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Milton, WV
US
Edited Date/Time
7/29/2016 9:32am
The second question and answer today was very good. I have a good deal of respect for Ping and when faced with a real honest concern or question he gives an educated answer! This is the type of person we need in our sport who could help direct the future of the sport!
Note, he is not biased for two strokes or four strokes but that they got it wrong on the cc's rule. If the powers in charge now would simply make a change, the sport could be more affordable for so many more riders! Don't get me wrong this is not the only issue that could help the sport, but it is a major issue. If you tackle one problem at a time you could make some nice improvements over a year or two!
I also like that he speaks out even though his boss is one of the rule makers in question!
http://racerxonline.com/2016/07/29/ask-ping
Note, he is not biased for two strokes or four strokes but that they got it wrong on the cc's rule. If the powers in charge now would simply make a change, the sport could be more affordable for so many more riders! Don't get me wrong this is not the only issue that could help the sport, but it is a major issue. If you tackle one problem at a time you could make some nice improvements over a year or two!
I also like that he speaks out even though his boss is one of the rule makers in question!
http://racerxonline.com/2016/07/29/ask-ping
I can not say this is the "best way" by no means. Just one of many ways to help. Cost and safety are the two main areas preventing many from enjoying the sport we all love so much.
The Shop
In the off road world, people are the problem...
There are multiple problems with electric mx bikes- no sound, no smell, high price, and long charge times. We ride for a visceral experience, electric bikes are missing a big part of that. Will we be forced to ride them some day, or marketed to that they are what we really want instead of fuel based? The writing is on the wall for that one, that is almost a certainty.
Seems like there is demand, I am sure the sponsors would be down....lack of money?
Google Duthie Hill mountain bike park and pictures the same thing in your neighborhood, but for electric motorcycles. There's no reason it can't happen.
Marc fenigsteign from ALTA had a good comment about your apprehension to loosing the visceral experience of an ICE. Paraphrasing, he used the analogy of riding an ICE being like playing a guitar with a paint shaker on it. If you remove the paint shaker you can feel and experience every nuiance of the bikes charactersistics that you always hear the pros describe but that you may not currently be able to feel
but here is how i would do it. This mostly is geared towards the nationals
125 Pro Am class.they could run 15-20 min motos before the 250's. It doenst need tv coverage, if anything it can be shown as a highlight reel while we wait for the main races to be televised
125's are cheap to run and build so a team could easily support building one or two bikes and also pay the riders very little to no money. they are also cheap enough privateers who are seeking a ride on a 250 or 450 can showcase them selves without spending every penny they have.
to help ensure a full gate of screamers, no age limit. and no one who holds a current pro license ( ie anyone who is active pro). this ensures most younger up and coming guys get in on the action and still allows for those retired guys like Hot Sauce and Ping to have some fun. think of it like the crossroads for old and new
It would be a regional series, but it would be three separate ones. East west and central.
West: Hangtown, Glen Helen, Colorado, Washougal
Central: Red Bud, MillVille, Tennesee, Iron Man
East: High Point, Unadilla, Southwick, Budds Creek,
. This keeps travel costs down for the fringe racers and working men who want to race but not at the full level. and gets more local(low level) pros out for some racing
And the pro classes 125two stroke entry and 250 four stroke big class.
i have never in 45 years of following this sport, (somewhat intensely), seen anyone produce any research on the size of the sport.
not what it was, or what it is. all just anecdotal guessing.
so my guess from 45 years of observation is; that there are some small percentage of people who get mx and have the balls to race mx. that percentage is somewhat stagnate in the population.
no matter how many times a female pit reporter demonstrates tear off's or weege explains the two moto format.
Pit Row
Personally, I think we are on the precipice of not growing (not necessarily quant but qual) the sport but pulling out all the stops just to save it. I don't claim to know all of the possible solutions but until we focus on local racing we aren't even keeping staus quo but going backwards.
FYI, I didn't intend for this post to be argumentative, negative or even trying to correct other comments. The one thing we all have in common here is MX, so my intention with this post is to say we are all going to have to add to that commonality by coming together and attempting to find a solution or solutions. I dont want MX to become a sport of past tense verbs.
Right now in Phoenix it is dark, hot as hell, but still I want to go fire up my TC250 in the garage just to hear it- I want to ride so bad after watching that video. That was amazing.
It really brought back a lot of great memories of 125cc bikes, to those who never had the opportunity to race a 125 (for real, not as a novelty) you missed out.
May not be the "answer" but it was a lot of fun to race a 125 (when everyone was racing125's). Kids now don't know what they missed.
My education in the sport is coming from watching racing since about 1980. In the past 5 years I have spoken with many track owners and they often say the sport was much larger back in the early 2000's. The two stroke thing is not the only issue of blame. There is plenty to go around!
anyone who was around and saw the 70's and early 80's can tell you the sport is a fraction of what it once was.
growing the sport today merely means slowing(not stopping) the further contraction.
I personally think the problem is there's hardly any place to ride and everything about tracks is geared toward the tiny percentage of people that dream about going pro rather than creating a safe environment for people to learn to ride. How about putting a little strider bike track in so the kiddos can start out and maybe want a dirt bike when they are old enough? I guarantee you take 100 people that have never ridden to Milestone or Glen Helen on a busy day and maybe 1 or 2 would want to jump on a bike and head out on the track.
If you go total racer entries it was around 230. Those are sad numbers for this track.
The numbers don't lie. It is getting closer to game over at the local level in Michigan.
I say outdoor 125mx class can happen. TV coverage could be limited to highlights of 1st motos, and a full second motos in all 3 classes. Make the 125 25min plus 2.
The one day outdoors/supercross really limits what you can do.
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