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Whats Happening With The New Speedway Engine From Godden?


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It's being dyno tested at the moment, i think it's just going to be used for grass track/ long track to

start with .

Thanks for the info, hope it becomes a success on the shale as well, GM needs a competitor if only to keep the prices in check, hardly anyone on Jawas now in Elite League, Kim Nillson of Lakeside rides a Jawa, don't know if either of the Bjerres are Jawa riders still......?

 

Are there any pictures anywhere of this new Godden? Had a search on Google, didn't seem to find much about it at all, let alone a photo!!

Edited by Shale Searcher
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Past history probably.

 

Wasn't there supposed to be a Honda Speedway Engine being looked at a few years ago? It never happened.

No, it was a MotoX engine, 650cc or 450cc I think, that was considered a possibility to use as a standard engine for speedway. It was tested in meetings in 1998(Newcastle was one), and it proved heavy, did not have the power for sprint, and was more suited to a large track without the need of lock up on entry. Still had a gearbox in, but was never a straight forward exchange engine for a JAWA/GM.

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I think it would be great to see Godden back..... They have the pedigree,and experience....... it,s probably only business considerations taking the time.ie .....a small market, a tough environment to make an impact. Hopefully they have the resources to give it a good shot.

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No, it was a MotoX engine, 650cc or 450cc I think, that was considered a possibility to use as a standard engine for speedway. It was tested in meetings in 1998(Newcastle was one), and it proved heavy, did not have the power for sprint, and was more suited to a large track without the need of lock up on entry. Still had a gearbox in, but was never a straight forward exchange engine for a JAWA/GM.

Cheers Dave. I thought I recalled something from my somewhat befuddled memory. :) :)

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Cheers Dave. I thought I recalled something from my somewhat befuddled memory. :) :)

Wasn't there also a meeting held at Sheffield? Sealed engines handed out in the pits?

Lots of EF'S occured?

 

Do you think that if speedway bikes or at least bikes that were street legal were made by manufacturers of speedway bikes, that speedway would attract a larger "biker" audience?

get what I mean? (Exception Jawa)

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Do you think that if speedway bikes or at least bikes that were street legal were made by manufacturers of speedway bikes, that speedway would attract a larger "biker" audience?

get what I mean? (Exception Jawa)

 

Short answer, no.

 

Are F1 cars street legal? Does the fact that Honda make F1 engines influence me in any way to buy a Honda GX engine for my lawnmower?

 

Even touring cars are in reality a fair way removed from something you can buy to drive on the roads, and if a speedway bike could be made street legal, then speedway would cease to resemble the sport it currently is.

 

I'd agree there might be cost efficiencies if speedway could utilise a mass-produced engine used for a variety of disciplines, but even if you could find one with the combination of power and weight, it would almost certainly still need to be adapted and tuned for speedway. We use off-the-shelf engines in low-end karting, but even though the purchase price is low, you need to spend at least 3 times more to make them race competitive before you even get into selected parts (the latter of which negates any cost savings through sealing).

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I think Eric Boocock and Mick Grant were behind trying to get the Honda engine off the ground weren't they ?.....it got a lot of publicity at the time but it was always a non starter...

It would be great to see Godden back ...they certainly served Hans Nielsen well for many years , but it would be very difficult to break the GM monopoly now I think but competition is always a good thing.

When my brother in law rode he had a GM, Godden and Jawa engine side by side....those were the days !...and Joe Screen at that time was riding a Weslake engine.....now that's competition.

Wasn't Dave Jessup the first high profile rider to ride a GM ?.....I seem to remember him riding one in a world championship round at Coventry ....little did anybody know just how dominant it would become and virtually kill every other engine off on the speedways.

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Its interesting that the speedway engine has been mainly created and developed by the riders themselves. Jawa, Gm, Godden, all had there beginnings at the hands of riders and retired riders who had something to add.......credit to them..... all 4 or 5 brands of engine would bolt into the same set of engine plates.

Although it looks a simple devise the motor is well suited to its purpose, I dont think another motor could ever be borrowed from some where and do as good a job.......If Yamaha or Honda were to build a stomping competitive speedway engine bet it would look like a GM or a Jawa. Heres a thought Yamaha gift Godden a large sum of money to get the motor done and into production ,,,, with Yamaha supplying the Rocker cover........problem solved.

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I think Eric Boocock and Mick Grant were behind trying to get the Honda engine off the ground weren't they ?.....it got a lot of publicity at the time but it was always a non starter...

It would be great to see Godden back ...they certainly served Hans Nielsen well for many years , but it would be very difficult to break the GM monopoly now I think but competition is always a good thing.

When my brother in law rode he had a GM, Godden and Jawa engine side by side....those were the days !...and Joe Screen at that time was riding a Weslake engine.....now that's competition.

Wasn't Dave Jessup the first high profile rider to ride a GM ?.....I seem to remember him riding one in a world championship round at Coventry ....little did anybody know just how dominant it would become and virtually kill every other engine off on the speedways.

 

 

Yes Dave rode it in the 1983 British Final. It didn't do him any good though, he ran into the back of PC, bringing them both down and injuring himself.

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I think Eric Boocock and Mick Grant were behind trying to get the Honda engine off the ground weren't they ?.....it got a lot of publicity at the time but it was always a non starter...

It would be great to see Godden back ...they certainly served Hans Nielsen well for many years , but it would be very difficult to break the GM monopoly now I think but competition is always a good thing.

When my brother in law rode he had a GM, Godden and Jawa engine side by side....those were the days !...and Joe Screen at that time was riding a Weslake engine.....now that's competition.

Wasn't Dave Jessup the first high profile rider to ride a GM ?.....I seem to remember him riding one in a world championship round at Coventry ....little did anybody know just how dominant it would become and virtually kill every other engine off on the speedways.

Honda had won World Championships in every category of motorcycling. MIck Grant, who grew up with Eric, wanted to complete the World Championship haul from his position as technical director of Honda. At the time it fitted speedway's need to try a bog standard engine to move the sport on, but it was not liked or capable of replacing the two sprint engines already in use.

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As a ball park figure, how many 4 valve 500cc Speedway engines are in use if ALL were used at the same time, using the table below:

 

Professional Shale Speedway

 

Amateur Speedway

 

Long Track

 

Grass Track

 

Other Speedway Variants

 

Total

I wouldn't think there's more than a couple of thousand riders in the world in all track racing disciplines (if that), so assuming an average of 2-3 engines each (top riders will of course have more), perhaps 5-6,000 engines?

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Pete Seaton is trying to get F2 Speedway up and running and has so far used Honda, Kawasaki, BMW and now the WK engines that I know of. It isn't intended to replace professional Speedway but be a low cost, low maintenance entry into the sport http://f2speedway.com/

 

The old Godden engine was a cracker so lets hope this one is as good.

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