South Eastern Centre Motocross Combine Minutes April 2003

PRESENT : 22 Delegates were present representing the following Clubs :- Brighton, GEST, Greenwich, Sidcup, and Twickenham. Also A. Wood [TSM] , C. Elwell [DEP Pipes] and R. Humphrey [ACU MX Committee & Chalgrove].

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE : Were received from Mrs. Hayden [Horsham] Yan Dixon [Crawley] Alan Clarke [Sidcup].

CHAIR : Mr. Eddie Herd took the Chair and welcomed Roy Humphrey and Craig Elwell.

The dates in question are the British Four Stroke, Sidecar and Under 21 Round on 13th April, A RR meeting on 4th May and the proposed lottery funded event on 17th August.

MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETINGS : It was proposed Mr. Lane and seconded Mr. Mills that the minutes for the meeting on 15th January be approved as an accurate record of the proceedings. Carried. Mr. Herd pointed out a spelling mistake in the minutes of 19th February which after corrections were proposed by Mr. Lane and seconded Mr. Mills that they also be approved. Carried.

MATTERS ARISING THEREFROM :

NFU Adverts : Mrs. Clarke confirmed she had placed advertisements in the following journals :- KWG , NFU South East edition, Farmers Guardian and Farmers weekly. Requesting land to use for offroad motorcycle events and read details of the one reply. Mr. Lane said he would like the details to follow up and Mr. Elwell said he thought the enquiry should be pursued as any form of track in the SE was welcome.

WEBSITE : Jamie Clarke reported in the 3 months since he put the counter on the site there had been 619 hits. He had now moved the site to a new host which would cost £20 a year with a much better address of www.mxsoutheast.co.uk The regs for the next Winterpick Farm meeting had been put on there together with past minutes of meetings.

JOINT DATES MEETING : Mrs. Clarke had written to the other Centres as requested regarding the lack of response to the meeting and therefore our intention to hold the next meeting within the SE, reply from Eastern Centre read and noted and phone call received from Southern offering to pay their share of the hall costs.

CENTENERY SUPPER : Mr. Brown reported a very successful evening thoroughly enjoyed by all who attended.

RIDERS HANDOUTS : Mr. Wood reported that he had sent a few proof copies out for perusal and had some feed back from les Batten but he still needed details of some of the venues before he could finalise it.

ADVERTISING BANNER : Mr. Wood said he was waiting for the last of the advertisers for the covers of this year's Championship events, Mr. Elwell said his company had not been approached and he felt sure more advertisers could be found.

PRACTISE DAYS : Mrs. Clarke had written to Eddie Bellars raising the question of affiliations that now pose a question with the recent changes in mind. In the past the ACU had agreed that practise day riders did not need to have a competition licence as there was no element of competition in the event, so non ACU riders joined the Club for the day and were then affiliated through them. Now the affiliation fee is incorporated in the licence Mr. Bellars suggested a day licence would have to be purchased. Mr. Batten asked if practise starts were allowed as most of the lads really need to practise starts as much as riding the track. Mrs. Clarke said they had always been told a mass start was not permitted, agreed the Secretary to write to the ACU MX Committee for a definition as there did not seem to be any guidelines in print anywhere.

WINTERPICK FARM : Mr. Brown thanked everyone who was part of the team that put on a very successful event, one of the people Mrs. Hayden was unfortunately sick and he had taken her a bouquet of flowers. He also asked for it to be minuted the amount of effort put into the weekend by Yan Dixon who he felt deserved a medal overcoming many obstacles over the period. One rider's entry fee cheque bounced and the sum was taken out of his prize money. Mr. Burton proposed a vote of thanks to Mr. Brown for organising everyone so well, Mr. Batten confirmed Yan Dixon's commitment as he was woken by the tractor and bowser at 6 a.m. on the Saturday morning. There were 3 injuries one of which was a broken ankle. There was some confusion as to the definition of the 4 x 4 ambulance but it was confirmed the vehicle was fully kitted out to the correct specifications. The regulations for the next event at Winterpick are in the TSM, the track has been re graded and the fences left up.

NOISE PRESENTATION BY CRAIG ELWELL OF DEP PIPES AND GENERAL DISCUSSION ON NOISE LEVELS.

Mr. Herd opened by explaining the problem in general but in particular in this Centre regarding noise levels now that the Four Strokes are in the majority it seems to be more pronounced.

The ACU Moto Cross Committee had commissioned a noise meter operator to go to the Hawkstone International and all the Maxxis rounds where some of the after market pipes from the factory teams had failed.

Mr. Elwell first asked the question is the production pipe quiet enough, although there was plenty of warning in the Press about testing only 50% of the entry at Hawkstone were tested because of the adverse weather. At Canada heights some people with noise levels of 102 were let ride and the test area was suspect with trees, a marquee and mesh fencing all close by. He felt the testing was not good enough and the equipment not standardised or the test areas consistent producing different readings from the same machines at different tracks. Mr. Herd said the readings from Canada Heights and Hawkstone were consistent although Wakes Colne seemed to be very low which did not send a good message out to the teams. At the Spanish GP it rained so there was no testing but in Holland it was very strict and some machines failed and were turned back.

MR. Elwell said his Company makes a production exhaust whose aim was to get more power and in a Four Stroke machine more power equates to more noise. He produces different pipes for the different markets throughout the world, in America and Australia he exports his loudest pipes whilst in Denmark it has to be much quieter and he has produced a special long pipe for 2 strokes which has only just been accepted.

There are problems reading the RPM on a Four Stroke machine as a modern one fires on every stroke, signals can be picked up from the coil or the HT lead, in Holland they reverted back to the wobbly wire method. Some machine have slipper clutches to take out the vibration so mechanics then loosen the engine bolts to get a vibration reading ! Cheating does go on one way around would be to test on the side of the track but a rider could always roll off the throttle when they go past.

He felt lowering of noise levels would create an unfair advantage of power reduction in the favour of 2 strokes. He would like to see a specialist employed by the ACU to go around to all of the events and have some money invested in this area to make sure they have enough expertise .

In the old days a 4 stroke would rev out to 9000 RPM but now they are up to 13000 RPM and that is when the noise appears.

A standard YZF gives off 98 db where as the enduro version WRF 93 db. Mr. Elwell said it is possible to change a moto cross bike exhaust system to that of an enduro one but about 15% power would be lost, although everyone would, on a fourstroke, be on a level playing field it would give an advantage to a 2 stroke machine.

There is a lot of experimentation going on at the moment within the Industry and places like Mildenhall are insisting on quieter machines, the bottom lone being if tracks are lost there will be no where to ride your bike.

It was thought a standard could be set on an exhaust system and get an approved stamp but Mr. Elwell said an exhaust system is only as good as the maintenance on it. A Four Stroke runs so hot it burns the packing material out on average after 10 hours. Baffles are better but much more expensive to make and can also be burnt out

Mr. Elwell said what he would like to do is to go to a track and do some noise testing with an independent rider and some different bikes, both 2 and 4 strokes and see what happens. Mrs. Clarke said she would also like the ACU to get involved and ask all their noise testers to come as she believed they did not have experience in the field at their seminars. Mr. Burton said he would put the matter to the Sidcup Committee and see if Canada Heights could be made available on a Saturday. In June or July.

ACU MOTO CROSS COMMITTEE MINUTES :

Extract from 16th November Meeting :

It was noted that when inspections of British Championship tracks are carried out the inspectors should take care to look at track entrances for First Aiders. These entrances could be raised and marked with flags to assist First Aiders in finding track access.

Mrs. Clarke said this had been done at Canada Heights for this year's meeting and was a good idea.

It was noted that the date of 29th June was being used for the ACU Centenary Festival in the Isle of Wight.

Mrs. Clarke urged anyone who was free to help on this day as the Vectis Club in the Isle of Wight was only small.

Mr. Humphrey advised that the Training & Development Department plan to licence all Safety Officers as Incident Officers, who will also be able to act in a position of Assistant Clerk of the Course.

Extract from 15th January Meeting :

Mr. Dixon reported that he had been involved in discussions with the ACU who are looking to centralise the Inspection of Motocross Tracks. In future tracks used for open practice, official ACU training and competition will require a track file issued by the ACU.

Mrs. Clarke asked if anyone knew what was going on with the new system of track inspections within the Centre, Canada Heights had recently been inspected because of it's National event and the paperwork seemed to be a good idea. Mr. Dixon said he had generated this and it was felt it should also be used for Centre events. Mr. Humphrey warned Clubs not to get involved with advising any of the commercially run tracks as the Insurance implications were far reaching.

Extract from 25th March Meeting :

A] Noise Seminar 22nd February : Mr. Crawford reported that there had been a Technical Seminar held at the ACU Offices. Unfortunately it was not possible to have a Motocross machine available to carry out noise tests. It was felt that this part of the seminar is very important and Mr. Higgins advised that he could make machines available for these types of seminars in the future if given sufficient notice.

B] MX02 - 69 - Noise : Senior Sound Official Eddie Jones was unable to oversee the noise testing at Canada Heights on 16th March. MR. Crawford acted in this capacity on behalf of the committee. Some after market silencers are also causing readings to be higher than 98dBA. Machines with the standard pipes are just making the 98dBA. In an effort to protect the sport every effort must be made to monitor noise levels. The International body, the FIM, must look to reduce the noise levels as the manufacturers will only reduce the noise of machines if it is imposed at the highest level. Mr. Colin Moram, Chairman of the ACU Technical Panel, will be approached to re-submit his paper on reduction of noise levels, which was refused by the FIM Motocross Commission some years ago. Mr. Jones would be appointed by the ACU to attend all rounds of the Maxxis British Championship to oversee Noise Testing. All riders will be tested prior to the meeting and pipes will be marked with a heat resistant paint. Random selection after the races will take place in accordance with the current championship regulations.. A rider will be black flagged when it is clear that he has completely lost a silencer from his machine.

E] MX 03-09-c Track Inspections : Insurers are concerned that there is a lack of consistency by Track Inspectors. It was suggested at a meeting of the interested parties on 12th February that there should be three Assessors and approximately up to eight Inspectors located around the country. Unannounced inspections [ audits ] should be made using a different Inspector than the one who had carried out the original inspection. To begin and in most instances Inspectors approved by the Motocross Committee will carry out track inspections for local centre events, centres will be invited to nominate their senior track inspectors. National / International events or those run on Permanent Circuits will be inspected by one of the senior Track Inspectors. It was felt by all present that it was important to keep local centres involved in the continued inspection of tracks and advised of all new requirements.

Any Other Business c] Medical Services : Following the amendment of the medical requirements re the 2003 Handbook amendment, the requirements have been altered again by a further press release. The Committee will look into the medical arrangements for 2004 before the 2004 handbook goes to press.

Mrs. Clarke was not sure if she had seen a copy of this latest change and no one else seemed to know either.

CENTRE CHAMPIONSHIPS :

Covers : As Mr. Wood had said earlier most of the advertising had been set, although the first event at Sidcup did not get a colour version.

Awards : The Solo and Four Stroke Trophies had still not been presented and it was agreed to do them at the Sidcup event on May 26th.

SCRUTINEER'S SEMINAR : This had been booked for Saturday May 17th at Blindley Heath and would be run by Andy Crawford with Don Godden helping on the Grass Track side . Notice had gone into the TSM inviting all disciplines. Mrs. Clarke said she had been asked if the seminar would carry National status as it was being conducted by National Instructors , she was instructed to write to the ACU to find out.

LOTTERY APPLICATION : Mr. Lane said the application had unfortunately arrived too late for payment now but when another signature is added to the application form it will be hand delivered by John Claridge, it will take 3 months and the money can not be guaranteed. If we are granted it we need a list of 6th form schools in the area and book a marquee and some display bikes, Mr. Brown confirmed that was all in hand. Mr. Humphrey also confirmed a meeting had been arranged with Andy Sutch from the Sports Council with himself and Eddie herd in May regarding future funding. Application forms for the Awards for All were distributed and confirmed that Jim Bacon would be nominated.

THE SPORTING MOTORCYCLIST : Mr. Wood asked for comments about the entry forms as they were being modified, he re iterated free publicity in the TSM was always available for events.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS :

Centre Board 7th May : Mrs. Clarke urged as many delegates as possible to attend as Neil Hellings would be attending.

Competition Licences : Mrs. Clarke said Sidcup had decided following on from the first MR Thumper round they would not be prepared to spend 1 ½ hours administering day licences because of the June 30th fiasco and had gained permission from both the ACU and the Insurers to accept valid licences that expired on June 30th at their last meeting.

Sidecar Publicity leaflet : Jamie Clarke showed the meeting an excellent colour leaflet produced by the Sidecar Association.

Grading : Mr. Batten [ Recorder ] asked for Clubs to make sure the actual home town was published in the programme the county was not good enough.

GEST : Mr. Horton said he was not happy with the about turn on licences as he had been told the opposite and was selling them. He was not happy with the first press release regarding Medical Cover qualifications. He understood an IHCD was only a qualification gained by a National Health employee, the Secretary to check up on this.

Rob McKinnon : Mr. Burton reported that Rob McKinnon had had a serious mountain biking accident and would probably not race again which was sad as he was an old centre Champion.

There being nothing further to discuss the meeting closed at 11 pm.