Vince

I've seen more than one rider instructed to do this if their team mate isn't in front after the first lap!

While Poland is often held up as the ultimate in league Speedway is it really what we want in the UK? It's easy to think everything is wonderful over there but there are certainly financial problems for quite a few clubs. Some of those who don't have problems have dubious funding sources. I get why you are so against guests but just have a different opinion and I don't see it as a major problem for UK Speedway.

I disagree, can't see any major sponsorship deal being scuppered by the use of guests. If guest use were sold by virtue of Speedway needing the system because it is so dangerous and the injury rate so high it is impossible to keep a reasonably level playing field without them it could even be seen as a positive by some brands. Where it would be a more difficult sell could be if guests are used to cover riders who are competing elsewhere.

I have an old 2V manual but no mention of ring gap. We always went for 2.5 to 3 thou per inch of bore in chrome bores with air cooled engines if that's any help.

I had an electric trials bike for a while, it was very impressive in most ways. Lack of power/ torque won't be a problem, there is a MX bike due to start being delivered anytime now that has various power settings but capable of producing 80hp. With electric motors that power can come in right from cracking the throttle if you want it to. The Trials bike and I believe the new MX bike came with assorted power maps as well so it can be equivalent to anything from 80cc to 500cc. I've seen electric bikes in flat track races as well and there is no doubt the lack of noise seems to detract from the spectacle. However with lack of noise comes a lack of complaints from neighbours as well so I am sure it opens up the possibility of motorcycle sports happening within towns again which is something that Speedway desperately misses. Indoor Speedway on a variety of surfaces is also far more possible. I would imagine one problem will be cost for a while yet, the Trials bikes are all but double the price of a petrol one and the Stark Varg MX bike is £10k which is a lot nearer a sensible price but still expensive for a Speedway bike. There is a possibility though that you could have series from kids through to GP's using exactly the same setup with different maps and bikes lasting for years with next to no maintenance. A lot of plusses but the big minus could be whether fans would ever accept quiet Speedway. Following the fuss about silencers and then further noise reduction (some seem to think the bikes are quiet now) I very much doubt that they will.

Don't think there's been any sidecar Speedway in the UK for a while now but I did see on Facebook that there will be a series in 2023 with a practice taking place soon on the Isle of Wight.

Try telling your car insurance company you wouldn't be racing if you didn't try and pass! Racing and road driving are vastly different things.

I don't think so, quite often see collisions where neither rider could have done anything different and still be racing. Generally the rider on the inside clips another rider and gets excluded. But very often there was a gap there when he started the pass but the rider in front changes line slightly. Neither one is at fault.

Lining 11 riders up and putting 1 on the penalty line takes a couple of minutes. 3 riders would take 20 seconds max

I disagree, we often see a rider go for a gap and the outside rider cut down. Neither are really at fault or could always do anything to avoid a collision.

We quite often see riders disqualified following a crash when nobody is really at fault but the rules say somebody has to go. Maybe an alternative would be to start the rider/s at fault from a penalty line as they do in flat track. Would keep 4 riders in the race and make for more entertainment than a 3 rider race. Could even go the whole flat track route where from the second lap on any crash sees the riders line up slightly staggered in the order they were when the race was stopped and the culprit 30 yards past the back rider.

Moto X, Superbikes, Flat track, Grass track just about any that has more than one race per meeting. Generally the points from two races are added together to give a finishing position from which Championship points are awarded. So somebody can easily win the first race and have 20 points, crash in the second and end up taking home 8 or 10 Championship points. Perhaps the most direct comparison would be Supercross where they have to qualify to make the night show then compete in a series of heats, semis and last chance races but Championship points are only awarded on position in the final.

Personally I never liked the idea of the winner of the GP not getting the most points or that qualifying for a semi didn't gain anything if you finished 4th. I like the new system and it is more in line with the majority of motorsport. Dan Bewley has been brilliant imo, turns up, just gets on with it and is doing very well.

For me it is simple, my working hours don't allow me to. I suspect that applies to quite a lot more people than in the 70's or 80's as well. Additionally for so many it means an hour or more each way travelling although I have to admit that didn't stop us, as a family, going in earlier decades, travel is more expensive now though I think. I can only do weekends but there is nothing local and most weekends I would rather be riding bikes than watching somebody else anyway. Never miss a GP on the TV but league meetings are recorded and the fast forward button used frequently unless it is an especially good meeting. I have never been a typical fan though having always preferred individual meetings.

The amateur meetings with riders paying an entry fee will make money too. Look at the riders competing across the various classes and it is definitely a higher standard than the normal amateur meetings you spoke of. I really don't see why it's a problem!

I think there is a significant difference where most amateur events are run just for the riders where the Isle of Wight meetings are run for paying spectators. National Off Road Association I believe.

That MX bike above looks incredible and it isn't expensive compared to the current top of the range bikes either. I've picked up my electric trials bike and am incredibly happy with it. Probably somewhere about the same sort of power as a 200cc petrol trials bike but incredibly easy to ride and virtually silent. We had it out playing about 20 yards from a school where my Granddaughter was having a horse riding lesson and the horse never took the blindest bit of notice. More to the point nor did any of the horsey people at the yard apart from a couple who came over to show some interest. My horses don't take any notice of it either and if it was 40 yards away in the woods you would never know it was there. Takes motorcycling into the same sphere as horse riding for me, the opportunity to ride every day locally without complaints. Big difference to last year with the flat tracker when I was able to ride just 8 times in the whole year. Might not take over motorsport but will certainly compliment it for many.

I think there is a habit of comparing apples with pears. There are a lot of Speedway meetings every week so you can't compare it to F1, MotoGP or even BSB where there are just a few events available to watch live each year. Personally I'd like to think that with the correct marketing (as an extreme sport that is very dangerous in my opinion) things could improve a little. Otherwise though it is like the vast majority of live sport struggling to attract spectators. We hear that the characters are no more but the more outrageous behaviour has not only been ruled out by referees but also by a more cynical public who are less likely to accept such things as being real. So many of those antics and tantrums of the past would be dismissed as pantomine and fake by todays public with this forum leading the way. I think that gradually the sport will devolve into being a lot more amateur racing where riders paying to race foot the bills and smaller teams of professional racers competing less often to attract spectators. That is the way almost all motor sport operates with a very small minority of races attracting enough spectators to be able to pay the racers.

Who would benefit from Speedway becoming a global money making machine like F1? A very small number of riders, maybe 10 who competed at the highest level without paying for their ride. Grass roots motorsport gets no benefits from F1 so a super high profile Speedway GP series would have no benefits for the sport in the UK apart from 1 meeting a year attended for free by a lot of people with no interest and thousands of others for who it would be the only meeting of the year, just like F1. No thanks!

I have never understood how treating people differently can ever lead to equality. To me the idea of 'positive discrimination' is an abomination, if it is positive to one person it has to be negative to another and will only breed resentment.

I don't see that as a fact, in my experience I would say that an interest in motorsport sees you being welcomed with open arms at any event. I have spent my entire lifetime around motorcycle competitions of various sorts and have yet to be made unwelcome anywhere. Whether it be Trials, Speedway, MotoX, Grass track or for me most recently Flat track I have found them to be full of the friendliest most welcoming people of anywhere I go. I only have limited experience of other motorsports but certainly Rallycross and Truck racing are both very friendly. There are not many people from ethnic backgrounds involved generally but when they have been I have never seen them treated any differently to anybody else from inside the sport (fans might be different, but if they don't like you they will find something to ridicule you for, you can choose to laugh it off or take it to heart but it's no different to any other sport in that respect). Generally speaking though I have found motorcycle sport to be very welcoming and to be the friendliest bunch of people you could ever hope to meet.

Personally I don't have a problem with it, better than a monotone lack of interest and enthusiasm.

I think that the Pearson/Tatum combination is great and has got better over time, their enthusiasm makes them better than Dave Lanning in my opinion. I like Scott Nichols in the studio, Chris Louis comes across well and thought Dave Norris was brilliant. Agree that Sam Ermolenko, great rider though he may have been is an awful commentator.

I've only ever seen it in video (On any Sunday has a section about it) however they don't slide like our Speedway bikes do. It can be done though.

Insuring off road bikes is usually too expensive to be practical. A similar problem exists with tools which would often be covered while at home but not in a van which requires an additional, often separate cover. The price for tool and equipment cover isn't quite so outrageous though. Of course it would all be much cheaper if the Police actually followed up the thefts which are now at a ridiculous level. However the priority seems to be kids on electric scooters and name calling online if the different forces FB pages are to be believed. If off road bikes are recovered it is always by the public.