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Another ignorant statement... I never said anybody was playing 'crash derby', that's just dumb... I simply said that the new breed of racers/fans seem to bitch and moan any time a racer makes a pass.
Guys from the early eras were just badass and cool without trying to be. It's just who they were. Now, it's all marketing/image and product placement taken to the extreme....to feed the social media monster.
I love this sport, have since the 70's....but it isn't what it once was. Truly happy I personally experienced the 70's/80's eras.
Typical of a newer generation to think theirs is better.... but in reality, it really isn't if you've experienced both the old and new.
I consider myself young for the older crowd (under 50 currently). But I totally agree. It would be like me having a thin crust pizza and a thick crust pizza, and somebody else only eating the thick crust pizza and arguing with me that it's the best of the two!
Keep in mind too, that a lot of the guys from the earlier eras probably drove their POS box van across the country to the races too. While chugging Bud heavy.
Now, it's fly in the private jet to your $2,000,000 motor-coach at the track. Not saying that the guys now aren't more athletic and go WAY faster, but it's definitely different!
Fair enough.
I just see that sentiment a lot when this stuff gets brought up "well back in the day"....."you kids couldn't have handled blah blah blah".... when reality seems to be that every generation has a guy or two known to ride rough and that's about it.
So that begs another question, was there really less bitching back in the day or was there just no internet to bitch on?
Another thing to consider, back in the day not many folks actually got to watch any of the races and if they did it was on a big delay. Nowadays that we can see every race live it's a lot easier for more people to know what is going on and get fired up about it. In the 70s and 80s if CycleNews didn't write about it most fans probably didn't even know it happened.
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Roger DeCoster smashed Bob Hannah"s pipe at Unadilla in a Trans USA. Pretty sure it was pay back?.
Cool.
The old Hannah/Howerton you fuck with me and I’ll fuck with you seems to have died off.
He does some boneheaded things but I still like the guy especially his interviews . I was rooting for him to get Kenny in those last few laps .
RJ took a few runs at Hannah in his time .
It was wayyyyyyyyy better in almost every way moto.....you should have seen it. I sure do feel damn lucky to have grown up in the time i did....70's 80's 90's.......... I bet you'd feel that way also.....I'm assuming your a kid (everyone below 30 is a kid to me)..... or you probably wouldn't think the way you do.....
40 years from now this generation of kids will be talking about Barcia and Anderson and Peick and Freise and saying dumb things like "kids these days are soft they would have lost their shit if they were around in the 20's". They will be just as wrong as the "back in the day" crowd is now.
Man...I really am in your head....
Truth!
Thanks for letting me know, I had no idea.
I always thought Bevo was Hannah’s bodyguard..
The box van era probably had a lot more off track justice/corrections delivered than the “hide in your motorhome” times we live in now, riders used to hang out on the back bumper and talk to people a lot more. Barcia seems like a guy that would have gotten an adjustment or two back then, that might have helped him find a bit more respect for his competitors sooner than later. Maybe he’s changed his tune, I really hope so because I really like his speed, energy and enthusiastic style.
Mike Kiedrowski ghost rode his bike Into Mike LaRocco after the finish i think at Red Bud or Millville?
And they were on the same team!!!!!
Pit Row
A little?
Bam Bam good this week,…. Pitch forks out for that Hunter dude…
Great picture! Rex was a badass for sure. I remember when the local pro races at Glen Helen would make Rex start with his back wheel on the start gate instead of his front wheel. This was after his pro career was long over, he was in his mid 30s.
Imagine Barcia taking Rex’s line in a turn.. I’d pay more to be in the pits afterwards than a ticket to the race!
I’m 38.
Been following the sport heavily since 1997. So I’m not old I guess but I’ve been around awhile.
I can’t imagine that it was just such a better experience to be a fan in 70s and 80s when CycleNews was your only source of info than it is now.
We also have no shortage of straight up bad asses now.
These dudes now have been living motocross every second of their lives since they were 4 years old, I can’t imagine the dudes in the 70s who rode trails behind the house a few times a week most their lives were superior to the thoroughbreds we have now.
Pick any of your hero’s of yesteryear and only a select few are worthy of holding Tomac’s jockstrap.
Downvote away if your over 60. 😘
No downvotes from me..
But..
Imagine a world where you could ride out of your house every day after school, race 5 or 6 times a week and herpes / aids hadn’t been invented yet. The local dealership would have a row of 20-30 new 125s along the sidewalk and your blue collar dad could afford to buy you one every year. High schools had motocross teams. Gas was 60 cents a gallon. One year old used bikes were a couple hundred bucks, any after school job could buy a used bike if you were willing to work for it/your parents couldn’t or wouldn’t pay your way.. top end kits for your Elsinore we’re about $25..
The 70s were a really good time to moto.
Like how Sexton rides, two weeks ago?
100%. Like Hunter passing Thrasher in Daytona and somehow that was a big deal. Unless the riders tiptoe around each other it's considered rough riding and people here will bitch about it until the next rider triggers them.
Yeah, a lot of 'we walked to school, uphill both ways...in the SNOW' kind of stuff. But in all honesty, the riders then were more gritty and would make a pass any way possible, because that might have been the difference between getting enough money to make it a few more rounds... or having to scrape by.
Yes, the internet and these message boards definitely give everybody a platform to bitch about everything.. our generation was tougher, this generation is too soft, barcia is too dangerous, blah blah..
Even in the 90's...you had to wait a week or 2 to catch a race on TV. Unless you wanted to call a 900 number to get the updates...
I'm 58 years old, and I certainly remember those days. The 70s, through now all were good times in dirt biking, just different. I think in the 70s just the amount of people riding, and the amount of tracks and races, trails were everywhere, people were a lot less sensitive to motorcycle riding made Pro racing more of a crucible. Rubbing in racing was taken with less offense than now as well, but it was a given if you did it, expect it back. I think the GPs losing much of their importance and prestige has hurt the sport massively as well, the time of 100,000 spectators at a GP, and riders from all over the world aspiring to race at that pinnacle I am afraid is gone forever. Barcia's riding style and attitude is a refreshing throwback to another era, I genuinely hope he continues a few more seasons.
I am 55
I'm more of a doer than a watcher.....I was more talking about real life motocross and not the pro scene.....which by the way you used to be able to lean over a short fence and get roosted by the pros....so many less rules and whining....
I've seen fast pro's ride since the 70's......In my mind they are no different than the current crop in badassery. I
never got tired of watching talent for sure.....whether it was rex staten...Bob Hannah....Ricky Johnson.. Jeff ward....jeremy mcgrath.
Denny Stephenson, Damon Bradshaw... Ezra Lusk....Tortelli.....Jeff Stanton.....Jeff Emig.....Jeremy Martin, RC Stewart...Roger Decoster....Greg Albertyn...Josh Grant...Tomac...Barcia....Watching each of them in their prime was a thing of beauty.....Put any one of them in their prime on the same bike and you will have a war....Talent in the 80's was the same as it is today...I believe Ricky Johnson and RC and Tomac would have kicked the shit out of each other every gate drop......No idea or care who is better because they were all fucking animals like normals can't even comprehend...The only thing that made me stop riding my own bike was when a guy like Robbie Reynard shows up to shred....He was just to beautiful not to watch ride.
Just Think about a prime RC or Stewart against a prime tomac. on the same machine.....OH man. Throw in Ricky Johnson (he refused to lose just like RC)....
I believe you were talking about the pro scene (which I agree with you on.) While moto to me was not the pro's.....it was all the average Joes that i met and battled with on the weekends...I guess you had to be there when in 1984 $10,000 would get you 3 kx 125's and 2 250's ...along with filters, chains , sprockets, Jets, top end kits, clutches...And that was retail. 500 bikes could show up for a wednesday night local race where you probably had to run qualifiers to get to the night show. In Nebraska.
You could get a used late model bike and throw some gear together for $500. Racing was cheap and fun...That's what i meant by things used to be better. (As long as you didn't get sick.....) My 1984 kx 125 gave me the exact same chills when i bought it as the 22 250 sxf that I purchased last year. I believe I paid 1400 dollars for the kx brand new.....and it was the fucking trickest machine I'd ever seen.... The Ktm was like 11 grand or something....Plenty trick also.....Sorry for the long rant..we seem to be on the same page here. I like that .
100% Jeffro 👍👍👍👍👍👍
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