@PING 13

He has questions, and you have...wait, no. You question his answers. Dang, that's not it, either. Ping answers your moto questions. Yep, nailed it!

dpingree101
11/15/2019 5:27am
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Let's dive in and see the nuggets that emerged from the mailbag this week. Take it away, Ping.

So happy to see you back, Ping... 

Given it is the start of a new year of racing, what is your take on the business end of Supercross and Motocross? It appears some teams are struggling for sponsorship, and some are cutting back on the number of riders. Every year a new crop of 450 guys emerge with fewer rides available. Where do you think we will be in the next ten years?

Old Moto Guy 

Old,

It's an interesting time in our sport. Spectator numbers at supercross races seem to be up, or at least maintaining, and that's great news for Feld. However, there are far fewer racers on any given weekend at local motocross tracks across the country. There are so many different things vying for the attention of kids these days, and motocross just isn't as accessible as it once was. Kids used to be able to ride right out of their driveways and have fun in local hills or open land; that's a rarity now. Also, bikes have become unreasonably expensive. It's great that the vibe at the pro level is pretty good, but what happens when the grassroots level dies completely? Does the sport die with it? I don't know the answer here, but we'd better start addressing the elephant in the room. 

 - PING

Mr. Ping,

I've always wanted to ask who is your favorite: Johnny Gage or Roy DeSoto? Anyhoo… Has your celebrity moto status ever gotten you out of a ticket? I got stopped going six MPH over on the way home from Spring Creek. He let me off after I told him who won the 450's. Glad to see you at Vital... Your bike setup videos are the best! 

Jon46

Jon,

I was always partial to Johnny, but both of them were legit. "Emergency" was way before my time, but I do get a kick out of watching the old reruns. 

Yes, I have gotten out of a speeding ticket before. I was leaving Glen Helen and got pulled over by a motor cop who was a racing fan. He busted my balls for a minute and then told me he loved my column and to slow down. Sometimes I'll hand them my firefighter ID and hope for a little "professional courtesy," but that doesn't always work. The truth is that it depends on the mood of the cop that particular day. If he hasn't written his ten tickets by 10:00 AM, you might be out of luck. If it's afternoon and he doesn't want to cut paper, you might get lucky. We have two choices: Either drive the speed limit, which doesn't seem like a reasonable choice, or we can stomp on the accelerator and hope for the best. Good luck.

 - PING

Illustration: www.firepolicemx.com

Hey Pingers, 

A couple of things I've been thinking about, and I need someone of your talent and expertise to sort out for me. (That's the only obligatory butt-kissing I could come up with today). You recently told someone, "Go buy whatever color your local dealership is selling because you won't be any faster on this brand or that." You also said, all the bikes will handle differently, and you may feel more comfortable on one brand over another. Now I've also heard people say that pro 450 teams aren't really making more power on the bikes, they are just trying to manage that power. So, are we at peak power output for these 450s? And if we are, is it truly fair to say that a privateer is at a more even playing field in the 450 / premium class than any time in our moto history? 

Clever sign-off name?
Thanks, dude. 

Clever,

To qualify my statement, I simply meant that five of the six bikes are so close you could ride any of them and turn the same lap times. Therefore, go to a dealer who supports you with parts, service, advice, and whatever else you need, and buy his brand. The support of a good dealer is more valuable in the long run than the brand of bike you're riding. 

I believe we've hit a point where engine builders can overbuild a bike. But back when we were racing 250 two-strokes, we had hit the ceiling with the amount of power we could squeeze out of them, so I don't think the playing field is more even now than before. The tough part now is getting these 250-pound pigs to handle. Sure, they make as much power as Big Daddy Don Garlits' top fuel dragster, but they can handle like a dump truck full of gravel. Factory guys have a full-time suspension technician at every race watching and trying to improve the setting. Privateers have a friend with a screwdriver shrugging his shoulders and spinning the flat blade wildly to the left and right, hoping something will improve. Factory teams will always have an advantage, so it's up to the privateer to tally good enough results on sub-par equipment to earn one of those rides. That's the way it's always been and always will be. 

- PING

Do you have a question you need answers for? E-mail Ping at ping@vitalmx.com.

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@PING
13 comments

View replies to: @PING

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Brian_Finn
4 years ago
The sport will grow as soon as price and accessibility to compete and ride grow. I moved out to Portland Or 8 years ago and discovered the miles of offroad trails available. That brought me back into riding. Going to Washougal fired the desire to get on a track and actually ride MX. I'd never ridden MX before but had ridden dirt bikes (I'm slow at both). There are 7 MX tracks within an hour and a half of Portland. Lots of riding and lots of racing. My thinking is that it is VERY hard for someone who has no background to enter the sport with their kids. The diversity of riders must increase, the inclusion must improve and yes the prices must fall. Candidly, this is a great, family oriented sport but it is extremely intimidating for a newb parent or adult rider to enter without some level of help. The local level's need more ambassadors to the sport or it will wither and die. When the 40 plus classes outnumber riders in the kids classes that means new folks are not coming to it.
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dpingree101
4 years ago
Nailed it. So, the question is: How do we get cost down and interest up at the local racing level? If we can produce a couple decent ideas here, we can turn things around.
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ama530
4 years ago
I think we should also consider the issue of so much idle time at the track. Too many classes and sitting at the track for 10 hours gets old real quick. Most racers here in eastern PA are moving to off-road because of ride time. Running scrambles and enduros puts hours on your bike with very little down time. You show up 30-45 minutes before the race and bug out after your done. You have the rest of the afternoon/evening to yourselves.

Lastly, there really is no beginner class to have new racers come out and give it a try. You always have some kid out there sandbagging in the 250C class with a $15K race bike that will lap guys in the A class. (We can thank LL for that debacle.) You get a new kid out there that can barely do any obstacle and sees this. He is never coming back because he is demoralized and figures that this will be an impossible feat. This needs to be addressed at the local level. The AMA's point system is useless and the advancement process need to be determined by the local track owners. I've seen it in years past where an owner saw a kid and bumped him up on the spot. Now we would have the parents suing to keep little Johnny in the novice class. Want to bring back local mx? 125 class (preaching to the choir Ping; cheap and fun), less classes mean shorter days, and natural terrain mx. Supercross is for pros. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox.
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superkook
4 years ago
100% in agreement on the sandbaggers. In NorCal I can race the Vet Intermediate while being competitive. If I race in the meth lab infested 909/951 I’ll struggle in the novice class. There’s too many delusional guys out there thinking that Decoster or Mitch Payton are going to make their dreams come true by winning some local race in the lower classes. My son has gotten into riding in the last year and he’s the perfect candidate for what a beginner class should be. Instead he’d be demoralized if he even tried racing. That is a huge issue that needs to be addressed.
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RF145
4 years ago
ama530 is spot on.
I would like to add though, if we racers/riders want the sport to grow, we have to pitch in and do our part. Which means, plan a day to bring out a new rider and teach them how to ride, where to ride and how to maintain a bike. I personally have zero use for local events at this point in my life. Sitting around all day, shelling out big money for little ride time. If I want to race MX, I attend a VMX race promoted by a club like ACRMX.com . At these smaller VMX club races, with more open rules, you can virtually race all day and with your modern bike too as long as you race a vintage class. Still, I am lucky enough to know a few owners of private tracks and I can get two hours of fun safe MX in at my pace.
For the local tracks, I think two day events might be the answer with longer motos and less down time. Run the novices/vets and Pee Wees on Saturday and get them out earlier and the Experts and Amateurs on Sunday with longer motos and they too would have a shorter day. It will cost the tracks more money, but that might be offset by more entries and perhaps a small increase in fees??? The other thing we need to see is the remaining shops that are still business, need to focus some of their time and money back into the local level racing like we had back in the day.
Unfortunately I see the need for ALL the parties involved to come up with a plan that everyone will work on together towards increasing participation, from the local rider/racer all the way up to the manufactures. And that will only happen when hell freezes over Sad
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Brian_Finn
4 years ago
Agree. I've thought about starting an MX club up here but time is tough. Candidly one of the best parts of being at a track is meeting other riders and learning from them. Met some great folks at local races and track days. The tough part is actually putting a program together that will work. The tracks are standalone and while they do often work together they are all independent. There doesn't seem to be any organization that is truly trying to attract new people to this sport.
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ama530
4 years ago
ACRMX is some of the best racing I ever did. So much fun and a laid back atmosphere. Saturday mx and a Sunday GP. Evansville, Broome, Blue Diamond, Dutchman, Hurricane, etc...
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CR92
4 years ago
I think it all comes down to the cost to physically own a dirtbike. In 2006 I was able to talk my mom into buying me a last year model rm125 for around $3,000. That was a good entry level, full size, bike. That simply doesn't exist anymore.
With that price in mind, many of the smaller bikes were much less expensive, and more reasonably priced too.
My point, I guess, comes down to one simple thing. Parents will be more likely to buy you a dirtbike, if the bike doesn't cost more than what they'll have to pay for their child's first car.
I can buy a pretty new car for less than a dirtbike, just saying.
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Brian_Finn
4 years ago
Add to that the fact that they may not know where to ride, how to ride, or how to maintain a bike. If there is a desire to get into the sport, it can be done for less than 4G's with a used bike but, there is no infrastructure in place to help new entrants get their feet on the ground.
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GuyB
4 years ago
What prevents you from buying and racing one? Have you asked your local promoter if he'll do two-stroke-only classes? Are you encouraging your two-stroke friends to come out and race?
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Brian_Finn
4 years ago
At many of the local tracks here in Portland the have a 125 class. Fun to watch but shit some of those kids fly.
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