THE DEAN MACHINE Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 2 hours ago, Sings4Speedway said: Its not all down to the riders though. Promotors demand riders turn up with 2 x well maintained bikes. The turnaround time of fixtures and fragility of a modern bike compared a more durable older machine dictates that a third bike/spare is a practical option. Then theres milage picking Jason Edwards out as a standard british double upper (no offence meant) Jason has a 500 mile round trip to home meetings at Redcar. Multiply that by 10-15 depending on cup runs etc, then double it for away fixtures rough estimate 30k miles a year......who would be willing to put that on their own vehicle each year for no sensible offset against the depreciation In 2003 I did nearly 80 meetings with an average round trip of 400 miles per meeting, my van which I paid for was doing around 60-80k miles a year riding sometimes 4 times per week and washed and prepped my own bikes,,worked part time mechanic for Adam skornicki and sometimes washed Joe screens bikes and worked as a full time courier often delivering on way to meetings and sometimes after meetings and I did it for peanuts so forgive me if I have little sympathy for the likes of Jason Edward’s ,they don’t know they are born Edited 2 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 19 minutes ago, Derrickn said: That's a big problem.I know it's a long time ago,but when Halifax re-opened,only one rider,Dave Younghusband,lived more than 10 miles away from Halifax,so apart from minimum travelling for home meetings,it really felt like a home team you were supporting. Traveling has always been a big demand on riders ,in the 70's we came back from Workington to Chester on a Friday night( after midnight ) in work Saturday till lunch time .Then we washed and prepared two bikes in the afternoon ready for Eastborne the next day .The rider did all the driving towing a two bike trailer and scored a paid max Friday and I think 13 from five on Sunday and he was back at work Monday morning as a panel beater . He was one of the NL all time greats IMO as well Edited 2 hours ago by FAST GATER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FAST GATER Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago 3 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: In 2003 I did nearly 80 meetings with an average round trip of 400 miles per meeting, my van which I paid for was doing around 60-80k miles a year riding sometimes 4 times per week and washed and prepped my own bikes,,worked part time mechanic for Adam skornicki and worked as a full time courier often delivering on way to meetings and sometimes after meetings and I did it for peanuts so forgive me if I have little sympathy for the likes of Jason Edward’s ,don’t know they are born A "proper s/way rider I witnessed many riders like yourself in 70's and 80's the bedrock of the sport now sadly long gone . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago 3 minutes ago, FAST GATER said: A "proper s/way rider Well I wouldn’t go that far 😂 I had a go Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago 17 minutes ago, THE DEAN MACHINE said: In 2003 I did nearly 80 meetings with an average round trip of 400 miles per meeting, my van which I paid for was doing around 60-80k miles a year riding sometimes 4 times per week and washed and prepped my own bikes,,worked part time mechanic for Adam skornicki and sometimes washed Joe screens bikes and worked as a full time courier often delivering on way to meetings and sometimes after meetings and I did it for peanuts so forgive me if I have little sympathy for the likes of Jason Edward’s ,they don’t know they are born A baffling comment that Matt Ford made in his SS interview was that Poland could pay riders half of what they do and the riders would still be very well paid.... Thus, by paying riders less it would reduce the gap between the UK salary and Poland's... Therefore, making the UK salary more attractive to some riders... Maybe just paying riders what you can afford to pay them, is the more simpler idea? And, if they don't want to ride for that money, ask someone else who will.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE DEAN MACHINE Posted 2 hours ago Report Share Posted 2 hours ago (edited) 6 minutes ago, mikebv said: A baffling comment that Matt Ford made in his SS interview was that Poland could pay riders half of what they do and the riders would still be very well paid.... Thus, by paying riders less it would reduce the gap between the UK salary and Poland's... Therefore, making the UK salary more attractive to some riders... Maybe just paying riders what you can afford to pay them, is the more simpler idea? And, if they don't want to ride for that money, ask someone else who will.... I once asked Mike Bowden at Plymouth why he booked me for so many meetings as I lived over 200 miles away, he said because 1 you always do well here and 2 when I phone you you never ask how much am I getting paid Edited 2 hours ago by THE DEAN MACHINE 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ouch Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago 2 hours ago, mikebv said: Which makes the lack of "one league", due to the level of riders it would need, even more baffling... There won't be any other answer than to use NDL second strings, and even reserves, to fill spaces in just a few years, so why wait? At least, starting this season, give these riders plenty of rides... EVERY meeting should have some NDL level races for those who are not tier two ready currently... Instead we have... ?????????? As a joined up development programme... The only silver lining to all this is it’s looking more likely that I can achieve my childhood dream of representing The Aces on track. I might not be at Dans level but who cares, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebv Posted 1 hour ago Report Share Posted 1 hour ago (edited) 11 minutes ago, ouch said: The only silver lining to all this is it’s looking more likely that I can achieve my childhood dream of representing The Aces on track. I might not be at Dans level but who cares, right? Not at Dan's level yet!!! Is what you mean... Who knows though.... Keep practicing and you never know.... Edit. I've just told my mate that Ouch was taking up Speedway and that he doesn't think he will be as good as Dan.. He said "Who the eff are Ouch and Dan, and what the eff is Speedway?".. See. Already you are at Dan's level... Edited 1 hour ago by mikebv 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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