Turf City Off Road track - what's the deal ?!?
12-18-2010, 06:48 PM
#1
Turf City Off Road track - what's the deal ?!?
I am posting this in the hope that someone can shed some light for me. I have been a 1/8th nitro racer for some time now, and am generally disappointed by the lack of space in Singapore for bashing. Most places are informal with no facilities, difficult to get to, with little or no parking space. Except for the Turf City off road track. This venue is by all accounts pretty good. Great parking, no houses/HDB to complain about noise, pretty central and good access to highways. The only problem is : IT'S HARDLY EVER OPEN !! What's the deal with that ?!?!?!? What a waste.....
I have been past there about 5 times in the few months, all on weekends, only to find the track locked up and overgrown with weeds. If you are the owner of this track here's a few questions :
1. Why not open up the track more regularly for people to use it on a pay per hour basis ? I for one would be happy to pay a fee to use the facility (since I understand their must be ongoing maintenance costs etc).
2. If you have no intention of making the track available to people to use on the basis I suggested above, why not let the various "informal" clubs, such as Segar, Punggol, etc, hire it from you for a fee for the day/half-day, whatever, to have their races ? You'd make some money from it to pay for maintenance etc, and possibly generate a little profit at the same time.
I am not sure to whom these questions are best directed - Turf City management, or the lease holder of the track. Either way, if anyone can shed any light on this under-utilized opportunity, please do post a reply.
I have been past there about 5 times in the few months, all on weekends, only to find the track locked up and overgrown with weeds. If you are the owner of this track here's a few questions :
1. Why not open up the track more regularly for people to use it on a pay per hour basis ? I for one would be happy to pay a fee to use the facility (since I understand their must be ongoing maintenance costs etc).
2. If you have no intention of making the track available to people to use on the basis I suggested above, why not let the various "informal" clubs, such as Segar, Punggol, etc, hire it from you for a fee for the day/half-day, whatever, to have their races ? You'd make some money from it to pay for maintenance etc, and possibly generate a little profit at the same time.
I am not sure to whom these questions are best directed - Turf City management, or the lease holder of the track. Either way, if anyone can shed any light on this under-utilized opportunity, please do post a reply.
12-18-2010, 08:31 PM
#2
i guess you have been out of 1/8 off road scene for quite a while & do not know whats happening? I hope to gv you n everyone else a better picture of what our track owner is doing n how u guys can understand. Pls do not flame me lol.
I am posting this in the hope that someone can shed some light for me. I have been a 1/8th nitro racer for some time now, and am generally disappointed by the lack of space in Singapore for bashing. Most places are informal with no facilities, difficult to get to, with little or no parking space. Except for the Turf City off road track. This venue is by all accounts pretty good. Great parking, no houses/HDB to complain about noise, pretty central and good access to highways. The only problem is : IT'S HARDLY EVER OPEN !! What's the deal with that ?!?!?!? What a waste.....
I have been past there about 5 times in the few months, all on weekends, only to find the track locked up and overgrown with weeds. If you are the owner of this track here's a few questions :
1. Why not open up the track more regularly for people to use it on a pay per hour basis ? I for one would be happy to pay a fee to use the facility (since I understand their must be ongoing maintenance costs etc).
It used to be opened, but due to too much work to monitor the traffic flow & to collect $ from ppl who are playing he stop opening the track for public usage.( i have experienced it myself ppl who play n ran off without paying) Therefore Its only open for monthly races. Hes a 1 man show so to open the track, monitor, operate the shop is no easy task. There used to be another hobby shop & partners but things has changed.
2. If you have no intention of making the track available to people to use on the basis I suggested above, why not let the various "informal" clubs, such as Segar, Punggol, etc, hire it from you for a fee for the day/half-day, whatever, to have their races ? You'd make some money from it to pay for maintenance etc, and possibly generate a little profit at the same time.
The hiring of the track is not cheap, not due to whats hes charging but additional cost form Turf city eg electric, race fee n etc. I have tried to organise race at turf city but due to low attendances 15-20 cars it too expensive almost like 70-80 per head for half day wo amb n race director included yet.
seriously not everyone is like you like to pay for track usage, alot out there still prefer to bash on open land & no need to pay. therefor the need to open it daily, putting a full time staff the maintain the track it not visible.
It has been 5 years since turf city track opened. Initial X amount was pump in to do up the track but due to the lack of support to the hobby shop, it has been a losing business, every race is costly if theres not enough racers the owner will have to bear the cost. Its almost 2k per race.
Daily usage it not enough pay for rent of the shop or track n maintence.
BTP yishun has a full time track, with hobbyshop but look at the manpower he has & due to it all ep they can open at night also.
to run a gp track u cant open at nite due to the location n noise pollution.
The gov has already announced that Turf city will be taken back by the gov to build something. When? I dunno yet. the lease of turf city is renewed annually due to this reason.
Ray, Rctech Nick " Rlau99 " has plans to open a indoor track which will be the first in Spore to cater to 1/8 gp, 1/10 ep n more. But its still in the planning stage.
I am not sure to whom these questions are best directed - Turf City management, or the lease holder of the track. Either way, if anyone can shed any light on this under-utilized opportunity, please do post a reply.
I hope i have answer all or some of your questions.
I am posting this in the hope that someone can shed some light for me. I have been a 1/8th nitro racer for some time now, and am generally disappointed by the lack of space in Singapore for bashing. Most places are informal with no facilities, difficult to get to, with little or no parking space. Except for the Turf City off road track. This venue is by all accounts pretty good. Great parking, no houses/HDB to complain about noise, pretty central and good access to highways. The only problem is : IT'S HARDLY EVER OPEN !! What's the deal with that ?!?!?!? What a waste.....
I have been past there about 5 times in the few months, all on weekends, only to find the track locked up and overgrown with weeds. If you are the owner of this track here's a few questions :
1. Why not open up the track more regularly for people to use it on a pay per hour basis ? I for one would be happy to pay a fee to use the facility (since I understand their must be ongoing maintenance costs etc).
It used to be opened, but due to too much work to monitor the traffic flow & to collect $ from ppl who are playing he stop opening the track for public usage.( i have experienced it myself ppl who play n ran off without paying) Therefore Its only open for monthly races. Hes a 1 man show so to open the track, monitor, operate the shop is no easy task. There used to be another hobby shop & partners but things has changed.
2. If you have no intention of making the track available to people to use on the basis I suggested above, why not let the various "informal" clubs, such as Segar, Punggol, etc, hire it from you for a fee for the day/half-day, whatever, to have their races ? You'd make some money from it to pay for maintenance etc, and possibly generate a little profit at the same time.
The hiring of the track is not cheap, not due to whats hes charging but additional cost form Turf city eg electric, race fee n etc. I have tried to organise race at turf city but due to low attendances 15-20 cars it too expensive almost like 70-80 per head for half day wo amb n race director included yet.
seriously not everyone is like you like to pay for track usage, alot out there still prefer to bash on open land & no need to pay. therefor the need to open it daily, putting a full time staff the maintain the track it not visible.
It has been 5 years since turf city track opened. Initial X amount was pump in to do up the track but due to the lack of support to the hobby shop, it has been a losing business, every race is costly if theres not enough racers the owner will have to bear the cost. Its almost 2k per race.
Daily usage it not enough pay for rent of the shop or track n maintence.
BTP yishun has a full time track, with hobbyshop but look at the manpower he has & due to it all ep they can open at night also.
to run a gp track u cant open at nite due to the location n noise pollution.
The gov has already announced that Turf city will be taken back by the gov to build something. When? I dunno yet. the lease of turf city is renewed annually due to this reason.
Ray, Rctech Nick " Rlau99 " has plans to open a indoor track which will be the first in Spore to cater to 1/8 gp, 1/10 ep n more. But its still in the planning stage.
I am not sure to whom these questions are best directed - Turf City management, or the lease holder of the track. Either way, if anyone can shed any light on this under-utilized opportunity, please do post a reply.
I hope i have answer all or some of your questions.
12-18-2010, 09:02 PM
#3
Hey thanks for the reply. I hear what you are saying, especially if the current lease holder of that ground is a one-man show. I must be honest though, from a business point of view there are many things the track owner could be doing differently to make the facility more commercially viable.
1. Why not form a club, charge an annual membership fee which is then used to maintain the track ? Most people would surely want a reliable place to go and bash with decent facilities, for a notional (e.g. $100 - $150) annual fee. I know I would.
2. Once you have a decent membership base, you can then organise regular events and races (1/8th scale, 1/5th scale, EP), all on the same track (the track would need some investment to minor modifications to handle more classes)
3. A club membership could easily facilitate controlled access without the need for manpower. Think of it this way - each member gets a key to the gate and has a responsibility to ensure that only members use the track. We used this approach with a squash club in my home town and it worked very well.
4. You can then charge visitors or members friends a fee to use the track if/when they want. They could get a visitors wristband, valid for the whole/half day, whatever. People who go and bash without paying will be treated as trespassers, enforcement here is essential.
5. The track does not seem to need major investment. A few days with the right equipment and a bit of cash the track could be back to good condition in no time.
What I am saying is that from a business point of view this is still a viable opportunity - with the right investment from an interested owner. As it stands right now I can't see how the current owner can make or stop losing money by using the track LESS. This is simply bad economics. If he is looking for someone to take over the lease I would most certainly be interested since I feel I can make this work. Is there any way you could put me in touch with the owner ?
1. Why not form a club, charge an annual membership fee which is then used to maintain the track ? Most people would surely want a reliable place to go and bash with decent facilities, for a notional (e.g. $100 - $150) annual fee. I know I would.
2. Once you have a decent membership base, you can then organise regular events and races (1/8th scale, 1/5th scale, EP), all on the same track (the track would need some investment to minor modifications to handle more classes)
3. A club membership could easily facilitate controlled access without the need for manpower. Think of it this way - each member gets a key to the gate and has a responsibility to ensure that only members use the track. We used this approach with a squash club in my home town and it worked very well.
4. You can then charge visitors or members friends a fee to use the track if/when they want. They could get a visitors wristband, valid for the whole/half day, whatever. People who go and bash without paying will be treated as trespassers, enforcement here is essential.
5. The track does not seem to need major investment. A few days with the right equipment and a bit of cash the track could be back to good condition in no time.
What I am saying is that from a business point of view this is still a viable opportunity - with the right investment from an interested owner. As it stands right now I can't see how the current owner can make or stop losing money by using the track LESS. This is simply bad economics. If he is looking for someone to take over the lease I would most certainly be interested since I feel I can make this work. Is there any way you could put me in touch with the owner ?
12-18-2010, 09:43 PM
#4
You got pm. Pls bear in mind the lease is a major issue for any membership or renovation. N ESP there's alot of red tape by turf city management.
Hey thanks for the reply. I hear what you are saying, especially if the current lease holder of that ground is a one-man show. I must be honest though, from a business point of view there are many things the track owner could be doing differently to make the facility more commercially viable.
1. Why not form a club, charge an annual membership fee which is then used to maintain the track ? Most people would surely want a reliable place to go and bash with decent facilities, for a notional (e.g. $100 - $150) annual fee. I know I would.
2. Once you have a decent membership base, you can then organise regular events and races (1/8th scale, 1/5th scale, EP), all on the same track (the track would need some investment to minor modifications to handle more classes)
3. A club membership could easily facilitate controlled access without the need for manpower. Think of it this way - each member gets a key to the gate and has a responsibility to ensure that only members use the track. We used this approach with a squash club in my home town and it worked very well.
4. You can then charge visitors or members friends a fee to use the track if/when they want. They could get a visitors wristband, valid for the whole/half day, whatever. People who go and bash without paying will be treated as trespassers, enforcement here is essential.
5. The track does not seem to need major investment. A few days with the right equipment and a bit of cash the track could be back to good condition in no time.
What I am saying is that from a business point of view this is still a viable opportunity - with the right investment from an interested owner. As it stands right now I can't see how the current owner can make or stop losing money by using the track LESS. This is simply bad economics. If he is looking for someone to take over the lease I would most certainly be interested since I feel I can make this work. Is there any way you could put me in touch with the owner ?
1. Why not form a club, charge an annual membership fee which is then used to maintain the track ? Most people would surely want a reliable place to go and bash with decent facilities, for a notional (e.g. $100 - $150) annual fee. I know I would.
2. Once you have a decent membership base, you can then organise regular events and races (1/8th scale, 1/5th scale, EP), all on the same track (the track would need some investment to minor modifications to handle more classes)
3. A club membership could easily facilitate controlled access without the need for manpower. Think of it this way - each member gets a key to the gate and has a responsibility to ensure that only members use the track. We used this approach with a squash club in my home town and it worked very well.
4. You can then charge visitors or members friends a fee to use the track if/when they want. They could get a visitors wristband, valid for the whole/half day, whatever. People who go and bash without paying will be treated as trespassers, enforcement here is essential.
5. The track does not seem to need major investment. A few days with the right equipment and a bit of cash the track could be back to good condition in no time.
What I am saying is that from a business point of view this is still a viable opportunity - with the right investment from an interested owner. As it stands right now I can't see how the current owner can make or stop losing money by using the track LESS. This is simply bad economics. If he is looking for someone to take over the lease I would most certainly be interested since I feel I can make this work. Is there any way you could put me in touch with the owner ?
12-19-2010, 01:34 AM
#6
If you're able to garner $2k for a one-day usage, you might get to use the track. Maintenance is not cheap contary to what you might think.Topping up of soil alone will be a killer. If it's so maintenance like you think, there would have been tracks springing up everywhere. Even in the U.S, you'll find that tracks close down due to high maintenance costs.
The track owner organises monthly race on his own accord even though most of the time, the track fee collection is barely enough to cover the running cost for the day. Taking note that the weeds has to be cut, race director & transponder system, tentage & electricity, costs do add up. So, if you really got cash to burn, you are welcomed to approach Ray to pump in your welcomed cash to possibly do up a track to your liking. I'm sure everyone else will appreciate it better.
The track owner organises monthly race on his own accord even though most of the time, the track fee collection is barely enough to cover the running cost for the day. Taking note that the weeds has to be cut, race director & transponder system, tentage & electricity, costs do add up. So, if you really got cash to burn, you are welcomed to approach Ray to pump in your welcomed cash to possibly do up a track to your liking. I'm sure everyone else will appreciate it better.
12-19-2010, 05:43 AM
#8
Willing to invest
Gents thanks for the feedback. I will approach Ah Leng directly on this one.
12-20-2010, 05:05 AM
#10
An update....
So I contacted the current owner of the track, and sorry to say it seems there is no point to invest in a facility a few months before the lease is up. What a pity, there are hardly any decent places to bash. Sure, I can go to Segar and bash under a bridge next to the HDB (never mind the noise to residents). Alternately I can go to Defu and risk crossing the road. All in all not a good situation. Maybe time for someone to invest in a new track that caters to as many classes as possible ?
Last edited by Gassed Up; 12-20-2010 at 05:08 AM. Reason: typo
12-20-2010, 05:13 AM
#11
So I contacted the current owner of the track, and sorry to say it seems there is a definite plan for the land to go for Government use/development in the near future. No point to invest in a facility a few months before the lease is up. What a pity, there are hardly any decent places to bash. Sure, I can go to Segar and bash under a bridge next to the HDB (never mind the noise to residents). Alternately I can go to Defu and risk crossing the road. All in all not a good situation. Maybe time for someone to invest in a new track that caters to as many classes as possible ?
Buy from lhs support them unless they don't hv if not lhs will disappear like our tracks. One way or another Rc sometimes kill themselves.
12-20-2010, 07:30 AM
#12
So I contacted the current owner of the track, and sorry to say it seems there is no point to invest in a facility a few months before the lease is up. What a pity, there are hardly any decent places to bash. Sure, I can go to Segar and bash under a bridge next to the HDB (never mind the noise to residents). Alternately I can go to Defu and risk crossing the road. All in all not a good situation. Maybe time for someone to invest in a new track that caters to as many classes as possible ?
He is back in town for at least 2 weeks or so, try to contact him if you are really into this issue.
http://www.rctech.net/forum/singapor...oad-track.html
12-21-2010, 03:26 AM
#13
I feel for everyone on this thread. We are in a tough situation regarding Turf and the general economics of a track.
There is one other option--the Niko track near the Senai Airport in JB, Malaysia. I try to cross the second link before 7AM (to avoid a 5-20 min holdup at the border) and time to drive from central Singapore to the track is an 60-70 minutes, driving the speed limit.
Once there, there is power, wifi, drinks, a super air compressor, wash areas, a hobby shop and a nice jungle vibe. See pics in link.
http://www.niko.com.my/trackinfo.asp
Border tolls are now reduced and around $10 each way. Track fee is around RM20.
Worth considering until the SG scene gets sorted. Open every day!
Sam
There is one other option--the Niko track near the Senai Airport in JB, Malaysia. I try to cross the second link before 7AM (to avoid a 5-20 min holdup at the border) and time to drive from central Singapore to the track is an 60-70 minutes, driving the speed limit.
Once there, there is power, wifi, drinks, a super air compressor, wash areas, a hobby shop and a nice jungle vibe. See pics in link.
http://www.niko.com.my/trackinfo.asp
Border tolls are now reduced and around $10 each way. Track fee is around RM20.
Worth considering until the SG scene gets sorted. Open every day!
Sam
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