Lance Lowe fined $100 for Paeroa wheelie

[Rob Taylor]

So a wheelie at around 100kmh or so is more dangerous than doing 270kmh along the front straight?

Nobody likes rules.You put a stunt rider on the track and its all good.You cant say "Ok, riders who know how to wheelie go for it,the rest No".Your more likely to crash on one wheel than two,Harder to take evasive action,brake,whatever, and the bike could get over the barrier if the front is already a metre up...I like wheelies to .All im saying is ,you need to look at it from the organiser point of view.We would be the first to moan if the event was shut down due to spectators dying.....Thats all

[SPman]

Jeez - I've seen Lance on one wheel down the North Western for 5 or 6 KM - through the traffic. It's not as though he doesn't know how to get it up!
Guess he just can't help himself.......

[malcy25]

Jeez - I've seen Lance on one wheel down the North Western for 5 or 6 KM - through the traffic. It's not as though he doesn't know how to get it up!
Guess he just can't help himself.......

yep
1) Was specifically mentioned at rider briefing
2) Lance is good (very good) on the backwheel, but what about the guys who aren't.....and get seriously out of shape. As it was IIRC someone had to take evasive action when Lance did his.
3) Punters come to get close and see the action, but there is a line that the organsiers have put a line in the sand for a reason, if you can't play what is a well considered rule for public safety (and it's their arses in a sling for the riders actions), best you don't ride.

Buggered if I'd want the stress of running that meeting without adding to it from someone tossing one over a fence squashing some punters.

[slowpoke]

I'm not a racer so I'm probably going to be told to STFU, which is fair enough, but I guess the organizers are probably already walking a tight rope just running the event even with a good safety record with the public, so they're probably just trying to minimize any unnecessary risk where possible?

Pretty much on the money I reckon. If something unsavoury was to happen then this gives the organisers "plausable deniability" and proof they've tried to keep things as safe as possible.

With this sort of event you have got to imagine the organisers standing in front of a coroner and the sort of ugly picture somebody could paint if they were that way inclined. You can guarantee there is a fair portion of Paeroa that would like to see this thing canned despite the dosh it brings to the community.

[wharfy]

I'm not a racer so I'm probably going to be told to STFU, which is fair enough, but I guess the organizers are probably already walking a tight rope just running the event even with a good safety record with the public, so they're probably just trying to minimize any unnecessary risk where possible? That said, racing is technically an un unnecessary risk in life, and fans go there to be entertained, so whether its racing or finishing a race with a mono it makes no difference. Some racing is better than no racing, and if they have to bring in some relatively un intrusive rules is it really so bad compared to not being able to watch/race there at all?

Racer or not you are right on the money --
The barriers have been designed (from bitter experience) to offer most protection on places bikes are most likely to crash (on the OUTSIDE of turns).
If someone pulling a 100kph wheelie over the line falls off the back the bike could easily hit the low barrier in that area and go over into the crowd at speed.

I have seen a bike come over hay bales stacked high enough for an adult to just see over. Unfortunately It hit a kid sitting on his fathers shoulders full in the chest - he died on the way to hospital . It wasn't the result of a wheelie (people didn't do them in those days) and they were standing in a restricted area (the sign and rope had been knocked over and trampled into the ground) I don't know if that is why they stopped doing street races in Hamilton but it sure would have made it more difficult.

Greymouth street race also have a "no wheelie's" rule.

Street races also require a tether kill switch to reduce the chance of a runaway bike going into the crowd.

If someone was fined for racing without a tether kill switch would we be having this debate ?

The organizers don't make these rules up just to piss people off...

To quote MNZ, motorcycle racing should be "Fun Fair and Safe"

[Kickaha]

If wheelies across the line are allowed in MotoGP then surely they are allowed in NZ races

How many fences, haybales, powerpoles and gutters do they have around MotoGp tracks

I remember being at the riders briefing and the no sustained wheelie issue was mentioned.Mainly to protect the spectators because of the carnage if it all went wrong,& it can.

What like Jared Love at Wyndham ? (I think) ok the only thing he fucked up was himself and the bike but sometimes the margin between a hit and a miss is pretty small

[TonyB]

I remember being at the riders briefing and the no sustained wheelie issue was mentioned.Mainly to protect the spectators because of the carnage if it all went wrong,& it can.The front coming up out of a corner was exceptable but not big ups further down the track.I understand where they are coming from.Thems the rules and Lance got caught..Do the crime do the time....Shit happens....On a race circuit,no problems,wheelie away.

Racer or not you are right on the money --
The barriers have been designed (from bitter experience) to offer most protection on places bikes are most likely to crash (on the OUTSIDE of turns).
If someone pulling a 100kph wheelie over the line falls off the back the bike could easily hit the low barrier in that area and go over into the crowd at speed.

Yep agree with these completely. In todays political climate a serious injury to spectators at a street meeting could see it all banned/ become too hard to run, just like it did with the small scale street races they used to have for cars.

[R6_kid:Me]

Perhaps we should start a contribution fund like was done for Carver?

[steve74]

I remember being at the riders briefing and the no sustained wheelie issue was mentioned.Mainly to protect the spectators because of the carnage if it all went wrong,& it can.The front coming up out of a corner was exceptable but not big ups further down the track.I understand where they are coming from.Thems the rules and Lance got caught..Do the crime do the time....Shit happens....On a race circuit,no problems,wheelie away.Hell i better remind Paul to keep the front down at W(H)anganui,just in case its the same rules.....

This is spot on!, as a rider i was always pissed off with the no wheelie or show-boating policy of some stewards at street races. However now im on the organization side of things its a different story. there is just too many peoples necks on the chopping block when it does go wrong. Prime example in greymouth about 10-12 years ago, a guy did a big wheelie down the main straight after the race, flipped it over backwards, he broke his ankle and the bike ended up over the fence narrowly missing spectators. Its great fun to do them and agreed the crowd loves it, but one major accident from show-boating will put and end to street racing full stop for both riders and spectators!!

A certain superbike rider we all know down here in the south island is continually getting fines like this. He knows the score and is familiar with the process

[Maha]

This is spot on!, as a rider i was always pissed off with the no wheelie or show-boating policy of some stewards at street races. However now im on the organization side of things its a different story. there is just too many peoples necks on the chopping block when it does go wrong. Prime example in greymouth about 10-12 years ago, a guy did a big wheelie down the main straight after the race, flipped it over backwards, he broke his ankle and the bike ended up over the fence narrowly missing spectators. Its great fun to do them and agreed the crowd loves it, but one major accident from show-boating will put and end to street racing full stop for both riders and spectators!!

A certain superbike rider we all know down here in the south island is continually getting fines like this. He knows the score and is familiar with the process

Yeah pay the fine, whats the drama.

If the Monday Morning Herald headlines reads...

'Three Dead and Twelve injured at Street Race'
That would be the end of Paeroa.
I know this may sound over the top but,
The rules are there for a reason.
Mr Lowe should the $100, shut the fuck up, get on with it and try not to stuff it up for the 15,000 or so that enjoy the 3rd Sunday of every Feb'.

[dipshit]

What about 70-80% of the racers doing wheelies off the bump on the back straight.

Do you understand the difference from a bit of a power-stand while hard on the gas... to someone deliberately popping a wheelie just to show off..???

Of course it will be an unpopular rule to enforce... considering how many wankers ride motorbikes.

[FROSTY:Me]

It's not like Lance Lowe doesn't know how to pull a decent wheelie and keep it under control...

er um-yasee there was this time in band camp--and someone missed 90% of a race meeting due to a wheelie gone wrong.
yep lance did make a booboo that day

putting a different slant on this folks.
Say i own a sandpit.
In wrighting I note -NO SANDCASTLES. then as you come into my sandpit I say --Hey have fun -enjoy yourself but just a reminder -dont build any sandcastles or you will pay a fine of some sort.
if you then decide--"Nahh Im gonna build a bloody great big sandcastle anyway" Dontcha think theres gonna be/should be a concequence.
The comparision to something so silly is deliberate as I feel its not the danger or lack of thats the issue --its the deliberate breaking of the rules.
And I must say im in two minds re the relative safety of doing so on the main straight.
Yasee if it does go wrong the only thing protecting the crowd is a chain link fence.(they are literally milimeters from the track) Unlike say at a "real" racetrack.
Someone also well known for doing great wheelies trashed a bike a couple of years back at whanga's doing basicly what Lance did It was a pretty messy crash. I hate to imagine the damage done if it happened back "straight" of paeroa and the bike went into the crowd.

[ellipsis]

We are lucky enough to be one of the couple of countries on the planet to be able to participate in or spectate at a motorcycle street race event, if everyone obeys the rules and the risk of death or carnage is kept to a complete minimum, we will continue to be able to do so....hopefully.....

[Crasherfromwayback]

They should get fucked. I was warned years ago at the Port of Auckland street races for doing wheelies down the main straight on my KX500. When I mentioned Robert Holden was doing them all day the told me "Well that's Robert Holden" Organisers need entrants...and while an entrant doing something REALLY stupid is unacceptable...wheelies are a-ok anytime in my book.

Spectators are there at their own risk. If they get hurt by a bike that's been thrown down the road...as sad as it is...it's racing. They all go there for the thrills and spills. Can't have it both ways.

[wbks]

They should get fucked. I was warned years ago at the Port of Auckland street races for doing wheelies down the main straight on my KX500. When I mentioned Robert Holden was doing them all day the told me "Well that's Robert Holden" Organisers need entrants...and while an entrant doing something REALLY stupid is unacceptable...wheelies are a-ok anytime in my book.

Spectators are there at their own risk. If they get hurt by a bike that's been thrown down the road...as sad as it is...it's racing. They all go there for the thrills and spills. Can't have it both ways.

Lol do you think New Zealand is going to look at it that way if some spectators get messed up? No, it'll be the end of street racing for this lifetime