When did the gates start being able to fall forward till they hit the ground?

When they were originally introduced the whole point was to stop a bike that jumped early. As you stated, they did not go forward. Seems that design element was lost along the way.  

I had no idea the gates that don't fall forward were so widespread. I'm not sure if I've ever seen one, I'm so used to seeing people flop them forward to clean the dirt out from under the gate to let it fall all the way.

Never seen a gate that could fall forward. 
Zero logic. Encourage people to jump the gate if it’s not going to stop you. Stretch the rubber band at the local FairCross. 

I honestly didn’t think that was possible unless it broke some kind of sheer pin. 
 

I jumped once.

Got the gate caught.

Kicked it overwith my foot and took off!

Lol  i didn't matter. . .

Yeah same. I thought every gate did that. 

I’m not an expert on motocross gates by any means but my guess is somewhere along the line they realized that allowing them to fall forward prevents them from having to repair it if someone did manage to plow right on through, assuming that’s how it was designed and there weren’t any other issues. Have to remember that many of these tracks hold races of all skill levels that might be more likely to mess up and run into the gate.

Again, just a guess.

If the gates didn't have a breaking point letting them go forward, you could potentially end up with several broken and useless gates in 1 single race day. Not to mention the damage to the connecting gates as well. Pretty sure they've been using sheer pins for quite a while because of this.

Also, doesn't matter if he had an advantage off the gate or not. He slammed the gate and broke / "fouled" it.  I don't agree with the penalty either, but that is what the rule says. I think if he had taken off in last they probably wouldn't have done that to him. But I can't imagine anyone sitting at the gate waiting for everyone to leave during that whole mess, anyone would just hit the gas and go.

I think the tracks Started changing to backward individual gates around the late 1980’s or early 1990’s.

After yesterday’s backward gate failure I started wondering Why do we even use a gate? 

Why not remove all gates and each start area can use an electronic sensors like drag racing does? Jump gate get a red flag and have a penalty box they have to stop in.

Every gate has always been able to fall forward, theyre on a pipe they rotate around and theres a small tab that lifts. That small tab is connected to the release in the gatehouse. 

The reason you see bikes get stuck is if the tire wedges underneath and it is no longer able to rotate the gate. 

That's not how they work.

That is  how just about every gate I’ve ever seen works

They don't rotate around the pipe. The gate is on a hinge, the pipe has tabs that lift the gate when rotated.

But that's from only 15 years of adjusting and repairing a set of them.

Funny the ones I've seen look like this, the only thing on the pipe is the tab that drops the gate.  I have to agree with Seemefirst.

Was wondering the same thing 

I can't ever remember seeing a gate that didn't fall forward in my 30+ years racing in the Northeast.

Agree - and I’ve raced across the country. What are these people smoking?

They haven’t always fell forward. I know from experience.  At a local track that I used to race. They didn’t have anything behind the gate to keep you from backing up as far as you wanted to.  I would pull up to the gate and then slowly push  backwards until I had about a 6 foot running go. I was usually pretty good on timing the gate and would be moving forward before the gate even dropped.  One night I timed it wrong and not only did I hit the gate, but I tore it completely out of the ground and went flying over the bars. The track owner was not very happy with me.

Right? Flip it forward and dig out all the dirt that probably wasn’t going to block the gate from falling anyway!

Of course a proper modern time ”backwards falling gate” works like this: see clip!

(Forward falling startstraight-wide one piece gates was used in the mxgp’s in the eighties-ish), before that rubberbands or flags…

At least 5+ pages of backwards vs forward gate drops lol.

I’ve never seen a forward falling gate. Doesn’t mean anything, I’m not a gate engineer like some of the guys on here.

They definitely all don’t have the ability to flip forward. I’ve seen both styles, but never kept a tally on them. For sure seen enough that didn’t, to voice my opinion. 
Different Builders…. 

I grew up racing when they were all forward falling, non individual gates. Just a long ass piece of 3” steel pipe that fell forward. 

I remember those very well.  Saddleback Park had one. 

Didn't the old LACR (before it went into the pit) have a forward falling gate too ?  And a patio cover for shade as well lol

Yes sorry, hinge mechanism. But still can rotate forward if hit from behind. 

The whole principle behind the self-penalising gate design was just that; it could only fall towards you, so if you went early, you’d have to pull the bike backwards to drop the gate, hence penalising yourself. 
I understand why a club or public track would build gates that could move both directions to lessen repairs, but I was surprised to see a pro national level track is using them.

100%

Let's hear from anyone that lined up behind the cable gate at Oak Hill MX in Texas.  Two parallel cables that slammed down via old car hood springs if I remember.  First time for me was 1978 at Oak Hill.  That thing slammed down.  Only saw one rider get his rear wheel caught up in that thing.  Any pictures out there?

If a rider knocks the gate forward, he’s gotta be penalized enough to make it painful, or riders will jump the start constantly. A one lap penalty is about perfect in my opinion. 

I’m sure the Jett Intake boys will downvote..

That covered gate was a heads up move for a desert track.