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I know, I post everything that pops in my head.
I just watched Jeff Emig on the swap podcast and he said he just signed up for Loretta’s and it cost him over 1k. Is that just sign up fees?
Wow, with sign up fees, traveling, taking off work, lodging, gas, food etc…..I don’t know how some of these families do it, especially if you’re going to 3-4 amateur events a year!
Become? I’d say it’s been a rich family sport.
Ditto. Always has been.
rich families or families that are willing to sacrifice everything else to go racing. My family was the second lol
We didnt go on family vacations, not once. We never ate out, we didnt do a lot of things so we could go racing. Moto is the best and worst thing that happened to my family lol
But now that I am older, I have some of the best memories of traveling to the races with my dad and brother. Driving through the night, my dad having me drive at 14 so my brother and him could get sleep for work monday. We had a stick shift, regular cab s10 with no AC because thats what we could afford with the price of moto. Rock River helped us with bikes or else we wouldnt have been able to do it. I remember at a regional they had 5 foot trophies, we had to give them back because we couldnt fit them in the s10 with 3 people and 3 bikes.
Went to lorettas with that s10, we tent camped with a jerry rigged AC set up. We may have been the last of the week to week paycheckers chasing the dream.
BUT i will say, nothing felt better than Sunday at regionals, seeing the 200K rv's packing up while I was putting my gear on to go racing in the back of the 1991 S10
Loretta's is definitely expensive with Area and Regional Qualifiers and then the week at the ranch. However, it is the National Championship and meant for the best 40 riders in each class. Plenty of middle class families still pull it off, but there are also plenty with piles of money invested in the sport.
As far as motorsports go, moto is about the easiest to get into both cost and access, but it's not "cheap" like baseball of course. You can still buy a used bike for a few grand and go ride trails etc, or you can go all in and try to go fast with the best equipment.
The Shop
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Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
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Doing it on only $1000 is low by the time you add up all the fuel, hotels, food, track sign up fees, MXSports sign up fees, Parking fees all for traveling to at least 1 area qualifying race, 1 regional and Lorettas.
MX has always been an expensive sport when compared to just about any other amateur sport. But people will find a way to get to the next level if they see the potential. $1K for a national event is steep, but probably won't stop too many determined folks from entering.
Looks perfect 👍
Has been for a looooong time. The next RC never even touches a motorcycle.
I'll say that if you're looking just at amateur motorsports, MX is one of the most accessible and affordable. Sure MX bikes are expensive, but karting, drag racing, amateur drifting, or even just doing track-days on a regular basis can rival if not easily surpass what you need to participate in MX. Like if you have a truck and nothing else and wanted to go do an MX race you could do it relatively cheaply.
But of course with any of these sports to be competitive resources help, especially as you advance.
Yeah but those are also the other rich family sports lol
Buying a $300 glove and a $500 bat is something a family can do with a paycheck. Not many can afford a new bike with one paycheck
Wait, bats cost $500 ? WTF
Yep. On the high end let’s say you spend 1K for all the baseball equipment. That lasts all season and even multiple years. Never have maintenance. Never have to refill with gasoline. Etc. We are still not even remotely close to the cost of just the motorcycle to go racing the amateur circuit.
This .
This is well written anas really captures the type of ingenuity you gotta have to do this if you're not loaded.
The $1000 was just sign up fees!
I paid $1,000 for my RM125 in 1980
( and that's the sign up fee now )
Yeah, I only raced competitively from 85-90 and we would go camping at the local tracks, get up go racing on Sundays, some of the best memories of my life. I can’t even remember how much the fees were back then. I think it was around $10-$15 at the gate and that was it.
Pit Row
You're comparing camping and fees at a local race thirty five years ago to the fees to race our amateur national championship? lol
The entry fees at LL's are $200 per class. Then there are further fees depending on whether you are camping or need an electrical hookup or have extra vehicles, etc.
Alternatively, you have guys here comparing just buying a glove and bat to getting a bike. Do you think getting your kid to the Little League World Series, or to top AAU basketball leagues is cheap?
It's all relative.
No I wasn’t really comparing, just telling a story.
Yeah, because I think Lorretta Lynn’s fees should only be $10-$15 35 years later. smh 🙄
Would be interesting to know the job/work parents do for successful racers. I suspect it's a lot of entrepreurs, business owners.
It's not only the money, it's the possibility to take time off, now do 5-day work weeks, be at the track, races, travel... not only Moto, same goes for most 'serious' racing, starting with Go-Carts. I know good Carting racers having to stop racing since their dad simply couldn't take time off...
You may be doing $500k annually, but if you are stuck in a office in the town for 5-days a week you won't take your kid to the races.
Growing up, what I witnessed was all top racers dads had an excavation/construction business that they were administrating from the track
...but that's a long time ago, maybe things have changed.
You don't need to tell me, my youngest plays club soccer at a "Loretta Lynns" level. I mean, all you need for soccer is a ball and cleats, right? lol
Red Prius with small cargo carrier for the bike and all that in it including a table.
Rich and in debt are two different things.
My daughter used play competitive tennis (through D1 college); private and camp lessons every week make racing look cheap.
And travel across state and country, flight, hotels multiple times/year. Not just one Loretta Lynns.
I'm an outside construction side IBEW lineman.
Wife is a waitress at a fancy restaurant when I take off to take the kids racing.
Barely making it.
Yes
It's always been a rich family sport.
The real problem is, it's gotten too rich for the average family/kid who just wants to play ride or race locals.
I would say so, based on the RV and pit setups I see on practice days at the local track and camped at pro nationals for amateur day. Couldn't tell you what percentage of them are trying for Loretta's though.
Post a reply to: Has Amateur MX become a rich family sport?