Posts
60
Joined
7/24/2011
Location
Eagle, ID
US
Edited Date/Time
3/12/2012 10:34pm
I've been out of the loop for a while as far as my local MX scene in Boise, Idaho goes. When I was younger and raced the beginner/junior classes at races, I always got to race a full gate of other kids. One of the things that kept me coming back was the competitiveness in EVERY class.
I went to a local winter series race today, and was kind of bummed out. There were about 5-8 kids in each of the small bike classes (50s-Supermini), and it wasn't that much bigger in the other classes.
I don't know if it was just the case for today, but I was curious if you all are seein this too...
I went to a local winter series race today, and was kind of bummed out. There were about 5-8 kids in each of the small bike classes (50s-Supermini), and it wasn't that much bigger in the other classes.
I don't know if it was just the case for today, but I was curious if you all are seein this too...
I'll have to check out some summer series races and see if everyone is just hibernating..
and the fact there is so much sand bagging going on anymore, alot of
people have lost interest. Practice days, seem to do way better than
race days in our area, but i havent been to a race in a couple years
now.
The Shop
I used to drag race cars and I think that motocross is more money if you want to be at the top of the local scene.
It's all the practice track time, food, gas and constant minor parts/fuel/oil that will cost you $2-3K a year to race with any hope of doing well.
Add that to cost of entries and a bike and you are spending 8-9 Grand to race locally.
If you don't have a good job or even worse aren't working right now this kinda stuff isn't happening.
If I didn't work announcing at races my son would have been out of the game years ago.
Increasing the expense to get into the sport with $5k 50cc bikes and no real affordable option for entry level big bike riders is not helping.
I don't see the sport ever getting back to the level of the early to mid 2000's.
Well, not with 4 strokes anyway....electric bikes could be the game changer as far as grass roots entry level moto.
It would increase options for riding areas and hopefuly get the cost back down to a reasonable level.
I would give my left nut to ride Mammoth. Maybe next year...
4 stroke cost is only an issue if you have an engine failure. If that doesn't happen, you'd likely feel the cost is similar. Once the engine goes, you'll wish it hadn't.. Although 4 stroke retail bike prices are high, have you checked a KTM or Yamah 250 2 stroke lately?
Race day cost Vs. value is a big peice of the pie as yanks mentioned above. High cost, and being in attendance all day waiting for your 5 mintues on the track doesn't seem to be attractive. The MX day is losing some traffic to the harescrambles scene.. Lots of seat time, get in and out in a reasonable amount of time, and usually reduced cost of race day.
One thing that people don't mention much is the attitude change.
We've gone from the majority of people "15-20 years ago" at the track driving a pickup/trailer combo, and consisting mostly of mini age through +30 riders
to
Parking lots full of Motorhome/hauler type rigs and more riders between 35 and 55. Seems the younger group doesn't have the desire to continue on without the parents help. A generation ago, that's what the kids did, whether their parents were there or not. Times change, and our sport is feeling the pains of that change.
I think that enduro's work best for the family scene too. You don't get to ride with your kid on a motocross track, but if you're around the same speed, you can run an enduro on the same minute as a friend, and it almost becomes a teamwork thing.
My dad and I ran the qualifier together twice, and it's definitely a big family bonding thing..
Pit Row
I'm done racing because of the jumps. I don't do the big ones and do not want to end up in the ER from being used as a landing ramp for some teenager on a CRF450. Totally relate to what Stanton was saying tonight about him possibly racing a legends event.
Aside from the safety factor, racing is just not cost effective either. I used to spend $100 easy on a weekend of racing and then get maybe 15-20 minutes of actual track time over a 8 hour day. I can pay $20 and ride pretty much whenever I want for several hours, and go home while it is still light out.
This ain't rocket science.
to buy a new bike, i say yes its damn near impossible, but to buy a nice used bike, not as bad
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