American Style Flat-Track Racing in Oz

FLAT-TRACK, dirt-track and speedway racing are all disciplines that have been around forever. They all have a common link and have all developed from humble beginnings. They have also been country specific in their origins and have spread to most parts of the world. Well at least where there is dirt. But flat-track racing has been in many ways the bolder of the disciplines. Even in the very early days of the sport, just after everyone gave up the board-track racing death circus of the 1920’s and 1930’s, flat-track was developed as the next step in American motorcycle racing.

Initially, it catered for small, single-cylinder 350 cc machines and much more powerful 1000 cc machines of any number of cylinders. Many motorcycle manufactures of the day had twin or four cylinder machines that they desperately wanted to get exposed to the public. Flat-track racing was a good choice—spectators could see the entire track during a race which kept interest high among the crowds (unlike in road-racing where you only caught a glimpse of a racer as he roared past). With flat-track it was all in front of you, every furious lap after lap could be watched from the one vantage point. The crowds loved it and so did the riders. It was fast, close racing that brought the best riders together to compete for their brand of motorcycle. 

The big bikes, the 1000 cc bikes, were spectacular and very fast, easily doing more than 100 mph on the straights, but it came at a cost—a lot of riders were killed in high speed crashes and eventually the press got a hold of the story and really made it look as though the 1000 cc bikes were death machines and were compared to the board-track racers and deaths of the 1920’s. 

By the mid 30’s the rules were changed and the 1000 cc class was dropped in favour of the 750 cc side-valve V-twin against the 500 cc overhead-valve single. At the time it seemed like a fair ruling—both bikes had similar power-to-weight-ratios and there were plenty of manufacturers wanting to get involved. 

The sport developed over the years to the point that the V-twins became the dominant motorcycle. Harley-Davidson and Indian were two of the big players in the game and their rivalry and race battles are legendary. Side-valves became overhead-valves and cast-iron engines gave way to all-alloy motors in the Harley-Davidson racing team. Indian went belly-up in 1957 after some bad management so Harley-Davidson had it their way for a number of years until Triumph and Norton got involved in the 1960’s. Tough fast racing was the order of the day, and if anyone has seen the movie On Any Sunday, there is fantastic flat-track racing from the time in that movie.

American flat-track got faster and more professional and more technical as the years rolled on. Today, the V-twin is still the bike of choice and Harley-Davidson is still the biggest brand represented. It’s as serious as NASCAR is to the four wheeled racers. The bikes are now doing 130 mph on the mile tracks on the straights and more than a 100 mph around the corners. It’s fast, it’s specialised and very, very, serious.

Australia has never really taken to the American flat-track. Here we have traditionally had a mix of speedway and motocross bikes set up for dirt-racing. The bikes normally run a full knobby motocross tyre or speedway tyre on the front wheel and a trials tyre on the rear. This combination promotes slides on the dirt that are controlled to a point. Tracks are prepared for this type of racing and tyres. The American style of tyre is much larger in width and less aggressive in tread. 

There is a historic class in flat-track racing for large capacity twins like the XR750 Harley-Davidson or the Triumphs and Nortons, even Yamaha 650’s, but there is no current class for modern twin-cylinder machines. If you want to run something newer you can only enter in the unlimited class but you are mostly up against big-bore motocross bikes converted to flat-track. A Harley-Davidson XR750 will set you back at least $40,000 and probably need a rebuild; other bikes like Triumph and Norton flat-trackers from the States are also very expensive and they are all high maintenance because of their age and high level of tune. That makes for expensive racing.

In the last few years there has been a strong interest in the American style of flat-track with the 19-inch wheels front and back and the American flat-track tyres. With the right bike set up to compliment these wheels and tyres you can get a bigger twin-cylinder bike around a track very well.

The guys from the Bankstown Wyllie Park Motorcycle Club, one of the oldest in the country, regularly organises flat-track, speedway and long-track races, and I’ve had the pleasure and fun of joining them. 

With what bike? A 1994 Harley-Davidson Sportster! Yep, a Sporty. I’ve fitted the 19-inch wheels and Dunlop DT3 flat-track tyres, a second-hand exhaust and a carby tune, a second-hand XR750 style seat and tail-section, plus a set of flat-track bars from the States and it’s done. All up including the bike it owes me $6000.

As for the fun factor, it’s brilliant! It’s a big bike but it is actually pretty good on the dirt and I can run with a lot of the 450 MX bikes out at Appin flat-track (part of the Macquarie Motorcycle Complex). 

There is now about six of us who have put together a modern flat-track bike. We have a 2010 Triumph, a Ducati Monster, a Hyosung 650, a Kawasaki 650 and a Honda 600 four-cylinder as well. There probably isn’t one bike that has cost more than $6000 and a couple were bought from the auctions for a $1000, so the price tag is cheap (you can’t get a half decent 450 MX for less than $7000) and the racing is certainly fun. Add to that the challenge of man-handling a 180 kg bike sideways on the dirt at 140 km/h and you can see it’s a whole lotta fun. 

We have had a race meeting at Appin which was sanctioned and licensed by MA NSW, the governing body for racing in this state, and we plan to have a couple more this year. The precedent has been set for this class of modern, American-style, flat-track racing in Oz. The more bikes we get involved the better and, hopefully, we can eventually have a proper class of racing that other tracks and venues will include us in. 

I’m 60 and still having a load of fun with the Sporty. It’s never too late to have a go and it’s never too late to start another project. You don’t have to be a gun rider; all you need to be able to do is turn the throttle and slide the bike. Shit! There are even courses throughout the year that can teach you all you need to know. It’s just plain simple fun. If you got nothing to do on a Sunday come out to Appin flat-track and have a look at what goes on.  The Bankstown Wyllie Park Motorcycle Club has a facebook page called the “BWP blue diamonds”. Look them up and get an idea of when the next flat-track day will be on; at the moment we are racing every second Sunday.

If you like the idea having a slide on some very good dirt tracks, then grab a bike and have some fun. Remember, this is all about AFFORDABLE flat-track racing; no big dollar bikes but simple modifications and limited engine mods. Keep the cost down and people will have a go.

I hope to see you out there soon.

article by Paul Bailey