Moto is on the Decline?

Motodave15
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Motodave15
Edited Date/Time 5/31/2021 7:53am
Is probably the worst statement.. milestone was absolutely packed... word was glen helen was packed as well. I think this moto industry is on the up and up

One thing is, must be a rise of old bikes because i didnt see that many people rocking 15-17s. But alot of nice older bikes.
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Skidaddle
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Skidaddle 12/10/2016 4:14pm
12/10/2016 4:14pm
There are very few riders in the hills. Overall, it's dead % wise.

In the 80s everyone had some kind of new dirt bike within a few years old.

We rode every single day. Even to school alot of times through the hills, and a few streets and neighborhood.

But nobody called the cops if you just cruised through. Most now play video games.
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smashingpumpkins167 12/10/2016 4:20pm
12/10/2016 4:20pm Edited Date/Time 12/10/2016 4:22pm
There were a ton of riders at Day in the Dirt too. That doesn't really mean that moto is doing fine though. That's just one weekend in southern California...

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kott0n
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kott0n 12/10/2016 4:26pm
12/10/2016 4:26pm
Skidaddle wrote:
There are very few riders in the hills. Overall, it's dead % wise. In the 80s everyone had some kind of new dirt bike within a...
There are very few riders in the hills. Overall, it's dead % wise.

In the 80s everyone had some kind of new dirt bike within a few years old.

We rode every single day. Even to school alot of times through the hills, and a few streets and neighborhood.

But nobody called the cops if you just cruised through. Most now play video games.
It's the lack of a strong middle class, not vidya games.
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kzizok
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kzizok 12/10/2016 4:28pm
12/10/2016 4:28pm
smashingpumpkins167 wrote:
There were a ton of riders at Day in the Dirt too. That doesn't really mean that moto is doing fine though. That's just one weekend...
There were a ton of riders at Day in the Dirt too. That doesn't really mean that moto is doing fine though. That's just one weekend in southern California...

Thats just it, isolated incident's have good turnouts. Where once they were an every weekend affair, all over the country.
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NATEP231
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NATEP231 12/10/2016 4:33pm
12/10/2016 4:33pm
Make a trip to the Midwest. Moto is in room 1 of the ICU and they are calling the pastor....
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Skidaddle
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Skidaddle 12/10/2016 4:35pm
12/10/2016 4:35pm
smashingpumpkins167 wrote:
There were a ton of riders at Day in the Dirt too. That doesn't really mean that moto is doing fine though. That's just one weekend...
There were a ton of riders at Day in the Dirt too. That doesn't really mean that moto is doing fine though. That's just one weekend in southern California...

Just a normal local race had far more than that in the 80s. In comparison, you'd be like, Where is everybody?
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Calihusky
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Calihusky 12/10/2016 4:36pm
12/10/2016 4:36pm
Motodave15 wrote:
Is probably the worst statement.. milestone was absolutely packed... word was glen helen was packed as well. I think this moto industry is on the up...
Is probably the worst statement.. milestone was absolutely packed... word was glen helen was packed as well. I think this moto industry is on the up and up

One thing is, must be a rise of old bikes because i didnt see that many people rocking 15-17s. But alot of nice older bikes.
Speaking of Milestone, how was the new vet track? They say they brought in tons of new dirt and redesigned the whole thing.
Skidaddle
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Skidaddle 12/10/2016 4:36pm
12/10/2016 4:36pm
Skidaddle wrote:
There are very few riders in the hills. Overall, it's dead % wise. In the 80s everyone had some kind of new dirt bike within a...
There are very few riders in the hills. Overall, it's dead % wise.

In the 80s everyone had some kind of new dirt bike within a few years old.

We rode every single day. Even to school alot of times through the hills, and a few streets and neighborhood.

But nobody called the cops if you just cruised through. Most now play video games.
kott0n wrote:
It's the lack of a strong middle class, not vidya games.
Yah, and less places to ride without having to travel.

And too many jealous cop callers.
agn5009
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agn5009 12/10/2016 4:49pm
12/10/2016 4:49pm
Mid to late 90s there would be too many riders in a lot of classes so they had to split them up. Now a days you see them combining the vet A class with the A class. Sometimes they stagger the A and B class because there's only a handful in each class. It's definitely on the decline on the east coast except a few places.
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tiddlermx23
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tiddlermx23 12/10/2016 5:05pm
12/10/2016 5:05pm
I ride but rarely go to tracks anymore. Very few decent tracks worth paying the price of admission with open practice days without driving 4 hours round trip and weekly racing costs are hard to justify at this time. 90% of my riding is in the backyard these days.
Sr_Vet_Rider
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Sr_Vet_Rider 12/10/2016 5:06pm
12/10/2016 5:06pm
Motodave15 wrote:
Is probably the worst statement.. milestone was absolutely packed... word was glen helen was packed as well. I think this moto industry is on the up...
Is probably the worst statement.. milestone was absolutely packed... word was glen helen was packed as well. I think this moto industry is on the up and up

One thing is, must be a rise of old bikes because i didnt see that many people rocking 15-17s. But alot of nice older bikes.
I can guarantee most, if not all, of the companies associated with the motorcycle industry would disagree with you. I know several that are hanging on by a thread for the last couple years.
The bike sales are down tremendously as well.
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SeaClassExpert 12/10/2016 5:09pm
12/10/2016 5:09pm
When the cost of a track is coming closer and closer to $40 (Zaca already is), it's becoming unaffordable.
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smashingpumpkins167 12/10/2016 5:09pm
12/10/2016 5:09pm
kzizok wrote:
Thats just it, isolated incident's have good turnouts. Where once they were an every weekend affair, all over the country.
Yea that's really the name of the game. Even in the 90's it was a lot better. We would have full gates for the novice and beginner classes, but less in intermediate and expert.

It seems like practice days draw more riders nowadays because you get more ride time for your money.
bd
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bd 12/10/2016 5:11pm
12/10/2016 5:11pm
Static income for years, great recession, and at least 3% yearly increases in price did not help moto. When I was kid, you could ride from your garage and practice. Those days are long gone
BobPA
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BobPA 12/10/2016 5:14pm
12/10/2016 5:14pm
Moto is on the decline, no way around it. I only did a few local races this year and attendance was about half of what it was when I was racing in the early 2000's. The harescramble scene is in good shape...KTM, Husky, and Trail Tech look like they are doing well
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SeaClassExpert 12/10/2016 5:17pm
12/10/2016 5:17pm
BobPA wrote:
Moto is on the decline, no way around it. I only did a few local races this year and attendance was about half of what it...
Moto is on the decline, no way around it. I only did a few local races this year and attendance was about half of what it was when I was racing in the early 2000's. The harescramble scene is in good shape...KTM, Husky, and Trail Tech look like they are doing well
Ride 4 times as long for (Roughly) the same price. Hare scrambles are the way to go, I love them.
Braap19
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Braap19 12/10/2016 5:24pm
12/10/2016 5:24pm
East coast is suffering as well. Only races with over 80 riders are state championship or qualifiers. And those aren't people from the east coast 98% of the time. It's still only $20 to practice here and usually it's as much as you want, no split practices. But including everything a day at the track is like $80. Just for practice and let alone if you don't break anything like throttle tube or bend bars. When a decent job around these parts is only making 30-35k a year, I mean median not the highest paid people. It's hard to afford all the costs with racing or practicing at a track.
colorado2day
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colorado2day 12/10/2016 5:41pm
12/10/2016 5:41pm
4 strokes and the price of a new 4 stroke are what have killed it. If you could buy a trick new EFI 2 stroke and promoters had a class...... $14,000 dollar EV's will sure as hell not save the sport

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BobPA
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BobPA 12/10/2016 5:45pm
12/10/2016 5:45pm
colorado2day wrote:
4 strokes and the price of a new 4 stroke are what have killed it. If you could buy a trick new EFI 2 stroke and...
4 strokes and the price of a new 4 stroke are what have killed it. If you could buy a trick new EFI 2 stroke and promoters had a class...... $14,000 dollar EV's will sure as hell not save the sport
What's an EV?
h_reed
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h_reed 12/10/2016 5:49pm
12/10/2016 5:49pm Edited Date/Time 12/10/2016 5:49pm
Braap19 wrote:
East coast is suffering as well. Only races with over 80 riders are state championship or qualifiers. And those aren't people from the east coast 98%...
East coast is suffering as well. Only races with over 80 riders are state championship or qualifiers. And those aren't people from the east coast 98% of the time. It's still only $20 to practice here and usually it's as much as you want, no split practices. But including everything a day at the track is like $80. Just for practice and let alone if you don't break anything like throttle tube or bend bars. When a decent job around these parts is only making 30-35k a year, I mean median not the highest paid people. It's hard to afford all the costs with racing or practicing at a track.
You need to go to East Bend for a race then. That place is packed for a Saturday night race. A while back, we had a Mid East HS, NCHSA HS and Full gas Sprint enduro all whithin 60 miles of each other, on the same day. Had several hundred at each Hare Scramble and a great turnout at the FGSE. We are very lucky around here.
Not counting the close by GNCC's, We have, I think 32 points races a year between our two local series.

Braap19
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Braap19 12/10/2016 6:02pm
12/10/2016 6:02pm Edited Date/Time 12/10/2016 6:09pm
Braap19 wrote:
East coast is suffering as well. Only races with over 80 riders are state championship or qualifiers. And those aren't people from the east coast 98%...
East coast is suffering as well. Only races with over 80 riders are state championship or qualifiers. And those aren't people from the east coast 98% of the time. It's still only $20 to practice here and usually it's as much as you want, no split practices. But including everything a day at the track is like $80. Just for practice and let alone if you don't break anything like throttle tube or bend bars. When a decent job around these parts is only making 30-35k a year, I mean median not the highest paid people. It's hard to afford all the costs with racing or practicing at a track.
h_reed wrote:
You need to go to East Bend for a race then. That place is packed for a Saturday night race. A while back, we had a...
You need to go to East Bend for a race then. That place is packed for a Saturday night race. A while back, we had a Mid East HS, NCHSA HS and Full gas Sprint enduro all whithin 60 miles of each other, on the same day. Had several hundred at each Hare Scramble and a great turnout at the FGSE. We are very lucky around here.
Not counting the close by GNCC's, We have, I think 32 points races a year between our two local series.

I should edit that to say moto races. HS and GNCC will always be strong on the East coast.

Also I just checked east bends website because I was curious (by the way, wouldn't consider that east coast being 7 hours from the beach). They have the points list up for the whole 2016 season and I wasn't impressed. Looked like turn out was about 75 riders a race. Only about 20ish ran the entire series, mostly minis and 250a and 450a had only one guy race more than 2 or 3 races. 250B and 450B looked to be about 6 people on the gate if they combined both classes. Back in 2008 they would have 20+ a gate around here each B class.
kkawboy14
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kkawboy14 12/10/2016 6:02pm
12/10/2016 6:02pm
There are 25 side by sides at the motorcycle shop that cost $25k to $35k and they said they keep selling more and more of them. Somebody's not worried about money
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kzizok
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kzizok 12/10/2016 6:10pm
12/10/2016 6:10pm
agn5009 wrote:
Mid to late 90s there would be too many riders in a lot of classes so they had to split them up. Now a days you...
Mid to late 90s there would be too many riders in a lot of classes so they had to split them up. Now a days you see them combining the vet A class with the A class. Sometimes they stagger the A and B class because there's only a handful in each class. It's definitely on the decline on the east coast except a few places.
Along the same lines, amateur nationals like Ponca City often had 4-5 divisions of a class. Then, even more classes had 2-3 divisions. There are zero classes at Ponca today.
Moto810
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Moto810 12/10/2016 6:18pm
12/10/2016 6:18pm
It has changed a great deal the past 10 years. Not dead but it sure is not what it used to be. Even with large numbers in decline in regards to race turnout and bike sales those in charge of the sport still continue in the same direction that has caused the decline. Makes you think of our government.
kzizok
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kzizok 12/10/2016 6:22pm
12/10/2016 6:22pm Edited Date/Time 12/10/2016 6:27pm
kkawboy14 wrote:
There are 25 side by sides at the motorcycle shop that cost $25k to $35k and they said they keep selling more and more of them...
There are 25 side by sides at the motorcycle shop that cost $25k to $35k and they said they keep selling more and more of them. Somebody's not worried about money
Side by sides sell to a much larger recreational market where all of the members of the family can be involved. With a larger market there becomes more people that can afford $25k, and have no desire to race anything (I know, there are a few exceptions).

More people, more resources.
colorado2day
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colorado2day 12/10/2016 6:27pm
12/10/2016 6:27pm
Growth for the Motorcycle, Bike and Parts Manufacturing industry has slowed over the past five years, largely because the aging of the population has reduced demand for motorcycles, baby boomers being the industry's largest revenue source. Additionally, import competition has intensified, leading many industry companies to relocate production abroad.

Through 2021, industry operators are expected to counteract these trends by increasing the efficiency of their production facilities and marketing their products to younger, previously untapped demographics in light of declining sales to baby boomers, who have long comprised the industry's primary customer group.

So how do you Market to the younger, previously untapped demographics ?

My guess is new EFI 2 Strokes. Kids today are more familiar with 2 strokes than 4 strokes. As far as untapped, Less expensive 2 strokes would sure help.

If MX Sports would follow the Euro lead and Hold a 125 2 stroke class at the Nationals and allow 2 Strokes to compete with 4 strokes.....
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GregDVT
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GregDVT 12/10/2016 6:31pm
12/10/2016 6:31pm
The closest track to me is 2+ hours away, and some of them aren't even worth the drive. I don't know a single person in my area that rides that is willing to buy a new bike at the risk of it getting stolen. Some dealerships have stopped carrying MX bikes b/c they kept getting broken into only for the MX bikes.

The only way to ride is if you have 15+ acres available due to noise ordinances.

The only reasonable way to race motorcycles around here are the flat track races at the state fair grounds, and that is only maybe 8-10 weekends a year.

Hopefully Alta's will be more affordable (or I'll be a bit less broke) in a couple of years and this will change for me.
kzizok
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kzizok 12/10/2016 6:49pm
12/10/2016 6:49pm

"So how do you Market to the younger, previously untapped demographics ?

My guess is new EFI 2 Strokes. Kids today are more familiar with 2 strokes than 4 strokes. As far as untapped, Less expensive 2 strokes would sure help.

If MX Sports would follow the Euro lead and Hold a 125 2 stroke class at the Nationals and allow 2 Strokes to compete with 4 strokes....."

An EFI 2 stroke and a 125 class at the nationals will not save MX. Your last paragraph is already answered.
BobPA
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BobPA 12/10/2016 7:03pm
12/10/2016 7:03pm
colorado2day wrote:
Growth for the Motorcycle, Bike and Parts Manufacturing industry has[i] slowed over the past five years, largely because the aging of the population has reduced demand...
Growth for the Motorcycle, Bike and Parts Manufacturing industry has slowed over the past five years, largely because the aging of the population has reduced demand for motorcycles, baby boomers being the industry's largest revenue source. Additionally, import competition has intensified, leading many industry companies to relocate production abroad.

Through 2021, industry operators are expected to counteract these trends by increasing the efficiency of their production facilities and marketing their products to younger, previously untapped demographics in light of declining sales to baby boomers, who have long comprised the industry's primary customer group.

So how do you Market to the younger, previously untapped demographics ?

My guess is new EFI 2 Strokes. Kids today are more familiar with 2 strokes than 4 strokes. As far as untapped, Less expensive 2 strokes would sure help.

If MX Sports would follow the Euro lead and Hold a 125 2 stroke class at the Nationals and allow 2 Strokes to compete with 4 strokes.....
You cannot actually believe your last paragraph. An EFI 2 stroke will not "save moto". What would they be $800 cheaper then a comparable 4 stroke?

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