The Place

Nice to hear that Uncle Sam has an interest in Classic Sidecar racing. It would be really good as Simon said if we could find a way of running a meeting together.

Hi Eddy
I think it would be great if we could do that, then maybe do same back in England at some stage.
What would be the best time of year for you to come over if we could put something together.
Thanks Mike.

I have looked into the costs of getting a shipping container over. We would have to fit the container out to optimise the number of outfits. I was thinking of two levels so I'm guessing 4 outfits plus associated kit per 20ft container. Has anybody any experience of this sort of thing?

The other big problem is timing. We wouldn't want to go during our race season and would have to allow for shipping time. And then there's the winter rebuild and the fact that if we're going all that way we would want some backup options should an engine let go or frame break.

Due to the expense I was thinking of making the whole thing a family holiday so would have to consider school holidays and destination.

I've been chatting with a guy called Ron Raven who is keen to help. See Ron's website here http://www.ronraven.com/index.html Jimmy Mann has been chasing another possibility also.

So there's a lot to consider but I don't think it would be impossible to sort out.

Mike, when does the season run over on the east coast?

I once went to Brazil to race with the 500cc GP sidecars. We had the bikes crated, and they all went by air, I dont think it was that much more than sea freight.

I would go at anytime apart from the TT fortnight, Vik will be really p----d off if we miss that one.

I hadn't considered that Ed as I assumed it would be very expensive. It would be a lot better than having to wait 2 weeks each way for the shipping though wouldn't it.

Maybe school summer holiday, August could be done then.

Thanks Eddy & Simon for your input, any idea on how long you would want to be over for, so I could look at various races and how many you could get in. You could base your rigs out of my shop in Maine.
Thanks Mike
I

When the Post-classic solo lads went to Philip Island they bought a shipping container (new) for about 3 grand.

The business I am a partner in ship machines all over the world, so I know a bit about costs.

To ship a 40' container to the States, is about 2 and a half grand, if it goes consolidated.

To fly a half ton crate, about the size for a classic outfit, to the US is about 800 quid. We ship our machines this way.

I can get definite prices from our freight forwarders if you wish.

Nick

Before we get to far ahead with this, I should warn you that the numbers at some of these races are quite low some are lucky to get into double figures. But I think with the right meeting and planning I think we could get enough interest. The other thing we need to look at is the different classes that are run various clubs, But as they say one thing at a time.
Mike

possible transatlantic classic slidey tournament in its infancy methinks.

Nick, thanks for the info. I was told a 20ft container would be about £1,700. The flying cost is a lot less than I thought it would be.

Mike, I couldn't afford much time off work so I wouldn't be looking at being away much more than a week so probably one meeting if we could do one after the other. I was thinking that we might be looking at a team of four but given enough time to prepare there could be more.

As for classes, we would most likely be looking at pre-1973 machines. Most of ours are Imps, BM's, Weslake's. We don't run slicks or tyre warmers.

What are the classes like over there?