swanmore dust issues?

Well for the first time i felt really f**@@d off with hmx. the quads pull off after our 2nd race to be told that was our last race because of the dust issues, then lo and behold there are 3 more solo races. fairs fair if the dust was a problem stop the racing, but for all, not just the quads. and we paid £40 for less racing, yeah thats great!. do we get any discount on the next race meeting then. if someone says quads make more dust that still doesnt make it right coz 3 solo races produce more than 1 quad race.
If there are other facters involved then would someone explain. seems like the quads always lose out there maybe less of us but can you imagine the uproar if A group solo's only were canceled. like i said this is the first time i,ve really felt hacked off with hmx.............RANT OVER..........

I appreciate what you are saying as as a quad rider it feels as though we are short changed a lot of the time when we get used to clear the mud from the track or level it after it has been watered etc.

But on this occasion after talking to Cathy (the wife) she explained that between her point and the next marshall point she could not see the quads for the dust and felt that this was unsafe as she could not warn riders of any incident which she couldn't see on the track.In her opinion it was a good call from Jamie as it would have been unfair to expect a marshall to take the responsibility of a serious accident when they could not see the track to warn others of potential danger ahead.

It was explained that the next solo race was going to be a 2 lap race to test the visibility from the marshalls point of view and if it was at an acceptable level of visibility they would continue. Cathy said to Jamie that she could see when the solo's went by as they didn't throw up as much dust. However when the A group were out it was becoming quite difficult to see again so it was just as well it was the last race.

I know we payed a bit more than normal to race today but feel that the responsibility of this cancellation lies squarely at the feet of the land owner who should have prepared the track properly in the first place.

I can understand the quads throw up a lot more dust than a solo as solo's have 1x4 inch wide rear tyre as opposed to 2x10 inch wide tyres at the rear so in theory kick up 4 times as much dust.

well said Darren, please don't blame the club. Clearly the track wasn't up to scratch & even if they had watered it at the interval the day would have been cut short due to all the accidents & having to wait for county ambulances. Whitings Water next will be perfect!!!

£40 is steep for this place . The watering could not of happened in the interval as this would of made a skating ring. But you cant blame the club. I had a good result but i am still unhappy with swanmore and west meon but at least the sun was shining.

Chris you are correct i would of gone mad if the A group was cancelled due to dust as i had paid £40 for a well perpared track .

I was hugely dissapointed this week with hmx!

it took alot of preperation to get my quad ready this week and 1 1/2 hour drive to get their, to pay £40 and have the day cut short!

i know dust cant be helped on a nice warm day, but is it not hmx responability to make sure tracks they are using are graded correctly and that water is avalaible?! i did think a year ago that swanmore was a good track.

i really do enjoy doing hmx events, but feel as if the club is falling apart.

gradeing is one thing but haveing to stop racing because of haveing no water is a absoloute joke really!

i will expect some discount or some sort of refund.

I do sympasize with you Chris. But safety comes first and the Marshall's could not see if any riders had crashed to warn others.

Having said that the watering should of been sorted out and the track possible could of been watered after the heats before it became completely polished. This would of kept the dust down. I think the club was let down by the track owners and let down at the last min by the bowser. The track was not prepared for a full days racing.

If you go to whitings water you will be praising the club with the great track and great preparation unfortunately the problem is with the track in my opinion ! .

Fair enough, if the marshalls couldnt see then its a good call. we couldnt race with out them. But still annoyed that it was not explained better on the day, and paid £40 quid for less racing.

I was speaking to the people that help grade Swanmore and West Meon, and he just said you pay peanuts and you get monkeys! He said to get a 360 digger up to swanmore on a low loader and pay for the diesel and a labour for one man, it is about £750!! So that is why these tracks are graded with a John Deere tractor. So don't blame HMX or the guy who grades it......i would look at the land/lease owner.

At the end of the day motocross is suppose to rough and bumpey. As for shiney chalk, the tracks are over ridden and need a break, but where would we ride? In my schoolboy days the tracks only had 60cc to 125cc not sidecars,quads and bigger cc bikes so you didn't get the huge bumps you get now. Also it use to be one track one club.

west meon and swanmore never get graded, just chains dragged over a fuc@ed track to make it look pretty which takes 30 mins to do. It needs a good harrow run over them, but oh no!, what ive heard from five members that raced there yesterday if things dont change then they will be racing elsewhere.....Some ones making some money without putting anything back in to the venues i think.

Rockstar wrote:

west meon and swanmore never get graded, just chains dragged over a fuc@ed track to make it look pretty which takes 30 mins to do. It needs a good harrow run over them, but oh no!, what ive heard from five members that raced there yesterday if things dont change then they will be racing elsewhere.....Some ones making some money without putting anything back in to the venues i think.

WELL SAID . THEM GRADERS WANT TO STICK TO EATING THEIR DINNER WITH THAT FORK THEY USED TO GRADE THAT TRACK. THATS IF THEY USE FORKS. PIKEYS

Paul #282 wrote:

I was speaking to the people that help grade Swanmore and West Meon, and he just said you pay peanuts and you get monkeys! He said to get a 360 digger up to swanmore on a low loader and pay for the diesel and a labour for one man, it is about £750!! So that is why these tracks are graded with a John Deere tractor. So don't blame HMX or the guy who grades it......i would look at the land/lease owner.

At the end of the day motocross is suppose to rough and bumpey. As for shiney chalk, the tracks are over ridden and need a break, but where would we ride? In my schoolboy days the tracks only had 60cc to 125cc not sidecars,quads and bigger cc bikes so you didn't get the huge bumps you get now. Also it use to be one track one club.

sorry mate , but your mates talkin sh it, as for this peanuts and monkey cr ap, he is havin a laugh..... to get a 15 ton slew in there would cost somewere in the region of,,,,8 hours work x £35 per hour= £280 that includes the driver and the diesel. haulage to the site cld be £100,,, so ya talkin only £380 tops. ,,,,,,, to tell ya the truth,,, u wouldnt probably need him there for even 8 hours, a slew is only gonna face up ya jumps grade out a few off camber corners, and take the worst of those bumps out, wat it needs up there is just to be subsoiled, shattered and then powerharrowed and then rolled,,, shame the bloody place isnt closer to me or i wld have offered to have done it..... quote... tracks need a break , wtf is that gonna do ????? we live in a age now were the machinery and implements are available to have a nice track for every race... there is no excuse, if the leaseholder of the swan and the meon aint got the right tools there is plenty of contractors out there that have, ........ quote..... 60s and 125s,,,, ummmmm all i can remember is big old 500cc maicos banging around,, tracks back then were rough as old assholes, just because it was so much effort to put them right, the only thing i can say in on leaseholders side is the weather,, sometimes the weather cld halt or hinder preperation to a track, espesially if your running alot of meetings.,,,,its the same old problem here ,SUPPLY AND DEMAND, hands are tied, ..............................................................sorry 4 my rant its not intended to offend any 1 .... just pisses me off sometimes. ,,, o yea nice 1 to the 3 lads that came past me on yellow flags, nobs. cld be u led out on the track next time relying on the marshalls to slow people down..

Hey don't shoot the messager, the guy isn't a mate he is just someone who comes into the family business. We need people like you to correct people like that and to stop the bulls**t that is killing the sport.

ha , sorry dude.....

got a bit carried away....

yer right though it does......

if land owner would allow this how about we all chip in and hire what we needed 2 bring these tracks back 2 life ?

swanmore always gets like that this time of year which is no fault of the club . but the track should of been watered and preped though the week so the water could soak into the track instead of running down the hill and doing nothing, then maybe this might not of been an issue. Did not race myself this week but was there watching and the A group was just as dusty as the Quads.! Cant wait till Whittings Water where the chap seems only to happy to put the effort in .

hi not trying to pi** anyone off but, the comment of all chipping it to repair these worn out old tracks, i thought our membership cost and race fee's covered all of this. surely we pay enough to get some quality tracks for our money, its not as if we have to pay extra for whittings water to be graded and watered and foxholes cant use enough of the stuff. why is whittings water and foxholes the only two decent tracks left on the calender.
sorry but thats MY opinion

I do have to agree. Specially in this current climate with the credit crunch. Its not a cheep sport and i am more than happy to help out but with these two tracks you will be throwing money down the drain.

With you Farmerboi on the yellow flag subject.
I got passed under a yellow going into one of the off camber corners.
Can't tell me that they were going to quick to notice the flag?
This was in C group so they definately weren't going to fast!!!