Radios > Pitboards. It's time.

So many Luddites…

50+ years of racing with no incidents and now we have one pit board incident and everyone wants pit boards banned. Lol. Yall are ridiculous

For 2 broken fingers every 10 years??? Stop it...

I've used radios in practices at the races 20 years ago. It's super sketchy and dangerous. You can even hear in F1, drivers bitching to their crew when they talk to them in the wrong portions of the track. I don't think many of you raced a SX main and realize the amount of focus you need just to be safe & precise. I can guarantee you this 100%, radios are way more dangerous than pitboards

Damn 3 for 3. You're not going to post this on every topic are you ?  

Riders who uses earplugs today would not approve. Way to uncomfortable with current in ear type of devices that also should cut out noise as good as a normal earplug.

Would rather use a display on/in the bar pad. 

Used to have one on my bike, no problem seeing laptimes for example.

That's a good picture of Duffe. 

Do the riders want radios cause I get the impression they don’t 

Tyler,  nothing against you at the all.   I just happen to feel differently regarding radios.  There will always be some odd scenario that happens no matter what is in place.   This injury to Sushi was a fluke.

We need to stop making the sport more expensive for privateers. Making it more reliant on tech and less on human skill makes it more expensive and boring.The metal starts already eliminated human skill on starts. 

Exactly

Radios that only tell riders where they can buy Monster Energy drinks.

Available now at Ralph’s!

I think the first thing to do is poll the riders to see if they actually read the boards and also what is the most valuable information that they want to see and make that more accessible. If messages like position or time left are important then the AMA needs to make things like that easier to see near the finish line. Maybe the clock isn’t in a great spot near the face of a huge double? The riders already have leader lights on the forks and a timing chip. They could easily add a red and yellow led on the handle bar. Or, the AMA could add more visibility features to the flaggers such as lights on their helmets or even colored wands like the ground crews at air ports that could light up red and yellow. If we got real fancy, they could set it up where if a flagger turns on the yellow on their wand, the riders on that section would see the yellow light on their bars. 

Why don't they just use cardboard or that corrugated plastic they use for political signs. 

You leave the truck and race by yourself. You versus the other competitors. Not you versus the 9 spotters that jett will have coaching him on every corner.

The best part about moto is the battle of individuals. The team sport aspect is gone when the gate drops. 

Please stop trying to change and grow the sport. Its fine how it is. 

Also... I love how the fans want radios but the teams and riders don't. haha. Talk about entitled fools that just need the next shiny thing to keep them occupied. 

Edit: I just saw what DV said. Hahaha. Stop it. 

You guys must've tested 2-way coms. 

Most of us talking radio coms are talking about a one way communication from mechanic to rider  to replace the pit board messages.  In NO way would the rider be able to carry on a convo.  Just basically get a message in audio on a certain part of the track just like with a pit board.  Turning your head to focus on reading a pit board seems like more of a distraction than getting a little audio message in your ear. A lot of us used to ride listening to music...it never distracted a lot of folks. I still see riders do it  every once in a while.

Just from a fans perspective. How cool would it be to hear what the mechanics were saying to the riders during the broadcast?

Maybe they can only communicate on the same straight that they currently use the pit boards?

I don't think they need to "Ban" pit boards but at least move into the 21st century and give teams the option to have radio coms.

They already have the leader lights on every bike. You could just turn on everyones leader lights at the same time and make them red. 

It was one way communication. I wasn't talking. I wasn't connected to my mechanic but to my coach. We tested it in practices because it was prohibited for the races. It was disturbing and really hard to focus while having someone talking to you... 

I think we need to work on track design and mechanics area location to make it safer, that should be the next step. Mechanics areas should never be on the outside of the track which it mostly is. In San Diego, you couldn't put it on the inside due to the track design. Mechanics area on the inside of the track when the track crew design the track should be a priority...

I can’t even imagine the crazy shit that would go down if Friese had Tony Alessi talking into his ear during a SX race. 

I think the first thing to do is to ask riders if they would actually want someone talking into their helmet during a race.

I can see the entertainment value for fans, can't see the benefit for riders. Hopefully someone can ask them what they think of it.

Its far too distracting for a loud voice to scare you while you're concentrating on not dying on the track... Supercross requires far too much concentration for this to ever be considered.

It still blows my mind they don’t use radios for race control at the least. I raced dirt oval cars for 10 years and literally every class uses one for race control, it is a requirement. They are about $100 so saying they don’t want to add the expense is crap.

And yes, at first you get distracted by it. But you get used to it real quick and you know as soon as you hear it that there is a caution before they even say anything.

Let’s be real here. Would this even be a topic if it was privateer that hit a pit board? 

One of the problems is many riders don’t look at the pit boards.  Instead of radios…how about topless monster girls with lap times, ect., written on their chest?  Riders will look way more often and also if they are hanging on the track they are soft and rounded.  Less likely to injure a rider AND…the riders will enjoy the brush by.  Well…except for Freise.  He’ll want a chip and dale….

Obviously I am mocking the discussion….i posted this on another thread but it belongs here.

Yea…I remember Anderson, after a really good race, being asked if a specific message on the pit board had made a difference.  He laughed and said he literally never looks at the pit board.  It seems to make mechanics feel important during the race more than help riders.  Move them back with a double barrier, or do away with it.  I don’t want radios since I feel a rider figuaring out the track is a big part of the race.  AMA just also needs to take serious riders ignoring flags….including the blue ones.  Once lapped your race is so much less important that you need to just get the hell out of the way…or be removed from the race….so….get out of the way.  Friese…I am personally penalizing you a 3 race suspension….please don’t show up.