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Only $10 for all 2026 SX, MX, and SMX series.
Do you think they are gonna pay that
Even if it is a good deal $6600
Is still a lot of money.
So people say buy a play bike like a CRF230 or something
But where do you ride it ?
In a lot of states its Track or nothing unless you own property.
And if someone shows up at the track on a crf 230
They look silly, and probably only get a couple laps in.
Point being its Really not a easy sport to get into unless
Your parents or uncles are into it.
And if someone wants to get into it after age of 8-9
It gets a lot harder
Its not bad if you get in young 50cc
But getting in on an 85 or up is being thrown in with fast bikes and pretty good riders and big jumps if you were a true beginner
I raced for 19 years and quit at 6:45 on a Sunday morning at signup when I saw the days class lineup...28 classes.
The factors listed in this thread all add up, death by a 1000 cuts.
I ride practice days still, but moved to offload in '04 and enjoy it much better.
I could give two poops about a trophy, I want to ride.
But you're right. I can see that as a problem for sure if there's not many places to ride.
Everybody wants to cut classes, just not theirs. lol
But as a promoter it's a double edge sword. So many guys want to ride 2 or 3 classes that you need that many. Plus, the promoters aren't getting rich (unless you have an outdoor National). So they need all the entries they can get. Hence, multiple classes.
I think that's why off road is getting so popular. You know exactly when your race starts, ride 2 or 3 hours and go home.
Not sure there's a good answer.
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Or if any tracks would be willing to try that.
And your asking for the workers to give up a whole weekend. Plus you basically double your work (think track prep) and expenses (labor cost), but the income stays the same.
That's why a lot of track do an open practice on Saturday and race on Sunday. Not as much prep, way less labor and very few expenses. It's mostly profit.
About 15 years ago a few tracks around here tried running a split program. All the youth classes in the morning then about 1pm the rest of the classes. The idea was that you didn't have to be there all day. Some would alternate the sessions so the same riders weren't always the early shift. But for some reason it didn't work out.
I do know one issue was the promoter had to open sign up twice, but I don't think that was the main reason it didn't work.
Does that dirt lot, hills, etc. still exist?
I know mine doesn't.
And one can leave once their moto runs?
Perhaps run the biggest classes first. Those are the most important ones, as there are more paying customers in those classes. For heavens sake get the number of classes down to 15-20. 30+ is riduculous at a local event and drags out the day.
A long moto could be 20 minutes. Combine poorly attended classes on the same gate or stagger.
Do two 20s in a day and that is plenty of moto.
Where will we find our future military recruits?
As far as the classes go, I think we have it down to about 22 when we do a race. That's about the minimum you can get to and still have it where every rider has an opportunity to ride a second class.
As I said, every rider wants less classes. Just don't cut theirs.
Bottom line, we just need more kids riding dirt bikes. lol
Demographics and what the OEMs offer have the turning radius of a cruise ship. They cannot be changed in the near future, if ever.
Implement a bachelerotte tax to provide an incentive for women to marry and reproduce.
Enforce immigration laws. Enforce labor laws regarding illegal aliens.
That will result in more kids and thus more kids on dirt bikes.
Good luck!
Urban sprawl.
This may be my last year of racing MX exclusively before I go off road. All day and lots of money for so little ride time sure does rub many people wrong and push them away. MX with kids is often a heritage thing and if it isn't in the bloodline, then it doesn't happen. Too many other interests these days too and kids are soft because parents are self absorbed and lazy
But women have to accept some blame for our changing demographics. And these changes are hurting the number of children entering the sport.
If the sport is to survive it will need new participants to replace the ones that are being lost due to age or other reasons.
Pit Row
We can't blame "soft kids / parents" like everyone wants to because sports like skateboarding, bmx, scootering, etc. continue to grow exponentially every year. While I do think cost of entry does play it's part today more than it did 10 years ago I think the the most obvious issue is accessibility to places to engage in the sport.
I don't know about everyone else but I didn't get into the sport by seeing Supercross on TV and heading straight to a track. I discovered bikes because someone was riding the hills behind my house. I rode my BMX bike out there, made friends with the owner, and started riding those hills. Then I got a bike, told everyone about it, and took people to the hills to try out riding for themselves. After a year all of us in the neighborhood had bikes and we spent countless hours riding spots that are long gone due to urban sprawl.
I mentioned it already in this thread but if we want to plug the leak we have to embrace electric. You'll still have those people who will protest bikes because of their destructive nature but the noise problem – a huge problem in our sport – is gone, and when that noise problem is gone you can instantly re-open and create new riding areas. Hell, with an electric bike anyone with a couple acres on their hands instantly has a fun spot for their friends (and more importantly their friends kids) to ride.
This is a sport that grows by word of mouth / shared experiences... we have to make it easier for people to experience it with their friends and family.
Urban sprawl hasn't helped neither. And neighbors don't want to hear loud dirt bikes or live near dust. People complain about everything these days it seems like. My HOA banned kids riding bikes, skateboarding and general playing within my neighborhood on our streets and common areas. Because people complained about kids playing and being noisy, etc. more reason for kids to just stay inside.
Cost of bikes doesn't hold merit, as parents and adults spend their money on other expensive items. Some families cell phone bills are more per month than riding or maintaining a dirt bike.
I got into dirt bikes and moto because my childhood friends brother had a mx bike and raced. When I was at their house I saw him riding and thought it was so bad ass. My hometown had several mx racers back in the late 70's to early 80's. One kids parents owned a shop. He raced and was state champion and became nationally ranked as Amateur national ranked #5 before LL's existed. Several kids in our town idolized him and wanted to be like him. So we all were fortunate that our parents knew of him and his shop family and many of us kids and best friends had mx bikes. And we all rode together and traveled to races together. We even had a we'll know mx track in our town. So the sport was well known and people embraced it an introduced their kids to it. That same mx track is still there. The motorcycle shop is still there. Times have changed, racer turnout their is basically nonexistent now to where back then it was a full house. People that didn't even ride came out to watch the racing. That era is gone. Hard to pinpoint why exactly but many of us have valid reasons why. It's not just one reason, it's many.
I agree that electric is the next big thing. But, I do not think it will help to create riding ares. Dust is also a giant factor, and e-bikes do nothing to help that aspect. There is also no money in MX. Land is more valuable being anything but an MX track.
Roe vs. Wade is awesome and has done a lot of good. We should expand the welfare state and raise taxes. We should pay women to not marry and have kids. Remove all immigration laws. All are welcome. Remove labor laws regarding illegal aliens.
And all of this will make motocross flourish. How could it not?
I hope you don't vote!
The last 50 years has seen family planning dominated mainly by economic conditions. People are having the families they can afford for the most part. I don't really see how handing more kids to people who don't have the means or motivation for them provides the means to buy them a dirt bike and everything involved.
Earlier you mentioned how those without kids shouldn't pay education taxes, so you want to make kids even more expensive to raise? Not to mention probably 95% of the people you interact with everyday were educated under the public system, I know I don't want to run into a bunch of less educated people, we take our high literacy rates in math and English for granted sometimes.
Once the wealth accumulated by the Boomer generation filters down to the younger generation birth rates will increase and those kids will have better lives if there are activities available that don't involve an electronic screen. We need more public land available for various recreation activities that don't involve a ball, since trespassing riding isn't likely to be a viable option for most kids in the future, and parents are strecthed thinner financially.
Edit: it also seems that kids and adults today are less interested in things that take time to master. I'm not sure but I think school music programs are seeing a decline in numbers (it's really hard to learn to play an instrument well). If it takes years to learn people don't want it. That's why a 60k truck or BMW is a better investment than a 10k dirtbike to some, you can be a master at looking cool tomorrow.
This is terrible. Isn't the whole reason of buying a home in a nice neighborhood and paying a HOA fee to ensure that kids can play in a nice environment if they wish.
I'd violate the rule on purpose, and tell the complainers to "shove it." If they do not like kids or the noise they can buy earplugs and stay inside. Or better yet take a long walk on a short pier.
I think public schools waste a lot of money and we would be better off without them. I think the parents should pay for K-12 and some sort of public fund could go towards universities and/or trade schools.
The Boomer generation will live long enough to spend every dime they have, as well as money stolen from their children and grandchildren via Social Security, Medicare, and pensions.
The Boomers were the most prosperous generation in history, and won't scale back spending in retirement. They will leave little for their kids and grandchilden, and their homes will likely lose value as younger people cannot afford them. There will be no demand for suburban McMansions and 10K/year property taxes.
All of these have some bearing on motocross and money that could go to moto. Sadly, there are no solutions other than George Carlin's bury everyone alive at 65 plan.
You are right about the mcmansions, but money the elderly spend is transfered to the young at a higher rate as they are mainly paying for medical and living services not goods so more of the expenditures are going to health and care providers.
The greater threat is that education and opportunity wealth is lost to foreign lands. Corporate greed is causing a knowledge suck out of this country. Younger people in America are not learning the ropes of how to develop, produce and maintain material items like they used to. Bicycles and dirtbikes were the gateway into this thought process for alot of us and it's something that is desperately needed today.
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