The Nats

[firko]

Ironically there were 160+ entries at the 1991 Dargle Nats and from memory the entries topped 200 on two or three occasions in the 90s and averaged out at around 160-175....all without any classes newer than pre '75 which would indicate to me that entries have suffered an overall decline. Considering todays entries are being boosted by the inclusion of Pre '78, Evo and now pre '85 it would appear that there's a problem in attracting riders that needs to be addressed. One would think that there'd be a substantial increase in entry numbers in twenty years considering the increased public awareness of the sport through the media and with the inclusion of newer cut off divisions.

The Condo Greybeards meeting which was held every Queens Birthday weekend usually enjoyed entries of upward of 200 during its lifetime and nothing since has come along coming close to matching it for numbers.

[Tossa]

I don't buy the " No body's had time or inclination to get in the shed" excuse for the lack of Sandgroper entries. It hasn't stopped them from travelling to any of the Easter Nats in substantial numbers in the past. I suspect politics are the real reason behind the lack of Sandgroper entries.

I can see where you might get that thought, but from talking to those who normally attend the NATS and I think in the past two yrs over 20 riders from the west attended in Tassie and Queensland, no mention of politics was heard.  i think it's just one of those years where some of the usual suspect haven't got the time or money to attend.  But then again mark I am a bit niave, and just enjoy the sport.  no offence meant

[Brian Watson]

Mark, there are no politics here in the West..particularly when it comes to enjoying ourselves with attending a Nats....just too bloody hot to get enthused...We will only have one tuning day scheduled before we have to pack up and head to Broady....I for one am looking forward to riding there again..last time I was ther was the 1978 OZ titles....

[Rossvickicampbell]

and I also think a few people are making the decisions as to whether to be included in the "racing for sheepstations" classes or the "get out and have a ride" group.  I had already made the decision this year that the Nats were too serious for me and I was going to spend my money going to CD.

Rossco

[firko]

Unfortunately I've today decided that I won't be attending the Nats. I just plain can't afford A: to spend the week between the the Bonanza and the Nats away from home or, B: make two seperate 20 hour round trips a week apart. As I'm a play rider these days and the fact that we've booked a motel for the Bonanza, it wins out. Counting both weekends and the week in between the two events that's 11 or 12 days away from home that I can't justify.

[Hornet]

you are dead right Mark , its a long gap , espcially when you are in a job or run business . If you stay its a lot of time to drink beer and if you choose to go home its a long way for 3 or 4 days. I have chosen to go back to base  in between the two events  . Even if its only two days , many E-mails and calls can be answered  and many parcels can be despatched. But it was definitely not the best idea  to run it so close . Lets hope the nats will still go ahead .

[EML]

Firko, I could see from the above posts that this was where the thread was leading. We have to realise that there will be a divide between the racers and those that just want to show and ride their bikes.
We spoke earlier about dividing up the Nats between pre 85 and evo etc... but in reality I think natural attrition will take care of it. i.e. the fact that some will travel to race no matter where and others will stay at home to just show their garage queens or travel only if they have the time and money.
As I have said before Australia is too large ( as big as east Europe or the USA at least) with no where near the population to hold mega events where you could expect 1000s to turn up so we must get used to settling for wha we have.
We to will not be at Broadford for the Honda show as we have lost staff or had down time in the workplace and may not even make it to the Nats to chase a supposed "title", things are so bad , and we wil miss vital practise for the title because of it. We will still go to the sidecar spectacular as that's the only real place we race against a real field of like chairs, so that puts another spanner in the Nats spokes.
Until our sport can find a national sponsor/ we will never get a full roll up of the top guys on the top bikes of each era and so it's best to stick to the show and ride format ala CD7.

[Hornet]

EML , I understand that distance can be a problem , but what I can not understand is , why you would travel the same distance to support a club event ( spectacular ) in favor of the official australian Championship?    Is it because I want be at those clubevents, therefore  you have the best  chance to win  ?    Just joking 

[Hornet]

EML , do you have some sort of cencept in mind as a national sponsor ? I am interested , maybe we can help .

[Davey Crocket]

Business is pretty quiet up here at the moment Walter, no thanks to our fuggin useless goverments (state and federal ), its been raining up here for the last month also and a lot of people havent been able to work so if theres no dough theres no go. I think also with the way they've fugged with the rules and the programme thats put alot of people off. Tell me Walter, do you know why there are 3 sidecar classes? and are YOU the only one entered?...... your gonna be as busy as a one legged man in a minefield dodging bullets!. I hope there not cancelled because Ive entered and booked flights etc already, if we go by the last couple of nats  then well probably get double the entries they have got already ......40 to 80, I hope that is enough. It will be interesting to see how many people from each state enter?.

[Hornet]

The reason why there is 3 classes is very simple . Sidecars have evolved the same as solos . its only last year we combined all the classes to get at least some show . We did use a pre 75  to race in the pre 85 , I can tell you it was hard work . Fair enough I was still a cigarette  smoking pig then with no fitness , that did not help either .  So the reason to  put up all 3 classes , is to give them all a chance to enter , because there is sufficient numbers of each class in sheds . But what you probably dont know is , there is politics invloved with sidecars . There is this ASA thing where people run " Australian title events " disquised as clubevents . No rules , as long as it has three wheels and two fee paying  creatures manouvering their vehicle around  some sort of track , its a goer . I certainly want lower myself to entertain or participate in such events . And thats when all grudges start .  Even if we have to combine classes again this year  , somehow the show will go on.

[firko]

Its not like me to miss the Nats. Except for those in WA and Tassie I've been to them all since 1991 and raced at 'em until 1999. It's just that the fun factor of our sport is now my number one prority so the Bonanza has more appeal. If my sponsored rider had decided to attend the Nats it may have been a different story, I would have entered him in a couple of classes on my bikes and did the opposite and missed the Bonanza instead. Whichever the case, it would have only been one or the other event, not both.

[albrid-3]

I have decided today that l will not be racing my Dot at the nationals this year.

[albrid-3]

no, dick Ha Ha Ha
Honest Daves Used Bikes, who are you and is that name of yours a reflection towards me.

[VMX247]

Stop the whine and get ready to ride     today's entry count 51... bring it on.... make it happen.