learn to ride speedway

Leaning to ride a speedway bike, can be either a complete rush or an extremely frightening experience!

Speedway is not an all male sport watch the video below:

 

Riding a speedway bike goes completely against all the physics of riding a regular motorcycle. The standing start which launches you into a left corner at 100 km, is something to be admired! Then without looking down, you have to throw your body forward and place your right foot on the foot pet, whilst opening the throttle fully to slide the bike, then if you get into trouble you must never close the throttle, this will hurl you up and over the handlebars, leaving you in a crumpled lump on a track that does not give at all! When you get your wind back and wiggle all toes and fingers, you realize that you have just enjoyed your first speedway crash!

Learn More about the bike below:

 

Have you started sweating yet? The rules of the road go completely out of the window, as these bikes are extremely aggressive, fast with no gears and no brakes, you are the brake! All riders learn the art of laying the bike down to avoid a collision, this is mandatory for any rider competing on a speedway bike.

A perfect lay down performed is outlined below

 

The throttle stays open for 95% of the race, the rear wheel needs and must spin to allow you to slide through the corner in a controlled fashion, shut it off at your peril!

The main thing of riding any speedway bike no matter if its an upright or lay down engine is the set up. The set up of a bike can make huge differences to the way the bike feels and operates. The video below outlines how this setup can effect the bike:

 

Once you have decided to take a try on a bike, protection for the body is essential. Lots of padded under garments is required, back braces, neck brace, knee braces, elbow braces plus the outwear, gloves, crash helmet and goggles to start with. Motorcycle boots with a steel shoe attached will help you glide through the corners. The fact about speedway protection is a major part of the sport, and it is not if you will fall off it's when! Guaranteed is a true meaning of falling off a bike. So protection is a huge part to keep you safe.

At this point we hope you are still looking to ride a speedway bike, the best riders didn't wake up one day and just jump on a speedway bike and fly around the track. Practice makes perfect, the more your ride and gain experience, the better you become. Don't expect to be going flat out and sliding the bike within the first hour! A great read before you enter the world of riding a speedway bike is a short book by Stan Bradbury, who wrote a book simply for this reason. Click the link below to read this on-line book.

 

canadian speedway history

This section of our site is forever growing. Despite its size, Canadian Speedway has been blessed to have some iconic names associated with it, and we are proud to bring this information to you.

Thanks is offered to many contributors including Duncan Luke, Tom Marriott, Roger Stevens and David Hensby for the the information used on this site.