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Air Fences Lifting


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Will these new designs be used in SGP this season?

A+ fences are mandatory in FIM speedway since yesterday. When talking of air fences, they are 15 % "deeper" than previous ones and a "flap" on the bottom thats dug in to the track to prevent anyone going under them. This rule change was introduced about a year ago along with forcing the start of the straights fencing being absorbant for the first 20 meters.

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I am aware of the safety of solid foam fences, but they can't really be a realistic mandatory requirement at most tracks. Berwick can leave their fence up, but at Stock Car venues they have to be totally removed from places as Kings Lynn, Lakeside, Ipswich, etc. This involves great teams of volunteers, mostly taking the fence panels down immediately after the speedway meeting. In the case of air fences fitted at Dog Track venues, the air fence is dropped, after being deflated, so saving there after meeting removal. If all these fences had to be physically removed after meetings, you might as well close up shop, as it is already very difficult to get volunteers to drop the fence, as well as removing the large sheets after the speedway meeting. The air fences are not unsafe, and their design is constantly being reviewed with new features being added or amended as time goes on.

Our 2 year old fence at Newcastle is an air fence that has to be dropped after each meeting so the dog punters can see the dogs little feet during the dog racing. The panels are 5 metres long and have 4 straps attached to the bottom of the underneath fence which is loosely clipped by a carabino clip to the mesh fence behind the air fence, we still retain a kickboard behind the air fence to give the bottom end some stiffening and support. A rider or bike can edge under the fence, but the gap is covered by a rubber skirt that does offer some resistance to either going into the fence so low down. Two suggestions that fans often come up with are having solid fastenings in the track under the fence(see speedibee's post above), and digging a pit under the whole length of the air fence, and as you can imagine neither is really practical. Another idea is to fill the air fence with water, which just shows what a furtile mind can come up with without thinking of the consequences.

 

I believe Swindon's is like that. They have a kind of trench into which the fence is lowered so it is nigh on impossible to go under it.

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I believe Swindon's is like that. They have a kind of trench into which the fence is lowered so it is nigh on impossible to go under it.

That's the correct way to fit them I believe , but you can only do that if they stay in place all week . if they have to come out for stocks it's too big a job to dig them up and then bury them again each week

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ANYONE, including speedibee, is at liberty to design, have homologated by the FIM, produce and sell air-fences. There is no monopoly.

 

And, for the record, Barry Briggs has never had any real involvement with the air-fences manufactured by nonpainbarries, owned by his son Tony who saw an opportunity to design a new type of fence many years ago. Tony has consistently worked to improve the fences and is, in fact, the brainchild behind the new type fences that fsp refers to.

 

As someone who came perilously close to suffering life changing (paralysis) injuries himself when crashing at Coventry while riding for Reading, it is a subject that has always been close to Tony's heart.

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ANYONE, including speedibee, is at liberty to design, have homologated by the FIM, produce and sell air-fences. There is no monopoly.

 

And, for the record, Barry Briggs has never had any real involvement with the air-fences manufactured by nonpainbarries, owned by his son Tony who saw an opportunity to design a new type of fence many years ago. Tony has consistently worked to improve the fences and is, in fact, the brainchild behind the new type fences that fsp refers to.

 

As someone who came perilously close to suffering life changing (paralysis) injuries himself when crashing at Coventry while riding for Reading, it is a subject that has always been close to Tony's heart.

and anyone Including Speedibee is entitled to their opinion ,without having to be subjected to your pompous rantings ,

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ANYONE, including speedibee, is at liberty to design, have homologated by the FIM, produce and sell air-fences. There is no monopoly.

 

Thats true. But it's a crappy business to get in to as a newcomer. I say this while holding the pricelist beside me.

 

Anyway, not much help in digging the fence in to the track like in Swindon if the bike goes in first clearing it away.

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I believe Swindon's is like that. They have a kind of trench into which the fence is lowered so it is nigh on impossible to go under it.

I do not think that is the case, from what I recall the air fence sits on a slightly flatter piece of track at the top of the track camber on the bends and the airbag has a rubber flap, about one foot high that is attached to the bottom of the airbag and initially lays on the track but then gets covered by the shale that is thrown out by the bikes. This flap should act as a buffer but bikes have been known to go under it. The flap does stop some bikes going under the airbag if they slide across the track.

The airbags are attached to the wire fence at the top and bottom of the rear of the airbag which does allow the front of the bag to lift if hit at high speed.

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I do not think that is the case, from what I recall the air fence sits on a slightly flatter piece of track at the top of the track camber on the bends and the airbag has a rubber flap, about one foot high that is attached to the bottom of the airbag and initially lays on the track but then gets covered by the shale that is thrown out by the bikes. This flap should act as a buffer but bikes have been known to go under it. The flap does stop some bikes going under the airbag if they slide across the track.

The airbags are attached to the wire fence at the top and bottom of the rear of the airbag which does allow the front of the bag to lift if hit at high speed.

Almost there mate.. But ignore what the other clowns say.

ANYONE, including speedibee, is at liberty to design, have homologated by the FIM, produce and sell air-fences. There is no monopoly.

 

And, for the record, Barry Briggs has never had any real involvement with the air-fences manufactured by nonpainbarries, owned by his son Tony who saw an opportunity to design a new type of fence many years ago. Tony has consistently worked to improve the fences and is, in fact, the brainchild behind the new type fences that fsp refers to.

 

As someone who came perilously close to suffering life changing (paralysis) injuries himself when crashing at Coventry while riding for Reading, it is a subject that has always been close to Tony's heart.

The ones we have Phil are different class to the old blue ones we had, this is a Tony briggs fence. But you will never stop them from lifting. And ours are pinned in tight at bottom and top.

Edited by Starman2006
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easy to make those kind of statements when it's not your money on the line , rather shows your lack of understanding of the real financial side of speedway . I suppose you think promoters have a bottomless pit of money to play with

Yes it is easy to make those statements when you have hit fence posts,metal fences and seen a riders finger sliced off and many bad injuries by poor fencing, if a number of amateur football teams can raise thousands to buy a 3G pitches then surely a professional speedway team can raise whatever it costs to provide the best safety fence money can buy.

 

My understanding is speedway is not value for money and a large number of promoters have not done enough to make the sport improve for the better.

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Yes it is easy to make those statements when you have hit fence posts,metal fences and seen a riders finger sliced off and many bad injuries by poor fencing, if a number of amateur football teams can raise thousands to buy a 3G pitches then surely a professional speedway team can raise whatever it costs to provide the best safety fence money can buy.

 

My understanding is speedway is not value for money and a large number of promoters have not done enough to make the sport improve for the better.

I'm not going to enter into a debate with you . since you make the ridiculous assumption that an amateur football club raises any money for its own facilities . anyone with half a brain cell knows ,that councils sports councils govts. govt .departments ,cannot wait the throw money at football ,athletics ,tennis , cycling or even tiddlywinks ,but you seem to live in some fantasy world where these sports are self financing . and therefore speedway promoters are saving their bucket loads of cash to spend on cars and holidays rather than investing in rider safety , Grow up Robert and either post something constructive or shut the F&*k up

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I'm not going to enter into a debate with you . since you make the ridiculous assumption that an amateur football club raises any money for its own facilities . anyone with half a brain cell knows ,that councils sports councils govts. govt .departments ,cannot wait the throw money at football ,athletics ,tennis , cycling or even tiddlywinks ,but you seem to live in some fantasy world where these sports are self financing . and therefore speedway promoters are saving their bucket loads of cash to spend on cars and holidays rather than investing in rider safety , Grow up Robert and either post something constructive or shut the F&*k up

There you go you have proven your completely clueless.

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Scarier than the steel fence at Exeter? Lower speeds at Arena as well. Guess the confines of a fence means you know the boundaries of where you might possibly land

the fence at Ipswich used to be a temporary affair if anyone hit it ,it moved and they would go straight across the stock car track. don't think anyone came to any real harm there . bit like having a run off area

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the fence at Ipswich used to be a temporary affair if anyone hit it ,it moved and they would go straight across the stock car track. don't think anyone came to any real harm there . bit like having a run off area

Did Mark Loram not have his big crash at Ipswich that eventually finished his career ?

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Did Mark Loram not have his big crash at Ipswich that eventually finished his career ?

yes - it was a sickener to see.

He hit past where the airfence would be though and because it was effectively on the straight rather than the force dislodging the panels it was absorbed in a straight line down the following ones meaning it stayed put causing the damage.

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yes - it was a sickener to see.

He hit past where the airfence would be though and because it was effectively on the straight rather than the force dislodging the panels it was absorbed in a straight line down the following ones meaning it stayed put causing the damage.

Yes, I remember seeing footage of it happening and it was not pleasant to watch.

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