Speedway bikes have no gearbox and normally top out at 60-70mph
Posted by Brutal_Deluxe_@reddit | WeirdWheels | View on Reddit | 54 comments
A larger rear sprocket and an airport runway are needed to achieve higher speeds.
jon_hendry@reddit
Why is he holding the uh whatsit instead of the handlebar?
Brutal_Deluxe_@reddit (OP)
For those not familiar with Speedway: Worst Speedway Crashes of 2023
Bonus: the same crashes, slower, with chill soundtrack
deevil_knievel@reddit
Somewhere on MySpace there's a video of my gixxer stunt bike about 8 ft in the air, upside down above my head as I meat crayond undeath it. Ahhh, to be young and a genius again.
_TryFailRepeat@reddit
MySpace?! Damn. Thats a trip down memory lane.
Tmgtopdog@reddit
Who/What’s the soundtrack? Very cool.
LordBug@reddit
Man O Tu - Nu
Tmgtopdog@reddit
Awesome. Thanks!
derekneiladams@reddit
Hell yeah. New stuff, I’m into this now because of you, thanks redditor!
Cow-Brown@reddit
Speedway is awesome! It’s so fun to watch live.
PraxisLD@reddit
And they’re an absolute blast to ride!
Pin it down the straight, throw it sideways at 90+ mph, hang on for dear life as you attempt to pass other riders by mere inches, straighten up and pin it again, then repeat over and over until the checkered flag drops.
When you’re in full sideways slide, adding throttle adds wheel spin and increases lean to slow you down, and removing throttle increases traction and sends you rapidly upright and forward until you can pin it again.
Takes some getting used to, for sure.
So loud.
Pure adrenaline.
Massive scary fun!
tudorapo@reddit
And during winter take the same, but with spikes on the wheels.
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
I saw a championship winning ice bike at a bike shop years ago, they’re brutal. I didn’t mind riding speedway but man I don’t think I could get used to ice.
KdF-wagen@reddit
Ice riding is such a fucking blast. Gotta trust the spikes and throw your wrist into the throttle and throw yourself into the corner. Put your heel out and hang on. You’ll be scraping your pegs off the ice in no time.
tudorapo@reddit
For the uninitiated: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eisspeedway_Maschine_05.JPG
deevil_knievel@reddit
These have to break at least one of the Geneva conventions.
tudorapo@reddit
Mostly some laws of physics. If it goes over another driver, then yes, Geneva.
deevil_knievel@reddit
This is when we argue about centripetal vs centrifugal restoring forces instead of just agreeing how insanely dope it is that people can do this more than one time.
tudorapo@reddit
SORRY CANT HEAR YOU these things are also loud but those spikes... my god.
rafterman1976@reddit
Clenched butttocksssss
Such-Law926@reddit
So they're fixies but with a motor.
Fantastic_Back3191@reddit
More interestingly- they have no brakes and run on methanol.
wolster2002@reddit
Also a total loss oil system. The frame was your oil tank and it was ejected out the bottom of the engine. I had a 2 valve Jawa when I was a kid in the late 80's. Would take it to Mildenhall and blast around the track. 4 people on the track for 4 laps (just like a race). You could be there with complete amateur's or 3 league riders practicing or testing set ups. Great fun. Cost about 20 quid for the day. 12 pound track insurance and the rest for fuel and oil.
Fantastic_Back3191@reddit
Ive always wanted to try. Dammit im only 10 miles from Mildenhall. I need to pull my finger out...
Due-Independence6692@reddit
I got a picture of my grandfather racing his Indian on wood tracks from back in the day. RIP captain Lou
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
Yeah I wish I would have been around to see some of the boardtrackers, there’s almost nothing in history books about them.
bluberrry@reddit
Polish Speedway League best leagueand it's not even close. Kind of a national motorsport
Tumble85@reddit
Sounds dangerous, very glad normal motorcyclists don't have access to bikes faster than these bikes.
TechnologyFamiliar20@reddit
Oh, they do. A bike in the 80s that didn't do 300kph was considered slow. Grasstracks bikes don't usually do more than 160 kph, but they slide in defined way.
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
Grasstrack is much slower than Longtrack although the older bikes were identical. I worked with a multiple national title winner for Longtrack who went overseas to compete in grass track and he said they were the most insane people he’d raced against. They didn’t want him there as he worked, and raced on the weekends and was very successful, these guys worked as paid riders and would run someone off the track to get a position and make more money.
JumboChimp@reddit
No, no, no, it's very safe, so safe in fact that they don't even need brakes.
It's the gas-powered version of track cycling, except track cycles are all fixies, so no freehub or clutch.
Specific_Effort_5528@reddit
Please tell me you're trolling.
moving0target@reddit
You're kidding, right?
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
The funny thing is trail bikes used to race in a similar category against these and they had to create a category for trail bikes because they were destroyed. It’s a purpose built race craft that’s been honed over 100 or more years to be perfect for what it does.
Bandag5150@reddit
Sprint cars don’t have a traditional gearbox. It’s either in or out.
TechnologyFamiliar20@reddit
If you mean dragsters/drag vehicles, then yes, otherwise in "sprint" no.
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
All the dragsters I’ve driven have had a traditional Lenco gearbox with a 3 or 4 speed box. Top fuel cars have something different but funny cars have a traditional box
phatassgato@reddit
Sprint cars absolutely use an in or out gear box.
unusedtruth@reddit
My dad used to take me to watch speedway when I was a kid. Those things are so friggin loud. One time at a night race the debris being thrown up behind the bikes was knocking out the floodlights above the track.
Watched the nationals once. Right before the final they pumped Final Countdown through the PA system and my 8yo ass thought it was the greatest thing I had ever experienced.
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
I worked in a shop that was owned by a national longtrack champion so regularly saw riders and bikes come though and had my hands on, actually have a scar from a world championship winning bike when Crumpy was unloading it from his ute and was in the process of dropping it and falling so I ran over and grabbed the bike and pulled him back up, and the footpeg went straight into my calf. He was so apologetic and I’m like dude I’ve got a scar from a bike that won the world championship!!
I remember our longtrack bike doing a demo at the local show, and I was standing way back from the fence. Everyone was calling me to come up to the fence. Ah no I’ll wait here. First lap was a gentle spray, second lap was a warning, third lap was a full throttle run into the corner, both feet on the pegs, running the wheel up about an inch from the wall. Those people understood the meaning of the word sandblasted. I think he hit turn 4 at about 190kph.
Senappi@reddit
Speedway bikes don't have brakes either
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
Plenty of engine brake haha.
TechnologyFamiliar20@reddit
They actually have a gearbox, but just two speed, the first one is for starts. Idk about short grasstrack (speedway), but long had it.
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
Longtrack yes, 2 speed boxes, speedway no, single speed, off the motor, into a primary drive and the clutch.
voodoosmudge@reddit
Remember seeing these in person at the Belle Vue Aces speedway, was fucking awesome watching the riders throw these bikes around and make passes within inches of each other
Begle1@reddit
These bikes are awesome, I used to love watching Flyin' Mike Faria and Bobby Boogaloo Schwartz slide around the dirt track sideways on Jawas. Great motorsport, perhaps my favorite besides multi-engine sledpullers and nitro dragsters.
FantasticSeaweed9226@reddit
6.8:1 final drive. Holy smokes
seamus_mc@reddit
Why does the article have speeds twice what the headline says? AI BS?
Vegetable_Plum2999@reddit
What do you mean? Headline says 127, article says 127 as well
tunachilimac@reddit
They didn’t bother to read the bike was modified to double the speed.
aresev6@reddit
Maybe he should have asked ai to summarise the article for him.
EchoPhi@reddit
Down vote, don't engage, move on.
ApolloWasWayBetter@reddit
Wiggy’s bike was specially built and geared for the faster speed. Also the average track is 1/4 mile or under. Given the chance, they could wind out to speeds like these, given that a longtrack bike which uses an identical motor, with a 2 speed gearbox and rear suspension can do well over 200kph.
These bikes were once the fastest accelerating mechanical thing from 0-100kph. Insanely under rated sport, and one of the best sports I’ve competed and worked in.
warrensussex@reddit
Why would they write an article about someone going the normal top speed?
cubgerish@reddit
It's in kilometers.