Darrell Taylor keeps us up to speed on the latest sprinting info.

The dates are out for this year’s events with the first one taking place on March 26 at Santa Pod. We will get to see the results of the various competitors’ winter tinkering, be it chassis or engine developments or just the same old proven setups...

Along with the possible new entrants who may turn up to the first event of the season, it is always an interesting time to see what the new season will bring. Interestingly this year, there is talk of quite a few new scooters and entrants joining in with the return of some older sprinters coming out of retirement. So what else do we need to know for the season ahead? Let’s take a look…

AGM CHANGES

I attended the Straightliners AGM over in Huddersfield where just the one scooter competitor made the meeting to discuss 2017 events, rule change proposals etc. Despite this, prior to the AGM, a healthy discussion was had online, discussing the various pros and cons of the existing class system. Competitors aired their views and opinions, which I took time out to read fully giving consideration to the various points raised, and their effect on the sport for the greater good of all. I spoke with various competitors, who in turn spoke with others, and topics were discussed further at the Newark bike/scooter show, where most active sprinters and Straightliners crew were present for a pre-AGM chat about some solutions that would work and suit all. In the end it was quite simple. In 2016 there were time-bracket racing classes and one top scooter class; initial thoughts were to drop bracket classes and to return to specific

scooter classes as previously run. But the discussions highlighted that the bracket racing made for excellent entry level system and had proved to work well in 2016. It provides an opportunity to turn up on whatever scooter you have, enter and find a time-bracket which fits the performance of your machine, and then set the best record you can within that time bracket, against any others who have dropped into that same bracket.

Meanwhile, the regular and more dedicated sprinters desired a class system that was fairer, as the current top scooter class accepted all types of the machine whether it be a standard bodywork type, cut-down sprinter, hybrid bike-engine variant or modern automatic.

So the solution was to keep the bracket class and sub-divide the top scooter class as follows:

SCOOTER CLASSES BRACKET RACING

1. 16.1 2. 15.1 3. 14.1 4. 13.1

TOP-SCOOTER

5. HYBRID (e.g. Engine swaps, top end conversions, non-step-thru chassis) 6. CUT DOWN (e.g. Sprinter/Group 6 to 260cc) 7. SILHOUETTE (e.g. Standard bodywork to 260cc) 8. AUTO (e.g. Gilera Runner, Italjet Dragster etc.)

Flexibility

The choice is still there though, you could enter any top scooter into a bracket class or a bracket class man move to a fitting top scooter class. The only downside to this is due to increased classes but with small entry numbers the potential for trophy hunters to pick the easy option in an attempt to win a championship exists.

Regs

In addition to the top scooter classes, now that they are categorised, comes the requirement for some outline rules to be added. Due to my being at the AGM, writing articles on the sport and generally following up on the job in-hand, I was asked to pull some regs together for the new top scooter categories this year. They can be changed next AGM if I get it wrong, but I need to start somewhere! Some of these outline quite basic requirements like ‘what is a scooter’, e.g. wheel size, step-thru design etc. The key to these is to have them tally between all the forms of scooter sport. Which means BSSO road racing, sprinting, top speed events, records events… should allow all competitors who have an interest in entering an event to do so with as little modification to their machines as possible, with the intent of improving scooter sport as a whole but at the same time not turning anyone away

A major hurdle to this is the BSSO/ACU rule on frame/fork mods which don’t carry over to sprint machines that are chopped/ lengthened/lowered raked etc. but despite this almost all sprinters do achieve that basic step-thru design that defines them as a scooter and not a small wheeled motorcycle, but with the added hybrid class there’s space for pretty much any type

To build some outline rules I’ve taken a look at another Straightliners event which is the UKTA. They run the standing mile speed trials often held at Elvington, York. Their handbook has a basic outline specification of a scooter that was also lifted, in parts, from the BSSO/ACU handbook and a few additions made, which were thrashed out and agreed upon a few years ago by various sprinters of the time and are still as relevant now. It reads as follows…

A solo motor scooter is a two-wheeled vehicle on which the driver may sit on a seat and have free and open space in front of the seat for passage of their legs with the following additional characteristics:

1. The minimum size of the space forward of the seat must be a regular or irregular

Despite this, prior to the AGM, a healthy discussion was had online, discussing the various pros and cons of the existing class system.

trapezium with its top measuring 250mm along a line projected forward from the top of the seat parallel with a line drawn through the centres of the two road wheels and measured from the front extremity of the seat towards the steering column. Its depth vertically downwards must not be less than 250mm and its base not less than 100mm. The minimum space must be clear at all times of any obstruction of a permanent or temporary nature except where any such obstruction was fitted as manufacturer’s original equipment (e.g. Vespa 90SS).

2. It shall have been manufactured by a manufacturer recognised by the ACU and not less than 100 machines of that type equipped with the manufacturer’s original or optional equipment must have been made and sold in the UK. An accountant’s certificate may be required as proof.

3. Clutch and brake levers must be ball ended with a diameter no less than 19mm ( ¾ in).

4. The cylinder must be either the manufacturer's original equipment or aftermarket kit made for the engine it is fitted to. There are no limits on tuning the cylinder, but must be able to be recognised for what it was originally.

5. The position of the cylinder fixing studs should remain unaltered.

6. A scooter must have its crankcase/ swingarm constructed from one single unit.

In addition to the above, and in the interests of keeping costs down for those classes to which it applies…

7. Standard number of gears (e.g. Lambretta Series 3 four-speed).

8. Standard type crankcase/cylinder stud configuration.

(Although both could enter hybrid or bracket – e.g. a five-speed super case on external stud pattern)

Enforcing

How to control the rules? The AGM discussed control methods and concluded that self-policing within the classes, among riders armed with a set of rules, should be simple enough. But as with all things which have an element of competition… some anomalies will appear, that may need addressing, so the three wise men will decide upon any disputes, comprising a riders’ rep, head scrutineer and the event organiser Trevor, or his appointee. The emphasis will be based on whether or not the anomaly provides a performance advantage.

For example, it may be that a new top scooter silhouette/standard bodywork competitor enters and has a bit too much floor board cut away for exhaust clearance reasons which we all know is common practice, essential and would offer no aerodynamic advantage. But another bike with large holes cut in the legshields would offer reduced wind resistance, but rather than be turned away would perhaps be asked to tape over them or offered an alternative class to race in (e.g. hybrid or a bracket class).

So that’s the regs done, winter’s over, dates are announced… let’s hope it’s good weather for round 1. Scootering will report back on how it goes!