cpbyles

....Not to mention "Bits and Pieces" by the dave Clark Five in the 60's, all us kids would bang the metal safety fence in the drum bit, no other fence had the same tone !!

I too have to endorse that point. I did mail you Dan some time ago about pictures used off the Workshop site that I had personally taken. No one minds sharing information, but credit where credit is due .... oh yes, and maybe being polite enough to respond and ask the owner if it's ok to use them.

Many apologies Kev, that info is incorrect - that is the date for Paul Fry and not Fudge. If I can find out the info for Paul Fudge I'll get right back to you. Apologies once again!!

October 25th, 1964, Ledbury Hope that anwers the question

Oh Dear Mr Owens, you've let me down badly on this one !! I was in total agreement on this issue and agree it's wrong to brand Pedersen as a "Cheat", but for you to blast everyone for being wrong, can I remind you of a post you made on the 25th May ..... forgotten ? - well it went like this ..... "Just watching the repeat of the Speedway Grand Prix and just wanted to know what other peoples thoughts are on the incident between AJ and Gollob! Personally Im not a fan of Gollob anyway so therfore my view might be a tad bias but... what a dirty b*****d! The sport is dangerous enough without having to worry about people doing stupid things in front of somone. And to top it off I think the ref excluded the wrong rider! You could clearly see in the replays that Gollob was turning left too early." Yeah I agree .... it's wrong - but only when it suits some people !!

Came across an article that went : "Big single fan David Witt made such a good job of his BSA-Jawa that it looks like a factory built bike. David used parts around him to build up his project which spanned over a couple of years. The Jawa engine was bought in 1968 by his former speedway racing brother, Alan. The BSA A7SS frame and cycle parts are from a 1961 model. Engine compression was reduced from 14 to 9:1, and the speedo showed that around 75mph was about top whack. The forks were somewhat less than ideal, but the note from the matt black Goldie silencer seemed to more than make up for it. Indeed, Dave was the first to admit the bike was far from perfect. He built it as a Budget special for less than £500, but at the time of writing, David planned to make further improvments now that the basic work had been completed. Aligning the chain proved to be one of the biggest headaches. He used an A10 rear wheel, Honda 250 sprocket, 650 pre-unit Triumph clutch with single row chain primary drive, and a BSA four speed gearbox. The motor is fired by a BTH competition magnets with no advance or retard and fed by a 40mm Amal Concentric. Lights are powered by a dynamo driven by a sprocket off the back of the clutch drum. Speedway fans will know that the all alloy pushrod Jawa engines are run on a total loss oil system. David has beaten this problem for road use by mounting an A10 oil pump on the outside of a locally made timing cover." Have a couple of pictures of this machine if you're interested, I can email to you

This sounds like a Kermond machine: Vic Kermond was an Australian engineer who custom built speedway frames and complete machines. He rented part of a property known as Peamore Garage at Alphington near Exeter and the machine had a small enamel badge on the fuel tank which depicted the Exeter town crest and the words Peamore Garage Alphinton Exeter. I have several pictures of this machine and the badge you mentioned, plus quite a bit of information, will email Chris

....... and I forgot to add what a brilliant site this is, wish there was an English translation of it. Any volunteers ?

Hope it proves a success for them. Whilst the engine type may be brand new, the building of Bellini engines goes back as far as 1978 when Paolo Bellini and Walter Kruger (a German Porsche mechanic living in Italy) deciced to build a special speedway-engine by using a Weslake OHV bottom half, and on top, a SOHC 2V Porsche head. They have made several designs over the years, whether this ones proves to be a success story only time will tell.

Certainly do, it was worth the admission just to watch Chris's antics. Barry Briggs once said of Chris," He would rather have him 50 yards behind him, but did not mind to much if he was fifty yards in front, as long as he wasn't near him". His best season saw him manage just under a 6pt average - but on entertainment value he was the tops.

£6 if you only want one particular picture

Hi Dutch, That's terrific, been looking a long time for answers to that one. Had several suggestions but never anything definate, any other available information would be very welcome indeed.

The Web pages are currently undergoing a rebuild on a different server (not yet complete) but the old pages are still at http://speedwaybikes.fortunecity.net/ where there is pictures of all the machines I mentioned plus some background to them. The Kyokutu is the machine at Ian pattersone museum by the way. Hope it helps

Not sure if it's what you are looking for, but the japanese made several engines for Speedway on the shale including the EiCoH, Hasegawa, KT2 and Kyokuto. Though I suspect this is not the sort of engines you refer to.

It wasn't the "First Laydown - the McEvoy was earlier, see this at http://speedwaybikes.fortunecity.net/mckevoy.htm And recently a replica of the wal Philips was built, see this at http://speedwaybikes.fortunecity.net/phillips.htm And whilst on the subject there was another Wal Philips special, see this at http://speedwaybikes.fortunecity.net/whirl.htm Whilst not on the Web at the moment, I did once have a page dedicated to Wal that may help, I could set it up if it's of any use, couple of good pics on it and also have info and pics of his fuel injector he designed.

Thanks - but not quite all, just those that coincide with the years that saw racing at the County Ground., and still working on 2005. Now that Exeter in limbo, I may just get around to filling in the missing years anyway. merry Christmas

Assuming it's a Speedway engine, then yes, I have list relating to engine numbers giving year and type etc

Question is a bit vague ....... which JAP engine ? Lets start at 1930/31 ..... A test procedure was devised in which each engine would run for four hours at 3,800rpm, after which it would be run on full throttle for ten minutes. It was expected that under these circumstances, each engine would record a minimum of 37.8 bhp at 5,750rpm, this being the peak of the power curve. the valve timing having an overlap of 78 degrees. Got a feeling this thread could progress very slowly

Managed to find a Malaysian guy down at the local allotments in a potting shed, other than that no luck so far I'm afraid

I love the new format as most appear to do, but have to agree that the points system needs serious consideration. The problem being is that the G.P series is tailor made for Television coverage, and the semi's and the Final make compulsive viewing, so I don't see an alternative except for reducing the points awarded for making that final.

Seen so many exciting riders since I started trundling along to Exeter as a lad, but in all the years one rider stands out in my memory and that was the late Chris Blewett. Someone was once quoted as saying it was worth the admission just to watch his antics, and who could argue. Never a star as regards to point scoring maybe, but certainly a star in many peoples eyes - that's if you were brave enough to keep them open to watch his Do - or - Die style of riding. He was the sort of rider who would never give up, always wore a smile and delighted in a chat with the supporters. Once said at an end of season function, "I would stand on a chair to give my speech - but I'd probably fall off" What I wouldn't give to see someone of his Character in todays sport !!

Streuth - that makes nine newcomers, better bring along some fold up chairs just in case !!

It'll definately be up - I'm bringing the wife and my son, two mates and their wives so we're six up on last year already !

Good, you absolutely deserve it !! Tracks holding the engines ? - drawing numbers ?, this has been branded around before and is a totally ludicrous idea !! Supposing the home team was totally honest and the selection of engines was totally random (fat chance) it is unfair that a riders pay night depends purely on how lady luck deals him an engine. We already know that two so called identical engines are NOT going to be identical let alone 14 of them - I can just imagine Beckham or Rooney having to draw numbers to see what boots their playing in - regardless of size !!

The new format is surely what Speedway is all about, I think Andy M wrapped it up in a nutshell. The old system was purely television orientated. For the riders and fans at trackside, this is a winner and gets my vote everytime. For a rider to go home after just two rides was nothing less than farcical and how anyone can suggest this new system denies out and out racing is beyond me, quite the opposite. The only thing they need to do now is do away with seeded riders and bring back qaulifying stages around the Country and give everyone a fair crack of the whip and bring back a TRUE World Champion once again !!