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6184
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8/27/2006
Location
Acworth, GA, USA
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Edited Date/Time
4/7/2019 5:55pm
We have 8 or so top riders out right now
Reed
Brayton
Peick
Stewart
J Mart
Anderson
Friese
Barcia?
You think it would be in the best interest to the body that you want to keep riders healthy and racing for more competition and to just look out for them.
I really don’t know what the answer is. It’s an individual sport. Most the accidents are freak accidents where not sure anything they do could prevent it but they could try.
I really think some type of body suite for the riders to wear needs to be invented and money from sales put into research or something.
They may already have this but a separate body who’s main goal is to try and prevent injuries by looking at data and doing research and fund this separate body by putting some money from sales and having teams contribute since it’s in the teams best interest to keep riders healthy also.
We could argue and offer opinion all day long about too fast bikes and starts and track design and so on but there really needs to be a separate division that has funding to be able to reduce injuries somehow with hard data and technology for gear etc.
That’s the only way to get the ball rolling. It will take a lot of people working together to accomplish this with regards to track design and gear and starts and more. It just needs to be done.
Reed
Brayton
Peick
Stewart
J Mart
Anderson
Friese
Barcia?
You think it would be in the best interest to the body that you want to keep riders healthy and racing for more competition and to just look out for them.
I really don’t know what the answer is. It’s an individual sport. Most the accidents are freak accidents where not sure anything they do could prevent it but they could try.
I really think some type of body suite for the riders to wear needs to be invented and money from sales put into research or something.
They may already have this but a separate body who’s main goal is to try and prevent injuries by looking at data and doing research and fund this separate body by putting some money from sales and having teams contribute since it’s in the teams best interest to keep riders healthy also.
We could argue and offer opinion all day long about too fast bikes and starts and track design and so on but there really needs to be a separate division that has funding to be able to reduce injuries somehow with hard data and technology for gear etc.
That’s the only way to get the ball rolling. It will take a lot of people working together to accomplish this with regards to track design and gear and starts and more. It just needs to be done.
Tracks were more aggressive than what the bike could handle.
Today it is the exact opposite.
Did you watch those videos in the thread?
Give a little more thought to what I typed...
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Give the riders some time off with the hope that injuries during practice aren’t as often as during the races.
.....I'll show myself out.
The current bikes are so fast and so good that the speed that they are going makes most of the crashes worse. Helmet protection has taken huge steps forward and the MX helmets are some of the most advanced pieces of head protection in the world.
That can't be said about the rest of the upperbody. The fact that there are a lot of riders that have zero protection on their chest/back is crazy in my opinion. The mandatory air bag system that is in MotoGP has reduced injuries a lot. I hope that Alpinestars are trying to create a version of their air bag vest for MX/SX application and that the system becomes good enough for it to become mandatory someday (very complicated and i don't expect to see this anytime soon).
Then there are freak accidents that will always happen once in awhile like with the Reed/Brayton incident. Nothing can be done about those crashes, only better protection can make the outcome better.
As for track design, you can take out every jump, most of the corners, and make the racing surface perfectly smooth. That is called flat-track racing and guys still get mangled doing it.
And since we are talking unrealistic perfect world scenarios here, I'd like to see the SX cut back to 12 races. 12 SX and 12 MX, or maybe 15 SX and 10 MX but most importantly a few off-weekends in SX. Racing 17/18 weeks is total meat grinder, and regardless of what changes are made to the tracks and program that injury rate is partly dependent on the relentless schedule.
Pit Row
No matter what you do, however, this is a dangerous sport.
https://www.thetoptens.com/most-dangerous-sports/
https://bleacherreport.com/articles/876512-ranking-sports-from-least-to…
Bikes have progressed and rules have not. we axed 500's because the 250 became a better race bike
We are there now - a 250f is nearly on par with a 450 now. And argue all you want - a modern factory 250f is faster than ANY 250 two stroke we ever raced
So why haven't the rules changed to reflect this? We should be at MAX 350cc for the premier class.
John Short, a texas pro - tried the 450 class this weekend in houston. He said riding a 450 in sx is terrible and he fully stated we need a 350 limit. He has been a top 15 outdoor guy and his sx skills are rising -
I think it's just time we got smart.
Sadly a 350 limit wont slow anything down what so ever though. I think DV stated jumps used to be closer together and steeper - which limits speeds. That could be a smart change IMHO too.
Lastly - starts are dangerous. And bike speeds are up at the end of starts due to all the advancements. Add in a grate start where speeds are up even more - and holeshot devices...it's dumb
I think we are finally to a point where we need a CLEARLY biased start where P1 gets best gate and P20 has no chance - like MXGP does. This provides REAL incentive for good qualifying - puts the most talented guys next to the most talented guys - and DOESN"T allow some 20th place rookie/newbie to clean out a championship contender (davalos last year round 1 via osby)
WE could also be SMART and say redcross flag/no jumping the first lane after the start on all races. This would allow people to string out a tad - AND reduce the chances of someone taking the needed risk of doing a rythm around people when they shouldn't
Just my thoughts.
Not just a straight with jumps turn straight jumps, over & over,
More sand? More walls to slow it down?
Maybe an extreme enduro section? ( ya I can’t believe I just said that ) lol
Just ideas
As far as the bikes and track design there could be minor things to incorporate but it needs hard data and a separate governing body to review that.
They could use videos of crashes over the last 10 years and think what could of helped prevent that if anything.
I think really the major thing is riders need to wear more protection but the technology is not there yet where it can be lightweight and maneuverable.
I honestly think the first start is to setup a different governing body and fund it to look for solutions whatever they may be. That will get the ball rolling.
This is now a decade+ old topic. Not to be negative but to answer your question Yes there is something that can be done. But No they will never do it. And here's why.
In the early 2000's when these things started to hit the 50-55+ HP mark (yes I know they are even more now) my first thought was "well where is the ceiling?". Many will say there have always been injuries in this sport. And they are correct. However and this is only my opinion the severity and frequency has grown since I have been watching back in 1981.
I believe my opinion is supported by the laws of momentum and mass. The 450 is increased momentum and mass when compared to the 250 two stroke machines. So the guys are going faster, jumping farther, and carrying more mass. This will always result in more severe and more frequent injuries when compared the the 250cc two strokes as they are lesser in both categories. And we have seen that.
In every other top motor sport the governing bodies have instituted limitations to performance. I admit that I don't know much in terms of details. I just know they have. As technology advances and speeds get higher and higher they have time and time again slowed things down.
To keep it short and simple our sport is now past the point where this needs to happen. I don't know the answer as to how it would be implemented. Limiting cc size would be probably the simplest way. The 350cc is not the answer. The 250 4 strokes (which used to be a 125 class) are now nearly as fast as the old 250 2 stroke class. With that said the manufactures will NEVER be on board with that as they would have to reinvent the 2 class market every time there is a rule change. Well all of them except KTM and Husky LOL..
This is not an insult to the riders. These guys are racers. If the limit was 1000cc's they would still figure out a way to race. I have great respect for them. I think the track designers have done a pretty good job and taming these things down. I also think it could be much worse. But they have really stepped up the use of the red flag, the red-cross flag, etc.
Post a reply to: Can the powers at be do anything to reduce injury?