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1086
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12/19/2009
Location
Westfield, MA
US
Edited Date/Time
2/4/2012 10:28am
Go take a listen to the BTO podcast with Matthes and Ross Meada. Ross has been around a long time and is a very smart guy. It was surprising to hear that a guy who makes his living off the modern super techy MXers is of the opinion that technology has gone too far. I'm sure it drove Matthes crazy because he's all for new technology, no matter the cost.
I agree with what Ross had to say, and I too can remember a time when racing cost a fraction of what it does now and it was as much if not more fun too. Not that theres anything we can really do about it because the horses are all out of the barn, but maybe in the future when we are at a crossroads we should listen to our experienced elders like Ross.
I agree with what Ross had to say, and I too can remember a time when racing cost a fraction of what it does now and it was as much if not more fun too. Not that theres anything we can really do about it because the horses are all out of the barn, but maybe in the future when we are at a crossroads we should listen to our experienced elders like Ross.
The Shop
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Japan's bubble is getting ready to burst. Wait for it. Theyve been prolonging it with ridiculous bailouts and a hyper socialist economy but, its getting ready to cave in.
(drum roll)
China still wants revenge for the occupation during WW2 and rape of nanking.
Japan will be nothing more than a backwater shithole off the coast of China in just 15 years. But don't concern yourself with bike prices, because we will all be riding KTMs or Hyosungs.
I lived in Japan for 4 years, and I pity those people and what they are about to go through.
Motocross has a bad perception in the general public eye. It's seen as disturbing and associated with loud noise, which most don't like, and with danger. Every time they show replays of some guy on a bike breaking himself in half during X-Games worsens this.
Accessibility has gone down as tracks get closed down. It has also been made worse by the louder bikes which put the remaining tracks and riding areas at risk.
Cost is an obvious one but the range of cost is more relevant. Lots of sports have really high end products you could buy but the majority of consumers buy mid to low price range products. Motocross is different since all motocross bikes (i'm excluding trail riding bikes here) are made to be raced and include expensive materials and technology.
Entry age remains fairly low for motocross but only for riders who's parents get them into the sport. Early entry age increases the likelihood of that person continuing to pursue that sport for the rest of his or her life. This is just a fact of all sports with few exceptions like golf and fishing. The more dangerous the sport, the more important early age entry becomes.
The reason sports like basketball and baseball are so widely participated in is due to low cost and high accessibility. Even football, which has a high perception of danger, has a much wider participation rate than any motorsport due to those two factors.
As cost go up and perception goes down, the entry age will continue to go up and you'll see less and less people getting their kids into the sport. Once that happens, the remaining customers have to pay more for track maintenance, bikes, parts, etc because those costs are spread out over fewer customers and it becomes a vicious cycle.
If motocross is to survive, manufacturers and tracks need to work together to deliver safer low cost options across the board. I'm a 3rd generation motocrosser but I know that at the rate things are going now my kids won't ever throw a leg over a bike to race, just too dangerous.
Pit Row
was meant as a comment on the jap debt post...
Unfortunately in this economy, it's not the fastest rider that always gets the ride, it's often a decent rider w/ deep pockets. To be clear I'm talking about roadracing here, not MX.
Post a reply to: Ross Meada makes too much sense