Upgrade to enjoy this feature!
Vital MX fantasy is free to play, but Premium users receive great benefits. Premium benefits include:
- View and download rider stats
- Pick trends
- Create a private league
- And more!
Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
When you watch racing, all you really want is a good battle. If the guys on the track are running close lap times, it will make good racing.
Indy car lowers maximum displacement every so many years to keep the speed below a threshold. We need to do that as well, period.
125 and 250 2 strokes were fast enough 10 years ago, and now we're not only allowing technology to advance without lowering maximum displacement, we're allowed bigger engines!! Why???
How fast to we allow these bikes to go? 100 HP?
At the least, we need to make the 125 and 250 2 strokes the benchmark for the 2 classes. Allowing a 250 2 stroke in the LItes class is not going to help. It'll be worse. More riders will jump to the 250 2 stroke before they're ready. We need to slow things down a bit, not a tremendous amount, but some.
We also don't need to allow 300 cc 2 strokes in the Premier class. Again, slow it down a bit, not allow faster bikes.
The LItes class needs to be based on the 125 2 stroke, and allow comparable sized 4 strokes to compete as well.
The Premier class needs to be based on the 250 2 stroke or slightly lower displacement. If we settle on 125 and 250 2 strokes, displacement can stay there for a few years. But eventually technology is going to make bikes that are simply too fast to compete on "safely".
I believe this solution plus figuring out how to make tracks a little safer will be good for our sport.
I'm asking everyone to tell me why this wouldn't work.
Change the classes to:
125 2 stroke vs 175 4 stroke, possibly 200cc for the 4 strokes.
250 2 stroke vs 350 4 stroke
During a transition period of say 2 years for pro and 5 years for amateur, allow older 250 and 450 4 strokes to race with a rev limiter limiting maximum RPMs. This can be tested easily before and after a race.
This gives the factories some time to retool, and keeps the cost down for amateurs who have recently purchased bikes.
It also brings the 125 back as the standard for the Lites class and provides the right stepping stone from the 85 class.
It also reduces the speed slightly which in my opinion is necessary to keep the riders safe.
Please let me know what you think.
CC to CC is the most painless first move for the OEM's.
Establishing reduced suspension travel limits on big bikes, minis, etc. should be the next move. Is it any wonder that 7 year old kids are hitting big jumps when they have 10.6" of travel to play with on their 65cc bike? I'm sorry, but that's just stupid.
we are seeing alot of that again.
history does repeat it's self.
The Shop
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Also, I bet there are more bicycle crashes and injuries than motocross...when will they limit the CC's and suspension of those dang BMX bikes? These guys (most of them) don't wear any protective equipment. I can see the government running to their rescue....
https://youtu.be/g5AaG9HIHGc
that don't change the fact there is an issue and that we really should think about how to fix it.
Cars have mandated seat belts, that you're required to wear by law, airbags, bumpers to withstand certain impacts and design aspects so they do not explode on impact.
Government also administers tests and licenses the drivers of those cars and imposes a minimum driving age.
Government also mandates the speed in which you may drive that vehicle and can impose penalties if you are caught exceeding those speeds.
Sounds like we need the government to step in. I say, bring them on!
Best fix...
1. do away with any incentives for minors and non-professionals
2. do away with national series for children
3. make school mandatory
4. require healthcare coverage for all participants
95% of all riders never make a living off of what they make from racing, why should YOU (industry type) promote and exploit them, just to make a few dollars? Focus on making their future better. Not ruining it! If you think about it, the industry is the worst thing for these kids and the reason that they are getting hurt and killed. Maybe they should take a LONG look in the mirror, and see what is really important.
95% of all riders never make a living off of what they make from racing, why should YOU (industry type) promote and exploit them, just to make a few dollars? Focus on making their future better. Not ruining it! If you think about it, the industry is the worst thing for these kids and the reason that they are getting hurt and killed. Maybe they should take a LONG look in the mirror, and see what is really important.
The carrot will always dangle and the young riders (especially the ones with idiots for parents) will always chase it no matter what the cost.
Disclaimer: I don't believe there is any conspiracy going on here either I think this is where we are in the evolution of the sport and it's time to step back and look at what can be changed (within reason) to curve the trajectory of our path to extinction. None of these changes will happen over night either.
http://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/Suzuki-dropped-all-contin…
They want to blame the downfall of the sport on everything, but them.
Families being torn apart, kids dying, kids getting paralyzed, kids turning into pill poppers, all in hopes of being "the next big thing" (and that was just on the last Inside the Moto). The more contingencies and 'awards' that are giving to these kids, the more that will line up. And the industry knows this, but doesn't change anything. Poor Johnny crashed and is in a chair, hey look, Joey just won a LL's...let's give him some contingency money!
What a wonderful "family sport" MX has become....
Pit Row
2. It would eliminate some of the less responsible riders.
3. It would put more accountability on the riders.
Professional Amateur racing is like gambling with your kids life/health and your own financial health.
Think of it this way, you sign your kid up for a poker tournament , the opponents are mafia thugs and every time your kid plays a bad hand and loses his chips, those guys get to hurt him. In the beginning it's for smaller amounts so he gets a slap or a kick or something minor.
The kid has some talent and with only a couple minor injuries or none from the first season of tournaments. The next season the stakes get higher as he starts playing bigger hands in tournaments with bigger players, this season they break arms and legs and possibly even get a baseball whack in the head for a bad hand. Some kids/families fall out at this point, they just don't have the courage to continue on and their parents mental and financial threshold has been reached. They simply concede and give up on the dream.
Then you have the gamblers (ie the Izzi's,Milsaps fill in the blank etc..) and they go for broke, in their eyes the possibility of the "WIN" far outweighs any downside. Yeah so the kid got his leg ,arm and shin broken this year but did you see the pile of plastic chips (trophies) we won this year and the casino gave us some comps (ie contingencies)
The game continues and the stakes get higher and higher the bigger the tournament gets. Some people just don't know how to stop or they have already mortgaged the house the retirement plan etc.. so they simply cannot back out at this point it's their life or their kids life.
It is no different than a gambling addiction but worse it has serious physical and mental consequence's.
I doubt many people would lead their kid into such a tournament but they line up to do it for Professional Amateur motocross.
I've been called heartless and mean by some of these whacko mini parents (that I've called out) that have gambled with their kids lives in this sport but it's tough to face reality and acknowledge the fact that you've gambled with your kids life. I as much as I would have loved to coach at least one of my three sons through this sport couldn't (after realizing the brutal reality of pursuing a career in Professional Amateur motocross) do it in clear conscience.
The point I am making with this is that it's obvious these parents aren't capable of making it safer for their kids (you're either a gambler or you're not and if you support your kid in professional Amateur racing you surely are a gambler (it's borderline pathological) so the industry must act as the voice of reason if they would like to continue to have an industry to continue. Otherwise accept the fact that they have the blood of these kids on there hands and the demise of the sport. Don't kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.
Flarider wants to talk about 'fixing it', when he has the ability to start fixing it himself.
My oldest son had gotten to the point on a 125 in MX where he was pretty damn good, and as soon as I put him on a 250F, the jumps he could hit on the 125 with a good corner or whoop section before he could huck whether he made a mistake in the corner/whoops before the jump or not. A few months after that I put him on a YZ 250 smoker, and he was doing the same shit and more. We really scaled back the MX at that point, because it litterally scared the shit out of me! I ride, race and have the skills to jump this crazy shit nowadays, but I don't because I know how severe the consequences are if the bike bogs, or you catch a kicker, or just plain case the jump or any number of problems. to me, it's nust not worth it anymore. Besides, hare scrambles are much more fun!!
someone has to say it: YOU ARE AN IDIOT.
If being responsible for your own actions, and not expecting the government or a bunch of tools on a motorcycle message board to take care of you, makes me an idiot, guilty as charged.
I have been keeping data since 1997 on motocross related deaths for kids 20 years old and under.
Basically
60 % die from head injuries;
30 % die from internal injuries; and
10 % die from neck injuries.
If my memory is correct, at least 80% of fatalities are jumping related.
Thus, the major contributing factor is jumping which is indirectly related to speed. Faster bikes can jump farther and higher. But the underlying problem always seems to come back to jumps. But such is not the whole story.
The remaining piece of the puzzle is safety gear ---- mx head safety gear is inadequate for the task at hand. Even the best helmets are not good enough to prevent death from high impact events resulting from a crash that is typically jumping related.
I personally setup an acceleration test station in my work area at home and have been drop testing old helmets and making modifications in an attempt to improve the design. With a helmet “add on” I have been able to reduce the transfer of inertia to the headform (fake head inserted into the helmet) by 40% . . . but the fix looks silly . . . at least for the current configuration.
And if one actually needs the protective qualities of a helmet such will only be for a second or two . . . which means that 99% of the time a helmet does nothing but sit on a riders head and look good. So it will be difficult to get a rider to wear a helmet that looks silly.
I have crude prototypes but I need to move to the next level and make a good prototype and use a good helmet for testing. Once verified, and I am confident the fix does not significaly increase risk of injury to a rider's neck, make Isaiah wear it whether he gets laughed at or not.
All that said, my testing indicates there is a way to make helmets better than they are today by at least 40% but the fix is goofy and mass production may be very expensive and the fix may not be that durable. Protecting the head from acceleration is tough because one just does not have enough room to slow down gently. Restated, the best helmet (in a crash) is about 6 feet in diameter and crushes gently. But you can't ride a bike with such a helmet and there is an increased risk of neck injury.
In any event, the "fix" that is doable TODAY is to limit jumps, especially for kids, until helmet technology has improved.
More Speed is clearly more risky than less speed, but speed is not that big a problem as long as the bikes stay on the ground.
Let kids do their racing in corners.
The extra cushion would work with the brace, by taking the pressure off the top of the head and allowing the helmet to push against the brace BEFORE the weight of your body presses down on your head.
If the helmet doesn't press against the brace BEFORE your head compresses the padding inside the helmet, the brace is not going to help your brain or your neck in this type of crash.
I don't know if the way I explained it makes sense.
And yes, I am an engineer.
my kids taught me that one.
We don't have to do anything if we don't want to but the "MX model" we have in place now is simply not sustainable long term. In this thread there are perfect examples of people riding and racing less MX because of course design.....plus the issue of less younger racers racing.
Post a reply to: "It Can Be Fixed"