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Recently at a local track racing vintage and post vintage there was discussion of what was cheating and what was fair. I would like to see input based on the pole here. Everyone on the gate has the same view. Fire away boys!
And this is my first pole post so I probably did it wrong... be gentle
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A pole is a long, slender, round piece of wood or metal.
A pole is not going to help you solve the complex and important question.
Not sure a poll here is going to help much either.
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Hell most Vintage races I've been too either have rubber band or flag starts! ..... Talk about cheating 
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It's not cheating to use whatever means are available to you.
And timing the gate isn't cheating; it's guessing!
Braaapin' aint easy.
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Falcon wrote:
It's not cheating to use whatever means are available to you.
And timing the gate isn't cheating; it's guessing!
You get stuck in the gate or you don't ! Seems simple enough ? 
That was a confusing pole. Wanna hear a funny story ? course you do, othg race at Carlsbad, me and a guy named Kirby are running the starting gate. Kirby notices the guys close are watching him and not the gate and says to me "these guys are watching me not the gate !, lets fuck with em ! I'm in. Charge it Kirby the next moto's coming up. He's dropping the gate, and I'm there to help pick it up for the 2nd gate. So he does the normal deal, steps in the the box fakes like he's gonna stomp on the gate, and stops 3" above it. Of course the 2 or 3 guys watching him ram the gate, and the second they do he drops the gate. Then we get it up for the second gate and monkey see monkey do, wammo 3 more guys into the gate, high 5's all around.
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Technically you should watch the gate. Do as you must, but I would be laughing my ass off if I got to witness this. ^^^^^
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The guy who pulls the lever at our local races only does it on either the cunt of 3 or 4 so everyone on the line is counting down in their heads all cheating so all fair plus no one watches and no one cares. At the old timers we have in August they are always short of volunteers so the guy turns the board then runs to the doghouse to flip the lever. Its just dirt biking after all.Better to forget to fill up the gas can than to fill up the cooler with ice...
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Location: Adger, AL USA
It’s all fair game. Put up a dog house if you think it’s cheating.
We had a local guy here that would always sit back when the starter would come down the line acting like he was fiddling with his goggles. In reality, he was stalling so he could line up about 8’ behind the gate. After the guy staged us all, he’d snick it in gear and start rolling toward the gate after the card went sideways. By the time the gate dropped he was doing 5 mph or so. He got a LOT of starts that way. I watched him do it at LL regionals with excellent results.
Anyway, this one doghouse guy told me somewhere along the way his method was, watch Darrel. The gate isn’t going to drop until Darrel hits it. He’d hold the gate 6 to 8 seconds waiting on Darrel to either hit the gate or have to stop, then WHAM, off we’d go.
Darrel usually won anyway though.
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Sorry for the confusion on the pole. Thanks for the input. It’s clear as mud. LOL I am the guy watching the gate keeper of course. He is right in the open and why not! My buddies give me shit about it and I normally just tell them that they should attend Chance’s School of holeshots! LOL and that means use everything at your disposal for an advantage off the line.
In the pic I am the guy at the far right 
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Location: San Diego, CA USA
Edited Date/Time:
sumdood wrote:
You get stuck in the gate or you don't ! Seems simple enough ?
That was a confusing pole. Wanna hear a funny story ? course you do, othg race at Carlsbad, me and a guy named Kirby are running the starting gate. Kirby notices the guys close are watching him and not the gate and says to me "these guys are watching me not the gate !, lets fuck with em ! I'm in. Charge it Kirby the next moto's coming up. He's dropping the gate, and I'm there to help pick it up for the 2nd gate. So he does the normal deal, steps in the the box fakes like he's gonna stomp on the gate, and stops 3" above it. Of course the 2 or 3 guys watching him ram the gate, and the second they do he drops the gate. Then we get it up for the second gate and monkey see monkey do, wammo 3 more guys into the gate, high 5's all around.
Hahahahahaha.
I do recall at Carlsbad, one guy would back up and put his rear tire ON TOP of the log (when Frank T.
didn't catch him). Just barely on the downside, holding the front brake.
That bastard nailed the holeshot everytime he did that.
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I have a buddy who lines up on the farthest outside gate everywhere we go. He rips some crazy holeshots from out there. One of the best starters I've ever seen.
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All the places I've ever started at have a doghouse. I just look at the dirt in front of me and focus on the whole enchilada. Any movement and I go. I get good starts more often than not, and I holeshot more than most people.
Braaapin' aint easy.
