Every Saturday night a bunch of us would go to the local dirt speedway and watch the solos (motorcycles) and midgets (cars). It would go from 7 p.m. to around 10 p.m. and was not expensive to go through the turnstiles to get in.
The solos were my favorite – four riders at a time over four laps. The bikes were 500cc running on methanol and had no brakes. You just throttled off and let engine compression slow you down!
And then I thought about the situation here in Thailand. There are several thousand motorcycle riders here, some of which display an amazing talent in the racing jungle called Sukhumvit Road.
Pattaya Bike Speedway.
The track is a quarter mile on graded dirt and you need a fence (wooden usually) around the outside. The spectators are situated on an embankment all the way round high enough for them to miss the flying dirt thrown up by the bikes.
Capital expenditure to build a speedway track is not great. Car parking outside the embankment and a chain wire fence around the whole shooting match and you’re away.
The bikes would be modified road bikes and have two categories – up to 125cc and up to 250cc. Make the rear suspension solid to make sliding easy and all riders to wear leathers, gloves and helmets.
After it catches on, then introduce a class with pukka 500cc solos. These have a very simple frame that any half decent welder could knock up in a day.
So we need a few rai of flat dirt, a grader, a fencer and we’re in business.
Any interest out there? With the number of motorcycles in Pattaya there are enough riders, and I am sure the motorcycle shops would throw in sponsorship and advertise on the fencing. I would do it myself if I had the capital to invest!
