cpbyles

Point Taken I can't see how Speedway can be compared to F1 or Production bike racing in whatever format simply because Speedway is the only form of Team event running on a League basis. Seven riders per team, 10 or whatever teams per league etc etc. Adds up to an awful amount of machines racing week in and week out in this country alone. Any form of Standardisation would need to be Global and that in itself is an unrealistic proposition. And if we were to go down the road of using a pool of machines every meeting, who would meet the cost of buying, replacing and repairing these machines ? - the clubs themselves ? - I think not. Someone also mentioned the policing of such machines - more personel required, sounds to me like this is getting a more expensive idea than what we currently have. On a final note, we have been looking at costs, but are we maybe looking in the wrong direction ? Taking into account inflation, by my reckoning a standard speedway machine of today is no more expensive than a JAP cost in the sixties, on the contary infact. The reason I mentioned black leathers in a previous post was to highlight the fact that sponsorship as we know it now was virtually non existent and the riders pay incredibly less, again taking inflation into account. No matter what job you do, the pay is always deemed insufficient and unevenly distributed - think I'll leave it at that !!

Absolutely, I forgot humour was frowned upon !! The point is, there was a time when engines were virtually standard and riders only brought one machine to a meeting with a track spare available which was also standard. Well, that was the theory anyway. But then of course every rider altered a thing or two such as valve port sizes, bores etc and thus it was no longer standard. They toyed around with the idea of the Honda not so very long ago with sealed engines so tampering couldnt happen. The type of standardisation you speak of would leave virtually no scope for adjustment for the individual rider. You can put limits on on an engines performance - you can never standardise it to the extent they are all exactly the same.

Excellent idea !! - How about we ban all 4-valves, dirt deflectors, laydowns and buy up all the old J.A.P motors we can find knocking around in sheds. We could make all riders wear just BLACK leathers with no Logo's on and admissions would then plummet to 1 shilling and sixpence and the Governing body could dictate who rides for which team - how about it promoters ?

nah - there's no dents, rust or shale clogging up the engine fins. Can't see any rips in the seat either, this bike needs restoring badly Seriously, nice machines, wish my bank manager was more understanding !!

The Matchless engine was based on the G85 - There is a lot of info and photos on Chris Byles excellent website. There is a link for his website on one of his posts on the "1st ESO/JAWA..." thread. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thank you Hot Shoe - you must have read every page To make life easier, the Matchless Page is at http://speedwaybikes.fortunecity.net/match.htm

That was called 'Rider Control', which was definitely around in the 1970s. I can't remember the exact time of the introduction on averages to define team strengths, but I'd guess it was late 70s/early 80s. The limit was much higher then, though. I think it used to be around the 50 point mark. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I think you will find that Rider Control actually began as far back as 1965 following the rebellious National / Provincial Leagues of 1964. In 1965 the British League was formed and Rider Control was implemented, very few riders liking the idea with some refusing to move and found themselves not being allowed to ride until they did. You could say that this in itself was the begining of the points limiatations, though when this was officially introduced I'm not yet sure.

Moved all the machine History across to the Workshop Pages which covers the biggest part of machine History http://speedwaybikes.fortunecity.net/ <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Thanks Chris, Great website. Do you know if the ESO was more expensive than the JAP motor at that time? I know a lot of riders didn't take to the (high revving?) ESO as opposed to the favoured JAP but was it down to economics and the fact that their wasn't an importer at that time? The 1955 ESO doesn't look that different to an early 1960s model. Any idea why it took six years for one to arrive on the U.K. Speedway scene? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> They were cheaper to purchase initially, and I understand that the reason they took so long to get introduced over here was purely based on East/West relations at the time during the Cold War

Guest riders were introduced in 1955 and a new 16 Heat 6 man formula devised to stem the fall of gates at Speedway. However, the demise continued with the loss of Harringay and a shortened Wembley season.

Moved all the machine History across to the Workshop Pages which covers the biggest part of machine History http://speedwaybikes.fortunecity.net/

The first of the ESO machines appeared in Britain during 1961 when it was ridden by the great Ove Fundin, though he reverted to his JAP machines for the more prestigous meetings. It was Barry Briggs who later became the UK concessionaire at his Southampton premises for the complete Eso machine.

She also contacted myself on the same topic and I can supply original photo's from his Exeter days plus additional information. If anyone knows of any other teams that he rode for I'd be glad to hear from you myself

Many thanks indeed for that information. Peter and his wife are both well and plan to retire in a couple of years and do some travelling. You know what I'm going to ask next - anyone know of an email or contact number for Tim Stone ? Will keep you posted on the progress if any - Thanks

A shot in the dark this one. Recieved the following email from the wife of of former Exeter and Newport Rider Peter Ingram: Have just been surfing your page and have decided to ask a favour. My husband, Peter Ingram rode for the Exeter Falcons for the 1971 -1972 seasons before moving to Newport to gain experience on a smaller track. He came back to Australia at the end of 1973 with the intention of going back to Newport. To cut a long story short, a number of personal events occurred resulting in the decision not to return the UK. All of Peters gear, machinery, photographs were left with a former supporter and never made it back to Australia. I know its a long shot but I was wondering if any of your readers or supporters might have any information. As far as Peter is concerned it is all in the past and he has moved on to bigger and better things. Whilst this attitude might be commendable I know our children and grand children would love to see some photographs. Peter has talked about (in the past) an action shot taken at Newport that he was very fond of. Mike Patrick has been very helpful and sent us some lovely portrait shots taken in the pits at Exeter but we don't know the name of the photographer at Newport. Anyone have any thoughts on this one ?