Pro MX Decline in the US?

10 years from now, there will be 2 professional dirtbike racing series

AMA Supercross

FIM MXGP

Stamp it

rmoto003 wrote:

10 years from now, there will be 2 professional dirtbike racing series

AMA Supercross

FIM MXGP

Stamp it

Maybe 2 South American GPs, 2 or 3 USGPs, and one in Canada. That's where I see this deal with MX Sports heading.

I know I am supposed to love it, but next to real outdoor motocross, I find supercross to be artificial and boring. Don't really care much about it

There will still be Nationals. There are riders who do not do SX that still race outdoors.

I was told by several SX racers this year that they were not going to race Pro Outdoors when they can do local or other forms of races and make more $$$ at a much less expense.

Also just compare the spectator attendance, SX is the clear winner over MX. I love the Outdoor Nationals much more than Supercross myself. But the Outdoors are are still almost the same as they were back in the 70's except for racing on Saturday instead of Sunday and the dumbest thing of all was to get rid of the 125cc class and kill off 2-Strokes. Supercross has not changed much either. Plus these days most kids could care less about dirt bikes. Kids want the latest electronic device so they can talk to their friends. Without new riders MX and Supercross are going to fade away in the future. Hell Nascar is loosing fans and TV ratings are dropping because young people are not interested in watching a 4 hour long Nascar race. That is the future...

Unless mx sports does something about privateer purse money it will go away. Embarrising that the guys struggle week to week. Why would these guys put it on the line for a few bucks. I love the nationals and have almost been to everyone but come on man. Freddie Norden is a top 15 guy sleeping in a cargo van.

Suspension is too stiff

rmoto003 wrote:

10 years from now, there will be 2 professional dirtbike racing series

AMA Supercross

FIM MXGP

Stamp it

RandyS wrote:

Maybe 2 South American GPs, 2 or 3 USGPs, and one in Canada. That's where I see this deal with MX Sports heading.

+ Trans USA winter series a man can dream

rmoto003 wrote:

10 years from now, there will be 2 professional dirtbike racing series

AMA Supercross

FIM MXGP

Stamp it

That is definitely the way forward. I hope it's less then 10 years away though.

user760a wrote:

I know I am supposed to love it, but next to real outdoor motocross, I find supercross to be artificial and boring. Don't really care much about it

This.

The MXGPs will not exist when country's quit paying $450,000 out of their advertising budgets to have a MX race in their country.

I would say the only reason Pros ride the Outdoors MX is because they have to. The top guys it's in their contract, the middle guys ride it because they are trying to get noticed, the back guys do it so they can say they are Pros and make more money teaching MX Schools.

Just because Herlings goes 1-1 at Ironman doesnt mean this is the end of the world. Just because you don't have the very fastest rider in the world doesn't mean this entire industry is going to collapse. Also SX is extremely boring, your stuck in a little area and it just doesn't seem like much is going on.

Why does everyone think the sport is dying?

user760a wrote:

I know I am supposed to love it, but next to real outdoor motocross, I find supercross to be artificial and boring. Don't really care much about it

I agree. I loved sx back in the late 70's and early 80's. A outdoor track inside. Bud berns, long straights and great racing with multiple lines!!

Pro Mx is down because Mx is dying off at the grass roots level, the local scene is down across the country big time. Sure there are bright spots here and there but overall its down. The local scene is where the next generation of pros come from, its a feeder system.

So we are now starting to see our guys get whipped by the Euros, because we have less people with the potential to get to the top ranks of pro moto coming through the feeder system. Lose a few guys to injury and the speed of the top ten US guys is vastly depleted and those who take their spot are not as fast. Last I checked Ken and Marvin are not from the US.

So yes pro mx in the US is declining is a couple of different aspects and those who run the sport don't seem to care at this point. By the time they do care it maybe to late.

Lowest common denominator, or racing on a curve ...
You're only as fast as your competition. In the 70's and 80's everyone and their uncle had bikes. Bubble wrapped kids with helicopter parents are killing our kids. Don't even get me started on the divorced parenting going on out there... fuckin ridiculous.
... rant over ...

steed 2.0 wrote:

+ Trans USA winter series a man can dream

Ah, and what a sweet dream that is. I remember it well, the gorgeous photographs in MXA of DeCoster, Lackey, Smith, Hannah, etcetera, at Unadilla with the fall colors resplendent all around them. It was the BEST. I think it's where we're headed, a true-blue globetrotting outdoor motocross series that lingers into the fall, and an American indoor supercross series that ends in summer - and I'm fine with that. In fact, it sounds great to me. The thing all of you are missing about the sport dying is THIS: electric bikes will largely eliminate the need for dads to be mechanics. When that happens, all kinds of new people will start riding that don't right now, because it will be almost hassle-free to do it. And yes, in case you're wondering, I'm buying an Alta. I have over a dozen bikes, but I've never been a good mechanic, so I've struggled .......... but pretty soon, my struggles will be over. I'll just ride and ride and ride and ride, and occasionally tighten the chain. Wah-HOOOO!!!!

Silas444 wrote:

Ah, and what a sweet dream that is. I remember it well, the gorgeous photographs in MXA of DeCoster, Lackey, Smith, Hannah, etcetera, at Unadilla with the fall colors resplendent all around them. It was the BEST. I think it's where we're headed, a true-blue globetrotting outdoor motocross series that lingers into the fall, and an American indoor supercross series that ends in summer - and I'm fine with that. In fact, it sounds great to me. The thing all of you are missing about the sport dying is THIS: electric bikes will largely eliminate the need for dads to be mechanics. When that happens, all kinds of new people will start riding that don't right now, because it will be almost hassle-free to do it. And yes, in case you're wondering, I'm buying an Alta. I have over a dozen bikes, but I've never been a good mechanic, so I've struggled .......... but pretty soon, my struggles will be over. I'll just ride and ride and ride and ride, and occasionally tighten the chain. Wah-HOOOO!!!!

Good to know that electric bikes will not need to be worked on. I didn't know that.

Silas444 wrote:

Ah, and what a sweet dream that is. I remember it well, the gorgeous photographs in MXA of DeCoster, Lackey, Smith, Hannah, etcetera, at Unadilla with the fall colors resplendent all around them. It was the BEST. I think it's where we're headed, a true-blue globetrotting outdoor motocross series that lingers into the fall, and an American indoor supercross series that ends in summer - and I'm fine with that. In fact, it sounds great to me. The thing all of you are missing about the sport dying is THIS: electric bikes will largely eliminate the need for dads to be mechanics. When that happens, all kinds of new people will start riding that don't right now, because it will be almost hassle-free to do it. And yes, in case you're wondering, I'm buying an Alta. I have over a dozen bikes, but I've never been a good mechanic, so I've struggled .......... but pretty soon, my struggles will be over. I'll just ride and ride and ride and ride, and occasionally tighten the chain. Wah-HOOOO!!!!

Yea this thread has lost all hope. Not sure how electric bikes and dads being mechanics correlate to mx suposedly dying but you have fun with that.

m.hardesty16 wrote:

Yea this thread has lost all hope. Not sure how electric bikes and dads being mechanics correlate to mx suposedly dying but you have fun with that.

Okay, let me help you out with that. I was at a practice a while back. I'm in my fifties now, so I wasn't the fastest guy out there of course, but I give the youngsters a run for their money. At this particular track you have to walk your bike back to your truck, so I was, and as I passed by the dads standing against the fence, one of them said, "There he goes, fellas - our hero." And I looked at them and said, "I'm not your hero, I'm living proof that none of you have a legitimate excuse not to be out here with me." and one of them responded, "Nope, no time. Too busy trying to keep the kid's bike running" - and they ALL nodded in agreement.

Tomok wrote:

Good to know that electric bikes will not need to be worked on. I didn't know that.

And now yo you: I double-dog dare you to find a bent valve in an electric motor. Or a chipped piston. Or a broken cam chain. Or a clogged carb or injector. Look, anything with a motor can stop running (duh), but the number of moving parts in an electric motor that can fail is tiny compared to that of an internal combustion engine. Go down to Home Depot and buy a new lithium-ion drill if you don't believe me. They weigh about three pounds, and yet you can build a house with it and then throw it off the roof of that house a hundred times - and it will still work. The future is electric, my boys, and it will re-ignite this sport, for it will boil it down to the essence that makes it truly pleasurable: RACING IN THE DIRT. Stamp it.

steed 2.0 wrote:

+ Trans USA winter series a man can dream

Silas444 wrote:

Ah, and what a sweet dream that is. I remember it well, the gorgeous photographs in MXA of DeCoster, Lackey, Smith, Hannah, etcetera, at Unadilla with the fall colors resplendent all around them. It was the BEST. I think it's where we're headed, a true-blue globetrotting outdoor motocross series that lingers into the fall, and an American indoor supercross series that ends in summer - and I'm fine with that. In fact, it sounds great to me. The thing all of you are missing about the sport dying is THIS: electric bikes will largely eliminate the need for dads to be mechanics. When that happens, all kinds of new people will start riding that don't right now, because it will be almost hassle-free to do it. And yes, in case you're wondering, I'm buying an Alta. I have over a dozen bikes, but I've never been a good mechanic, so I've struggled .......... but pretty soon, my struggles will be over. I'll just ride and ride and ride and ride, and occasionally tighten the chain. Wah-HOOOO!!!!

m.hardesty16 wrote:

Yea this thread has lost all hope. Not sure how electric bikes and dads being mechanics correlate to mx suposedly dying but you have fun with that.

Odenton MD?

Did you go to Meade?

Overdrive wrote:

Pro Mx is down because Mx is dying off at the grass roots level, the local scene is down across the country big time. Sure there are bright spots here and there but overall its down. The local scene is where the next generation of pros come from, its a feeder system.

So we are now starting to see our guys get whipped by the Euros, because we have less people with the potential to get to the top ranks of pro moto coming through the feeder system. Lose a few guys to injury and the speed of the top ten US guys is vastly depleted and those who take their spot are not as fast. Last I checked Ken and Marvin are not from the US.

So yes pro mx in the US is declining is a couple of different aspects and those who run the sport don't seem to care at this point. By the time they do care it maybe to late.

Good post! I would add that any sport is like a pyramid in that the more participants or larger the (pyramid) base the higher the skill level is at the top. Could be that Tomac is the last great rider this country will produce for a while and even his legacy is in question with his inconsistency.

Silas444 wrote:

Okay, let me help you out with that. I was at a practice a while back. I'm in my fifties now, so I wasn't the fastest guy out there of course, but I give the youngsters a run for their money. At this particular track you have to walk your bike back to your truck, so I was, and as I passed by the dads standing against the fence, one of them said, "There he goes, fellas - our hero." And I looked at them and said, "I'm not your hero, I'm living proof that none of you have a legitimate excuse not to be out here with me." and one of them responded, "Nope, no time. Too busy trying to keep the kid's bike running" - and they ALL nodded in agreement.

Mind telling me that track name? Sounds like a track somewhat close to me because some kid had gotten hit a while back and killed. Also I think that was sarcasm, bikes don't break that often its just maintenance. Ive had both 4 and 2 strokes and its really not that hard and im only 16 and I do all my own bike work as well as my friends. If you aren't all that great of a mechanic then can't you take it to a mechanic? I would imagine altas would need electritians to work on them for gods sake and then a mechanic for the mechanical parts.

lumpy790 wrote:

Odenton MD?

Did you go to Meade?

No I go to Arundel.

Silas444 wrote:

Ah, and what a sweet dream that is. I remember it well, the gorgeous photographs in MXA of DeCoster, Lackey, Smith, Hannah, etcetera, at Unadilla with the fall colors resplendent all around them. It was the BEST. I think it's where we're headed, a true-blue globetrotting outdoor motocross series that lingers into the fall, and an American indoor supercross series that ends in summer - and I'm fine with that. In fact, it sounds great to me. The thing all of you are missing about the sport dying is THIS: electric bikes will largely eliminate the need for dads to be mechanics. When that happens, all kinds of new people will start riding that don't right now, because it will be almost hassle-free to do it. And yes, in case you're wondering, I'm buying an Alta. I have over a dozen bikes, but I've never been a good mechanic, so I've struggled .......... but pretty soon, my struggles will be over. I'll just ride and ride and ride and ride, and occasionally tighten the chain. Wah-HOOOO!!!!

Better keep an eye on those sprocket bolts or all will be lost

MXGP can barely fill a gate. Even with the US riders this week that gate is half empty. IF anything Lucas Oil Pro MX is on the rise and MXGP is declining.

Gandorlf wrote:

MXGP can barely fill a gate. Even with the US riders this week that gate is half empty. IF anything Lucas Oil Pro MX is on the rise and MXGP is declining.

I don't think either is on the decline I just think you all are bring negative.

Here is something positive , huge number of 50's at a local race.