Posts: 551
Joined: 10/19/2008
Location: AUS
Troy Carroll onward of Carrol motorsports who runs the Mega Bulk fuels Fatory Kawasaki team in Australia is winding up the team after the Supercross season finishes, no word from Kawasaki yet as to weather there will be a new team or just fade away, but this will be the 2nd or 3rd team that is finishing up this year.
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Joined: 7/8/2015
Location: BumfarkIdaho, VGB
A lot of these teams think having palm trees is the answer. Realistically these transporters are to big and expensive for Oz MX. Look at what team Suzuki have been pitting out of the last decade, that's all the OZ teams need and I'd guess it costs at least 1/4 of the price to run. They spend so much money trying to beat the Jones's that they are actually stealing from there own wallet.
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Joined: 6/28/2014
Location: AUS
Richard Tease II wrote:A lot of these teams think having palm trees is the answer. Realistically these transporters are to big and expensive for Oz ...more
Pretty much my thinking.
The rare times I go to a 'big' event, I wonder how they can justify the set ups, and / or how they score the money from major sponsors, who I'm sure end up feeling unsatisfied by the lack of general exposure they get for their Dollars.
Pull back a bit from the glitter and BS, and I think things would be healthier, for more Teams and Riders.
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Joined: 4/26/2009
Location: Sydney, AUS
Didn't Reardon just sign with them?
Cheers, Crush
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Joined: 10/6/2007
Location: Melbourne, AUS
Posts: 19640
Joined: 4/26/2009
Location: Sydney, AUS
Crikey.
Cheers, Crush
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Posts: 376
Joined: 10/6/2007
Location: Melbourne, AUS
Posts: 4116
Joined: 4/11/2010
Location: ATA
Richard Tease II wrote:A lot of these teams think having palm trees is the answer. Realistically these transporters are to big and expensive for Oz ...more
Then add the cost of flying team members (and entourage) to and from the races.
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Joined: 3/31/2014
Location: Mackay QLD, AUS
Richard Tease II wrote:A lot of these teams think having palm trees is the answer. Realistically these transporters are to big and expensive for Oz ...more
Somebody has gotta take the reigns on the MX series and the piss poor sx and bring it into this century...
Instagram @_yabba_dabba_dont_
Posts: 183
Joined: 4/25/2014
Location: AUS
Posts: 19640
Joined: 4/26/2009
Location: Sydney, AUS
Posts: 968
Joined: 8/16/2016
Location: Orlando, FL USA
Posts: 1218
Joined: 7/8/2015
Location: BumfarkIdaho, VGB
Look at CDR never to flashy yet been running a solid no frills no glitz and glam operation for years.
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Joined: 5/9/2011
Location: AUS
Richard Tease II wrote:Look at CDR never to flashy yet been running a solid no frills no glitz and glam operation for years.
CDR had the biggest set up in the pits at coolum. Their truck is massive.
Also the grids were full in the MX1, MX2 and women's class. Maybe other rounds had less turn out but coolum had a good rider turn out.
I do agree though, teams could save a fortune if they pulled back a bit and just focused on the riding.
I remember in the late 90's, we were on a family holiday to watch a stadium motocross event. We were staying in a cabin at a caravan park and Craig Anderson, who was the sx champ at the time, pulls up to the cabin next to us in a box van with his mechanic. They pulled the bike out of the van, put it in the cabin and that was their accommodation. No planes, no flash motels but moto was going strong. When Jeff Leisk turned up with a Team KTM semi at the first round of the MX nationals, can't remember which year, that was the end of the box van for the pro's. I thought at the time it would step up moto in Australia but all it seemed to do was step up costs
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Location: OH, USA
double crikey!. wait a minute...............im not Australian.
If I'm healthy enough to complain. I shouldn't be complaining.
Posts: 99
Joined: 6/30/2017
Location: AUS
The series here is fucked. Everyone knows about SX in the states yet here outside the industry there is no promoting.
Posts: 675
Joined: 8/12/2008
Location: Cumming, GA USA
I haven't been to an Australian event for a bunch of years now but I always wondered how it was viable when 100 spectators turn up to watch an MX national with half of them friends and family of riders and then the SX series went to crap for a while too. Not sure what's happening nowadays but I doubt much changed.
Posts: 109
Joined: 11/11/2016
Location: Kamuela, HI USA
Ya, right!!
Getting priced out of the sport.
$11000 bike...good for 2 to 4 seasons depending on usage.
Parts are expensive so cost of ownership is high.
Tires $125 say you need 12 rears and 6 fronts a year...if you race and practice once a week each.
Boots $500
Helmet $500
Gear $200
Knee braces $300
$13 to $14k and you haven't even ridden yet.
Fewer and fewer places to ride.
For most longer travel time to get there.
Add in $50 to $100 for experience on ride day.
$50 for race entry.
Let's face the sport has been on the decline for many years and starting to see the effects at the races.
I have been riding and racing for many years and finally gave it up.
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Joined: 5/19/2017
Location: Folsom, CA USA
Posts: 19640
Joined: 4/26/2009
Location: Sydney, AUS
block75 wrote:Troy Carroll onward of Carrol motorsports who runs the Mega Bulk fuels Fatory Kawasaki team in Australia is winding up the ...more
adjentleman wrote:Why is our beloved sport dying out so fast? If it can survive the 80s and 90s it can survive now. Fuck the media.
The 80s and late 90s are boom days compared to now. Early 90s might have been slow, but MX is in trouble right now I'd say.
And right at the start of it is participation. Fast as all fuck bikes that are more expensive now than ever. Barriers to entry are super high and only going to climb.
That is a dwindling pool of people buying parts, tyres, gear etc.
125s are the answer! 
Cheers, Crush
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Posts: 1638
Joined: 10/19/2015
Location: Edinboro, PA USA
I agree with 125s and what a waste of money the semi trucks are. I own a small trucking company and miss the days where used 125s were a dime a dozen for teenage kids to start on. $500,000 for a rig is ridiculous. Screw the Jones'!
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Location: Belton, MO USA
Posts: 3597
Joined: 7/19/2016
Location: Sac, CA USA
Edited Date/Time:
Richard Tease II wrote:A lot of these teams think having palm trees is the answer. Realistically these transporters are to big and expensive for Oz ...more
The point of the truck is that it is a rolling Billboard. Yes, it is more luxurious to work out of. But they want that name presence in the pits. That's the whole reason they're paying anybody to race at all.
It is not simply a matter of scaling back operations. It is a matter of whether they are getting the advertising exposure per dollar they hoped for out of a team. Spending fewer dollars on the truck doesn't necessarily fix that equation; it could make it worse.
The truck with the 40 foot logo driving around might be the only part of the whole team operation the corporate brass actually loves. Hell, they might prefer driving a truck around without a team more than a team without a truck.
Posts: 1522
Joined: 12/14/2010
Location: ORANGEVALE, CA USA
shoot i wonder the same thing on rig setups. Why small teams need such large rigs is beyond me. Hell it wasnt till mid 90's that teams moved out of box vans. heck even if they need more 'room' just add a tow trailer.
"If you feel in control, you're not going fast enough" ~Mario Andretti
