piston197

last average for Carl 4.94 Newcastle 2018,not sure his leg trailing style would suit the Poole racing surface, but he was 100%tryer !

Frank Smart, head under the inside bar Carl Wilkinson, last of the leg trailers

Yes lots of fun, my mate ran a big block 71 Camaro in street class bracket racing with a breakout dial time of 9,9 sec, car was called Honest John, we all had big yanks in the 80's/90's, I used my Camaro 5.7L as a daily driver, it would do about 26 MPG on cruise at 70MPH on motorways, but was nearer 12/ 14MPG around town and showing off ! sounds Thirsty, but the Sunbeam Alpine IV that replaced it only did about 19 MPG until I chucked the single Stromberg and replaced it with a twin choke Webber off a Mk1 Cortina then if went up to a heady 26MPG, cars have come a long way on economy, whereas motorcycles have gone backwards, I replaced a Francis Barnett 197 with a Honda 175 around 1973 and the fuel consumption doubled!, then again the speed was much better as well.

Fill you boots Price Guide: Buick LeSabre [UPDATED H2 2024] I have ran a Mustang and a Camaro at various times , and probably some will think I am personally responsible for "Climate change", lots of fun, V8 power, only tempered by V8 thirst !

"It seems the bike market as said above is at an all time low" Definitely not at an all time low, I have auction catalogues going back 30 years all marked up, if you go back to around 2000-2005 you can see Honda C50/C90 and CG125's estimated at £50-80 the current price these are making shows where the growth is, similarly BSA 500 Gold stars were estimated £5000-6500 and 350 Gold stars £4000-5000, while the prices are on the way down, they have not yet slid to an all time low, although taking in inflation buying classics is not the "investment " it was, buy it today, sell it tomorrow, make a small profit is the nature these days, keeping the wrong thing for years and expecting a substantial profit has ended I am afraid.

Saab 9-5 3.0 V6 Turbo, low mileage, excellent condition, silky smooth, powerful | eBay Can still be bought cheap enough to have a wager ?

Dean, having a foot in the classic market, a lot of what you say is true, in the bike world generally there is a downward trend, the only areas bucking the trend seem to be military WW2 machines, 1970's Japanese and Italian machines and top of the range limited edition bikes from 1990/2000's ( Ducati especially) The age demographic of the owner now has sealed the fate of many 1940/50/60's British lumps of iron and the forty year old rule for free tax and non-requirement of MOT has driven up the desire for just pre 1984 machines, this is largely why, as you say, the rubbish we were buying for a few hundred quid in the day as a second hand vehicle have now become so desirable in the car world, this includes a lot of what were absolute shockers in the day , allegro, avenger , ital ,marina, Princess, Granada etc. meanwhile anything with a low survival rate from this period like alfasud , Lancia Beta, Saxo etc that rotted to death if they went near a puddle are also now desirable, before we even get onto Escorts, capris,205's Golfs etc Meanwhile, like the bikes, the older cars are in a downward spiral, I have sheds full of bikes which most are now not worth the price I paid for them when I bought them, for example I have a 1966 Triumph TR6 Trophy I bought about 6 years ago for £7k, I doubt even on a good day it would be unlikely to achieve £5k now.

There is one in the back of my van, it will be at Kempton Park autojumble for sale Saturday 26th Oct., 1930's Rudge Martin J.A.P., it could do with a polish 😁

1965 Newport speedway programme, Vol 1 Issue 1 = 1 shilling ( 5p in "new money" for the pre decimal generation 😁) Speedway programme magazine Newport Waspland Whisperings No1 1965 | eBay

"Lol", Lawrence Hare, I was there at the Newport meeting against Exeter, not the worst crash I have seen by far, but devastating consequences Lol back at speedway trackside | Ipswich Star

I was in awe of the shapes Frank Smart used to get in, often leaning off the inside of the bike to keep it more upright, sometimes appearing to have his head under the left hand bar, this picture gives a flavour, but often a lot more extreme than this Frank Smart

I remember Lewis Bridger coming to Newport with a 2 valve upright for the Winter Classic and not having a good day, good thing about that winter meeting was Tim always had riders who would give it a go in the worst conditions, have a look at this final, passing and re-passing ( and a couple of falls)

The price admission is relative to the amount of interest there is in live attendances at motorsport, speedway while once a crowd pleaser has been watered down to a less promotable product, youth interest in speedway and motorcycling in general is now mostly negligible. As a youngster I rode motorcycles around the woods/fields from the age of 10, with no interest from any family members, walked across 2 fields and a wood to get to my nearest scramble track ( not MX) to watch my heroes, from the age of 16 I had a job/income and a motorcycle, that motorcycle took me to Hawkstone Park, Farleigh Castle, Tirley scrambles, Local grass tracks etc.,not seeing my first speedway match until I was in my late teens. At school there were dozens like me with old bikes being thrashed every evening and weekend, when I started my apprenticeship there were 24 of us, 2/3rds of which rode motorcycles to work. I am still hooked and past pensionable age still work with motorcycles, organise a motorcycle event 3 times a year ,sell bikes and parts. The price of entry will make little difference to the crowds at speedway, unfortunately there are so many other attractions available which are more appealing to the "yoof", we have to face it, the product just does not appeal to the majority of the public these days and entry prices will not address this.

Too much coffee seems to be keeping you up all night ?

that appear on it then fill yer boots or any other high street pharmacy !