Italjet Dragster - News Archive

JANUARY 2006

30/01/06 : Original Dragster parts can be sometimes hard to find in some parts of the world, especially if you don't know a good dealer. Jeff Scheule came up with an alternative solution for fixing wobbly Dragster steering caused by worn steering bushes. Jeff's tips can be found here.

26/01/06 : Bargain scooter parts at PM Tuning

News just in from PM Tuning who apparently have between 50 to 100 products a day being added to their website catalogue at reduced prices... According to PM their prices have now been reduced in line with the cheapest global websites. Paul Melici, head honcho at PM Tuning says "Enter the part number listed into our search facility to go directly to the product you want, there you will see a product image and price. Add to basket to purchase and follow the on-line prompts. Go on, it's easy..."

20/01/06 : TAG issue 48 is out now:

In this month's issue:

• E-ton Vector Quad • On trial - YBR125 • Upgrade your leader engine • Weekend Warriors (Part One) • Vans Custom Dragster • New Wave Blue Fade Custom Dragster • Daelim Cordi 50 • The Dirt Bike Show • Pigeonholing the masses • Brilliant White custom DNA plus much more...

18/01/06 : 'Darksiding' t-shirts in memory of Barry Smith (a.k.a. Rossi Runner) are now available. Scooter Scene.co.uk have established a fund to assist his recently bereaved daughters Cheryl & Rosie. Barry designed what was to be the next Darkside t-shirt design. These t-shirts have now been produced and are available to everyone not just Darkside members.

The t-shirts are available from Scooter Scene.co.uk. Click on the t-shirt for more details.

17/01/06 : The up-and-coming X-Race / Straightliners awards are to be held on the 4th of February at the Carousel Hotel on the North Promenade in Blackpool. The presentations will be for Straightliners Bikes, Straightliners Cars and the X-Race Series. The actual presentations will take place at about 9pm. The cost is Ł40 per person (bed and breakfast) for 1 night and Ł70 per person for 2 nights. For those not staying at the hotel, admission is Ł10 payable in advance. The presentation night includes buffet and Rock and Blues Band 'Blood, Sweat and Beers'. This special deal is only available via Helen Greathead at Straightliners. Rooms are booking up fast so if you've not booked yet, and wish to go, now is the time to make a reservation...

Tel: 01724 347699
Fax: 01724 347801
E-mail: helen.greathead@ntlworld.com

N.B. Previous contact details were incorrect, the above info are the correct contact details.

The full list of X-Race trophy winners are as follows:

12.3 Class
1. Joe Elliott
2. Andy Pearson
3. Pete Newbold

13.5 Class
1. Richard Baker
2. Graeme Jones
3. Paul Robinson
4. Kevin Jones

14.5 Class
1. James Maclean

15.5 Class
1. Alan Day
2. Martin Hill

16.5 Class
1. Kevin Ash

17.5 Class
1. Yan Downie

18.5 Class
1. Joe Watkins

So, if you're on the list, make sure you're at the awards! In addition, this event is open to anyone else who wishes to attend, the awards are a good place to meet other Italjet Dragster.com members / X-Racers.

09/01/06 : Now entering its fourth year, the X-Race scooter drag racing series will merge fully with the popular Straightliners motorcycle drag racing series. The rounds for 2006 will be spread out over 12 rounds at the UK's most popular drag strips. It's hoped that the expansion of the series over 12 rounds will enable more scooter owners to come and have a go. Like the 2005 Series, the same classes will be run in brackets ranging from 12.3, down to 18.5. The series is open to all riders of scooters, geared and automatic, road legal or race use - just turn up with your scooter, pay the entry fee and have a go. The only ticket you'll get will have your speed on it and no points from the police.

I can confirm that the dates for X-Race 2006 are as follows:

Round 1: 26 March - Elvington, North Yorkshire
Round 2: 16 April - East Kirkby, Lincolnshire
Round 3: 23 April - Elvington
Round 4: 6 & 7 May - Santa Pod, Bedfordshire
Round 5: 28 May - East Kirkby
Round 6: 18 June - Elvington
Round 7: 25 June - East Kirkby
Round 8: 22 & 23 July - Jurby, Isle of Man
Round 9: 6 August - East Kirkby
Round 10: 13 August - Elvington
Round 11: 16 & 17 September - Santa Pod
Round 12: 8 October - Elvington

For more details, phone Trevor Duckworth at Straightliners on 01484 718164 or check out www.x-race-uk.info. Any questions, email me.

04/01/06 : From the TAG forums:

It is with deep regret that I have to inform you of the death of my brother, Barry Smith from Stevenage, known on TAG as Rossi Runner. He died on Boxing Day from a motorbike accident.

I have tried to contact 'Freestyler' 'Tom 172' 'Dinnertime Dave' 'Dream Machine' and 'Taffspeed' to no avail, as my brother was in Issue 34 of December 2004 pages 30 - 32 and mentioned them personally. Barry had stated in a letter to me, that he wished friends from the TAG Forums, to attend the funeral if they so wish.

I have no details of the funeral arrangements at present, (due to the Bank Holidays) but please feel free to contact me for further details or the funeral directors direct - Austins of Stevenage. I would have posted this message earlier, but had to join TAG to do this and await activation codes!

Regards

Karen Stanley

I, like everyone else who knew Barry were shocked and saddened to hear about his death. I'd only met him a handful of times personally, the first time was at Alexandra Palace in the summer of 2004 when I did the photo shoot of his immaculate 'Rossi Runner' which was later featured in the December 2004 issue of Twist & Go. My first impressions were that he was a genuinely nice and enthusiastic guy. Barry was a dedicated scooterist who had a keen interest with all that was at the cutting edge. The scooter scene and the people that make it what it is are like an extended family to many of us. Speaking for myself and on behalf of members of Italjet Dragster.com (of which Barry was a regular member), he will be sadly missed. Sincere condolences to his friends and family.

Paul.

Memories of Barry Smith, take a look here.

Thoughts and condolences from fellow Italjet Dragster.com members here.

BARRY SMITH FLORAL TRIBUTE

If you would like to make a donation to help buy flowers for Barry's funeral, you can do this by making a donation via PayPal to my PayPal account which is: paul.robinson@team17.com, you can also click on the link below:

When making the donation, please state that you're making the donation for the floral tribute.

Also, if you have any ideas as to what would be a fitting mark of respect from all of us at Drag.com then please let us know. Drag.com member Mark Garret thought of something like a blue, white and yellow target with Barry's name on, but let us know what you all think. Obviously if the family request no flowers then the money will be donated to Barry's family or their chosen charity.

The floral tribute is being discussed on the forum here.

N.B. Currently there are problems with the forum which I am looking into, please bear with me on this. If you have problems viewing pages, try refreshing the web page until the page appears. Apologies for the inconvenience.