Posts
500
Joined
3/16/2016
Location
GB
Edited Date/Time
7/3/2019 10:57am
After seeing the local pro strategy topic it got me thinking why is motorcycling in general so shafted
Back in the day, kids would ride bikes anywhere. There would be stacked classes even with a much smaller population. More tracks, more riders, bigger prize money but with less people around. So how does that work? Have we all just gone soft? Yeh sure bikes and parts were cheaper but wages was also less. Is it just progression of bikes, people and manurfactures pushing the envelope so much everything costs a bomb now?
I see huge training complex’s in the US with kids riding everyday, but for why? Do the parents not see there is no future?
It’s not even motocross, road racing is the same. So where does it go from here? It’s a good job there’s still a lot of weekend warriors like us buying the bikes and keeping the stores open. Just one day in the future ,I do wonder if motocross will even exist.
Back in the day, kids would ride bikes anywhere. There would be stacked classes even with a much smaller population. More tracks, more riders, bigger prize money but with less people around. So how does that work? Have we all just gone soft? Yeh sure bikes and parts were cheaper but wages was also less. Is it just progression of bikes, people and manurfactures pushing the envelope so much everything costs a bomb now?
I see huge training complex’s in the US with kids riding everyday, but for why? Do the parents not see there is no future?
It’s not even motocross, road racing is the same. So where does it go from here? It’s a good job there’s still a lot of weekend warriors like us buying the bikes and keeping the stores open. Just one day in the future ,I do wonder if motocross will even exist.
I'm hoping the electric revolution will save our sport. I think it's our best chance.
Also a lot more on board action, simulation.
Don’t know anyone that owns an F1 team or even car 😁, and there is almost zero passing.
But the technology, graphics, technical dollars and technology draw people to it.
MotoGP is pretty good at it.
Think Tesla stuff only on two wheels.
And every racer gets a participation trophy. 👏👏👏😁
There literally is no place for kids to just ride mini bikes, go carts or dirt bikes easily and everyday.
Riding now is a half day event!
The Shop
Can’t sell them now that it’s a Deano replica, or nothing, or a new phone.
So it’s usually, due to $, nothing.
- Us people 30 and younger, cannot ride anywhere without getting a ticket
- land to use for fun, is almost impossible to find unless you drive almost 2 hrs away.
- cost prohibited.
- tree huggers
- people who move next to a off-roading area (local) then complain about sound and dust
- extreme litigation (Commen sense isnt so common)
- 100 miles of stuff blocked off, for one flower or bug that would be decimated if a wild-fire hit.
Back in the 70s, the golden years, tennis was big also. Conners, Borg, Ashe, Laver.
You could ride a lot of places, but empty courts were hard to find. There was a kind of gentlemens agreement on the public courts, if someone was waiting you played for 45 minutes and gave the court up.
Now, I rarely see anyone out there hitting balls.
There's a freaking clay court one town over and I've
never seen a person on them.
We would have killed to play on clay back then.
The side by sides, taking away from the moto scene is real. Went by Morgantown Mororsports last week. 80% 4 wheelers 20% motorcycles.
And thats being generous.
Ya, the 4by4s are hurting us, but that ain't the only thing going on out there
Also, any kind of two wheel bike was cool back in the day. Now every kid needs a full PC Super mini aka race bike. How in the hell do you expect places to be accepting to dirt bikes if everyone has a loud race 2 stroke. We need the Xr100 back.
Everyone is busy as hell, prepping the bikes, making the trek to the track, and cleaning everything after is time consuming.
The sport itself it a huge money pit if you’re doing it at even a semi serious weekend warrior. It’s all money out. You literally aren’t going to “make” money or even break even doing it, EVER. Gas, oil, tires, filters, tear offs, fluids, wear parts. Not to mention if/when you get hurt from track owners building ridiculous jumps or poorly maintaining the track, that hospital bill is going to SUCK.
Motorcycling itself will always be around, but the niche of motocross is on its way out. There’s no bike or technology going to save it. Sorry.
i had bmx bikes, then mtb's. the mtb industry is being propped up by 35+yr olds that can afford $7k rides. i could go on and on for my quest to get kids some knock around , non race/bmx, bikes that weren't junk and didn't cost me a fortune to build. that market just isn't there. we live in a neighborhood FULL of kids and my guys (6&8) are the only ones that regularly ride. we have a legit track in our back yard. you'd think there would be 20kids on it every day. nope. my two are putting in solo hours on it daily.
the only kids i see riding mx or even bicycles hardly are those who's dads did it, and even that is more and more rare. not to sound like the old dude talking about walking uphill both ways to school 'back in the day', but the level of engagement going on with things like youtube/fortnite make the OG nintendo days of the 80's look like nothing.
Hell my Dad sat on the tailgate of his truck drinking "Schlitz" all day,the only time he talked to me was to ask if I was hungry or if I needed more gas.
Just let em ride and stay out of the way!
Pit Row
But Im taking notice now and seeing it for myself ALL THE TIME !!
Was talking to a lady and her son at the track the other day..son has a new yz85..hes a good kid..good personality..not interested in racing but loves riding his bike..thats fine....his brother....sat in the car the entire time they were there and played video games!! Wtf!!
Met this bloke...first time at the track..he had an oldish off road bike and his 2 kids had oldish play bikes...he basically had to order them to get out of the car...they didn't wanna ride....they can ride at home but dont...he bought some old bikes for them in the hope that they would love it and wanna ride or race all the time...said he would love to get back into it himself but it was dependent on the kids wanting to...I felt so sorry for him..
While all the reasons that people think the sport is dying are valid and very much the reason for those affected by that particular problem.....I have to finally admit that young people are just not interested any more..
I was stunned to find out recently that one of the biggest sports now is video gaming...gamers make big money from contests and sponsors...the video games are played on line and hundreds of thousands of people sit at their computers or whatever and watch these games being played out by the invisible players...ask any kid..theyll tell you all about it..
People actually pay to be online spectators of video games!! For fucks sake!!
Im ramping up my mid life crisis to the max right now...got 4 bikes now...going to get a new yz 125 and 250f in about October and after that a new ktm 85 big wheel!!
Never had a bike till i was 15 and got my first job...never had a mini bike, so fuck it! Im small enough and light enough to be comfortable on a 85 big wheel ,so Im damn well going to get one and enjoy the shit out of it while the good times last.
Im 53 and I truly believe that I will see this sport disappear in my lifetime!
But there will always be some of us with kids silly enough to ride dirt bikes.
Riding dirt bikes is like sex. If it wasn’t so much fun no one would be silly enough to do it
But now I actually actally admire the ones that get out there and ride their dirt bikes, even race their dirt bikes...kids like that are becoming rare nowdays...they probably cop shit from the the other kids at school for not being one of the cool social media heroes or video game stars...
The world has gone bat shit crazy!
Lets look at road racing. You need a $3000 bike(and hope its even safe to ride at that low price. You need a $1000 1 piece suit. A snell rated helmet. Those cost $500+. Road racing gloves $100+. Boots $300+. Oh lets not forget, 1 track day costs $200! Also, if you wreck a supersport, its totaled. Theyre not like dirtbikes where you pick it up and go again.
These activites require a lot of effort to participate.
Same goes for Bmx lots of kids don’t even ride bicycles anymore.
But there’s probably so many other factors, that have all just added up and took its toll on moto, i see the only kids coming through these days are the the dads kids who used to ride.
As for electric I see that as the only way we are going to progress as a sport with a ever growing population and less space than ever.
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