Arizona cycle park affected by insurance

imscaredofjumps wrote:

When all the tracks are closed and there’s nowhere to ride I will open mine up until it is shut down.  Or there’s always off-road trails.

PNWMXer wrote:

It’s not even that rosy. I was told last year by a track up here that the number of insurance companies that would even consider insurance...

It’s not even that rosy. I was told last year by a track up here that the number of insurance companies that would even consider insurance shrunk from 6 a couple years prior to 2. 

Those 2 were now sending spies to tracks they cover, looking for behavior and/or infrastructure/safety issues. They would then up rates or drop them. 

alphado wrote:

[img]https://americanmotorcyclist.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AMALogo-primary.png[/img]

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA seems to think banning onewheels and stacycs will appease our insurance overlords. 

PNWMXer wrote:

It’s not even that rosy. I was told last year by a track up here that the number of insurance companies that would even consider insurance...

It’s not even that rosy. I was told last year by a track up here that the number of insurance companies that would even consider insurance shrunk from 6 a couple years prior to 2. 

Those 2 were now sending spies to tracks they cover, looking for behavior and/or infrastructure/safety issues. They would then up rates or drop them. 

RichieW13 wrote:

I don't blame insurance companies for sending "spies" to see what's going on.

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA seems to think banning onewheels and stacycs will appease our insurance overlords. 

RichieW13 wrote:

I have not heard about AMA trying to ban Stacycs.  Do you have any more information on that?

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA District 14.We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

AMA District 14.

We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA District 14.We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

AMA District 14.

We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

RichieW13 wrote:

Apparently that's a District, not AMA national.  Also, it doesn't look like they are trying to ban Stacycs.  They are banning people from riding in the...

Apparently that's a District, not AMA national.  Also, it doesn't look like they are trying to ban Stacycs.  They are banning people from riding in the pits.  

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA District 14.We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

AMA District 14.

We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

RichieW13 wrote:

Apparently that's a District, not AMA national.  Also, it doesn't look like they are trying to ban Stacycs.  They are banning people from riding in the...

Apparently that's a District, not AMA national.  Also, it doesn't look like they are trying to ban Stacycs.  They are banning people from riding in the pits.  

FilthyGrungy wrote:

For all racing disaplines in D14. Define to me what the pits are at an enduro on state land?

FreshTopEnd wrote:

"arguably the biggest and most influential moto site in the world" . . . which translates to "I'm here so it's the mostest importantest place ever...

"arguably the biggest and most influential moto site in the world" . . . which translates to "I'm here so it's the mostest importantest place ever by golly." 

That's just nonsense.   You have to be delusional to think this place is a high influence focus group driving the industry apart from laughs.  People posting here who do nothing else have zero influence because of Vital and Vital never has been positioned as a hard news/advocacy site.  

Changes will only come when the spoon-fed crybabies here get active in local, regional, and national groups that have or should have a program for change and can outshout the people outside who oppose our sport or within the sport undermine it.  It's on you.  No matter how much news you get you'll be trivial and part of the problem unless you get involved.  

Even then you can't make insurers underwrite motocross track risks, and certainly not at cheapskate premiums.  

 

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA seems to think banning onewheels and stacycs will appease our insurance overlords. 

RichieW13 wrote:

I have not heard about AMA trying to ban Stacycs.  Do you have any more information on that?

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA District 14.We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

AMA District 14.

We have gotten to the point where we have "Assault UTVs". 

FilthyGrungy wrote:

AMA seems to think banning onewheels and stacycs will appease our insurance overlords. 

FreshTopEnd wrote:

"arguably the biggest and most influential moto site in the world" . . . which translates to "I'm here so it's the mostest importantest place ever...

"arguably the biggest and most influential moto site in the world" . . . which translates to "I'm here so it's the mostest importantest place ever by golly." 

That's just nonsense.   You have to be delusional to think this place is a high influence focus group driving the industry apart from laughs.  People posting here who do nothing else have zero influence because of Vital and Vital never has been positioned as a hard news/advocacy site.  

Changes will only come when the spoon-fed crybabies here get active in local, regional, and national groups that have or should have a program for change and can outshout the people outside who oppose our sport or within the sport undermine it.  It's on you.  No matter how much news you get you'll be trivial and part of the problem unless you get involved.  

Even then you can't make insurers underwrite motocross track risks, and certainly not at cheapskate premiums.  

 

yak651 wrote:

I see you acquired a high horse in between your absence from this site and your return 

FreshTopEnd wrote:

"arguably the biggest and most influential moto site in the world" . . . which translates to "I'm here so it's the mostest importantest place ever...

"arguably the biggest and most influential moto site in the world" . . . which translates to "I'm here so it's the mostest importantest place ever by golly." 

That's just nonsense.   You have to be delusional to think this place is a high influence focus group driving the industry apart from laughs.  People posting here who do nothing else have zero influence because of Vital and Vital never has been positioned as a hard news/advocacy site.  

Changes will only come when the spoon-fed crybabies here get active in local, regional, and national groups that have or should have a program for change and can outshout the people outside who oppose our sport or within the sport undermine it.  It's on you.  No matter how much news you get you'll be trivial and part of the problem unless you get involved.  

Even then you can't make insurers underwrite motocross track risks, and certainly not at cheapskate premiums.  

 

yak651 wrote:

I see you acquired a high horse in between your absence from this site and your return 

FreshTopEnd wrote:

No, sick of the nonsense and plain enough to call it out.  This place and all boards are a speck in motocross.  Sorry not sorry if...

No, sick of the nonsense and plain enough to call it out.  This place and all boards are a speck in motocross.  Sorry not sorry if that punctures the thought bubble that anything written here matters if people who feel strongly about things just blather on and don't act outside a forum board.  Posting here does nothing without real life action.  

ML512 wrote:

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's...

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's a little fitting to the situation.

At the end of the day, I sorta get it when insurance rates are going through the moon at these tracks and I'm sorry to say this, but in my opinion a good chunk of this blame is on riders and track operators.

As one user here has mentioned, the poor quality of riders and their actions at local tracks continue to blow my mind. I went to Fox Raceway yesterday with friends and I wanted to at least go rip four riders asses mid-day for stupid decisions. Kids on surons doing wheelies through pits and crashing, riders getting off tracks on the landings of jumps for no reason, people running into each other getting on and off the track not paying attention. It's shocking how far some people's heads are up there you know whats.

Then add in the terrible quality of flaggers and staff at some local tracks. In the past three weekends, I've picked up or had to run out on the track to save someone's ass from getting landed on about six times. I'm averaging twice a weekend of dragging bikes off the track, getting riders off the track, and flagging people on jumps. Well before any of the track staff actually get there or even have a clue what's going on. Most of these, myself and our buddies have already cleaned up the incident then have to go find staff to help the injured rider.

Tracks are typically under-staffed when it comes to flaggers and medical crew.

Just a couple weeks ago I watched my girlfriend's father and his buddy in a situation where I'm on the other side of the facility, look over and see a goon of a rider rolling a large tabletop...grab a hand full of throttle and just whiskey out onto the landing. Bike laid out, the guy just runs off and leaves it. Myself and another buddy grab our bikes to get over there and by the time we get there, three people have landed on said bike. No flaggers, and two riders totally out cold, one of them being the aforementioned gf's father. Other riders who landed on the bike are the ones back on top now flagging. We're dragging bikes off the track etc. Said guy who started it, finally picks his bike up after we drug it off the track and leaves the scene. Doesn't check on the two guys who are out for about 5-10 mins each.

Early this year I'm at Perris Raceway, and some dude cross-jumped my gf and cleaned her out in mid-air, she crashed pretty bad, and goes into a seizure. Dude who causes it immediately went to the pits, loaded up and left. EMT shows up and wants to just yank her helmet off on the spot. I stop them from doing so, wait till she comes to, and release cheek pads before we even attempt. Guess what, we get to the hospital and she has a broken neck. Thankful nothing worse came of it, but the lack of care from medical staff was mind-blowing to someone who had a seizure for over a minute, had five broken ribs, and a broken neck. They just wanted to get her off the track without much worry about the condition, even though she was complaining of pain in her back and neck.

I've gotten into at least five arguments with mini-dads this year that are sending little six year old Johnny onto the main track of Fox Raceway when it's packed to the gills and people are dodging their kid left and right. Their so small that the mud when rolling in between the jumps sends them left and right. I crashed myself once this year dodging one and doing my best not to destroy the little guy. Go talk to the dads in a calm peaceful tone about it and they just go balistic how they paid to be there and it's one everyone else to watch out for their kid...

We also have one local track that is pointless to warn the owners of safety issues, they just get pissed off.

How about the race three weeks ago at Perris with a start that doubles back over itself, and the race operators dropping the second gate of the race before the first gate had crossed back over? Causing a head on collision between the two gates and multiple riders being transported to the hospital with some pretty gnarly injuries.

The amount of times I've gone to track crew with "Hey, your water line is broken, there are guys landing in a few feet of water off this jump and almost dying" is comical. The water line has been broken for at least ten to fifteen mins, no one notices. Glen Helen was the best for this, broke between two tables on the main. About five laps goes by, no flaggers, no staff. I go grab a guy and tell him, warn them that dudes are literally flying into it and nearly crashing. Do they send a flagger over? Naw, they just run around on a mule going god knows where. About another 10 mins goes by and finally, they set a flagger there, after everyone has already figured it out for themselves it's an issue.

I spend nearly as much time dragging bikes off the track, picking little kids up and starting their bikes, and watering the track (some weekends these places just give up and let their tracks go away in the first hour to straight powder, it's amazing) as I do riding myself on the weekends.

No split practices really boggles my mind. I was born and raised in Southern California, we had them when I was a kid, and now Barona is the only place I've been to in a while that actually does it.

I'm not saying all tracks and riders are to blame, of course not. But as with most things in life these days, bad eggs who have no common sense screw up the fun for all us paying attention and trying to enjoy our hobby.

I could go on and on about shit I've seen in the last 12 months alone. From track workers, to local riders, etc. This insurance situation SUCKS, but the community itself needs to take a hard look at itself and take some accountability for what's been happening.

To those who want to complain to me about not doing something about this:

As I stated above, I don't know enough about litigation, liability, and insurance to give an opinion or educated article on why prices are going up. As I wrote above, I can give my opinion on watching pure fuckery at the track three days a week, but that's about it. 

My job is to run this website, cover racing, personalities, etc. Manage this forum, advertising clients, manager for the rest of the staff, content conception, scheduler manager, build project bikes, shoot phoots, website testing, developent meetings, shoot videos, expense reports, travel agent, etc etc etc.

I don't claim to be a journalist by trade, I do journalistic work when I can such as bike reviews, interviews, and some investigation when its in my wheelhouse. The Lawrence / Deegan story I did about the Ausx Open was very light in terms of journalistic research and it still ate up 15-20 hours between interviews, research, editing, etc.

I do my good deeds where I can. Currently helping a race team find financing and a new race trailer after massive fire damage has rendered there's questionable. Played agent for an amateur rider who was getting screwed five ways to Sunday and got him his first pro ride. Bought an engine for another struggling privateer, find sponsors and parts for other privateers. Spent 5k of my own money on camera gear to give a young guy who comes from a pretty shitty upbringing a chance to have a job in the sport he dreams of. Finally finished paying off the 150k plus debt I had from a race team to help riders realize some dreams and got screwed by sponsors and people along the way.

Weekly threatening emails, DMs, and other social media messages from people who have been banned from the forum, IG, YouTube etc. Viewers who want me fired because they find my voice annoying, users who email me that want Lewis fired because they don't like his accent...and don't even start me on the guy who has a youtube channel who throws me in weekly rants.

Happy holidays everyone, appreciate all you who view our site, read/watch our content, and go ride your dirtbikes on the weekend. Keep the good times rolling. As most of you feel, I just hope our little sport keeps trucking along, I really enjoy riding.

PS, I'm not even going to spell or grammar check my post, so expect some mistakes, I'm just ranting and rambling.

ML512 wrote:

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's...

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's a little fitting to the situation.

At the end of the day, I sorta get it when insurance rates are going through the moon at these tracks and I'm sorry to say this, but in my opinion a good chunk of this blame is on riders and track operators.

As one user here has mentioned, the poor quality of riders and their actions at local tracks continue to blow my mind. I went to Fox Raceway yesterday with friends and I wanted to at least go rip four riders asses mid-day for stupid decisions. Kids on surons doing wheelies through pits and crashing, riders getting off tracks on the landings of jumps for no reason, people running into each other getting on and off the track not paying attention. It's shocking how far some people's heads are up there you know whats.

Then add in the terrible quality of flaggers and staff at some local tracks. In the past three weekends, I've picked up or had to run out on the track to save someone's ass from getting landed on about six times. I'm averaging twice a weekend of dragging bikes off the track, getting riders off the track, and flagging people on jumps. Well before any of the track staff actually get there or even have a clue what's going on. Most of these, myself and our buddies have already cleaned up the incident then have to go find staff to help the injured rider.

Tracks are typically under-staffed when it comes to flaggers and medical crew.

Just a couple weeks ago I watched my girlfriend's father and his buddy in a situation where I'm on the other side of the facility, look over and see a goon of a rider rolling a large tabletop...grab a hand full of throttle and just whiskey out onto the landing. Bike laid out, the guy just runs off and leaves it. Myself and another buddy grab our bikes to get over there and by the time we get there, three people have landed on said bike. No flaggers, and two riders totally out cold, one of them being the aforementioned gf's father. Other riders who landed on the bike are the ones back on top now flagging. We're dragging bikes off the track etc. Said guy who started it, finally picks his bike up after we drug it off the track and leaves the scene. Doesn't check on the two guys who are out for about 5-10 mins each.

Early this year I'm at Perris Raceway, and some dude cross-jumped my gf and cleaned her out in mid-air, she crashed pretty bad, and goes into a seizure. Dude who causes it immediately went to the pits, loaded up and left. EMT shows up and wants to just yank her helmet off on the spot. I stop them from doing so, wait till she comes to, and release cheek pads before we even attempt. Guess what, we get to the hospital and she has a broken neck. Thankful nothing worse came of it, but the lack of care from medical staff was mind-blowing to someone who had a seizure for over a minute, had five broken ribs, and a broken neck. They just wanted to get her off the track without much worry about the condition, even though she was complaining of pain in her back and neck.

I've gotten into at least five arguments with mini-dads this year that are sending little six year old Johnny onto the main track of Fox Raceway when it's packed to the gills and people are dodging their kid left and right. Their so small that the mud when rolling in between the jumps sends them left and right. I crashed myself once this year dodging one and doing my best not to destroy the little guy. Go talk to the dads in a calm peaceful tone about it and they just go balistic how they paid to be there and it's one everyone else to watch out for their kid...

We also have one local track that is pointless to warn the owners of safety issues, they just get pissed off.

How about the race three weeks ago at Perris with a start that doubles back over itself, and the race operators dropping the second gate of the race before the first gate had crossed back over? Causing a head on collision between the two gates and multiple riders being transported to the hospital with some pretty gnarly injuries.

The amount of times I've gone to track crew with "Hey, your water line is broken, there are guys landing in a few feet of water off this jump and almost dying" is comical. The water line has been broken for at least ten to fifteen mins, no one notices. Glen Helen was the best for this, broke between two tables on the main. About five laps goes by, no flaggers, no staff. I go grab a guy and tell him, warn them that dudes are literally flying into it and nearly crashing. Do they send a flagger over? Naw, they just run around on a mule going god knows where. About another 10 mins goes by and finally, they set a flagger there, after everyone has already figured it out for themselves it's an issue.

I spend nearly as much time dragging bikes off the track, picking little kids up and starting their bikes, and watering the track (some weekends these places just give up and let their tracks go away in the first hour to straight powder, it's amazing) as I do riding myself on the weekends.

No split practices really boggles my mind. I was born and raised in Southern California, we had them when I was a kid, and now Barona is the only place I've been to in a while that actually does it.

I'm not saying all tracks and riders are to blame, of course not. But as with most things in life these days, bad eggs who have no common sense screw up the fun for all us paying attention and trying to enjoy our hobby.

I could go on and on about shit I've seen in the last 12 months alone. From track workers, to local riders, etc. This insurance situation SUCKS, but the community itself needs to take a hard look at itself and take some accountability for what's been happening.

To those who want to complain to me about not doing something about this:

As I stated above, I don't know enough about litigation, liability, and insurance to give an opinion or educated article on why prices are going up. As I wrote above, I can give my opinion on watching pure fuckery at the track three days a week, but that's about it. 

My job is to run this website, cover racing, personalities, etc. Manage this forum, advertising clients, manager for the rest of the staff, content conception, scheduler manager, build project bikes, shoot phoots, website testing, developent meetings, shoot videos, expense reports, travel agent, etc etc etc.

I don't claim to be a journalist by trade, I do journalistic work when I can such as bike reviews, interviews, and some investigation when its in my wheelhouse. The Lawrence / Deegan story I did about the Ausx Open was very light in terms of journalistic research and it still ate up 15-20 hours between interviews, research, editing, etc.

I do my good deeds where I can. Currently helping a race team find financing and a new race trailer after massive fire damage has rendered there's questionable. Played agent for an amateur rider who was getting screwed five ways to Sunday and got him his first pro ride. Bought an engine for another struggling privateer, find sponsors and parts for other privateers. Spent 5k of my own money on camera gear to give a young guy who comes from a pretty shitty upbringing a chance to have a job in the sport he dreams of. Finally finished paying off the 150k plus debt I had from a race team to help riders realize some dreams and got screwed by sponsors and people along the way.

Weekly threatening emails, DMs, and other social media messages from people who have been banned from the forum, IG, YouTube etc. Viewers who want me fired because they find my voice annoying, users who email me that want Lewis fired because they don't like his accent...and don't even start me on the guy who has a youtube channel who throws me in weekly rants.

Happy holidays everyone, appreciate all you who view our site, read/watch our content, and go ride your dirtbikes on the weekend. Keep the good times rolling. As most of you feel, I just hope our little sport keeps trucking along, I really enjoy riding.

PS, I'm not even going to spell or grammar check my post, so expect some mistakes, I'm just ranting and rambling.

dirtcyclewill wrote:

Those damn kids on Surrons...  

Those damn kids on Surrons...

 

ML512 wrote:

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's...

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's a little fitting to the situation.

At the end of the day, I sorta get it when insurance rates are going through the moon at these tracks and I'm sorry to say this, but in my opinion a good chunk of this blame is on riders and track operators.

As one user here has mentioned, the poor quality of riders and their actions at local tracks continue to blow my mind. I went to Fox Raceway yesterday with friends and I wanted to at least go rip four riders asses mid-day for stupid decisions. Kids on surons doing wheelies through pits and crashing, riders getting off tracks on the landings of jumps for no reason, people running into each other getting on and off the track not paying attention. It's shocking how far some people's heads are up there you know whats.

Then add in the terrible quality of flaggers and staff at some local tracks. In the past three weekends, I've picked up or had to run out on the track to save someone's ass from getting landed on about six times. I'm averaging twice a weekend of dragging bikes off the track, getting riders off the track, and flagging people on jumps. Well before any of the track staff actually get there or even have a clue what's going on. Most of these, myself and our buddies have already cleaned up the incident then have to go find staff to help the injured rider.

Tracks are typically under-staffed when it comes to flaggers and medical crew.

Just a couple weeks ago I watched my girlfriend's father and his buddy in a situation where I'm on the other side of the facility, look over and see a goon of a rider rolling a large tabletop...grab a hand full of throttle and just whiskey out onto the landing. Bike laid out, the guy just runs off and leaves it. Myself and another buddy grab our bikes to get over there and by the time we get there, three people have landed on said bike. No flaggers, and two riders totally out cold, one of them being the aforementioned gf's father. Other riders who landed on the bike are the ones back on top now flagging. We're dragging bikes off the track etc. Said guy who started it, finally picks his bike up after we drug it off the track and leaves the scene. Doesn't check on the two guys who are out for about 5-10 mins each.

Early this year I'm at Perris Raceway, and some dude cross-jumped my gf and cleaned her out in mid-air, she crashed pretty bad, and goes into a seizure. Dude who causes it immediately went to the pits, loaded up and left. EMT shows up and wants to just yank her helmet off on the spot. I stop them from doing so, wait till she comes to, and release cheek pads before we even attempt. Guess what, we get to the hospital and she has a broken neck. Thankful nothing worse came of it, but the lack of care from medical staff was mind-blowing to someone who had a seizure for over a minute, had five broken ribs, and a broken neck. They just wanted to get her off the track without much worry about the condition, even though she was complaining of pain in her back and neck.

I've gotten into at least five arguments with mini-dads this year that are sending little six year old Johnny onto the main track of Fox Raceway when it's packed to the gills and people are dodging their kid left and right. Their so small that the mud when rolling in between the jumps sends them left and right. I crashed myself once this year dodging one and doing my best not to destroy the little guy. Go talk to the dads in a calm peaceful tone about it and they just go balistic how they paid to be there and it's one everyone else to watch out for their kid...

We also have one local track that is pointless to warn the owners of safety issues, they just get pissed off.

How about the race three weeks ago at Perris with a start that doubles back over itself, and the race operators dropping the second gate of the race before the first gate had crossed back over? Causing a head on collision between the two gates and multiple riders being transported to the hospital with some pretty gnarly injuries.

The amount of times I've gone to track crew with "Hey, your water line is broken, there are guys landing in a few feet of water off this jump and almost dying" is comical. The water line has been broken for at least ten to fifteen mins, no one notices. Glen Helen was the best for this, broke between two tables on the main. About five laps goes by, no flaggers, no staff. I go grab a guy and tell him, warn them that dudes are literally flying into it and nearly crashing. Do they send a flagger over? Naw, they just run around on a mule going god knows where. About another 10 mins goes by and finally, they set a flagger there, after everyone has already figured it out for themselves it's an issue.

I spend nearly as much time dragging bikes off the track, picking little kids up and starting their bikes, and watering the track (some weekends these places just give up and let their tracks go away in the first hour to straight powder, it's amazing) as I do riding myself on the weekends.

No split practices really boggles my mind. I was born and raised in Southern California, we had them when I was a kid, and now Barona is the only place I've been to in a while that actually does it.

I'm not saying all tracks and riders are to blame, of course not. But as with most things in life these days, bad eggs who have no common sense screw up the fun for all us paying attention and trying to enjoy our hobby.

I could go on and on about shit I've seen in the last 12 months alone. From track workers, to local riders, etc. This insurance situation SUCKS, but the community itself needs to take a hard look at itself and take some accountability for what's been happening.

To those who want to complain to me about not doing something about this:

As I stated above, I don't know enough about litigation, liability, and insurance to give an opinion or educated article on why prices are going up. As I wrote above, I can give my opinion on watching pure fuckery at the track three days a week, but that's about it. 

My job is to run this website, cover racing, personalities, etc. Manage this forum, advertising clients, manager for the rest of the staff, content conception, scheduler manager, build project bikes, shoot phoots, website testing, developent meetings, shoot videos, expense reports, travel agent, etc etc etc.

I don't claim to be a journalist by trade, I do journalistic work when I can such as bike reviews, interviews, and some investigation when its in my wheelhouse. The Lawrence / Deegan story I did about the Ausx Open was very light in terms of journalistic research and it still ate up 15-20 hours between interviews, research, editing, etc.

I do my good deeds where I can. Currently helping a race team find financing and a new race trailer after massive fire damage has rendered there's questionable. Played agent for an amateur rider who was getting screwed five ways to Sunday and got him his first pro ride. Bought an engine for another struggling privateer, find sponsors and parts for other privateers. Spent 5k of my own money on camera gear to give a young guy who comes from a pretty shitty upbringing a chance to have a job in the sport he dreams of. Finally finished paying off the 150k plus debt I had from a race team to help riders realize some dreams and got screwed by sponsors and people along the way.

Weekly threatening emails, DMs, and other social media messages from people who have been banned from the forum, IG, YouTube etc. Viewers who want me fired because they find my voice annoying, users who email me that want Lewis fired because they don't like his accent...and don't even start me on the guy who has a youtube channel who throws me in weekly rants.

Happy holidays everyone, appreciate all you who view our site, read/watch our content, and go ride your dirtbikes on the weekend. Keep the good times rolling. As most of you feel, I just hope our little sport keeps trucking along, I really enjoy riding.

PS, I'm not even going to spell or grammar check my post, so expect some mistakes, I'm just ranting and rambling.

dirtcyclewill wrote:

Those damn kids on Surrons...  

Those damn kids on Surrons...

 

ML512 wrote:

😂 I ain’t doing wheelies through the pits at Mach 10. 

prozach wrote:

Riding a bike without a helmet on is a problem.  I'm amazed how many ride through the pits without a helmet.  I get it isn't really...

Riding a bike without a helmet on is a problem.  I'm amazed how many ride through the pits without a helmet.  I get it isn't really that dangerous.  It just shouldn't happen, ever.

Seems there needs to be a required user license of track etiquette and norms that riders need to acquire before riding a track.  Things like how to enter/exit, how to ride in the pits, what to do if you crash, or someone else crashes, and tracks should have basic operation norms also.  I took my kids to camp Woodward over the summer.  Your first time there, you have to go through training on how to use the facility.  It was great and taught the kids a lot.  

Not everyone grew up with a solid moto parent or role model to teach them those things.  It shows.  So cal is the worst for this.  At least compared to the northern California and Oregon tracks I always rode.  

ML512 wrote:

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's...

Okay, I have some pent-up anger and thoughts on some situations I've dealt with in just the past 12 months I'll lay out here since it's a little fitting to the situation.

At the end of the day, I sorta get it when insurance rates are going through the moon at these tracks and I'm sorry to say this, but in my opinion a good chunk of this blame is on riders and track operators.

As one user here has mentioned, the poor quality of riders and their actions at local tracks continue to blow my mind. I went to Fox Raceway yesterday with friends and I wanted to at least go rip four riders asses mid-day for stupid decisions. Kids on surons doing wheelies through pits and crashing, riders getting off tracks on the landings of jumps for no reason, people running into each other getting on and off the track not paying attention. It's shocking how far some people's heads are up there you know whats.

Then add in the terrible quality of flaggers and staff at some local tracks. In the past three weekends, I've picked up or had to run out on the track to save someone's ass from getting landed on about six times. I'm averaging twice a weekend of dragging bikes off the track, getting riders off the track, and flagging people on jumps. Well before any of the track staff actually get there or even have a clue what's going on. Most of these, myself and our buddies have already cleaned up the incident then have to go find staff to help the injured rider.

Tracks are typically under-staffed when it comes to flaggers and medical crew.

Just a couple weeks ago I watched my girlfriend's father and his buddy in a situation where I'm on the other side of the facility, look over and see a goon of a rider rolling a large tabletop...grab a hand full of throttle and just whiskey out onto the landing. Bike laid out, the guy just runs off and leaves it. Myself and another buddy grab our bikes to get over there and by the time we get there, three people have landed on said bike. No flaggers, and two riders totally out cold, one of them being the aforementioned gf's father. Other riders who landed on the bike are the ones back on top now flagging. We're dragging bikes off the track etc. Said guy who started it, finally picks his bike up after we drug it off the track and leaves the scene. Doesn't check on the two guys who are out for about 5-10 mins each.

Early this year I'm at Perris Raceway, and some dude cross-jumped my gf and cleaned her out in mid-air, she crashed pretty bad, and goes into a seizure. Dude who causes it immediately went to the pits, loaded up and left. EMT shows up and wants to just yank her helmet off on the spot. I stop them from doing so, wait till she comes to, and release cheek pads before we even attempt. Guess what, we get to the hospital and she has a broken neck. Thankful nothing worse came of it, but the lack of care from medical staff was mind-blowing to someone who had a seizure for over a minute, had five broken ribs, and a broken neck. They just wanted to get her off the track without much worry about the condition, even though she was complaining of pain in her back and neck.

I've gotten into at least five arguments with mini-dads this year that are sending little six year old Johnny onto the main track of Fox Raceway when it's packed to the gills and people are dodging their kid left and right. Their so small that the mud when rolling in between the jumps sends them left and right. I crashed myself once this year dodging one and doing my best not to destroy the little guy. Go talk to the dads in a calm peaceful tone about it and they just go balistic how they paid to be there and it's one everyone else to watch out for their kid...

We also have one local track that is pointless to warn the owners of safety issues, they just get pissed off.

How about the race three weeks ago at Perris with a start that doubles back over itself, and the race operators dropping the second gate of the race before the first gate had crossed back over? Causing a head on collision between the two gates and multiple riders being transported to the hospital with some pretty gnarly injuries.

The amount of times I've gone to track crew with "Hey, your water line is broken, there are guys landing in a few feet of water off this jump and almost dying" is comical. The water line has been broken for at least ten to fifteen mins, no one notices. Glen Helen was the best for this, broke between two tables on the main. About five laps goes by, no flaggers, no staff. I go grab a guy and tell him, warn them that dudes are literally flying into it and nearly crashing. Do they send a flagger over? Naw, they just run around on a mule going god knows where. About another 10 mins goes by and finally, they set a flagger there, after everyone has already figured it out for themselves it's an issue.

I spend nearly as much time dragging bikes off the track, picking little kids up and starting their bikes, and watering the track (some weekends these places just give up and let their tracks go away in the first hour to straight powder, it's amazing) as I do riding myself on the weekends.

No split practices really boggles my mind. I was born and raised in Southern California, we had them when I was a kid, and now Barona is the only place I've been to in a while that actually does it.

I'm not saying all tracks and riders are to blame, of course not. But as with most things in life these days, bad eggs who have no common sense screw up the fun for all us paying attention and trying to enjoy our hobby.

I could go on and on about shit I've seen in the last 12 months alone. From track workers, to local riders, etc. This insurance situation SUCKS, but the community itself needs to take a hard look at itself and take some accountability for what's been happening.

To those who want to complain to me about not doing something about this:

As I stated above, I don't know enough about litigation, liability, and insurance to give an opinion or educated article on why prices are going up. As I wrote above, I can give my opinion on watching pure fuckery at the track three days a week, but that's about it. 

My job is to run this website, cover racing, personalities, etc. Manage this forum, advertising clients, manager for the rest of the staff, content conception, scheduler manager, build project bikes, shoot phoots, website testing, developent meetings, shoot videos, expense reports, travel agent, etc etc etc.

I don't claim to be a journalist by trade, I do journalistic work when I can such as bike reviews, interviews, and some investigation when its in my wheelhouse. The Lawrence / Deegan story I did about the Ausx Open was very light in terms of journalistic research and it still ate up 15-20 hours between interviews, research, editing, etc.

I do my good deeds where I can. Currently helping a race team find financing and a new race trailer after massive fire damage has rendered there's questionable. Played agent for an amateur rider who was getting screwed five ways to Sunday and got him his first pro ride. Bought an engine for another struggling privateer, find sponsors and parts for other privateers. Spent 5k of my own money on camera gear to give a young guy who comes from a pretty shitty upbringing a chance to have a job in the sport he dreams of. Finally finished paying off the 150k plus debt I had from a race team to help riders realize some dreams and got screwed by sponsors and people along the way.

Weekly threatening emails, DMs, and other social media messages from people who have been banned from the forum, IG, YouTube etc. Viewers who want me fired because they find my voice annoying, users who email me that want Lewis fired because they don't like his accent...and don't even start me on the guy who has a youtube channel who throws me in weekly rants.

Happy holidays everyone, appreciate all you who view our site, read/watch our content, and go ride your dirtbikes on the weekend. Keep the good times rolling. As most of you feel, I just hope our little sport keeps trucking along, I really enjoy riding.

PS, I'm not even going to spell or grammar check my post, so expect some mistakes, I'm just ranting and rambling.

dirtcyclewill wrote:

Those damn kids on Surrons...  

Those damn kids on Surrons...

 

yak651 wrote:

I see you acquired a high horse in between your absence from this site and your return 

FreshTopEnd wrote:

No, sick of the nonsense and plain enough to call it out.  This place and all boards are a speck in motocross.  Sorry not sorry if...

No, sick of the nonsense and plain enough to call it out.  This place and all boards are a speck in motocross.  Sorry not sorry if that punctures the thought bubble that anything written here matters if people who feel strongly about things just blather on and don't act outside a forum board.  Posting here does nothing without real life action.  

yak651 wrote:

Fair, but to call those asking for people with a pulpit to raise awareness as cry babies is a bit rich, especially when you have no...

Fair, but to call those asking for people with a pulpit to raise awareness as cry babies is a bit rich, especially when you have no ideal of the hours they put in to try and help this struggling sport.

FreshTopEnd wrote:

No, sick of the nonsense and plain enough to call it out.  This place and all boards are a speck in motocross.  Sorry not sorry if...

No, sick of the nonsense and plain enough to call it out.  This place and all boards are a speck in motocross.  Sorry not sorry if that punctures the thought bubble that anything written here matters if people who feel strongly about things just blather on and don't act outside a forum board.  Posting here does nothing without real life action.  

yak651 wrote:

Fair, but to call those asking for people with a pulpit to raise awareness as cry babies is a bit rich, especially when you have no...

Fair, but to call those asking for people with a pulpit to raise awareness as cry babies is a bit rich, especially when you have no ideal of the hours they put in to try and help this struggling sport.

FreshTopEnd wrote:

Not rich at all.  The awareness already seems to be pretty thick here.  As well as the arm waving that someone should do something, when it's...

Not rich at all.  The awareness already seems to be pretty thick here.  As well as the arm waving that someone should do something, when it's going to take those same people getting off the couch and giving up some time to get involved.  Talk is cheap.  Talk here solves nothing if it just is a complaint box.  

yak651 wrote:

Fair, but to call those asking for people with a pulpit to raise awareness as cry babies is a bit rich, especially when you have no...

Fair, but to call those asking for people with a pulpit to raise awareness as cry babies is a bit rich, especially when you have no ideal of the hours they put in to try and help this struggling sport.

FreshTopEnd wrote:

Not rich at all.  The awareness already seems to be pretty thick here.  As well as the arm waving that someone should do something, when it's...

Not rich at all.  The awareness already seems to be pretty thick here.  As well as the arm waving that someone should do something, when it's going to take those same people getting off the couch and giving up some time to get involved.  Talk is cheap.  Talk here solves nothing if it just is a complaint box.  

Sandusky26 wrote:

Please take you're own advice and stop talking. Every second you waste on Vital could be spent saving the planet.

TbonesPop wrote:

Sooo, did ACP get their insurance stuff worked out so they can open back up?  If not, Motoland is going to be a crazy freaking zoo...

Sooo, did ACP get their insurance stuff worked out so they can open back up?  If not, Motoland is going to be a crazy freaking zoo, especially the Vet track - which is usually crazy busy on any given weekend anyway even when ACP is open.