long to hold the tapes yet some think they would be fit to make decisions that could ruin a riders career. Hands up all those who want Margeret Vardy to decide whether they can go to work and earn a wage tomorrow! Storm in a teacup that generated some publicity for the GP series.

While I think there's no doubt that Nicki Pedersen rides others harder than the majority of riders do I also think he suffers from his reputation. There are times when he does some pretty stupid things but there are many more times when he does what any other rider would do but everybody rushes to hang him for it. Good bit of publicity for the GP's though and exactly what the marketing people should be making the most of (or making up!)

I didn't remember that! Tai must be gutted that he didn't go on to be a tyre fitter as well

I'd send him to open a school fete without a second thought, he looks exactly like kids expect an action sports hero to. To my mind it would be difficult to find a Champion to represent our sport better, the fact that I'm no fan of facial tattoos or silly ear rings is immaterial. For those of us who think the sport needs to be dragged into this millennium as a genuine extreme sport he looks and behaves the part. He rides on the edge, makes passes and shrugs off injury like it was nothing. For those of us bought up on Boys Own Annuals he has no hint of scandal following him, works hard for charity, has overcome adversity and made no secret that his success can be attributed to knuckling down and working hard. If he comes across as a bit cocky I think he's earned that right and even that will improve with age, he's just a lad remember. His mum must be immensely proud as would his father have been if he could have been here to see it. At this rate I might even end up being a fan!

Me, I didn't think he should be in the GP series last year which goes to show I know eff all. It would be good to know who made the decision to put him in as despite all the criticism of the GP series there are clearly some people involved who really know their business. I saw a lot of Tai when he was first over here and although he clearly had some ability I was never a fan and thought he would end up an EL second string. I was never a fan of his attitude either but the way he has conducted himself the past couple of years has really impressed me. A very worthy World Champion and it seems likely there are more to come.

Won't the inertia of the piston easily overcome the force of gravity and make it behave the same no matter what angle it's at? As far as I know the service limit on the old radial aero engines was the same for all barrels and they point every which way.

Woffinden, Holder, Ward, Iverson, Sayfutdinov, Zagar gating tarts? You really have to be kidding, have you watched any GP's in the past few years?