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UK
GB
Edited Date/Time
6/30/2023 4:24am
Looking at the entry for the Red Bud combine, and how a lot of people always say technology and modern land access and this and that have stifled Motocross, with you get people and kids, how good or bad do you think it really is?
Unrelated, took by niece to the local BMX track for the first time with a 16" BMX after work yesterday, she must have done 50 laps in the end, time to dig the PW50 back out I guess.
All i know is,
Growing up in santee California in the 60-mid 70's, pretty much every kid in our neighborhood had a dirt bike.
Most dads had one too, or a buggy or jeep.
We had the local sand pits, where you could find Tripes there every day after school, and endless open trail access all the way over to ramona and poway.
And the desert.
Glamis before it became crazy.
The entire anza borrego desert as far as you could ride in any direction.
Baja, below Ensanada.
Miles of empty beach at san Felipe
the list goes on and on.
We never had to load up and pay to go ride a track with others.
Glad I grew up there when it was all at our feet.
Oh, and the old CMC series races at Carlsbad and Saddleback.
And the four corners track in ramona where we all first saw Marty Smith.
There wasn't the mindset, and pressure, of training to become a pro motocross racer.
We just rode.
More kids today should have it that good.
That sounds about perfect, and backs up a thousand pictures and videos from back then, more than a little jealous of anyone who was there to experience it first hand 👍
It's not just moto, a lot of youth sports have declining popularity. Far more options and you're forced to specialize at younger age.
As far as moto specifically, more people living in neighborhoods and less living in the country where you just play around and ride. The barriers to entry into the sport when you live in a suburb are just so great that unless your family has a history in the sport, you have very little chance of ending up involved. I don't think people who have spent years going to the track realize how intimidating that task is for someone just starting out. Where are newbies supposed to go to just learn to ride and get comfortable on their bike when they don't have land of their own to do it on?
Some of the greatest things ever done were out of boredom. Devices, games, social media are a battle to compete against.
The level of specialization is nuts though. Trainers, tracks, bikes, gate drops... really a rich mans sport. I'd like to think off road is the last stand of purity, but you know thats just because it has yet to be exploited to the level of moto.
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I don’t think offroad will ever be exploited to this level. I think it’ll continue to attract more riders but off-road isn’t a spectator/made for tv type of sport. It’s simply too hard to follow along with the action and keep it interesting for 3+ hours. With regards to the actual number of racers and people interested in offroad, I expect that number to continue to grow.
100% agree on your last point..the vast majority of people who ride have a dad or family who are into it.
my parents werent into it but my dad was mechanically inclined and would help me keep my bikes running as a kid..if you dont have someone in your corner as a young person its hard to get into this sport.
Back in my day my friends and I grew up riding glamis in atc’s. All our parents rode bikes. Hell my dad and his buddy used to ride out of the garage in corona and ride up the “ditch is what we called it” to skyline and ride The mountains and run from the cops. As we got older the parents got buggies and we bought dirt bikes when we got our drivers license. We used to hit starwest or perris durning the week for night riding and then glen helen or vmc on sat. Used to ride white sands and see all the pros screwing around and just having fun.. now my kids ride and we just have fun. These kids at the tracks and their crazy parents are nuts. I’ve seen dads rip their 7 year olds off their bike because they got 2nd and didn’t do a jump. I see old fat dads with stop watches timing their kids when they look like they just started riding. Just let the kids ride and have fun. That’s what this whole sport is about…..FUN and FAMILY
Met a guy in town today and I told him my kid raced. The guy said really, my kid has a dirt bike and loves riding at the house. We pass by the local track on the way to the city but it looks big and massive and above our level. So you're 100% right, just showing up to a track even on practice days is extremely intimidating if you've never done it and don't know anyone.
Spoiled here probably wouldn't be as into bikes if it wasn't for it. Parents bought a house with a couple acres. Right at the property line was a small green belt. Neighbors property right next to it the kids living there all ready had trails and bikes atcs. Wr Also had a long gravel driveway.
So me and my older brother got into riding then the rest of my family did. 99% of my riding was just the trails by my house. Got to know more of the other neighbor kids who had similar areas.
Along with a bunch of pit areas around all stuff that is gone. I really miss those days glad I got to be part of it. Neighbors who didn't think of us trouble makers just the kids out having fun. Wasn't until the mid to late 90's when cops started getting called on us and attitudes changed.
Youth sports have been gutted by comp teams starting so young now. The rec leagues are pretty garbage because the top young kids all play travel/comp leagues that force you to play year round and make playing multiple sports difficult..
Unfortunately, being the best at 8-9 doesn't mean they will be at 16-18. But now, many kids stop playing or fall way behind skill wise because rec leagues in general are so bad and uncompetitive.
That and many kids would rather play video games. Or they live somewhere where their parents don't feel safe just letting them go to the park/ride by themselves.🤷♀️
Going to the track is stupid expensive for a family also. My family of 4 with 3 riders, is at least $110-$130 to just get in. Was much easier and cheaper to get ride time in when there were so many open ride areas and town.
You also don’t go anywhere or continue unless you play for a prep team.
Tough lesson to learn , looking back and all.
it all depends on how they grow up.
my nephew is going to get a pw50 next month and this little dude cannot wait to get on a bike.
Grew up in the Santa Monica mtns (Calabasas)... that area was our moto playground. While technically not supposed to ride there, we rarely ever got hassled by anyone. Racing/riding @ Indian Dunes was all I looked forward to back then. What a time to grow up. Now....way too many pussified kids with "bulldozering" parents and all the environmental bullshit. Dirt bikes are the least of environmental worries.
Glad I'm not a kid in this world today.
EDIT: moto was affordable back then too. I started working around the neighborhood @ 12 to pay for my bikes, racing, etc. Parent's taught me the value of working/money.
My brother bought his first real bike in 1983. A low hr 1979 xr80 from the kid down the street for $150. Granted they were only like $500 brand new. A year later got a really good condition 77 xr75 for my sister for $75!! First clutch bike I rode. Also first bike to land on top of me.
My older sister knew Larry ward from highschool and he came over occasionally to ride. He liked her. And she was showing off and landed on me on my 50 off the blind up hill jump. I did not know who he was back then. Just thought he was my sisters friend with a kx80.
Moto combines are invite only from recommendations by the manufacturers.
make moto offroad again
One of my best friends is a local track owner. He built an advanced track, an intermediate track and a pit bike/kids track. The pit bike/kids track became a total success. So much though that he created a small local series. Within 2 years, two more local tracks built smaller tracks and joined. There's way more kids riding than teenagers/young adults. I see this gap between kids and vet riders. Maybe we are trending in the right direction.
I agree 💯 Offroad crowd is completely opposite of the moto crowd. Moto crowd you could never talk to the guy that is parked 5feet from you,where off-road,you don’t know who the guy is,you pull in at the same time to the trucks and he’s offering up a beer and tellling stories. Good times for sure
Pit Row
We did the comp soccer route from 8YO till he burned out at 12. He was good too, but the politics and BS from other kids/parents/coaches took the fun out of it and he quit. I was never so happy to have a quitter, since we went right back to moto (his first love since age 5) and now, at 16, he's turned into a pretty fast kid. We missed some injury years, didn't burn out on moto, and he's all in now with goals that he's mature enough to understand and commit to. We have Washougal Amateur days and Mammoth coming up this year, and he wants to try for Loretta's next year. I'll support him.
I grew up in central PA in the 70s. No one I knew rode but somehow at a young age I became addicted to bikes. We built "tracks" in the local fields with shovels and wheelbarrows and I rode every chance I could. I raced 1 time when I was 16, and dreamed of California and riding Carlsbad and Saddleback like I saw in the mags. Now I'm 60 and I have a garage full of bikes, and my boy and I are totally connected due to them.
It's a different world now. I spent $200 last night on fuel alone (truck and bikes) and another $100 for racing and misc. I could easily spend $500 a weekend if we raced what is available each weekend, but even with a very solid income I can't do that. One good thing I see is the number of young kids on Stacyc at the track - dozens everywhere, and many are getting on PWs as soon as they can. If we don't lose more riding areas, and people can afford it, the sport seems pretty healthy at the grass-roots level here in the PNW.
I don't know where you're located, but you should see the turnout at these stacyc races out here in Socal. It's utterly insane. Awesome to see families having fun out at the track. Call me overly-optimistic, but I think the sport is in a good place at the moment.
I grew up in Ramona in the '80s. Raced at Barona Oaks (the spiritual successor to the 4 corners track,) and I found out with great surprise that you could ride from my friend's house in the Country Estates right down the hillside to the north end of the El Capitan reservoir. Got there in 10 minutes, but it would take me almost an hour if I wanted to trailer a boat down 67 and go launch it.
Most of my friends had dirt bikes, too. And I also did not pay to go practice anywhere until the '90s. We had riding areas all over town, with names like "The Pits," "The Dips," "Rubber Hill," "Dye Road Pond," and "Carlsbad." (Not the real Carlsbad.) There were little goat trails linking them all together and I could get to any of them from right across the street without ever touching asphalt, except to cross straight over a couple streets.
I know how you got to Poway from Santee; how did you get to Ramona? If it was through Lakeside and up over the hills east of 67, I bet I know right where you came out.
Unrelated but related to some of the replies... I know a couple folks with boys in what appear to be highly competitive baseball leagues. They have personal trainers. 1 on 1 training at 12 years old going hard several days a week. The parents post their PRs and shit all the time and I just think "Wow, hope those kids REALLY love baseball."
More on topic, I'm seeing a huge trend with kids riding bike parks/BMX lately, with some of them now picking up electrics and I can't help but think there will be a boost in moto as well. Seems like us 30+/vet/old guys/guys who grew up with and can afford it are dominating local racing currently and I'm hoping that changes for the sake of the future.
That's been sooooo long ago.
I lived on strathmore dr, at the end of the street was where the adventure began.
A buddy lived in lakeside.
We'd meet somewhere out there after school, or on weekends, and some how ended up in ramona.
Had family friends in poway where we'd stop, hang out, refuel and head home.
Back then nobody cared if you did a little pavement to get to places.
I remember going through a Jack in the box drive thru on my hodaka.
73-75 we use to ditch school and ride 3 wheelers at Santee and Lakeside sand pits. Burned a few under the Hwy 67 bridge......everything was better when you ditched school to do it!
All of these East County memories! El Cajon boy here. We moved to Oregon in the late 70's. Had to learn to ride in the mud! Completely different from the hard pack we rode on as kids.
you boomers are lucky you got to come of age before social media and a de-based currency
being a millenial/genZ is a dystopian nightmare for most of us
I think one overlooked problem of attracting new people to the sport today is that most men today lack the mechanic skills to work on bikes and therefore stay away from bikes. Most can’t adjust the shifting on their MTBs, how should they jet the carb on a 65 for their kid.
Maybe that’s why the Stacyc races are so popular in comparison. Those electric pit or kids bikes require less skill to have fun on for the kids and less skill from the dads to wrench on them. Big part of why they‘re more appealing to the masses IMHO.
70's up till '81, here in Texas,we had trails 3 blocks from our neighborhood. Every afternoon during school year and summer's, weekends you could find a dozen of us riding. If we weren't on our dirt bikes we would be on our bmx'ed schwinn stingrays giving it hell! I haven't seen kids doing this since. Our motorcycles being 70's yamaha's, honda xr's and suzuki's were pretty quiet. We would never get run off by the fuzz. Times have definitely changed. When I visit back home all the trails are grown over. Can't even tell they were there.
I know there are already a lot of tracks within a property (mini track, vet track, stacyc track) wonder if it'd be a good idea to have a beginner type of track? Small tables, hills, banked turns.
There used to be a track here in DFW (Burleson MX) that had amazing dirt and was a perfect place for beginners to get seat time and get comfortable.
Surron/ talaria type bike is becoming extremely popular. Millions view on YouTube’s videos/instagram. I see lots of kids riding in my neighborhood etc. You charge it head out of the garage to the street and find jump and place to ride. Ride dirt jumps etc. A month ago I sold my talaria to a 14 years old kid and talking to the dad he knew nothing about motorcycle or dirtbike. But since it is electric in their head it is not as dangerous as a gas bike for the people who know nothing about this
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