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No shut a guy st Baja MX in C. Class with me was doing the 120 or how ever big the damn thing is. C class but does 120 ft jump...right.
I'm riding Vet Sport for 2017 but they changed it from 30+ to 25+ so it's going to basically be a sandbagged class like the others.
The Shop
Bring back more old school tracks. Personally Endurocross is much more appealing and also trials riding (145 pound bikes)
Jody's-box/ Jody chronicles-my-life-as-an-mxa-test-pilot
Before insurance was required you could go to local club race only paying 5 euro entry fee and gates where full. Today the starting gates are only half full of serious racers at those races with their brand new bikes and sprinter vans. Back in the day there where guys with ten year old bikes and car trailers having fun and it wasn't too serious.
If you want race national races here you also have to pay licence fee which is about 450 euros/year and entry fee which is about 30-60 euros/race.
Top of that new bike prices have gone up with four strokes and tracks are more demanding. In the nineties there where no whoops, doubles or rhythm sections at local tracks and they are everywhere. I'ts a lot harder to amateur riders to ride these tracks today and there is lot more risk involved. I wish track builders would stop bringing supercross elements to outdoor tracks... Also noise issues have gone worse with four strokes and many of the tracks have been closed or have very limited opening due to that.
I doesn't look good for the sport at the moment...
Families work together to draw more kids in. Have parents and the kid that doesn't ride borrow a bike and gear, get 'em hooked. If you have some riding land be generous and invite others...they can help you work on your facility to repay your generosity.
This fallacy that dirt bikes are soooo dangerous...but football is OK has to be debunked. Have your kid start a club. Any grade level including college. Blake Wharton started up a club, NTU Moto club.
Track promoters create special riding days with coaches, etc. for different age groups. After school midweek or summer. Follow the "soccer camp" paradigm. Don't make it crazy expensive...again it's in the promoter's interest to build the rider base.
One last thing...talk to people when you're at the track! Let's face it, Moto is an individual sport and fits the "loner" stereotype, gotta break that idea. Everyone likes being a part of something, folks are more likely to stick with it if they feel they are part of a group.
I live in forest hill, and I totally agree with you. I'll even note, that the private track I've ridden at for the last 3 years is shutting down due to noise. He owns 100 acres and it just isn't worth fighting the neighbors over the noise. We've been cut down to 3 hours from 12-3 Saturday or Sunday, no holiday weekends. This area is full of nimbys and the closest track to me is snake Creek which is 1:45 minutes each way. It sure is hard to be into this sport around these parts anymore. I know 3 people that have had their bike stolen, and if mine gets stolen I'll most likely take the insurance money and get a street car. At least in a car, I most likely won't be on the hook for some outrageous hospital bill. I blame health insurance costs and bike costs the most
I think there are a lot of factors at play, but I think some of the biggest are:
1. Land closures - it is amazing how much land has been closed here in AZ
2. Younger generation is too involved with technology - iPads, video games, etc
3. Perception - quite frankly a lot of the public just doesn't like dirt bikes. They don't like the sounds, the dust, etc. Law enforcement is NOT on our side either (of course I guess they are simply enforcing the laws).
One of the biggest in my opinion:
4. Side by Sides - RZRs have absolutely swept the motorsports market. All but ONE of my friends has sold their bikes and bought a RZR. Local shops that relied on working on bikes are hanging on by a thread. They almost have to turn to working on side by sides to survive. Been to the dunes lately? It is ALL side by sides.
I actually don't think cost is the biggest issue at play here, because there seems to be A LOT of people buying $25,000 side by sides - including many people who quite frankly can't afford them. The reality is many people overestimate their financial position (you should see some of my old friends who have bought these RZRs with no money down and make minimum payments. The stupidity is just unbelievable. That RZR you bought for 25K is more like 35K.) One of my good friends sold his bike because he said it was too dangerous...coming from a kid who has never ridden a track in his life. He was a weekend warrior who did some desert/woods riding. That RZR is probably just as dangerous when you go to the dunes on every holiday weekend.
Step into any local dealership here and it is swamped with RZRs, Can-Ams, etc. And they are selling them like hot cakes. It is not unusual to see 40k-50k RZRs. Side by sides are the new dirtbike. Don't get me wrong - they are fun, but nothing beats riding single track on the top of a ridge, riding a good track, finding that awesome floater at the dunes. These people would rather sit in their four point harnesses smoking a cigarette than be exposed to the danger of a dirtbike.
Rant over.
Pit Row
And side by sides are easy to feel like your fast in, girls, kids and slow mxers. They are the new 3 wheeler
1) Mainstream youth sports
Not sure about youth sports where you guys live but here it is damn near year round if you want your kid to be competitive. My 8 year old plays basketball in the fall, winter, and summer as do most of her friends. Mainstream youth sports have gotten a lot more serious and require much more time and traveling then when I was younger. And to be honest as a parent, the cost of youth sports have gotten higher but still no where near as high as competing in motorsports. That and she has a legitimate chance of getting a free/reduced education if she keeps succeeding in basketball.
2) Accessibility.
Mainly, lack of CASUAL riding areas. When I was younger (I'm 29 now), a bunch of the neighborhood kids rode in a field on where there was undeveloped housing. We would ride from our houses in the neighborhoods to the field and no one cared. We would build little doubles and no one cared. I'm positive that the current neighborhood I live in now would throw a fit if kids were riding around the neighborhood and jumping jumps in the open grass area.
3) Just not that interesting/ a lot more things to do
As mentioned before, dirt bikes to a lot of kids just aren't as interesting anymore. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe it's due to the popularity of the NFL, NBA, Soccer, etc? These sports have always produced starts but now with social media, multiple sports channels on cable, and YouTube, you see and hear about these stars all the time. Maybe it's the growth of video games and mobile devices? Maybe it is just because there is just more cool shit to do then when we grew up?
SX only with no Outdoor Nationals will not help bike sales. Most of the fans don't ride, they don't see timed practice and only watch the top guys qualify and race which means no one sees the other non factory guys try to make it. Teams only carry 2 riders so no one else thinks they could make it.
More riders on teams with bonus only contracts. Make tracks safer because as we make riders safer we make the tracks tougher. Sometimes a new direction only makes others lost and what's going on is losing people
I will give the AMA credit because at least they allow two strokes at equal displacement now. If the pro racing would follow that would be step in the right direction.
Kids are definitely more "image" driven these days. Enamoured by celebrity. What Moto Playground does with marketing is a great direction. Need more of that! If the next generation can IG it, Snap chat it, whatever it, some form of social brag they eat it up. Event driven.
Obviously parents need to support it...getting the parents into riding is the best way. Dragging jr around only to be pit bitch gets old real quick...real talk.
I do take issue with cost complaints. All costs. This is the most INEXPENSIVE Motorsport on the planet! Wanna play? You gotta pay. Whining about gate fees and practice fees I dont get when you are hauling around an 8K bike in a stupid brand new lifted truck. Sorry. How about some Top Golf? How about a lift ticket at a ski resort? I will say I get pissed if I dont get much track time when too many classes on a practice day. When that happens I politely talk to the owner/operator. If he tells me to get F'd then not a place I will go to as much.
And NO WAY are 2 strokes going to "save" the sport. The math doesn't add up. EFI/DI, so what? The bikes are nearly as expensive, and you have to do top and bottom ends more often.
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