Who invented the starting gate?

GrapeApe
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GrapeApe 9/8/2015 2:15pm
9/8/2015 2:15pm
"I invented the backwards falling starting gate"

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RichardLoots 9/8/2015 2:28pm
9/8/2015 2:28pm
Dutch race in St.Antonis , between 64 and 67 .... some footage of starts , with starting gate

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Johnny Depp
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Johnny Depp 9/8/2015 2:53pm
9/8/2015 2:53pm
2:29 shows a starting gate. But it went black and white. Not clear on the event date? A very crude pipe for a gate.
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RichardLoots 9/8/2015 3:19pm
9/8/2015 3:19pm Edited Date/Time 9/8/2015 3:19pm
Pics from races in 1975 and 1966





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The Shop

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RichardLoots 9/8/2015 3:20pm
9/8/2015 3:20pm
Johnny Depp wrote:
2:29 shows a starting gate. But it went black and white. Not clear on the event date? A very crude pipe for a gate.
the video is from events 64 till 67
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WhipMeister
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WhipMeister 9/8/2015 4:01pm
9/8/2015 4:01pm
I don't know who invented it, but Dennis 'Skylab' Hawthorne was a master of jumping all of them before they fell. Silly
40Plus_922mx
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40Plus_922mx 9/8/2015 4:37pm
9/8/2015 4:37pm
GrapeApe wrote:
"I invented the backwards falling starting gate" [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Al_Gore,_Vice_President_of_the_United_States,_official_portrait_1994.jpg[/img]
"I invented the backwards falling starting gate"

LoL. Beat me to it.
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DonnieS
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DonnieS 7/17/2018 4:21pm
7/17/2018 4:21pm
We were told one night at Corona that we were the first in SoCal to use one...
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Drtbykr
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Drtbykr 7/18/2018 12:07pm
7/18/2018 12:07pm


Prototype
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Skeet dad
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Skeet dad 7/18/2018 12:41pm
7/18/2018 12:41pm
Old, old, old School!

When I first started racing mx, maybe late 60’s, all racers lined up, in neutral, had your clutch hand touching your helmet. Naturally, everyone crouched down low on the tank. When the starter threw the flag, you grabbed the clutch, slammed it in gear & took off. All manner of cheating was observed! Some guys would reach around & pull the clutch in with crook of your elbow, putting bike in gear, waiting for the flag....CZs could be slammed into gear without benefit of the clutch....guys would rig extended clutch actuating levers on top of the cases, actuate clutch with your foot, pop bike into gear then release with their boot! Awesome times!!!!
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ruy
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ruy 7/18/2018 1:18pm
7/18/2018 1:18pm

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kage173
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kage173 7/18/2018 2:44pm
7/18/2018 2:44pm
The guys in the old video look fairly skilled (not being sarcastic), so why do they sit so far back on the bike? Was it due to the different suspension, or maybe those metal gas tanks were hardcore ball busters?
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stillwelding
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stillwelding 7/18/2018 4:09pm
7/18/2018 4:09pm
Johnny Depp wrote:
I haven't found anything in my searches about the origin of the starting gate. It seems unique to MX/SX and is iconic to this sport. Does...
I haven't found anything in my searches about the origin of the starting gate.

It seems unique to MX/SX and is iconic to this sport.

Does any other motor sport use this method?

It appears to be the great equalizer, where in theory everyone has a fair shot at the start.

I remember random start positions based upon who signed up 1st and then your 1st moto finish.

I remember rubber band starts and then forward falling metal gates. Where did it start?





Thanks for this post, even if it’s just for my old pal Super Hunky!
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Skeet dad
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Skeet dad 7/18/2018 4:33pm
7/18/2018 4:33pm
In that wire holding photo, the guy on the Greeves with black stripes on white helmet is Greeves factory rider Bryan “Wild” Wade!
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disbanded
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disbanded 7/18/2018 4:42pm
7/18/2018 4:42pm
Einstein's brother
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motoxxx599 7/18/2018 7:19pm
7/18/2018 7:19pm
Drtbykr wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2018/07/18/275330/s1200_F55C887E_A8D3_4251_A93E_E7894A52386F.jpg[/img] Prototype


Prototype
New section in supercross next year .. the gate hurdle
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ctbale
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ctbale 7/18/2018 10:48pm
7/18/2018 10:48pm
1977 my family became part owners of Berm Benders Raceway in Mora Minnesota, District 23. We were the first track in Mn to install the individual backwards falling gate similar to today's gates. I believe it was put in that year. We called it The Even Break Motocross Gate. I dont know if that was the manufacturers name for it or not.

It got mixed reviews if I recall correctly! Wink

SteveUrchin
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SteveUrchin 2/3/2022 7:19pm
2/3/2022 7:19pm
one of my first races as a child at LACR they had this old ass gate that fell forward. Only day I ever raced on that style of gate on a 65 scared the shit out of me I will never forget it.

Pit Row

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Mr. Info
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Mr. Info 2/3/2022 8:17pm
2/3/2022 8:17pm
I think Jody invented it.
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wardy
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wardy 2/4/2022 12:06am
2/4/2022 12:06am
I remember superior metals. We bought our first gate i believe from them in the early 90's. in fact still use it today.

"Evenbreak" starting gate if i remember correctly the name of the product.

Still works great and we did some improvements (covering the opening so dirt stays out) but have used it for over 30 years now.

Hell we have grates as well which work excellent.
GingerSnapRacing 2/4/2022 12:08pm
2/4/2022 12:08pm
If anyone wants a flash from the past and race a fall forward 3” pipe gate little okie in Madera Ca still has theirs after all these years. Still see more farmers kids riding in their farm boots, clapped out CR250’s and jeans at those races than anywhere in my entire life. Worth at least one trip a year.

With that said I have no clue who invented it but thought I’d share.
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plowboy
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plowboy 2/4/2022 12:59pm
2/4/2022 12:59pm
In the early '70's I read all the magazines so I knew they used gates at "big time" tracks but in rural Ok/Tx where I started...they didn't even have classes. They lined up everyone in rows regardless of size/skill and flagged or fired a gun to start us. It was wild and wooly for sure. Saw my first surgical tubing start at Marshall Tx. They even had classes and heats because of all the entries. Heat in front of me...starter pulled the screwdriver out and the loop caught a dudes front brake lever. The band pulled him left and he took out half the starting gate. Crude and unsophisticated but really a great time.
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gt80rider
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gt80rider 2/4/2022 1:32pm
2/4/2022 1:32pm
Johnny Depp wrote:
Prague, Czechoslovakia on May 9, 1956. No mention of a gate? http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/asp/museum/exhibits/mx/history8.asp [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2015/09/07/104231/s1200_polish2.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2015/09/07/104232/s1200_polish.jpg[/img] 100,000 people!
Prague, Czechoslovakia on May 9, 1956. No mention of a gate? http://www.motorcyclemuseum.org/asp/museum/exhibits/mx/history8.asp







100,000 people!
This pic makes me wanna pick up a bike from the 50s....
CPR
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CPR 2/4/2022 4:25pm
2/4/2022 4:25pm
Mr. Info wrote:
I think Jody invented it.
His version had one extra gate
tmphotoart 2/5/2022 8:26am
2/5/2022 8:26am
40 Rider Forward Falling Start Gate is a Beautiful Sight . . .


1982 Trans-Cal Series at Saddleback Park
mooch
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mooch 2/5/2022 8:45am
2/5/2022 8:45am
reded wrote:
Bonus points for the brand of cigar that Mr. Sieman is likely toking.
Old thread...so a reply to an old question Smile

I'm thinking that would be Wheeling Marsh stogie.
toroP
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toroP 2/5/2022 8:45am
2/5/2022 8:45am Edited Date/Time 2/5/2022 8:45am
Invented by Prof. Wheaton B. Starting.
( known among his colleagues as WeeBee)
jenniferamon
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jenniferamon 9/10/2023 12:47pm
9/10/2023 12:47pm
pete24 wrote:
the first backward falling starting gate was invented by Dick Roy of, superior metal works new britan ct, and was used first at middleboro

When I was a kid, they were holding and dropping chains. An early start could get you wound up in the chain and flip the bike.  I worked building forward-falling metal drop gates in the early 70’s at Penton R&D. 

Old School Fool 9/10/2023 12:56pm
9/10/2023 12:56pm

         As mentioned before, Joe Bolger invented the starting gate. Tested them at NESC tracks.

Nairb#70
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Nairb#70 9/10/2023 1:08pm
9/10/2023 1:08pm

What was wrong woth the rubber band or Surgical tubing start? Seemed fair enough.

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