Bike Guys

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momec3
Posts: 780
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:36 pm
Location: Cedar Grove Qld

Bike Guys

Post by momec3 »

Step up and volunteer for key positions.

Positions Vacant

Chief Starter track 1 and 2




Chris Hanlon
Chris
Stayt`ie
Posts: 1041
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 11:47 pm
Location: Mackay

Re: Bike Guys

Post by Stayt`ie »

"#### Off Chris" :!: ,,

We are "all" in this together,, Finger pointing(calling out) only leads to assumption, conjector, arguments and "Divishion",,,
First Australian to ride a motorcycle over 200mph at Bonneville,,,
momec3
Posts: 780
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:36 pm
Location: Cedar Grove Qld

Re: Bike Guys

Post by momec3 »

Stayt'ie, the truth is in the numbers. 70 odd percent bikes 30 percent cars. I totally agree we are in this together. So that should reflect through every position out there.
Chris
Stayt`ie
Posts: 1041
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 11:47 pm
Location: Mackay

Re: Bike Guys

Post by Stayt`ie »

This problem is not going to go away,,

I served on the Palmyra Dragway committee for about 30 years in various roles (Palmyra is a club ran orginisation, relys on volunteers), As the track grew it was obvese that relying on people was holding its progress back, ( a problem that Palmyra still faces today),,

My suggestion is that we (the DLRA) has to foster (read, Look After) people who wish to make a role their own, have "Dedicated phesilities"(spelling), for example a Air Conditioned donga complex, yes, lurks and purks that will attract reliable people,,
First Australian to ride a motorcycle over 200mph at Bonneville,,,
hawkwind
Posts: 294
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: Bike Guys

Post by hawkwind »

Chris Historically the DLRA has always been a car orientated organisation particularly for hotrods and the main committee by and large is a Victorian affair ... A quick look at all the committees; produces car people 35 bike people 11 the only committee with equal numbers is the state reps each with 6 people for cars and bikes. Now this is where I may start to cause some controversy, having been the only "bike person" on any committee between 2003 -2010 ( bike scrutineer )possibly shared with Graham Hadley for some of those years I had the distinct impression that all positions of any power / significance were guarded jealously by the car people and in fact some unnamed persons where hostile to bikes in general, over the last 27 years bike membership has steadily grown to where now bike membership exceeds car membership as does entries , considering that the larger percentage of the clubs funding is now produced by " bike people" I ask why is the bulk of committees still car people? Seeing as many of these positions are voted in , is it still the " car people" jealously holding on to power? or "bike people " intimidated or to lazy or not committed to try for these positions? Solutions ..... mandate on a percentage basis of car / bike people to hold the committee positions, or as was sort by some "car people " to separate bikes from cars as in having their own separate meets , maybe have the meet run by paid / professional staff or a combination of volunteer / paid staff .
Chris yours or any other ideas are welcome :)
cheers Gary.
Vehicle......................A new creation.
Designed by................Troglodyte.
Engineered/ built by......Rustic.
Financed by.................Nickles & Dimes.
Rider......................... Tardus Vetus Inflatio
David Leikvold
Posts: 981
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:57 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Bike Guys

Post by David Leikvold »

Trevor Slaughter had an air conditioned 20ft container one year. It ran on solar panels and a wall of batteries. Impressive. A generator would be cheaper.

I'm not convinced that the old story about bike riders not pulling their weight still applies, if it ever really did. I always get great help from bike people. To name just a few, and I apologise to anyone I've missed, the Black Ice gang, Claire and Dave Bolger, Barbara Harkness, Dion from Mildura Ice Works, the Royal Enfield team, Peter Healey, Ross Brown, anyone who's ever been to a QTA meeting or Ross Brown's shed for a BBQ, Brooke Denning, Mike Riddell, Stuart Hooper, everyone on Grant Schlein's team, Matt Clifford, Samantha Peterson, Ronnie Stayte, the list goes on and on.

The only one I really don't like, and I have no idea who it is, is the arsehole with the Harley that has a Nazi swastika engraved on the steering head. If I come back as a motorcycle scrutineer next year, you will NEVER pass scrutineering while that is still on the bike. And even if you do get through with your swastika intact, my friends in the timing van will somehow seem to forget to re-arm the timing system whenever it's your turn to run. Arsehole.

I hate Illinois nazis.
Good, Fast, Cheap, pick any two!
Stayt`ie
Posts: 1041
Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 11:47 pm
Location: Mackay

Re: Bike Guys

Post by Stayt`ie »

'Illinois Nazis", :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: you crack me up Dave,,
First Australian to ride a motorcycle over 200mph at Bonneville,,,
momec3
Posts: 780
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:36 pm
Location: Cedar Grove Qld

Re: Bike Guys

Post by momec3 »

I always have and always will support the bike guys. Gary, all your points make sense. Stayt'ie, I see this as a perfect opportunity for someone step into the role/s. I am happy to help train anyone bike/car that wants the job. I have run out of people to ask hence me starting this thread. The committee do work bloody hard at what they do and this problem is probably number 79/100 in their list of things to worry about. I personally enjoy working the startline but expecting only one person to do the key role for the whole week is too much. Without starters we don't race. Don't mean to get up anyones nose but suggestions please.
Chris
David Leikvold
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Location: Brisbane

Re: Bike Guys

Post by David Leikvold »

Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzzE6XLbC8M

The starters job would be OK if we could get a few people doing it, even if it was just two people doing half days it would be sort of enough although less exposure to the heat would be preferable. Pete and I have both had recent discussions with Norm Bradshaw about the situation. It really is asking too much to expect us do the whole week out in the sun on our own, we are both in our 60's now (yeah, hard to believe isn't it? :lol: !) and it is dangerous to push ourselves that hard. I don't feel right for weeks after I get home. We liked the job, we really felt we were making a positive difference and because neither of us can afford to run a car or bike we were right for the job. But without proper shade, relief from the heat, no food, no transport, not enough water, not even chairs, we just can't keep doing it. Over the years we've tried to improve this but it really hasn't worked. When there was only one track we had the pile of rust and old junk starters van but it had a tarp out the front so everyone stood up in our line of sight. We threw away the tarp in 2014 so we could see. I couldn't spend time in the van as I was the wrangler and Pete was on the radio.

In 2013, I think it was, we had an Esky full of frozen water bottles and ice delivered every day. It really, really helped us keep going. The following year that just stopped and no explanation was ever forthcoming. Neither was any water! Greg Telford, bless him, started a reduced system of water delivery this year but it needs to be a full Esky every day to each start line.

When we got track 2 the old van was no use for either track as it has always been parked half way between the two start lines. Its main purpose these days is to help us find the start lines from a distance! In 2016 Matt Clifford gave me a 6x3 marquee for shade late in the week after I had collapsed on the Wednesday morning at our campsite and couldn't stand up. I spent half the day and a quarter of a tank of fuel sitting in my car with the air on flat out so that I recovered in time for Thursday. Matt donated his marquee to us this year and that is the only shade we had at Track 2. Pete bought a brand new shelter for Track 1 and the storm destroyed it. There was plenty of shade for spectators. The Clare brothers provided that in 2015 as I remember.

The next real problem we've always had is a lack of transport on the salt. We've never had an official DLRA ute allocated to us. Thanks to the generosity of Grant Schlein we've been able to get to our start lines in time every morning. Back when that was 0700 Grant and Mick Ady would get up in the dark every morning to make sure we could get to our jobs. Lunchtime was always a problem because we couldn't get a lift to the canteen and then find someone else to get us back in time to eat and start up for the afternoon. With a ute that would be easy. One with a/c would kill two birds with one stone. It would make sense to bring lunch from our camp every day but when we get back exhausted every afternoon the last thing we want to do is make lunches. This year the pie truck was no use at all, they never came near us because nobody had told them we were too busy to drop what we were doing and go buy lunch and drinks. Even when Dion saw this happening and told them to visit us they didn't turn up when we needed them. I would have killed to have a wrap delivered every day AT lunchtime.

Norm has assured me that the Track 2 radio will have a repeater for 2018, just like Track 1 has always had, so that will solve the serious aggravation it has given me in the past when it decided when it would send and receive.

So anyone who thinks they could enjoy the job (we did) needs to bring appropriate clothing and sunscreen, an air conditioned vehicle of some kind, their own esky with plenty of water and some talented volunteers. A clipboard and plenty of pens, too.
:mrgreen:
Good, Fast, Cheap, pick any two!
David Leikvold
Posts: 981
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:57 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Bike Guys

Post by David Leikvold »

Oops, here's the right clip:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsxwhRiiWtc

:mrgreen:
Good, Fast, Cheap, pick any two!
momec3
Posts: 780
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:36 pm
Location: Cedar Grove Qld

Re: Bike Guys

Post by momec3 »

Well said David.

Its the single toughest job on the salt with little or no support for the logistics unless you do it yourself. I gave up mainly due to the lack of reliable working comms and years asking for a solution.
So we finally got one track comms working. Both tracks are equally important, reliable comms are critical for safely allowing vehicles to leave the line so 2018 is the year.
Things happen slowly but what you guys plus Peter Hulbert and crew have added shifted us forward a long way.
We have had some great helpers and my hope is some of them would want to step into the chief positions.

Chris
Chris
Stayt`ie
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Joined: Fri May 13, 2005 11:47 pm
Location: Mackay

Re: Bike Guys

Post by Stayt`ie »

Yes, as I eluded too in a earlier post, the club has too look after our people who take on a dedicated role,, These people grow to know the job, their experience allows them to forsee problems and know how to get them sorted,,

All people are different, some volenteers copeing abuse will walk off muttering "I'm a volunteer I don't need this shit", and never put their hand up again,,

I know of a couple of competitors who have stated that thay will not volunteer due to the fact that thay felt spoken down too (belittled, as competitors) at drivers meetings,,

To avert the problem of que jumpers, could we have "one" staging lane (all nose to tail), then, at the start line have it open into two, one vehicle to go, another ready,,

I get the feeling that this is a discushion between us three, due to FaceBook taking most, if not all from this site :(
First Australian to ride a motorcycle over 200mph at Bonneville,,,
momec3
Posts: 780
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:36 pm
Location: Cedar Grove Qld

Re: Bike Guys

Post by momec3 »

Dead right. You need a thick skin on the startline. Training and nurturing new staff is critical. I think Dave will agree that the endless stream of new volunteers for each shift is counterproductive. We need continuity with staff.
You could be right Stayt'ie. Its a bit of a ghost town on the forum now.


Chris.
Chris
hawkwind
Posts: 294
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2010 3:50 pm

Re: Bike Guys

Post by hawkwind »

Maybe its now time to look to a paid organisation or payed staff to run speed week as it would fix the majority of problems now encountered with a purely volunteer base, only one big negative I can see is would racers be prepared to cough up substantially more $$$$ to pay for it?
Agree with this site now resembling a grave yard.
Vehicle......................A new creation.
Designed by................Troglodyte.
Engineered/ built by......Rustic.
Financed by.................Nickles & Dimes.
Rider......................... Tardus Vetus Inflatio
David Leikvold
Posts: 981
Joined: Mon Apr 16, 2007 11:57 pm
Location: Brisbane

Re: Bike Guys

Post by David Leikvold »

And yet sometimes I see up to "14 guests online in the last 5 minutes" down the bottom of the page. Facebook is all well and good for glossy photos and videos but not much else. Yes, having novices volunteer all the time isn't ideal but they have to start somewhere and I'm happy to have them. They get the idea pretty quickly as none of the jobs are difficult and I always make sure they know they can ask me anything any time. Racers never seem to give me a hard time at the startline, most of them know me from previous years and the rookies get to hear me talk at the Sunday meetings. I think they soon realise I'm there to have fun and get everyone as many runs as possible so there is no reason to have a go at me. One of my favourite volunteers from a few years ago was a young bike rider from country SA who looked really dodgy, a wiry, weedy guy with piercings, tattoos and a haircut that should have been free. He reacted very well to my cheerful and positive attitude and by the end of his shift we were best mates. I would have him back anytime.

A single file line works fine for me, if someone can't start their run I just bring the next racer around them, tell the timers of the change and off they go. It works well.

Ronnie, you're right, the committee does need to look after the dedicated crews better. I think they finally realise that now. Let's hope that realisation turns into actual and significant improvement in 2018 and beyond. So that is as simple as proper and effective shade, a good supply of water, air conditioned transport if the starters can't provide their own vehicle, someone to relieve them after lunch, someone to train volunteers and someone to coordinate them all so that no jobs go unfinished.

Now if only they would seriously consider my four track plan! Here's my offer: If that gets up for 2018 I WILL come back and do my old job again, but ONLY if all the other conditions are met too. I will happily train as many replacements and other volunteers as you want.

Cheers
Dave :mrgreen:
Good, Fast, Cheap, pick any two!
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