Do you honestly believe riders will lower their wage demands?
I think the top riders would ask for more to cover any points lost because if an engine fails they will say it was not up to the standard they maintain their own equipment too.
Also loss of sponsorship is a problem and no rider is going to lower his demands for points money to pay for a rule that they don't agree with.
The cost for lower riders is so high because they tune to such high standards then spend all night de-tuning because they can't handle the power.
I would tell any young rider to build reliable engines rather than go for super power.
Young riders need a Ted Howells not a Finn Jensen or Brian Karger.
Learn to use all the power in a Ted Howells/ Dave James type of motor, if you can use that to it's full you will be going fast enough to earn good money and will be looking at the GP's then you can afford a so called super tuner.
Develop rider skills not motor power.

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We wern't born to follow, we were born to lead

I don't think for one moment that riders will reduce their demands. What I would say is that this change would all depend on a united front on the part of promoters (I know we have yet to see this). A wage scale would need to be drawn up, and be totally transparent. The riders are presented with the wage scales, and those that dont like it can lump it. We are talking here about the survival of league speedway. I cannot see that we have a choice really. Do we continue with the present free-for-all, and wait for clubs to fold ?

But clubs have folded in the past because whatever is put in place in the way of rules and constraints someone will find a way to navigate around them because the pressure to produce a winning team is hugh.
I have watched and taken part in all types of motor sport and have seen good intentions blown away at all levels. For instance cadet Karts are powered by a 60cc chainsaw engine the cost 400 quid there was a time when you could buy a Rocket that was tuned by John Button for 4000 they were legal (just) and you had to have it tuned by John Button every time but if you wanted your son to be competitive at the top level you had to have one. We are talking of 8 year old kids here, was it worth the investment well, Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton have not done bad from them.

The survival of league speedway comes second in promotions minds first is the survival of their club, if someone else fails they may pay a lip service to help but where are recent stalwarts like Bradford, Long Eaton and Oxford now.

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We wern't born to follow, we were born to lead

John
You probably know this, but who pays the riders for away meetings. It came to my mind after Belle Vue's massive win at Edinburgh. If Belle Vue have to pay the home and away meetings then it couldn't have been the bumper payday i had envisaged.

The home team used to pay away riders points, fixed at very low rate then the riders home promotion makes up the rest.
So if the rate is 50 and the rider gets 125 a point the riders own promotion makes up the extra 75 a point.
The idea behind this rule was to help clubs who may have a string of away meetings on the run and no home meetings so they were not getting any money in, but many promotions took so long to pay the base rate, it was not working.
The money was due within 7 days but this rarely happened so it may have been scrapped now

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We wern't born to follow, we were born to lead

Thanks for that, John.

By just concentrating on their own clubs and only paying lip service to their rivals who might be struggling promotions wouldnt actually be helping themselves as without rival clubs to race against their own clubs would cease to exsist. Its in all promoters interests to have a good strong competitive league surely?

You would think so.......

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Another season over....

As a recent poll shows on here most of us would prefer to see average racing with us going for the title rather than good racing and us bottom.
Most promotions would rather see their teams top of a weak league than bottom of a strong one.
Are they any different to the average fan?

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We wern't born to follow, we were born to lead

John riders should be dealt with in the usual employer/employee way (and I am aware speedway riders are not employees of their clubs.

Employers dictate rates of pay, not employees, although these are generally driven by market forces.

A rider could "demand" what he likes but if there is no one willing to pay it then he either accepts the universal pay scale or doesn't ride at all.

You ask "are promoters any different to the average fan?" the answer is probably no in as much as most of them are just fans rather than old fashioned speedway promoters

The average fan wants to see his team win week in week out at the expense of all others. He largely doesn't care if that one eyed desire for success puts other clubs in jeapordy

A real promoter on the other hand wants his team to win at home each week and put up a good show away, but he knows in reality that competition starts and ends on the track. Teams should not be in competition off track, quite the opposite. He knows the importance of every team being financially stable.

A real promoter knows that his club can not operate in isolation and as such he must not make decisions that have an adverse effect on other clubs, even if such decisions might yield small term miniscule gain for himself.