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they don't understand our culture.
Was not uncommon to have over 100 gates drops in a single race day.
Practice was at 8, didn't get over till about 9:30 or 10, races literally went until 1AM, and that was with shortened second motos.
Now you are out by 3 o'clock and home by 5. Don't get me wrong, getting home early is fantastic, however its easy to see the decline of the local moto scene if you were in it 10-12 years ago
My take is you could win (The A Class) in 1985 at Highpoint and make more money and the bikes cost 5 times
more now...
I was out at Malvern MX in Ohio last year... it's sad...
About as much promise as a West Virginia Coal Miner...
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Now this dosent include consumables like top ends, tires, suspension maintence. I would say overall I spend right around 3000-3500 to ride each year. I don't think that's too crazy. I don't really race anymore save for like 2 twice a year. Just don't enjoy dedicating a whole weekend to it.
But then again, I just sold the boat I bought while I was on my MX hiatus, think MX is expensive? Buy a boat....80 gallons of fuel, 25 gallons to tow it there and back, dock fee's, booze. Shit I spent 3k before memorial day every year.
From my limited view there are far more tracks now then there were 20 years ago. That would appear to be a sign of growth. The trouble is that the average rider age has probably gone waaay up as kids / teens simply can't afford the sport.
And perhaps, because of time constraints, us older riders are content to just do practice days? You get your moto fix and get in and out without spending 12 hours at the track.
There seems to be plenty of 2015/2016 bikes on the tracks, several of which are newer 2 strokes. Lots of people are in new gear and have nice trucks etc. Seem to be pretty good vs what Michigan was dealing with 6 -7 years ago.
What I am not seeing much of, is youth. Amazes me how few 85's are out on the track. This is the sports biggest problem.
There was a perfect storm of things that happened. The recession hit, while at the same time more expensive four strokes became the accetable wepon of choice, and all other related costs continued to rise. I know people still could have bought less expensive two strokes. However, everyone thought they had to keep up with the Jones's and if little Johnnies friends were on a four stroke then he had to have one too. In essence, people had less disposable income to use for expenses that continued to climb . Put it all together and you have fewer and fewer people lining up. A lot of the people that got out never came back.
Lets face it, local racing is a shell of what it used to be. I honetly believe that, if something isnt done soon, we may see the entire sport defunct. Really, its not that far fetched of an idea. I think we are seeing it happen right in front our eyes.
But I agree to just begin riding you're looking at $5000 at the very least.
$100 per class x 2
$75 camping
$30 gate
$30 practice
$40 to watch the national
$30 for significant gate
$40 for significant others national ticket
Add it up and tell me if its worth it.
For example, I rode the Loretta's AQ and Regional at Washougal last year. Had to buy AMA card, higher entry cost, etc.
Those special events and qualifers just don't count for local moto in my opinion.
Great group, good series of races and free practice days and the classes are even. No sandbagging from what I have seen. They make you run 2 eval races to determine your class.
I recently joined and am happy I did.
Not sure if they have chapters in your area but take a look into it.
Pit Row
Other than that the just-for-fun riding and licence-free racing is spreading along with the beginner class. Regionally and even nationally the racing scene is very poor, filling not even half the gates sometimes.
My 2 cents.
- Guys are more interested in throwing away 6000-10,000 dollars or more on a hopped up ATV so they can go mudding
-Guys are more interested in throwing away 10,000-20,000 dollars or more on a side by side so they can go mudding
-Guys want a boat (God knows what that costs) to go to the lake and ride around in circles and drink beer
-Parents aren't getting their kids involved in the sport. Pretty much everybody gets divorced which costs a fortune and makes getting kids involved in something like MX extremely difficult.
-Everybody's fucking fat and that doesn't mesh with motocross as well as it does fantasy football or riding ATVs at some stupid mud hole
Local MX can definetely make a comeback but it's going to take a shift in priorities among young males and exposure to the masses has got to be higher.
Log Road is a pretty easy track and was always filled with 65'sa and 85's back in the day. Last time I was there I spotted maybe 10 out on the track...embarrassing.
One thing I dont buy is when people say "Oh you have to have a $5,000 bike to ride"
Bull Shit.
Get a $1500 KX125, $400 in gear and go have fun. Sure your not going to be as fast as a brand new 250f but fun is the name of the game, not keeping up with the Jones. Throw in a $150 piston and keep riding.
One of the major issues that I have(didn't see listed) is quads on mx tracks. Literally they will allow quads (only 5 show up) and that is all it takes to turn the track into concrete. I have absolutely no interest in riding a rock hard track with zero ruts and cupped out jump faces. Just my 2 cents
j/k
but man these high school kids have nicer trucks than I do. I was just happy to have a car in high school.
so much so im gonna live vicariously through my son and buy him an El Camino for his first car/truck lol.
Post a reply to: What is your take on local Moto in 2016?