wagge

I was looking at the Chinese scooters in the 250cc 13 in tires range but not sure the suspension would be enough. The track is 34deg, so flying 200s the g-force might be too much. The price was good at 750.00. Looked at craigslist and found some 250cc motorcross style but I think these have a narrow power band, need something auto trans that has a good suspension for cheap (I know it probably does not exist) Any ideas?

taras0000

The suspension can always be stiffened with heavier springs.

SyntaxMonstr

We use a Chinese 125cc Hero motorbike at our track, also 34* and it hasn't had any problems so far. I think the scarier thing is hitting bumps in the track at 68kph. Like Taras said, you can tweak the suspension if you're not happy with it.

Figure if the bikes can handle this: then a velodrome is easy by comparison. =P

Muddlfuc

We use a Honda CB125 fitted with a roller on our outdoor vello, reliability of a Honda, and will happily sit on 60+
There is one club that uses an ex Aust postie bike (CT110) and one club that has two of proper dernies

The derny is a weird thing to ride behind, Noisy, smelly and gives a great advantage to the riders further back in the pack as you might not hear them coming.

700wheel

Here is an article about an electrical Derny:
Electric derny bike causes upset at Track World Cup - Cycling Weekly

taras0000

When I was younger (about 16/17 years ago), my dad stuck a roller on the back of this beast and I used to do "come around" drills on a flat country road near our house.

rensho3

When I started riding track at the old Olympic Velodrome in Carson, we motorpaced behind a Honda 750. Nothing like a big bike to make a great draft!

taras0000

Creates a smoother pace as well because the larger bikes has more inertia to overcome the small bumps and such that would cause a scooter to slow, whether directly or through a blip of the wrist on the throttle. You can really learn how to get comfortably close when drafting a bigger bike. The roller is the obvious insurance against accidental touches, but because of this safety net, you really learn to play the limits of closeness with a bigger bike, and how to quickly react by pulling the bike back under you and such to not make contact with the roller.

For a drill to get comfortable close in, grab a textured paint roller, and make a few dashed lines with a contrasting marker along it's length, then slip this over the motor's roller. Slight touches will cause it to roll and you can see this movement in your peripheral vision. You'll soon be able to play with the roller by making little "micro touches", and rolling it ever so slightly at will. Then you'll be ready to me Man 3 in a TS.

rensho3

While we had a roller for a while on the 750 Honda, it was taken off for some reason, but we kept motor pacing with it. I never missed the roller. The Honda had a four into one collector for its exhaust. My wife (just my girl friend then) was so comfortable on her aero bars, that she would stick her front wheel in between the wheel and the exhaust cone for lap after lap. All of us studly guys were terrified of doing that! I guess that's why she won a couple of master's world championships.

As for the benefits of horsepower, at VSC we now use electric bikes, and when you are winding up for a 200, if the rider does not goose the gas when climbing up to turns 1 and 3, you can really sense the pacer slowing down, which, if you are not used to it, can cause all sorts of tension behind it! We never had that problem with the Honda, although, to be fair, the angle was only about 33 degrees instead of the current 45 degree banking.