Motorcycle Ice Racing
Ice racing includes a motorcycle class which is the equivalent of Speedway on ice. Bikes race anti-clockwise around oval tracks between 260 m (0.16 mi) and 425 m (0.264 mi) in length. The race structure and scoring is similar to Speedway.
The bikes bear a passing resemblance to those used for speedway, but have a longer wheelbase and a more rigid frame. The sport is divided into classes for full-rubber and studded tires. The studded tire category involves competitors riding on bikes with spikes up to 30 millimetres (1.2 in) in length screwed into each tread-less tyre, each bike has 90 spikes on the front tyre and 200-500 on the rear. The use of these spikes in this discipline necessitate the addition of special protective guards (similar to mudguards) over the wheels which extend almost to the ice surface. The spiked tyres produce a tremendous amount of traction and this means two-speed gearboxes are also required. As with speedway, the bikes do not have brakes. Czech made 4-stroke Jawa motorcycles have been the dominant force in this sport.
In the studded tyre class there is no broadsiding around the bends due to the grip produced by the spikes digging into the ice. Instead, riders lean their bikes into the bends at an angle where the handlebars just skim the track surface. Speeds approach 80 mph (130 km/h) on the straights, and 60 mph (97 km/h) on the bends. The safety barrier usually consists of straw bales or banked-up snow and ice around the outer edge of the track.
The riding style required for studded ice racing is different from that used in the other track racing disciplines. This means riders from this discipline rarely participate in Speedway or its other variants and vice-versa.
The majority of Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme sanctioned team and individual meetings are held in Russia, Sweden and Finland, but events are also held in the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary (since 2000),the Netherlands, and occasionally other countries. Countries that dominated and won the majority of titles in Individual Ice Racing World Championship (held since 1966) and Team Ice Racing World Championship (held since 1979) were the USSR and since 1991—Russia. Canada's national touring series is sanctioned by the Canadian Motorcycle Association.
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Famous quotes containing the words motorcycle, ice and/or racing:
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—Anna Quindlen (b. 1952)
“How’d you like some ice cream, Doc?”
—Stanley Kubrick (b. 1928)
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—Barbara Ehrenreich (b. 1941)