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Safety fencing


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On 4/11/2026 at 1:47 PM, MattB said:

I may be wrong here, but the fences we have on British tracks maybe are a few years old now and perhaps have become more brittle with age.

Worth remembering as well the bikes now are much faster than they were when air fences came in.

Not really true - the way they have to be ridden today though is different.  I remember Chris Louis saying he'd not like to ride todays bikes as they only really suit slick or consistent tracks, full throttle all the way, as you'd ride in Poland but in years gone by more throttle control won you races and you could use grippy/slick parts of the track to your advantage more.  Seats are also much higher these days.  The issue with any fence is that you go from 60mph to zero in a short space of time so injuries will happen no matter what but we do see more use of the wide outside lines than ever before (where only the very brave/skilled would tread), which could be the feeling of safety brought about by air fences.

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4 minutes ago, SPEEDY69 said:

Not really true - the way they have to be ridden today though is different.  I remember Chris Louis saying he'd not like to ride todays bikes as they only really suit slick or consistent tracks, full throttle all the way, as you'd ride in Poland but in years gone by more throttle control won you races and you could use grippy/slick parts of the track to your advantage more.  Seats are also much higher these days.  The issue with any fence is that you go from 60mph to zero in a short space of time so injuries will happen no matter what but we do see more use of the wide outside lines than ever before (where only the very brave/skilled would tread), which could be the feeling of safety brought about by air fences.

Need to drop down to 250cc 

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A few years ago I suggested fitting a thick webbing strap with a fastening (buckle ?) , as seen on 'artics' / 18 wheelers holding the cover onto trailors, at either end and / or in the centre of each air fence panel to help stop them lifting on impact. Air fences or similar will almost always be attached to a solid barrier but after however many years of use they really shouldn't lift or be immediately forced upwards in the event of a crash....

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