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I remember going with my dad to pick up a 2003 yz250f in late 2002, he brought (50) $100 bills and we had one left over to grab a nice bite to eat on the way home. Brand new bike for $4,900, a new one cost $7000 now.
Lots of things have jumped 30-40% in price over the last 15 years or so though. My 2005 Tacoma was 25k new, if I were to replace it today with the exact same truck its about 33k.
That being said, I still wish it were more affordable.
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
The sport has done a good job of keeping prices incheck as tires, and clutches have stayed about at the same price factoring inflation.
My first YZ 80 was 799, that was in 81, in 85 IIRC they retailed for around 1200, not bad for a bike that changed drastically. But then the YEN took off and all of a sudden bikes were costing 2200 within a couple years.
the concentration of wealth, the financial industry, outsourcing, and robotics/electronics that are to blame if anything. these have kept wages from increasing, while our gross product continues to increase, which influences inflation
So many kids nowadays are born with a smart phone in their hand because parents realize that it helps them stay quiet, but it kills their attention span and motivation to do work hard for anything.
And add in the lack of wage growth on top of reduced purchasing power, and you have bikes that are suddenly not as affordable as they once were.
I'm glad to hear a younger person speak of "the good old days". Usually it's the young ones giving us old guys hell over it.
I actually had a similar conversation with a local mechanic on why there's not more money in pro racing. My opinion is that of market size. Then why is market size so stagnant in motocross/supercross? Barriers to entry. When I first started riding my dad got me a PW50 for around $500 (if that) then good used 2-strokes all the way up to my last few years racing until we got help to buy a KX250F for regional AX.
Lower the barriers to entry to the same type of income/margin ratios to that of what it was in the 90's and early 2000's and I think you'd see a pickup in interest. Real question is how to do that. To me, I think you'd have to restructure classes to make 2-strokes competitive again in mainstream professional racing and not a cool gimmick. Then it'd take a good 3 - 5 years for the effects to be seen in the general/non-enthusiast public. And no, this is not a 2-stroke jihadist stance. I'm actually back on a YZ250FX and love the thing.
Back in 2001 my dad came home with 2 brand new kx125's, he paid cash and they still cost between 7-7.5k each (can't remember the exact number). A new yz125 is around 9.5k retail
I wore O'Neal hardware gear at $300 a set, they are still that now, Oakley O frames were $40, now $50, boots are roughly the same, shoei helmets were $800, still that now, tyres have gone up $10 in that time etc.
Imo you guys had it so good for so long and now you've finally caught up
I believe in a recent interview McGrath said basically the same thing.
In 00 I bought a new 125 for $4200 and 250 for $4800. The top of the line Gaerne boot was 250. All of those prices have doubled. Some parts and equipment have stayed consistent over the years...but it's just gotten expensive, combined with the danger and lack of riding places. There used to be a couple families with a motor home at the races, now it's hard to find a guy in a pick up truck....I think it's gotten so expensive it's just richer families who are at the track. My buddy stayed at Lorettas in a tent in the early 90s and finished in the top 10......nowadays how many kids in the top 10 in any class are in a tent with no ac??
I remember reading an interview with Damon Bradshaw around 89 or 90 and they asked what his biggest fear was. He said it was that the sport would die, just kind of fall into a hole or something. As a 10 or 11 year old I didn't know what he meant....but I think now I do.
Not to get political, but it is really unfortunate that a few bad apples can ruin it for everyone. I wish there was just a "don't be a dickhead" law. If you are a dickhead, we remove you from society. Would be much easier than making everyone play a fucking game because a few folks took advantage of lower regulations. In the end, $$ always wins and exposes the dick heads. $$ also gives people reason to ignore the dick heads when the enforcement is on the receiving end of that $$.
Back to MX. I think it is a combination of things. 1) inflation is always a thing, 2) wage stagnation, and 3) companies who make MX products have realized that they can charge more and people will still pay. My advice, buy a used bike. MX bikes require a shit load of work all the time anyhow, so to me, there's little risk in a few year old used bike if you just assume you are going to have to rebuild the suspension, replace some chassis bearings, and rebuild the engine. I've only owned one new bike and it was when Suzuki fucked up the launch of the 08 450 and they were super cheap from a dealer (mine was 5k new OTD in 2008).
I would need to make 300K gross to make what my parents did in 1982.
If you want to own your own business property you have to have a street light every x amount of feet, or a bush, and a warning sign about the risks associated with your business. The little guys are just getting regulated to death, so there aren't as many small businesses with disposable income as there were 20 years ago. Back in my day so many of the families that rode regularly were blue collar workers or business owners
Pit Row
I'm into road cycling more, can't get into mtb, not as accessible. But cycles are massively over inflated compared to Mx bikes. My mate just paid almost 4K for a road bike. Literally a carbon frame and some nice wheels. Could buy a year old 450 for that money. Madness.
My only complaint with this post is around equipment. You don't NEED a brand new bike with thousands in hop-ups. You don't NEED top of the line gear. It's nice to have, if you can afford it, but lower cost items typically do the same job for us amateurs.
I think everyone should realize that this sport is only as expensive as you CHOOSE to make it to be. You could still go racing on a shoestring budget and have just as much fun as the guy pitting next to you who's up to his eyeballs in debt from new equipment.
Get past the vanity portion of the sport. If you want to ride and race on the cheap do it. no on is stopping you other than your pride and ego.
I have met many less fortunate adults and kids who would literally do anything to even own a ratted out bike and a set of used gear. Meanwhile, everyone else is complaining about the costs of the new bikes, gear, and parts that they chose to financially burden themselves with.
What I am saying is, look at the sport with some perspective. Inflation and rising costs are only a small percentage of cost to play. Look at your own program and figure out a way to make it cheaper.
Again, I complete agree with you, but to put into terms of the strength of the sport, new prices should certainly be considered, IMO.
All to artificially prop up the economy for the past decade.
They should've just let the pain be felt then, but now it will be much much worse.
They kicked the can too far this time. It's criminal in my opinion.
Btw how is it that the Fed is private, yet the public official of the highest order (President) gets to pick the leader of?
Audit the Fed.
As for income inequality, my advice is if you don't like your income quit being a victim. Take a risk, go out and start a business, work really hard, become successful, and put yourself into the top 10% of earners. America is still the land of opportunity and the greatest country in the world to go from rags to riches. As long as you are working for someone else, you will never be wealthy. Quit complaining about your income and go start a business = controlling your own income. One last piece of advice, there will always be someone out there who is less deserving and less hard working, that is making more money than you. Get over it, it's life, life's not fair. The sooner you realize that, the happier you will be. Contentment is a choice.
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