Posts
7
Joined
3/19/2015
Location
USA
Edited Date/Time
3/23/2015 11:56am
I've been racing and riding since 1973 to present. I love how the sport is growing from Moto to Super and present day bikes are all amazing. That being said I work with youth kids programs and meet literally hundreds of kids and parents a year and have not been able to get any of them to let their kids get involved with dirt bikes. I'm not suggesting racing just ridding trails and maybe some track practices. They all say no ! he or she can watch it and a lot do but they cant participate its to dangerous end of story period. I know it's more dangerous now than it was in 1973 I understand progression I'm not here to debate it with anyone. The sport can keep going faster, jumping higher, and crashing harder. Because of that it's reasonable to say that less and less people will get involved. That means less bikes sold and a smaller sport. The sport is really becoming synonymous with serious injury's and death. Recently an NFL linebacker quit after one season saying the risk to his long term health wasn't worth it. Would it be so terrible to slow things down a bit with the bikes and the tracks. I understand motocross and supercross are not mainstream sports in America and if things get worse than they are right now maybe it never will be or worse.
If you add protective gear (helmets, boots chest protectors, neck braces etc.) you can extend the "safety zone" up to about 30 mph but once you go faster than than and crash, bad things are going to happen.
I am constantly amazed at the carnage and crashes that take place in Enduro cross and yet they have very few injuries (I assume because of the much slower speeds compared to Supercross/ Motocross.
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Not to be anti four stroke, but it also used to be that on a two stroke if you weren't riding it correctly you knew there was no way to clear that huge double or triple. Now even novices are sending huge gaps with less than perfect runs at them. The bikes hook up so good and have so much power that they don't fear the mistake and don't acknowledge that they aren't going to get that jump this lap. The throttle gets twisted, and they're sending it. The bikes allow riders to ride way outside of their ability (to be done with a margin of safety).
I think we're lucky we don't hear about this more than we have already to be quite honest. Between the machines and the technicality of tracks and the pressure to go big...it's a perfect storm for disaster.
Shane
Now, I enjoy speed as much as anyone, but , The brutal truth is, We have a large number of riders who are suffering life changing injuries and this won't change until we slow them down.
As far as power goes, its relevant to how far you twist the throttle. Im back on a 450 after a long stint with my 250f. The power available is ridiculous and sometimes I want to go back, but thats usually because my technique is sucking and my conditioning is worse.
The sport has evolved and like a lot of sports its faster and more precise. I think we have to approach it a more controlled manner and bring our young people up through the ranks as responsible as possible. How to do it is the tough thing.
This sport is definitely not for the "weak" and that's what I love about it, Be smart out there people and have fun.....
Can you imagine the pile of injuries if as many kiďs raced as do soccer?
I Don't Know (common use today- JMO Just My Opinion or BTW By The Way).
Those mental "out burst" is why I don't race at the moment, If I don't trust you I don't ride near your ass. I can't wait to take a gate drop, hope its better with my 35+ moto bros, than it was on 80s, C and B class days...
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