Sidecar Racing

[jellywrestler]

We need to do what we can to keep ourselves safe, because occasionally the organisers have a brain fart & leave very hard material exposed for us to hit.
I have no issue with Cem Circiut over what happened, & I know Cudge & all the team have our best interests at heart & im sure they didnt deliberately leave things like that, it was just an oversight that i'm sure will be addressed next year.

I don't really think it was a brain fart or an oversight that this area was unpadded. The reality is that every square inch simply can't be covered by something. Every accident over time at Wanganui has been looked into and learnt from, there has never been anyone go that far to date.
If anyone over the years has looked at this and thought it an issue then they've had the channels there to suggest a change either before, during or after a raceday, and once again to my knowledge no one has; hindsight is a wonderful thing.
You can be assured that they will be looking long and hard at this for the future, you've already suggested hay bales or airfence. I think that they alone could cause more trouble as a rider in similar state may choose to use them instead of bailing out and in doing so hit head on and catapult off the bike up to a solid wall????
I'm in no way suggesting that there shouldn't be something there after your loss of mantrol, but what should it be.
Right now i'd offer the suggestion of catch fencing and baled bottles before the wall.

Wanganui have led the way in Street Circuit safety and i'm sure they will have a plan, meanwhile i'm searching trade me for an old bouncy castle, and/or a surplus Xtreme motocross ramp.
Meanwhile thank fuck you guys are OK and one thing I tried to find on the day was how Scrivy was as there are a lot of folk listening around the country who were left in limbo that we as commentators could've advised people the outcome was OK

[Deano]

I'm glad you are ok too!

The first time I watched the video I thought "oh that isn't too bad", until I watched it again. I'd hazard a guess that it was a lot faster sitting in the bloody thing!

I also thought it was a bit rough that Scrivy had turned the rig so the side hit first, not realising that Bob had already bailed. Maybe the swinger needs a hand brake like Al's pitbike chair ? At least you'd do a few donuts and scrub off some speed - might even spit both you off sideways before the wall !!

[Ocean1]

Right now i'd offer the suggestion of catch fencing and baled bottles before the wall.

[sidecar bob]

I'm glad you are ok too!

The first time I watched the video I thought "oh that isn't too bad", until I watched it again. I'd hazard a guess that it was a lot faster sitting in the bloody thing!
It was still fair hauling arse, it only had gears to bring it down from aprox 170kmh
I also thought it was a bit rough that Scrivy had turned the rig so the side hit first, not realising that Bob had already bailed.

That was his way of checking i had gone before he chucked it in L/H side first.
Remember, Scrivy & I first raced 25 years ago, we were mates long before that & a lot has been discussed on long slow van trips too & from meetings.
We arent just depending on dumb luck & god to keep us safe.

[sidecar bob]

I don't really think it was a brain fart or an oversight that this area was unpadded. The reality is that every square inch simply can't be covered by something. Every accident over time at Wanganui has been looked into and learnt from, there has never been anyone go that far to date.
If anyone over the years has looked at this and thought it an issue then they've had the channels there to suggest a change either before, during or after a raceday, and once again to my knowledge no one has; hindsight is a wonderful thing.
You can be assured that they will be looking long and hard at this for the future, you've already suggested hay bales or airfence. I think that they alone could cause more trouble as a rider in similar state may choose to use them instead of bailing out and in doing so hit head on and catapult off the bike up to a solid wall????
I'm in no way suggesting that there shouldn't be something there after your loss of mantrol, but what should it be.
Right now i'd offer the suggestion of catch fencing and baled bottles before the wall.

Wanganui have led the way in Street Circuit safety and i'm sure they will have a plan, meanwhile i'm searching trade me for an old bouncy castle, and/or a surplus Xtreme motocross ramp.
Meanwhile thank fuck you guys are OK and one thing I tried to find on the day was how Scrivy was as there are a lot of folk listening around the country who were left in limbo that we as commentators could've advised people the outcome was OK

It was directly at the end of a straight that christ only knows how fast a superbike goes, at the end of a downhill run, it really was a bit forgetfull of someone, and absolutely no offence intended to the hard working crew that set the whole thing up.
I accidentaly overheard a conversation between two parties just prior to riders briefing, that suggested that the organisers had run out of protective material & the governing body had re shuffled some about, much to the distress of the track maker.
That aside, two haybales or one bale of milk bottles would have at least given us something to aim at.
However, as they said at breifing, if you feel your safety concerns have not been addressed, do not compete at this event. The containers were of no concern to me until aprox 7 seconds before we hit them.

[scrivy]

I also thought it was a bit rough that Scrivy had turned the rig so the side hit first, not realising that Bob had already bailed

One good thing to note though Deano, is that Bob was getting ready for a right hander at turn one. So he was on the right hand side of the rig, not the left.
If he hadn't bailed, he would have kissed the container, not gotten wedged between it and the sidecar.
It happens so fast, yet there's so much stuff going through your brain....

[sidecar bob]

One good thing to note though Deano, is that Bob was getting ready for a right hander at turn one. So he was on the right hand side of the rig, not the left.
If he hadn't bailed, he would have kissed the container, not gotten wedged between it and the sidecar.
It happens so fast, yet there's so much stuff going through your brain....

That was an understatement. Some of you will not be aware that Scrivy was a commercial airline pilot & light aircraft thrillseeker of some repute & posesses a savant gene, idiot savant, nonetheless.
It took him nigh on five minutes for him to explain the train of thoughts & reactions that he processed in the aprox 6 seconds it took between component failure & impact.

[nodrog:Me]

.... if it goes hard ill buy the motor!

did you find some magic beans?

[bucket boy]

did you find some magic beans?

Bob is buying it for him.

[sidecar bob]

Bob is buying it for him.

Do I look like im fuckin santa claus!!!

[jellywrestler]

It was directly at the end of a straight that christ only knows how fast a superbike goes, at the end of a downhill run, it really was a bit forgetful of someone,

no body forgot, to my knowledge there's never been anything there and nobodies ever called to have it, hindsight here is a wonderful thing and whatever goes there has to be well thought out as the run off area currently is approx 30% of the front straights length and in excess of 100 meters of solid seal;check out google earth, remind me of ANY corner on ANY Road race (street or closed track) circuit in New Zealand as I can't as hell think of one.
Every Competitor who has competed at Wanganui has seen the track and had the opportunity to comment on this and every other area and till this incident no-one has seen it as a hazard over and above it's benefit as a run-off.
A haybale or airbag would in my opinion not have improved your chances here this time the decision to aim for one would have I'm sure seen impact at a higher speed than what Scrivy had acheived by his method of scrubbing off speed.
Additionally to aim for a haybale or airbag needs steering, this time you had some, someone elses failure may inhibit their steering.....


A few rows of haybales in front may have done a better job of reducing speed

27.6.2a Sidecars shall be fitted with at least two efficient brakes operation on at least
two of the wheels, with at least two separate operational circuits irrespective
of their method of operation. If one system fails the other system shall work
efficiently.

I wonder how many other machines out there may have two systems but in some instances they simply don't quite meet the last sentences needs eg brake pad loss or snapped brake line, scary really but let's learn from it

[scrivy]

27.6.2a Sidecars shall be fitted with at least two efficient brakes operation on at least
two of the wheels, with at least two separate operational circuits irrespective
of their method of operation. If one system fails the other system shall work
efficiently.

I wonder how many other machines out there may have two systems but in some instances they simply don't quite meet the last sentences needs eg brake pad loss or snapped brake line, scary really but let's learn from it

.......and this is what I hope is achieved out of this accident. We learn from it and fix it so it doesn't cause a death next time.

'at least two separate operational circuits irrespective of their method of operation' - this was for long bikes being brought into NZ as I've said earlier. The wording was shite, as it doesn't say you need to have two levers/pedals, only two master cylinders....

[Drew]

.......and this is what I hope is achieved out of this accident. We learn from it and fix it so it doesn't cause a death next time.

'at least two separate operational circuits irrespective of their method of operation' - this was for long bikes being brought into NZ as I've said earlier. The wording was shite, as it doesn't say you need to have two levers/pedals, only two master cylinders....

I'll go with the majority on this but I seriously hope, that just because your brakes didn't do what everyone thinks they should, that an elaborate system needs to be thought up.

How about someone checks out weather or not one circuit failing, means the other stops working on a chair without a restriction on pedal travel.

I maintain that the bias system we are making, will still have brakes when one system fails. I'll test it when we're done, but that'll be a month or so away. I would like to know before any one idea gains momentum, without anything else being looked at.

[Weaver]

I'll go with the majority on this but I seriously hope, that just because your brakes didn't do what everyone thinks they should, that an elaborate system needs to be thought up.

How about someone checks out weather or not one circuit failing, means the other stops working on a chair without a restriction on pedal travel.

I maintain that the bias system we are making, will still have brakes when one system fails. I'll test it when we're done, but that'll be a month or so away. I would like to know before any one idea gains momentum, without anything else being looked at.

Thinking of it, what would happen though if the brake pedal assembly failed in some way? Then an auxiliary master cylinder might be required.

[ellipsis]

...Street Racing is a fine line between as safe as you can make it and as unsafe as it is going to be...the signature on the entry form is your acceptance of the fact that what happens next is in the lap of the Gods and all the safety shit in the world cant stop the unthinkable happening...'tis our option not to sign...we wouldn't do it if it was unsafe would we?...better ways to stop forward motion are purely down to the beholder aren't they...buildings and containers are just part of the deal...