How long were motos when you were a kid

It’s been a LONG time since I was a kid but I’d guess around 15 minutes. 

Edit….  They weren’t running 30 classes either. 

Saturday Saddleback 40 minutes. CMC 20 minutes. 

around 15 minutes and there was a lot of classes and many had full gates or even had two gates because there was over 40 riders in a class. Practice was at 7am and the last motos sometimes were still going on at 7pm

NESC in the 80’s and early 90’s was novice 10+2, amateur 15+2, expert 20+2 and they stuck to it pretty firmly.  It would take a severe weather event to shorten motos. 

N.E.M.A. in the early to mid '80's our amateur/expert combined motos and 105cc  open classes were 20 min plus 2 laps each. New England always had an emphasis on long motos.

Not long at all, 5 laps, , so 5 to 7 minutes. 

We had one track that had 20 minute motos on Wednesdays. 

40 minutes plus two laps. Be the last rider to not get lapped at Namur (3m+ lap) and you’d be riding a 50+ minute moto. 

early 2000s C class rider here on minis.... I think we got three laps once the leader crossed the finish line the first time after the gate drop.

Quick search shows current pro lap times at close to 2 mins so, 3.5 laps at 3 min a lap? 10-15 minutes a moto i'm guessing.

Back in my day moto's were two hours in the snow and the whole track was uphill.

🤣

Amateur motos during the early 2000’s locally here in the southeast were typically 5 laps. Some of the A/Expert/Pro classes would occasionally ride 10-15+1. 

These were the classes and times when I started racing in 1992.

2 50cc classes (split by age, everyone on PWs) 8min

65 A/B 10min, 85 A/B/C 10min

125/250/500 C 12 min

125/250/500 B 15 min

125/250/500 A 20 min

30+/40+ B, 50+, and Sportsman 12 min

30+/40+ A 15 min

Powder Puff 12 min

By the late 90s here in Montana, already starting to add more and more classes and these times were getting cut down. So to make it up and everyone could get more time to race again, the 500 class was made to be just "open" so you could get all the time on the track back you used to get as long as you paid to sign up for another race. Brilliant!! Obviously pissed off the dozen of us still racing 500 A as we couldn't race the 250 class and got hosed out of payback when the 250 A guys would race with us in open.

What year are you remembering Saturday Saddleback at 30 minutes? I raced Saturday Saddleback every weekend the summer of 1976 and my memory was 40 or 45 minute moto's. At my age my memory of the Moto length could be totally incorrect.

Novice, 8-10min, Int, 15, Expert/pro 20 +2

4 laps around Budds Creek.  However long that took for a slow, C-Class kid on an 80 and then a 125?  

Ambulance shortages might have shortened motos too depending on the wait.

C class was generally 10 mins + 1 Occaisionally 15mins + 1

Timed races were usually 20 minutes +1.  Most of the time they were lap based…. Like 10 or 15 laps usually with around 1min 30sec lap times.  Late 70’s, early 80’s.

Scotland / Northern England in the mid 80's through to late 90's. Kids raced on Saturday, adults raced on Sunday. Laptimes at most tracks were arount 1.45 to low 2's.

Gates were always full and sometimes running second row starts, and a few additional classes to get everybody on the line.  

Autos were always run on a separate small track with parents as officials, etc. Think they did 4x 10 min +1s. 

                                                     Club Level             Championship Level 

60's were                                       10 +1                     12 +2                        

small wheel 80's                            12 +1                     15 +2

Big wheel 80's / Supermini            12 +1                     20 +2 

Junior 125                                      15 +1                    25 +2

Adults

125  (Under 21)                             15 +1                     25 +2

Open C                                          15 +1                     20 +2

Open B                                          20 +2                     25 +2

Expert / Open A                             25 +2                     30 +2

Back in early 80s A class was 30 minutes plus a lap and B was 20 minutes plus a lap, at least in Illinois 

Mid 90’s to early 2000’s in California and Florida, I remember it being about the same as it is now. 

Ohio in the 70's we had: mini. 100. 125. 175. 250. Open.      

 Ltwt pro and hvt pro who ran together scored different.  Pro was usually 20+2.

The rest was typically 5 laps for mini and 10 for the big bikes.  No division in any classes ala a,b or c.

Were you down at the PacWest race?
I haven't PacWest since the series was rebooted, but a bunch of friends went down to Albany, Oregon for the race this week.

Motos that short are not worth the drive to the track and sitting around all day in the pits.

Everywhere else I've raced in the PNW is still 4.5 to 5 laps 95% of the time.
I want to race 30+2 or 20+2 format with two motos, but that doesn't seem to work for modern amateur racing for a multitude of reasons.
 

So Cal in the 70’s it was all over the place. Most day races I’d guess 10-15 mins, Saddleback Saturday I believe had 30 min motos. 

night races were quick. Indian Dunes and Corona I am  guessing 8-10 mins, Irwindale was a sprint. It’s been 50 years but if I remember right we went 2 1/2 quick laps. It was incredibly short but man what an adrenaline rush! Riders were in a hurry to make up positions and I must say it made the racing fun to participate in and a good time spectating 

Cant remember exactly but I think it was 4 laps for C class and 5 laps for B class. A points races were 30 minutes. Thats why D7 racers usually did well at Lorettas because we ere were used to doing 30 minutes motos.

This wins!  😂😂

15min plus a lap.

Late 70's - early 80's novice and int classes were usually 4 laps. Would go for 15-20 minutes most of the time. Hangtown sportsman day on the national track was also 4 laps, but would take longer than the usual local tracks.

You're right, 40 plus 1 lap. My brother remembers this clearly. 

15 minutes

About10 minutes. Now they are an eternity. 😂