Best era of racing?

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Edited Date/Time 8/16/2019 8:09am
What you guys think? Tough one for sure.

Best era of racing

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zehn
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zehn 8/12/2019 2:37pm
8/12/2019 2:37pm
I'm pretty sure the answers you receive will be directly related to the age of the respondents
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dirtworldmx 8/12/2019 2:39pm
8/12/2019 2:39pm
1984-85 were the best years, IMO. Johnson, Ward, Bailey, Glover, Barnett, Lechien, O'Mara, etc.
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deanwhite51
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deanwhite51 8/12/2019 2:47pm
8/12/2019 2:47pm
Personally.. Not so much the era.. But the year of 2003 was some of the best racing.
RC4 and Reed. every week battling. Reed was a Rookie and RC4 was in his prime and just come off defeating McGrath.
Then you had JS259 showing raw talent on a 125. Plus the beef between Matt Walker and Travis Preston.
Bikes where stock looking and as factory as they could get. 2 strokes where the bikes to have.


But there is a reason the sport was at its peak when it was Reed, JS259 and RC4 all running the show.
When you have these riders all turning up to races in Privet jets or there sports cars parked up in the pits... how can any era compete with that.

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Falcon
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Falcon 8/12/2019 4:25pm
8/12/2019 4:25pm
Zehn is correct that nostalgia will play a large role in the answers. As for me, I voted the Johnson, Ward, Bailey years because there were so many riders who could win on a given day. Our more recent decades have been dominated by 2-3 "crushers" at a time, whereas the mid-'80s were an absolute free-for-all. Take, for example, the names who could likely win a 450 Motocross event in 2019, and I mean "very likely": Tomac, Roczen, Musquin. Osborne? Well, not yet. Anderson? Barcia? Big question marks on their names this season.

Now 250MX in 1985: Johnson, Ward, Bailey, Glover, Barnett, Lechien, O'Mara, Hannah...
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Ranman68
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Ranman68 8/12/2019 4:42pm
8/12/2019 4:42pm
I think the "best" era would be the era that was the least predictable. To me that would be in the 80s with Ward, Hannah, Bailey, Barnett, Lechien, Glover, Johnson, and others. So many greats. So many possible outcomes. The depth of talent was unreal. The u.s. won mxon events year after year with ease no matter where it was held. We had a lot of bad dudes. The action was crazy good. Indoors and out.
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level 8/12/2019 5:51pm
8/12/2019 5:51pm Edited Date/Time 8/12/2019 5:52pm
I was surprised to see the McGrath era voted so low. I actually completely missed this era of racing. I was in college and out of the moto scene completely during his reign but of course he absolutely dominated the sx series until RC came along.
I did see quite a bit of the bailey and Stanton and Johnson era then got back in at the beginning of Carmichael’s dominance and have watched ever since.
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DPR250R
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DPR250R 8/12/2019 5:59pm
8/12/2019 5:59pm
As short as it lasted... watching Pastrana hasn’t been topped for me. I always stopped everything I was doing to watch him.

From his rookie race when he crashed during the sight lap to being there when it ended at Unadilla... then... waiting for every injury report after hoping he would ld make a comeback.

Second would be the current era... because yes I am a Tomac fan and you never know which Tomac will show up.
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RAD60
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RAD60 8/12/2019 6:28pm
8/12/2019 6:28pm
Come on , Bob Hannah put a ham samdwich on Tripes honda fender at the starting gate,,, cant be topped
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crusher773
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crusher773 8/12/2019 7:27pm
8/12/2019 7:27pm
Shouldn't Emig/MC be the same as Henry/Lammy/Larocco
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Tarz483
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Tarz483 8/12/2019 7:30pm
8/12/2019 7:30pm
I feel like this can be an individual thing , on where your heart and fondness lay
str8line
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str8line 8/12/2019 9:17pm
8/12/2019 9:17pm Edited Date/Time 8/12/2019 9:25pm
The 80's for sure. Hannah, DeCoster, Moates, Howerton, OMara, Barnett, Bailey, Lackey, Glover, Bell, Breker, Johnson, Hansen, Lechien, Sun, Laporte, Ward... Magoo!.. later on Stanton and Bayle, Cooper, Bradshaw, Kiedrowski, L. Ward, Diamond, Schmit, Holland, Crazy decade.
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theprizefighter 8/12/2019 10:07pm
8/12/2019 10:07pm
80s. It's the golden era if moto and nothing compares.
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theprizefighter 8/12/2019 10:07pm
8/12/2019 10:07pm
str8line wrote:
The 80's for sure. Hannah, DeCoster, Moates, Howerton, OMara, Barnett, Bailey, Lackey, Glover, Bell, Breker, Johnson, Hansen, Lechien, Sun, Laporte, Ward... Magoo!.. later on Stanton and...
The 80's for sure. Hannah, DeCoster, Moates, Howerton, OMara, Barnett, Bailey, Lackey, Glover, Bell, Breker, Johnson, Hansen, Lechien, Sun, Laporte, Ward... Magoo!.. later on Stanton and Bayle, Cooper, Bradshaw, Kiedrowski, L. Ward, Diamond, Schmit, Holland, Crazy decade.
Damn straight.
cablecable 8/12/2019 10:36pm
8/12/2019 10:36pm
90`s hands down for me, all the gear and bikes were badass and you had the 2 greatest with MC and bradshaw
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Nuffsaid
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Nuffsaid 8/12/2019 10:46pm
8/12/2019 10:46pm
For advancement and brand participation and diversity it’s 73-76
For rider guts and prestige 81-85
Is that close?
Nuffsaid
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Nuffsaid 8/12/2019 10:54pm
8/12/2019 10:54pm
Indian_Dunes_4ever wrote:
80's will always rule.... You had to be there.
I was there at the Dunes, especially the night races, the local pros usually didn’t show and I could at least go home with a tire or oil or even a Bardall jacket once in a So Cal August?
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Indian_Dunes_4ever 8/12/2019 11:01pm
8/12/2019 11:01pm Edited Date/Time 8/13/2019 7:25am
I'm gonna throw the trump-card here.

Factory works bikes.... nuff said.

/thread



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Indian_Dunes_4ever 8/12/2019 11:02pm
8/12/2019 11:02pm
Indian_Dunes_4ever wrote:
80's will always rule.... You had to be there.
Nuffsaid wrote:
I was there at the Dunes, especially the night races, the local pros usually didn’t show and I could at least go home with a tire...
I was there at the Dunes, especially the night races, the local pros usually didn’t show and I could at least go home with a tire or oil or even a Bardall jacket once in a So Cal August?
Yep....did a lot of Friday night racing there. I sure miss that place.... it was my 2nd home.

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Nuffsaid 8/12/2019 11:08pm
8/12/2019 11:08pm
I was there during the earlier era, Donnie E still had pimples and the 125’s thought the 2nd turn chain link fence before the big downhill jump was put there as thier personal berm Cool
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kage173
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kage173 8/13/2019 4:13am
8/13/2019 4:13am
It's so frustrating when people say that the field is so stacked or the class is deeper than it's ever been.

No, no it's not. Not even close. It's been stacked. Its been deep. That's why it's the most prestigious dirtbike series in the world.
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Park Boys
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Park Boys 8/13/2019 4:30am
8/13/2019 4:30am Edited Date/Time 8/14/2019 7:15pm
Something about RC, Reed and Stew puts it over the top. They were at the forefront of the modern era that we are still in today. They made the money, was the last era of guys you could say were larger than life. You had Reed, who was MC on steroids at least in SX. Stewart was the closest thing this sport has had to must see TV and no one had that hype and of course RC, what else needs to be said about him?

The 80s were great until RJ went to Honda. Then it was he won or what happend to RJ. Bailey on a 500 was the only one to best him in RJs first year.
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DrinkMoreWater 8/13/2019 5:10am
8/13/2019 5:10am
Stewart reed and Carmichael, those three put it on the line every week and seemed to never have a bad race.

When you look at Tomac for example he has the speed of Stewart and rc at his best, but his mental issues or whatever it is you don't see him ride in that god mode he has every week comparing guys like RC, Stewart and RV which makes the current racing less appealing.

I would love to see Tomac always show up and set the bar week in week out and watch the other riders try to match him.
wwdiii
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wwdiii 8/13/2019 11:18am
8/13/2019 11:18am
Nuffsaid wrote:
For advancement and brand participation and diversity it’s 73-76
For rider guts and prestige 81-85
Is that close?
This
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OLDMOTO
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OLDMOTO 8/13/2019 11:34am
8/13/2019 11:34am
Being an old dude that was at the very first exhibition put on by the Euros near San Diego in the sixties. I have watched and in many cases riden on the same tracks with all of these eras of riders. They all were superb. Most of you are not old enough to have watched Joel Robert and Roger Decoster on the works Suzukis. That was truly special. Marty Tripes when his head wasn't in his ass had moments that were unbeleivable.

Every speculates about who would win if they were all racing together in their prime on equal machines. As I have witnessed them all racing in pearson, I would have to go with RC4 followed by Roger DeCoster. As wild cards Tripes and of course James Stewart if their heads were in to it.
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bigk218
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bigk218 8/13/2019 8:45pm
8/13/2019 8:45pm
What answer choice has Stewart in it...............that one
dimetime
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dimetime 8/13/2019 10:30pm
8/13/2019 10:30pm
Even though I'm ripe and have been enjoying moto since the 70s, l've got to say l'm partial to the Carmichael/Reed/Stewart/Pastrana years. The 80's were great no doubt but for me the level of riding overall and RCs insane domination were just super impressive at that time.

Watching RC go 24-0 twice is something l don't think we'll ever see again. Just unbelievable.
devindavisphoto 8/13/2019 11:46pm
8/13/2019 11:46pm Edited Date/Time 8/13/2019 11:46pm
Mid 2000s were really fun to watch. Carmichael, Bubba, Reed, Windham, Pastrana, McGrath, Fonseca, Ferry, Tortelli, Vuillemin, etc.
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Adam89
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Adam89 8/13/2019 11:52pm
8/13/2019 11:52pm
I don’t understand how 6 people can downvote a poll that covers pretty much all of moto/supercross with no bias or stupid remarks from the poster? Like what the hell?

Anyways for me the Emig/Mc era was awesome as well as the Rc/Stew/Cr/Kw was awesome as well
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str8line
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str8line 8/14/2019 12:18am
8/14/2019 12:18am
OLDMOTO wrote:
Being an old dude that was at the very first exhibition put on by the Euros near San Diego in the sixties. I have watched and...
Being an old dude that was at the very first exhibition put on by the Euros near San Diego in the sixties. I have watched and in many cases riden on the same tracks with all of these eras of riders. They all were superb. Most of you are not old enough to have watched Joel Robert and Roger Decoster on the works Suzukis. That was truly special. Marty Tripes when his head wasn't in his ass had moments that were unbeleivable.

Every speculates about who would win if they were all racing together in their prime on equal machines. As I have witnessed them all racing in pearson, I would have to go with RC4 followed by Roger DeCoster. As wild cards Tripes and of course James Stewart if their heads were in to it.

Grudge match on equal machinery between Robert, RC, DeCoster, Tripes and Stewart.

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