Motocross starts are ruining the sport

7/19/2026 10:32am

Heres the thing about a starting device;  when they were invented it gave who had them an advantage over someone who didn’t.  But anyone could see the writing on the wall, that everyone would have them and then no advantage was had at all.  Its totally pointless now that every rider uses them.  Motogp is banning a whole bunch of tech next year.   MX can too

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30minmotos
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7/19/2026 11:09am
Heres the thing about a starting device;  when they were invented it gave who had them an advantage over someone who didn’t.  But anyone could see...

Heres the thing about a starting device;  when they were invented it gave who had them an advantage over someone who didn’t.  But anyone could see the writing on the wall, that everyone would have them and then no advantage was had at all.  Its totally pointless now that every rider uses them.  Motogp is banning a whole bunch of tech next year.   MX can too

So simple even an inbred could understand it. But good luck with moto folks.

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RDnutz
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7/19/2026 11:13am
30minmotos wrote:
So apparent and so wrong dude. But keep on keepin on. Do you still line up? Do you still hit the jumps that are sending kids...

So apparent and so wrong dude. But keep on keepin on. Do you still line up? Do you still hit the jumps that are sending kids home in helicopters? Are you riding a 450 for more than 3 laps?

irrelevant- it's not about me. YOU are the 1 complaining about racing and tossing out changes to make things "safer" or more even or something that isn't needed or wanted. Nice try at the redirect though! BRAAPP! 

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30minmotos
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7/19/2026 11:47am Edited Date/Time 7/19/2026 11:53am
30minmotos wrote:
So apparent and so wrong dude. But keep on keepin on. Do you still line up? Do you still hit the jumps that are sending kids...

So apparent and so wrong dude. But keep on keepin on. Do you still line up? Do you still hit the jumps that are sending kids home in helicopters? Are you riding a 450 for more than 3 laps?

RDnutz wrote:
irrelevant- it's not about me. YOU are the 1 complaining about racing and tossing out changes to make things "safer" or more even or something that...

irrelevant- it's not about me. YOU are the 1 complaining about racing and tossing out changes to make things "safer" or more even or something that isn't needed or wanted. Nice try at the redirect though! BRAAPP! 

I still ride, I still ride the 450s they’re offering today, I still ride the tracks that have evolved along side the 4 strokes, I watch the ambulances and the tracks taking femur lunch breaks mid day for the ambulance to do their job. I haven’t raced this year but have raced nearly every year since 2005, have ridden every year in  that period for sure:


Have the ankle hardware, have the shoulder clicks, have paid my dues. But sure act like I have no idea.


And your current riding is as relevant as mine is since you are making it personal. It’s likely you don’t race and likely you used to. Your legacy and machismo is somehow tied to how gnarly and how aggro the sport is and any attempt to make it safer would somehow lower your self worth and your perceived toughness because “your” sport is getting “softer.” By not sending people side by side wide open and flipping a coin if there’s a pile up or not it would somehow alter the entire sport and ruin everything.


Several great suggestions in here on how to improve things. Hope the power that be’s read it in between blowing Ricky and calling him the 27 time smx champ.


 

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Perky
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7/19/2026 12:28pm
Heres the thing about a starting device;  when they were invented it gave who had them an advantage over someone who didn’t.  But anyone could see...

Heres the thing about a starting device;  when they were invented it gave who had them an advantage over someone who didn’t.  But anyone could see the writing on the wall, that everyone would have them and then no advantage was had at all.  Its totally pointless now that every rider uses them.  Motogp is banning a whole bunch of tech next year.   MX can too

MotoGP isn’t comparable at all. You have half the riders in a grid formation with no bottle neck of a first turn.

They’re also banning aero and reducing engine capacity next year as well. The ride height adjustments are going as well in part of an effort to overall simplify that sport.

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vdrsnk04
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7/19/2026 2:32pm

Correction. Everyone whining about everything and everybody on all the internet is ruining the sport. 

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7/19/2026 6:10pm
Heres the thing about a starting device;  when they were invented it gave who had them an advantage over someone who didn’t.  But anyone could see...

Heres the thing about a starting device;  when they were invented it gave who had them an advantage over someone who didn’t.  But anyone could see the writing on the wall, that everyone would have them and then no advantage was had at all.  Its totally pointless now that every rider uses them.  Motogp is banning a whole bunch of tech next year.   MX can too

Perky wrote:
MotoGP isn’t comparable at all. You have half the riders in a grid formation with no bottle neck of a first turn.They’re also banning aero and...

MotoGP isn’t comparable at all. You have half the riders in a grid formation with no bottle neck of a first turn.

They’re also banning aero and reducing engine capacity next year as well. The ride height adjustments are going as well in part of an effort to overall simplify that sport.

Watch the start of today's MXGP heats. The start gate was similar to my idea... inside gate has a straight shot to turn 1, everyone else has to go farther to get there. All 4 starts were crash-free, and I don't it's due to the 30 bike fields. The riders on the inside gates mostly wound up at the front of the pack +/- 3-4 spots.

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7/20/2026 6:22am
wpark89 wrote:
It’s not the start…or the amount of riders.  But please let’s have a serious conversation about the grates and starting devices.  At this point…what’s the reason...

It’s not the start…or the amount of riders.  But please let’s have a serious conversation about the grates and starting devices.  At this point…what’s the reason for them?  When they first came out it was still the 2 stroke era and lining up in ruts.  How could anyone argue that they don’t contribute to how fast and even the riders are coming into the first turn?  Taking them off would do nothing but add separation, technique and strategy to the racing. 

You could argue about right hand starts being sketchy…or that pile ups have happened since rubber band starts.  But please somebody tell me why we need to keep the grates and devices?

Less starting aids would help but it doesn't solve the fundamental problems of 40 riders fighting for the lead trying to fit in a space only 3 riders can fit with only 3-5 riders with any potential of winning the race. I think you're underselling how little change removing starting aids would make considering how advanced the bikes are and how skilled pro riders are.

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KHNC
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7/20/2026 6:38am
30minmotos wrote:

How about you watch destruction derby if you’re here for the wrecks and not the racing?

RDnutz wrote:
it's becoming more and more apparent you have never raced (or probably ever ridden) MX yourself so want to sit back and armchair QB every detail...

it's becoming more and more apparent you have never raced (or probably ever ridden) MX yourself so want to sit back and armchair QB every detail of how YOU want to see racing occur on your TV. Much easier to take it and leave it and leave it that way when you move on to your next temporary hobby.

30minmotos wrote:
So apparent and so wrong dude. But keep on keepin on. Do you still line up? Do you still hit the jumps that are sending kids...

So apparent and so wrong dude. But keep on keepin on. Do you still line up? Do you still hit the jumps that are sending kids home in helicopters? Are you riding a 450 for more than 3 laps?

Im definitely not! lol . More than 3 laps on a long track wears me the fk out! haha. And those monster jumps are no longer on my list of shit to do on MX bike. 😁

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7/20/2026 6:56am

Does anyone have a solution?   Yes, bikes are killer fast, so any little cross rut can be brutal.   The guy maybe puts it wrong, but, would be good to throw around some ideas.  It's a pickle!

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RDnutz
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7/20/2026 10:37am

the bottom line is any rider competing at this level has had YEARS of races and YEARS of starting experience already. They are used to congested starts as part of the job. We are not hearing them complaining about how dangerous it is and demanding action to "fix" starts. This is a non-issue to waste so much time debating. The solution is getting good starts and letting all the other stuff happen behind you.

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7/20/2026 1:07pm

Listening to Damon Bradshaw’s podcast on whiskey throttle, he said starts were some of the reason he retired.  He said if he didnt get the holeshot, he didnt want to be in The middle of the pack and crash so he would just trail behind the pack.  

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LoudLove
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7/20/2026 2:27pm

First two corners after the start straight should always alternate:  either a left then a right, or vice versa.  To consecutive turns after the start in the same direction are generally frowned upon. 

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