If you’ve ever been to a speedway race, you know just close the competition can be and just how nasty those brakeless, methanol-burning two-wheelers can be.
Putting out over 70 horsepower through flywheels that are closer in size to the ones found in a trials bike than a normal motocross or off-road dirtbike. A speedway bike is actually designed to grab the ground despite appearances to the contrary. As a speedway rider enters the corner, he actually gives the bike more throttle rather than less–or holds the engine at full throttle–to get the rear tire to spin, thus scrubbing speed upon entry. Then, as he or she sets up for corner exit, the throttle is actually rolled back off slightly to get the rear tire to hook up and accelerate the bike down the next straightaway. Basically, the entire throttle technique is the opposite of the way most people learn to ride a dirt bike–you know, give it more gas to faster and less to go slower.
For safety reasons, speedway riders are tethered to their machines via a “dead-man” switch that is supposed to kill the ignition and cut engine power when the rider exits the machine. Unfortunately, these switches are not failsafe, and sometimes the consequences can be diabolical.
Take these two videos, which show just what happens when the rider is done with the race but the bike isn’t. Fortunately, in both instances no one in the crowd of spectators was injured. The footage of these out-of-control machines is as spectacular as it is horrifying. It just goes to show that anything can happen in a speedway race, and it usually does.
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