APRIL 2004 NEWS ARCHIVE
News articles from April 2004 are archived below, latest nearest the top of the page. Click "back" on your web browser to return to previous page.

23rd April 2004
CSRA MEETING
Please remember the CSRA meeting tomorrow night, Saturday 24th April at Aaron Hesmer's Store. Start time 7:30. Let's see if we can get another good turn out. Come on guys, you must be keen by now? You can almost smell that methanol, we're that close to riding again. See you all there!

21st April 2004
ROUTINE MAINTENANCE
With our Canadian Speedway season fast approaching, I thought it may be of help to some people if I were to run throught the things we should all be doing to our bikes in between meetings.
As stated in a previous article, our off season rebuilds are important, but perhaps more so is the work we must do to keep our machines reliable and safe throughout the season. This is how I approach my routine maintenance. I'm not saying this is how we all have to do it, some of us have our own regimes but this can be used as a guideline for those less familiar with maintaining and preparing a racebike.

1. Drain Oil.
For those with recirculating oil systems (most machines after about 1987) the engine oil must be drained. To do this the motor must be hot, so the best time to do this is immediately after your last race of the night. If, like me you're too tired or more interested in the after meeting socializing, then you'll have to warm the bike up at home and dump the oil there, much to the delight of the neighbours no doubt! Just as a side note, some people say always drain the tank and carburettor of methanol. During mid season, I never do this. Corrosion will only set in once the methanol has dried off. So I leave fuel in my tank and in the float bowl of the carb. If the bike has been running well, I leave the carburettor alone. If the carburettor requires cleaning, it will be because the bike has been running poorly. If it ain't broke, don't fix it! I will assume the carb is clean in my example here as an article on cleaning the carburettor could easily take up a whole evening alone!

2. Hose Off Bike.
Firstly remove the excess dirt from the bike covers and then remove them. Then, remove the air filter and place a small plastic bag over the carburettor (a sandwich bag usually works) and seal it on in a watertight fashion with a rubber band. Continue to hose off the rest of the bike including chains. Agitate stubborn dirt with a hard brush if necessary. For those lucky enough to own a pressure washer, go for it!

3. Remove Chains and Soak.
Remove both chains from the machine and make sure they are clean. Wash in a container of gas if necessary. No Smoking! Then, I have a container full of used Castrol R engine oil and I dump the chains in there. Forget about them for an hour or so. After this time period, hang them from a nail in the wall over a container on the floor and allow them to drip. I just have to mention, no matter how well they drip dry and even if you wipe excess oil off before re-fitting, when the bike is fired up for the first time it will spit black Castrol R everywhere! Yes, my method is messy, but I have never broken a chain and each one lasts me a whole season. Please, do feel free to try something different if you get fed up of ruining white tee shirts whilst warming the bike up!

4. Strip Clutch.
The clutch is one of the most important things on a speedway bike and must be maintained in optimum condition. Remove the springs and pull out all the plates. Wipe the plates clean and dry with a shop towel, nothing else. If the fiber plates are blackened or glazed (shiny), then they will require scuffing. Lay a piece of 80 grit sandpaper face up on a piece of glass and with a circualr motion, rub each plate lightly until all glazed areas are gone. This usually results in deglazed fingertips too! Never remove too much material from the plates and always be careful not to inhale the dust. Inspect the metal plates (aluminum or steel) and ensure they are flat and corrosion free. Pull the clutch actuation pushrod (and bearing if applicable) from the clutch center and wipe off dry. LIGHTLY grease and re-insert through the center of the countershaft.

5.Clean Remainder of Machine and Inspect.
Continue with the cleaning process, paying special attention to the gunge that will undoubdetly be left around the sprocket teeth. If you've got time to polish and shine then do so. A super clean machine not only shows professionalism and care, but presents the image we wish to convey to our paying spectators. Use this cleaning as an opportunity to inspect the rolling chassis. Check the frame for any hairline cracks, check wheel bearing play, front forks for correct actuation and all nuts and bolts for tightness (in particular engine plates and motor mounts, seat brackets, exhaust system and rear frame loop bolts).

6.Check Cable Actuation.
I usually feel this as I'm riding the bike but if either the clutch or throttle cables feel sticky or gritty, then they should be cleaned and lightly oiled. A good tool to own is a cable oiler. It's like a small screwclamp with a rubber insert which clamps around both inner and outer cables on one end. It has an orifice where WD40 or similar lubricant can be squirted in under pressure from the aerosol can. These can be found at any good motorcycle store. What a difference to the action of both clutch and throttle once lubed! I strongly recommend this.

7. Clean Air Filter.
Essential. Follow manufacturers instructions carefully here as some types differ from others. Use the recommended filter oil if specified, lightly applied to the filter before replacing.

8. Re-Fit.
Once all the above has been acomplished, re-fit everything back to the bike. Lightly grease any nuts and bolt you have removed as this always makes for easy removal at a later date. Ensure she's looking as good as you can get her in the time available and hopefully you'll enjoy a trouble-free night of racing the next time you visit the track.

As a guideline, the above tasks usually take me between three to four hours. Extra cleaning or polishing can easily double that. This may seem like overkill, but having a problem free night at the races is reward enough. If I have meetings on back to back days (Paris Friday, Welland Saturday) the bear necessities can be completed in about two hours. They have to be!

I would strogly recommend following a maintenance and machine preparation schedule that fits with your lifestyle but does not cut too many corners. In other words, spend as much time working on the bike as possible.
As I mentioned, this is what I do. I'm sure many of you already have your own routine and I applaud that, but I hope this helps those who have not perhaps considered the importance of bike preparation up to this point. Feel free to e-mail me with any ideas or comments and whether you agree or disagree with anything I've said.

Talk again soon,
Phil #21

16th April 2004
GETTING CLOSER!
The time is surely now approaching when us Canadian speedway enthusiasts can start enjoying our sport again. If this spell of dry warm weather keeps up we could well be looking toward Dave Havill soon for the nod to say that Paris speedway is open for Sunday practices. I have not spoken to Dave but I did drive by the track a couple of weeks ago. At that time there was very little standing water on the track, although the center green as usual was still flooded.
The track itself looked in pretty good shape although you could tell just by looking at it that it remained very spongy and must have been wet a fair way down. That was two weeks ago and since then we have been relatively dry. Let's hope that Dave has some more news on the situation at the next CSRA meeting next Saturday.
This evening (Friday) saw Michael and I complete the work that his bike required for the coming season. We fired it up for the first time this year and I rode it around our cul-de-sac a few times. All seems well. We just need to add a few finishing touches like race number boards and he is good to go. Although only the 250, it felt great to be going counter clockwise on two wheels again. Shame, the roads were just swept of gravel yesterday, otherwise I could have been going sideways too!
Tomorrow, I am also going to IM Leathers for the final fitting of my new leathers. I can't wait to see how they've turned out. My bike covers are currently at the graphics people having my sponsors names applied, so with any luck, all the pieces should be in place just before the start of the season.
Another article I plan on writing in the near future is an outline of the routine maintenance that should be done to the bikes in between meetings. A major rebuild like my bike had this winter is a fruitless waste of time and money if the day to day stuff is not taken care of meticulously too. Once again, Stan Bradbury's book on the CSRA website covers this stuff well, but I'll go over my routine on here. It may offer a different perspective on good maintenance and preparation in a limited time. Let's face it, riding Friday at Paris then Saturday at Welland requiring a completely different bike set-up has it's time management challenges, especially when you take into account all the travelling involved too.
So watch out for that coming soon. As mentioned earlier, make a note of next Saturday's CSRA meeting (24th April) at Aaron Hesmer's store. I'll remind you all again nearer the time. See ya soon!
Phil.

10th April 2004
FRAME REPAIRED AND BACK HOME
Been a while hasn't it? Sorry about that. Got caught up doing "normal" things like decorating. But now I'm back to reality, working on the bike!
I received a call from Stan Bradbury on Friday evening informing me my repaired and straightened frame was ready for collection. I was delighted, dropped the paint brushes and jumped in my car first thing this morning (Saturday). I picked the frame up and immediately drove home (via Aaron Hesmer's store where I picked up a couple of inner tubes and a new air filter).
Stan had made a real nice job of brazing the repair but I decided to smooth off some of the high spots on the braze with a file. Care must be taken not to remove too much as the strength now lies in this build up of extra material. I removed some of the high spots then smoothed some car body repair filler around the joint, waited until set and smoothed this off with sandpaper. A light dusting of silver paint and voila! A couple of srategically placed nylon cable ties holding the ignition lead and clutch cable complete the aesthetics, which I'm sure you'll agree don't look bad at all. At least it's strong, that's the main thing!
Click the thumbnails below to view full sized views of the finished repair. You'll have to click "back" on your web browser to return to this page.
One noticeable thing after reassembling the bike with the now "straight" frame was how far forward it had pushed the front wheel. The bike, now with Stan's jigged and corrected frame geometry is close to 1 inch longer than previous. Compare the two pictures below (before and after) and look at the difference in the gap between the top of the motor and the front wheel. The two pics are of different scale but the larger gap can clearly be seen on the second picture. This should give me more stability in handling on the larger tracks, as generally the longer the wheelbase, the more stable in a straight line. We'll see when I get to Welland.
Well, that's all for this update session! The next thing for me to do is get the bike back up from the basement (hopefully for the last time this time!) and get some much needed running time on the motor. As practice looms ever nearer, I want the bike to have at least one hour of running time before I ride it at all. Finally, a huge thank you to Stan Bradbury for doing such a great job! Talk again soon.

5th April 2004
FRAME OFF FOR REPAIR
On Saturday (just gone) I drove my frame diamond down to Stan Bradbury's and left it with him for repair. It didn't take much of a look before he confirmed my fears that there's not just the crack to deal with, but it is also considerably bent! I was fairly sure this was going to be the case as it is clearly evident that some "straightening" has taken place in the past with what looks like a large "metallic object". Anyhow, I left the frame with Stan and he is going to straighten the frame with the aid of his frame jigs as well as repair the crack. Stan also mentioned that the frame being out of true could have been a major contributory factor to some strange handling characteristics I was experiencing at Welland last season. It will be interesting to see how much of a difference it makes once straight.
As previously mentioned, sadly this will be Stan's last repair job as his doctor has given him strict orders to take things more easy. I am very grateful that he offered his services this one last time, as I know my frame is in the best hands in the business.
I spent almost two hours talking with Stan and he told me some wonderful stories about his racing days. We had some great discussions about many famous speedway names from the former British League and I also learned some very interesting things. Stan is a wonderful gentleman whom I respect greatly. He has done so much for Canadian Speedway and I hope I can continue to pick up tips and information from him for years to come. Thanks Stan.

2nd April 2004
RIGHT BODY, RIGHT MIND
Over the winter months I have sometimes struggled to come up with interesting things to keep my website fresh. With no racing action here in Canada for 75% of the year, it is hard to find news or conjure up ideas.
So I was extremely grateful when I was recently asked by Tiger Tom Marriott how I motivated myself to get better. He suggested I give an insight into how I go about things, so I am happy to do that. I must stress that these are my own personal methods and what may work for me may be totally unsuitable for someone else. I'm not even sure if they work for me really, but I know without this type of focus I couldn't even dream of going out there with the Division 1 guys.
So here we go. Speaking from personal experience I believe there are five main pieces of the puzzle to put together. These I've listed as follows:

1. Really Want To Go Quicker
2. Make Sure Your Equipment Is In Good Order
3. Get Yourself Physically Fit
4. Stay Focussed On Race Nights
5. Have The Support Of People Around You

So we'll take each one in turn.

1. Really Want To Go Quicker
I found there was a certain point in my racing career that I stopped going to speedway meetings to enjoy the riding, and started going to enjoy the results. Of course, it's important to enjoy being involved in speedway in any capacity, but I found myself going home disappointed if I had not gotten a good result. I had been concentrating for so long on trying to ride and slide the bike well, I had forgotten it was a race and the idea was to try to win. What I'm trying to say is you won't go any quicker if you don't want to pass that rider in front of you. Once you get the mindset to cross the finish line ahead of the guy in front, you will find your speed picks up naturally. It's also a blast trying to win a race from the back. I should know, my gating is lousy! Be warned however, taking this attitude can result in frustration at times and there's a fine line between hard enjoyable racing and finding yourself, and everyone around you totally p****d off!

2. Make Sure Your Equipment Is In Good Order
So now we've gotten the mindset we want to win. We can't possible give ourselves a chance of doing well if our bikes are no good. I'm not saying we all need the latest, most expensive equipment. Just make sure the things are well enough maintained and prepared so they start reliably, run smooth and are safe. It is impossible to enjoy a nights racing if our machine typically takes a lap of the track pushing before it splutters into life. And equally important, it is impossible to ride a speedway bike well if it does not run smooth with good throttle response. No misfiring is A MUST! If you can't figure it out yourself, find a friend in the know in the speedway fraternity and get them to look at it. Have confidence when you unload the machine on racenight that it will work well. And don't forget to check those brakes!

3. Get Yourself Physically Fit
It is SUPER important that speedway riders are fit. "The race only lasts a minute", you may hear people say. Then I ask you this, "Is a 100 meter sprint athlete any less fit than a marathon runner?" The answer is no. Anyone involved in sport should keep themselves as fit as their daily schedule allows. This becomes even more important when you reach the twilight of your speedway racing career. Joints and muscles are typically less flexible when the body ages and so the chances of injury rises dramatically with age. The other factor here in Canada is the heat and humidity. It's unusual if we are not racing in 90 Degrees of heat and 95% relative humidity. With wearing leathers and all the other protective equipment, the heat itself can be a major drain on the body's energy levels on racenight. Building muscle is not the correct type of fitness regime for speedway. Cardiovascular fitness and suppleness are the important factors. During the off season I work out 40 minutes per day on an elliptical trainer in my basement (excellent low impact workout for my old injury-ridden body) and then do some push-ups and sit-ups every night. I also do a lot of stretching exercises to give myself a chance of bending rather than breaking when I crash. During the racing season, riding the bike is training enough. Actually there is absolutely no substitute for practice and becoming "bike fit". Give yourself a chance to win by being fit enough to hang on without becoming dangerously tired.

4. Stay Focussed On Race Nights
Difficult to comment on this as I'm sure it's different for everyone. All I know is that if I'm not totally focussed before each race, then my result usually suffers accordingly. We all have our own mental preparation before a race. Make sure you take time out to go through your routines and get in the right frame of mind. However, that word of caution again, the people around you are your friends and loved ones and they are usually there to help. Don't become so selfish that it upsets them. Again, I am speaking from personal experience here and it's still something I need to concentrate on. It's that fine balance again. Make sure everyone enjoys their speedway experience, but get your racing head on!

5. Have The Support Of People Around You
This is incredibly important for me as I try to go quicker and quicker, and by doing so take more risks. We all have responsibilities to our families and friends. I am the first one to accept that speedway is probably not the ideal sport to be doing whilst trying to contribute to a family, pay the mortgage etc. It is therefore very important (to me anyway) that I have the support of my family to go and try harder in my racing. It's not just the risk of injury either. It's all the money that gets poured into the sport for little or no return. It represents a huge financial commitment, one which many of us can ill afford. I am very thankful I have the support of two sponsors for this season which has certainly made the financial side of things easier. But knowing that your family are at the sidelines cheering you on and wanting you to win is the greatest help of all to me.

So, I hope my words above are interesting. As I said they are based on my personal beliefs and experiences and I certainly don't want to be seen as "preaching" to anyone. However, I'm sure that anyone that rides or supports a rider will agree with, or be able to relate to at least some of the comments. Give me a call or drop me an e-mail if you agree or disagree with things I've said. Anyone who wants further information on how to be a speedway rider might want to check out Stan Bradbury's excellent book published on the CSRA website (see my "Links Page" to get there). Thanks for taking time out to read this and thanks go out to Tom Marriott for prompting me to write it. Talk again soon.

"Tiger" Tom Marriott with son Marc "Tiger" Tom in typical smooth action

1st April 2004
NEW MONTH!
Well, April at last. If we are lucky with the weather, this is the month that we can sometimes start riding again after the long winter break. Let's hope the Paris track gets a chance to dry out early so we can get some Sunday practices in.
I've also tidied up this "Latest News" page by moving all of March's news items to the "March News Archive". If you didn't catch the last couple of updates, or if you want to revisit any favourite old news articles, click on the "News Archive" button above, then the relevant month. You'll have to then click "back" on your web browser to get back here.
I'll be adding news as and when it happens here and I am currently in the process of writing an article about physical and mental preparation for racing. This was an idea given to me by "Tiger" Tom Marriott. If there's anything anyone would like to hear about or have published here, just drop me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do.
Keep checking back for updates. It's encouraging for me to see the hit counter steadily increasing. Thanks for your interest.