For the swedish guys in here

i havent read that until now, its a good article, as for me we doest have any problems with the money, but i see alot of my friends and theirs parents that have to give up all of other stuff.
But i stil think its very expensive, i know when me and dad go up to the teamshop for some stuff we need to the next race it can be between 700 bucks to 1500 bucks, just to get stuff for 1 race,

And

Sorry for my bad english

Sir, no need to apologize for your "bad English" not only do most of us appreciate

the fact that you probably read, write and comprehend the "King's English" better

than most Americans, we respect the fact that you give it a tremendous effort.

Du eer mein soulstrole

"You are my sunshine" Okay, that sounded gay....

Sorry about those Swedish prices, sounds like they make motocross too

expensive for regular guys to afford, a shame since traditionally - Sweden and

the other Scandinavian countries gave us many World-class moto heroes...

Themrtoad: Are you Joakim Barath then? Well written article and one can only hope that something happens that will change this situation.

It sure isn't a cheap sport, but I want to think it can be held on a fair level if you are a bit smart and really try to keep the cost down.

Google translation:

I follow daily different curves, figures and forecasts, both in my work and private. Some of it is vital to have knowledge of my work and other things that interest me. I do not think it has escaped anyone that the economy in the world has done its worst plunge since the Great Depression, or that there has been an unusually snowy winter in southern Sweden. I can very much understand why these two phenomena, one due to a "credit bubble" that burst in the U.S. and the other is a pure coincidence that I am unreasonable opponents of climate change caused by man. Here are my thoughts about motocross from a slightly different perspective.

The recent turmoil in financial markets has meant that quite so many cross-interest has been less money for their hobby. At the same time as the costs of running motocross increased in an explosively way just since I left the active drivers 2,001th Anyone who somehow get their income from motocross to the total turnover of goods and services will increase or at least not decrease. If the number of entrants decreases so requires more investment by them as being to maintain the status quo I think the sport as we know it will stand or fall not to the number of active reduces more. There is somewhere a critical mass of drivers, parents, enthusiasts and wallets that we should not be a hiccup away from being a small sport like curling and biathlon, but without successful practitioners. More active means more officers to the clubs, more money from RF, multi-starters in the races, more money to your local motorcycle dealer and a greater ability to withstand the rabid environmentalists who strain at a gnat and swallow the elephant. Fewer drivers means the opposite.

If you can agree with my reasoning above, I think we are on a national and international companies and economic perspective swung fundamental flaw in an intersection for about 10 years ago. Those who know me know by now where I am going with my argument, to all of you who do not, so I refer to the transition to four-stroke motorcycles in motocross. I have chosen three things that are four stroke brought with it that I see as very negative, namely sound, economy and regeneration. This will mean fewer members of motocross in the future.



(M) Sound

Four-stroke allows more than two-strokes. They also have a sound that carried a lower frequency travels much farther away, and the result is likely to reach and disturb the neighbors to our training facilities that previously had not been affected at all. A tuned four-stroke engine sounds even more, and until proven otherwise, it seems sound and the power to stand in direct correlation to each other. Bikes in the U.S. are faster than those in Europe, they may be as much as anything. All who were involved in a club five years or more knows that the closure is a real threat that looms over many of our facilities. Almost always sits enemy with all trump cards when such discussion occurs. A closed orbit means that practitioners and enthusiasts are lost, and hence the money they could invest in the sport.

Where is the pain threshold economically?

A new cross in 2010 cost a much larger piece of disposable income than they did 10yrs ago. Why the price of the cross rail in a way that the price of cars has not been done I do not know, but it is definitely not good. For 10yrs ago you could possibly get away, a new cross for more than 50 000: -, today it is between 80-90 000: - the price tag. The costs of normal wear parts have followed a similar pattern I imagine, but then to be unreasonably high costs when you get to the engine on a four-stroke motorcycles. At a stroke you could cook and patching your old exhaust system as long as you have gas to the weld. Were you forced to buy a new left it at just under 3000: -. On today's four-stroke one fall could mean a cost of between 5-15000: - depending on what was on. Are you sitting with Pete and the raging engine you'll kindly explain to your bank that you want to borrow 25,000 - or, alternatively, alert the family that there will be no vacation this year or next year. The same failure of a stroke costs the equivalent of what a poorly paid summer resulted in three weeks. The cost for conducting an elite investment in motocross is and always will be astronomical and it does not really so much on the whole. The problem at the national level is as middlebrow no longer consider themselves able to afford the sport, on a global basis, it will be panic when "Average Joe" no longer has it that the USA is the largest market. If the number of motorcycles sold decrease too drastically in the U.S. will not be Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki's patience to be particularly large. Production of Cross is a vanishingly small proportion of their income, and does not proceed charity or make it for the love of the sport. In the U.S. debate on the four-strokes are much livelier than in Sweden and Europe. In various forums, it's always these threads that provide the most posts, and besides the usual pajkastningen there are signals to take seriously. Many traders and even the dealers are sitting with a large number of unsold new 4taktare from 2009 to 2008, creating an uncertainty as to the order of bicycles 2010års model. Used four-strokes are very slow-moving while the price of second-hand stroke increases. This means that it will be produced fewer cycles of 2010års model than the 2000års model. Development costs should be allocated to fewer units resulting in a higher price, creating a vicious circle that reaches every motorcycle dealers around the world and makes a shrinking sports than less in terms of number of practitioners.

Regrowth

Little Lars or for the sake Lisa has a friend who runs Little League cross. He has a four-stroke 150kubiks and because it seems so funny to begin a massive campaign of persuasion on the father and mother in the house. After saving some time and priority away quite as much things as buying a used copy of the above model as a birthday gift. After the purchase of a used equipment as a new addition to the proportion of active practitioners in our sport, a fact, there is however a dark cloud in the sky. The hand cycle was quite worn out even though it put new decals on it, but the father in the family who is reasonably knowledgeable in mechanics attention is not the ticking sound, but let the child go to the track. Shortly thereafter, ending the cycle to work, and the neighbor offers tips on the local motorcycle dealer who certainly can look at it. The bill becomes of 22000 -, cross costing 25,000 - in purchasing. They stop running cross. In a perfect world, they might buy a better used 85kubikare instead, but all children want what their idols are running, and all parents want their children happy. Even without high-tech engines that are experiencing clubs around Sweden, fewer and fewer practitioners. Youth competitions in the past attracted several hundred participants are set. To then make inroads into the sport of motocross even more expensive means that we suddenly only flirts with the very wealthy families.

The solution

For the four major Japanese brands to listen to market signals as regards the phrase "vote with your dollars". It was as late as last autumn, a discussion of allowing 250-2takt in the Lites class in the National's, but it unfortunately fell at the finishing line. The worst bikes in this class have engines that cost nearly 100 000dollar, and they were not eager to see them being passed by a 250 two stroke with other exhaust systems that cost a fraction to buy and maintain. By far the biggest was the opposition of those who have already deleted the 2502takt from the model program. Rumors said that Tommy Searle was ready to run a KTM250SX, and Yamaha also had potential candidates. If the rule change goes through 2011, there's a decent chance that we might see a people's hero who wins on a motorcycle that does not roar, do not pay a fortune in the purchase and not bidding on motor accidents for 25,000: -. It is also fluid and emit less pollution than a four-stroke, we are all winners.

Good shit, and this needs to be told again and again despite being mentioned here several times before. In short, four strokes are killing our sport because of increased costs and sound. This means less people involved as consumers, track builders, flaggers etc which means loss in sales for the local shop, fewer races etc etc.

The figures being mentioned for cost are a bit over exaggerated, I think parts are less expensive now a days than before when I rode in the eighties, but when a new bike cost the same as a new car something is wrong, also when the cost of maintain the same bike is scaring people off, and the sound issues with fewer tracks as a consequence (not much of an issue in Sweden yet, here the three huggers use the pollution angle yet) we have a problem.

This would partly be solved if the vaginas, whips, cowards, money-whores in FIM, AMA, GPs allowed 250 two strokes in the 250 class.

But hey, that's some scary shit for Honda because they don't produce them any more, so we better not provoke Mr Honda because they then would take their bikes money and support elsewhere?!?!? (where else)!

Assholes.

Heard about Cedric. But what happened to the rule where they allowed equal displacement in MX2? That was stated by FIM 2007. I assume they chickened out the whimps. If I'm wrong I'm sorry. I wrote them, but strangly I haven't got an answer....