You might be right, they may have been big-arsed 'square' ones.Originally Posted by Ocean1
But they were used a lot - i.e. from the bridge down-track on the right-hand side all the way onto the start of the main straight.
Loud and Uncouth
You might be right, they may have been big-arsed 'square' ones.
But they were used a lot - i.e. from the bridge down-track on the right-hand side all the way onto the start of the main straight.
Winding up drongos, foil hat wearers and over sensitive KBers for over 14,000 posts...........
" Life is not a rehearsal, it's as happy or miserable as you want to make it"
Hardcore Biker
Are fire retardant bags used at all for straw bales?
I'd be horrible if rider and bike was trapped under bales and it caught fire.
http://www.trackcare.com/tcare9.htm
In the riders seat
No they aren't, some caught fire at Wangas a few years back when a Motard went into them
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough power."
Registered User
Sorry Warwick,But "within the rescources and budget" just doesnt wash,We are talking about human lives here,Motorsport is dangerous enough and I for one dont accept that MNZ would knowingly allow substandard bales to be used,
Many of the recent deaths in roadracing were avoidable and a good example of this was the Derek Hill/Phillip Harrison incident at Pukekohe where a good number of people were quick too blame rider error,What if there had been a flag marshall at point 6 (the kink) to advise riders approaching a blind corner at over 250kph that theres a problem ahead ????
Motorsport is dangerous at best,Near enough is NOT good enough,If the meeting cant be run in the safest possible manner then it shouldnt be run at all.
OH and I dont like the safety at street circuits and I dont ride them anymore either
In the riders seat
Who says they're sub standard? maybe they do meet the criteria, is there any criteria? I for one would rather hit a bale than a lamp post or a kerb
What if none of us had got out of bed that morning or what if we speed limited the 600 class to 100kph, what if a rider with a machine problem pulled off the circuit, what if, what if,what if
I don't consider the haybales a problem, someone else does, what makes him right and me wrong?
Plenty of people have the opposite opinion or they wouldn't be competing at them
I'm all for having softer shit to hit if I cock up but if it the difference between going racing is having bales or the meeting not being run due to having to have airfence in place I'll take the bales anyday
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough power."
Forum whore
So if you were a horsey or lifestyler you would be happy to loan your bales for a street race to possibly get wet and ruined if it was raining.
I do agree to a point that big bales arent the best though.
winding up stucky since ages ago
In the riders seat
In the South island we're looking at a total of 6 street races within the next year perhaps if the organisers pooled resources something like airfence would be affordable, as none of the events clash it could be shared between venues
Regardless of any safety aspects put in place people will still find a way to fall off and fuck themselves up
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough power."
Hardcore Biker
In that case the marshals were f**kin useless me and Jarod had to get out there and pull the bike out ourselfs
It's not what you ride but how you ride it!!
Forum whore
Kickha, dunno why you're ranting about meetings not happening because of a lack of air fences. Did I say that? No! I merely said WE (us...the riders) should organise air fences. $10 per rider per race into the kitty (no pun intended) would be a start.
To be honest, if the big bales are given on "loan" then I for one, wouldn't have any issue with this but to be honest, I'm pretty sure more circuits use the same ones year in, year out.
A lot of bales (large and small) aren't suitable for food (stored too long, get damp, seals burst, etc) and can be had for nil, nada, nowt. So as I stated before, it's merely a lack of organisation (not money) that's compromising rider safety in terms of using big bales instead of standard ones.
I for one would rather hit a large bale than a lamp post or kerb.
I for one would rather hit a small bale than a large bale.
I for one would rather hit an airfence than a small bale.
I for one would rather hit the kitty litter or run-off than an airfence.
I for one would rather not hit anything.
We should have better planning and organisation to afford us the best protection available for our limited budget. Half arsed "she'll be right", "it's always been done that way" no8 wire style solutions don't cut the mustard and quite frankly, lives HAVE needlessly been lost because of this. Please don't respond with the usual "wrap in cotton wool / play tiddlywinks" shite as I'm not interested.
Motorsport is dangerous. It doesn't have to be a potential suicide mission. NZ Tracks, Paeroa, Wanganui, etc are not the Isle of Man
Bogeyman
No, you were correct, most of 'em were big round things. It's just that they had some of the old standard rectangular ones in some places too.
Go soothingly on the grease mud, as there lurks the skid demon
Forum whore
I think round bales are even heavier than the new square bales. Might be softer though?
The spots where big bales are a problem are basically where you can hit them at speed after an off- run off areas and the bits where we tend to end up if we drop it on corner entry or exit. Its actually not that big an area. I reckon it wouldn't be too hard to source enough standard bales or whatever to spill those spots. Put as many big bales as you like everywhere else as far as I'm concerned, because the very thing that makes them dangerous for riders makes them bloody good at protecting spectators.
I see what people are saying re bales catching on fire. But can airfrences catch fire? Bags of bottles or tyre walls can- not as easily as hay I guess. Shit if they can't use hay at all they really will be screwed. I'm not even gonna go there...
My daughter telling me like it is:"There is an old man in your face daddy!"
The magic is in the rubbing.
I was interested in what was in the big bags things at the Nelson races the other day, I had me a wee inspection...loaded up with plastic bottles. Thought that was a good idea but it was placed in front of a powerpole and I wondered whether a bale of straw would be better....
Hardcore Biker
cant believe I'm saying this, but most of you are at least partly right.
I can tell you that the issues are being looked at, alternatives are being considered, and that the bales DO perform two functions - crowd protection and rider protection.
The real issue is that the requirements are decidedly different. As one involved at Methven last year, I can say I'm sure things will be better this time round.
Ditto with Wyndham - the reason the bales are different every year is that where we perceive that there was a problem, we fix it. I understand that the bales used since the first meeting were baled "soft", in an effort to provide the "cushioning" effect riders need. Softer std bales are placed in probable impact areas for the obvious reasons ...... I'm positive that the Good Folks of Wyndham will be working together with the Southland Club to improve AGAIN next time - thats how it works.
The only thing that hasnt improved over time is the behaviour of some of the "organic components" involved in racing - very seldom the machines fault !
In the riders seat
What I'm saying is be careful what you wish for in case we end up with nothing
I can't see pricing on the airfence website but on a USA site they were talking $30,000 for 350ft of it, cant be arsed doing the conversion from US$ but thats 3000 riders at $10 a shot although I'm sure there'd be other ways of raising money towards it
"If you can make black marks on a straight from the time you turn out of a corner until the braking point of the next turn, then you have enough power."
one placenta
....ah fuck it...lets stop racing...forest and bird...
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