Technology is awesome… until it isn’t. If you’re wealthy enough you can literally have a rocket built, shaped like your own genitals if you wish [looking at you Bezos], and go into outer space. Even if you’re not wealthy, the government will give you an iPhone for free, which wields more computing power than they had when NASA landed a man on the moon. The flip side of that coin is that social media has turned the internet into Disneyland for narcissists and the mental health issues stemming from platforms like Tik Tok and Instagram will have a profoundly negative impact on our kids.
You might be thinking, “Cool story, bro… what does that have to do with dirt bikes?”
Well, we have the same issues in our sport, the tech is just different. Start devices, metal start pads, ignition mapping, quick shift, and traction control have taken about 90% of the technical skill out of starting a race. We’re creeping closer to riders being the second most important factor in a winning equation, and that is a damn shame. When you only had body positioning, start technique and refined skill to get you to the first turn first, small mistakes allowed for the field to spread out more before barreling into turn one.
The latest machines hitting dealer showrooms have multiple map settings, traction control options, quick shift features and more bells and whistles than an establishment that specializes in bells and whistles. Along with all that blingey bullshit comes a steeper price tag, putting these bikes further out of reach for what has always been our target audience. Sure, the rich vet riders who drive their Mercedes Sprinter to the dealership for a new bike every year will keep buying, even though they would be the same speed on a 2008 Suzuki RMZ450. But those guys, with all their orange anodized parts and Red Bull graphics, are not the folks who’ve built this sport. We’ve always been a blue-collar group, and the minute you price those folks out of the game you get a massive shift in culture and participation.
Over the last decade there has been much talk of bike pricing, with $10,000 being the threshold that we simply couldn’t cross without alienating the base of our sport. Well, I don’t know if you’ve glanced at a price tag lately, but we’re climbing north of that number like Jeff Bezos hurtling skyward in his dong-shaped rocket. And if the future truly is electric like the green activists want us to believe, there is no end in sight to the increasing costs. The Stark Varg retails for $12,900, and you’ll need to factor in the cost of a gasoline powered generator to charge the battery on your earth-saving electric bike. I know that sounds like a parody, but it is the strange reality we live in now where common sense gets pushed aside by nonsensical virtue signaling.
There is no way to stop technological advancement, but we can make choices that shape the direction the manufacturers take. If you’re racing competitively, you have no choice but to buy the latest and greatest. If not, why not look at a two-stroke for your weekend whip? You’ll save some money and might just have a much better time at the track; you might even help save the sport.
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WTM2022-11-03 11:01:582022-11-02 18:32:59We’ve all been hurt, right?
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WTM2022-10-10 23:31:412022-10-10 23:32:16Professional racing here in the USA is on the cusp of major transformation.
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WTM2022-09-12 16:37:492022-09-12 16:38:28Hell of a racing season we had in 2022, wasn’t it?
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WTM2022-08-03 23:06:262022-08-04 12:37:22Dealing With Disappointment
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WTM2022-07-12 23:09:442022-08-02 18:44:58Politics has become quite the landmine in the last four or five years, hasn’t it?
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WTM2022-06-28 18:56:042022-08-02 18:45:33What’s the one thing that, as fans of the sport we all want to see?
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WTM2022-06-04 11:50:082022-08-02 18:46:03Technology is awesome… until it isn’t
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Stoked to be writing again! Thanks for stopping by👊🏼
100% agree buddy. I’ve just recently purchased a new Honda CB1000R street bike (here in Australia)…It’s a trick bike, love it. However, for me to buy a new CRF450R is only $1000 less than my street bike. I think I might just spend my money on a new YZ250, keep it fresh & maintained (with MX53 front’s and MX33 Rear’s of course) and hold onto that puppy for many years!
Great to enjoy reading your perspective again!
Well said Ping! It seems the manufacturers have taken the same path that the F1 Programs take. Pushing onboard technology as far as they can each year. Soon they will have regenerative braking to repower the batteries 🙂.
✌️Stroke or bust!
hahah ping this is awesome. you had me dying with the vet riders and their orange anodized parts
So true…I could go on and on but I won’t…other than to say your right! Technology is awesome for racing at the highest level, but why do we need it for Joe Average? I go the same speed on my RM250 as I do on a new 450 computer controlled wonder bike :-} The sad part is that so many new racers can’t even do a lap ( or kick start) on a 125 yet they will line up and race in the 250 intermediate class….how does that even make sense? Love the writing…
Imagine a gate full of stark vargs and that awesome rc car noise as they hum by. Then they’ll pull out the battery powered tractor and groom our local tracks. Then use the battery powered water truck that the local track owners will have NO PROBLEM affording to water our tracks to perfection. After a fun day we’ll load all the family’s bikes and gear into the 17′ cargo trailer pulled by our tesla’s and head home…
Imagine all you want.
Before any of that happens…..there won’t be any riding areas. Electric watering trucks! Hell, our local track watering truck was usually broken(shocking).
In CA, you are one Legislature away from oblivion. Remember, motocross and dirt biking in general is a small, niche sport. Remember who runs your state. They are the same folks who will make decisions on just about any aspect of your life…..including racing. If you elected those folks…….you have handed them the gun, ammo and even put their finger on the trigger……so to speak.
Welcome back! Or should I say FORWARD!
Ive ridden and raced for a long time. Modern two strokes, yes even with a carburetor, are fast, light, and reliable. The most important thing is they are fun to ride. Enjoy them and 4 strokes while we have them. I fear soon we will be forced to use battery bikes/cars. Thats fine, the forced part isn’t.
Hey Ping totally agree! It’s sad to see where things are going in our sport and how expensive everything is getting. MX used to be the most affordable motorsport for hobby riders. I’m also older and it’s sad to see how easy riding dirtbikes are nowadays…I’ve raced 2 strokes and now onec in a while ride a 2012 RMZ 250 (no electrical gadgets, still kicking it to start) and see the difference. For strokes do so much for the rider now look at new models from ktm and Co they even have some sort of traction control. That used to be the thing that separated talented riders from not talented riders and it made you practice like there is no tomorrow to get up to the top.
I still think that nowadays someone riding fast on a 2 stroke bike even on amateur level, I have lot more respect for this guy than any pros on 4 strokes these days. Because I know myself how hard it is to handle a 2 stroke and ride it fast.
The other thing that upsets me is as you mentioned the prices of bikes these days and some manufacturers struggling financially because every year the brands have to bring out new models with new technologie and invent the wheel totally new every year with stuff people don’t really need, otherwise people won’t buy them. That’s the neck braker of the industry because no one sees the insane costs that are spend for engineers to come up with new ideas and developing new things and changing production lines etc. really are.
That’s what kicked suzuki almost out of business and it will in future get more companys in trouble.
I wish that all manufacturers would sit on one table and agree that the earliest of every 3 years they can release a new model. This will make planning and developing things better and cheaper in the long term.
And all that stuff about electric bikes is just the end of our sport…no one will watch a supercross race where all you hear is the noise of R/C cars. And it will be too easy for everyone to ride it fast since you don’t need no clutch and no shifting gears.
As long as I get parts I will be out there on my RM 125 hunting down 4 stroke bikes!
Hell, I’m looking at spending $4,000 on a used ya 65 for my 7 year old. I make a decent salary, but by the time I dress my child, get him to the track and put him on a bike, I’ve spent $10,000.
Make cheaper bikes great again!
Loved your writing in Racer X and looking forward to more of this type content.
Raced in the 70’and 80’s so only two smokers. If I were to ride again it would only be a two stroke as I can work on it, I can afford it, and it would be fun!
👊🏼
Do we get to submit questions? I have a few…
Yes! But those will be answered in Ask Ping… which is coming back next week.
Love this
It makes me feel poor rolling up to the track in my ‘85 Chevy with a ‘01 KX250 in the back but 90% of the time I can outrun the Orange frat boys 100% of the time.
I remember(78) a farmer pulling up in his flatbed with a Husky 390 in the back. Still dirty from whenever. Unloaded, and chipped the dried red dirt from his rims….with a ballpeen hammer! And went racing. This was at the famed Rabbit Run track where they had a Trans-AMA.
I raced in the mid to late 70’s. I started when I was 15 yo. Back then, there were 2-3 classes of 125 novice’s! At places like Lake WHITNEY, MOSIER VALLEY.
Sometimes 2 gates of 250 novices. Full afternoon programs of intermediates and experts. Purses of $50 per moto win and $50 for the overall. $150 a weekend back then in one day was good money! Many experts raced 2 classes with 125 specialists.
GNC Texas series with 6ft trophies! $5 gate fees and $15 entries. 5 laps at Whitney was plenty…..especially in August.
Morning and afternoon programs. Practice at 7 am racing at 8 sharp(Novices/mini’s). Afternoon program started at Noon(Intermediates/experts). Home well before dark.
Back then, $1500 bikes, $75 boots, $50 helmets, $7 goggles….gas .75. My 1978 Bultaco 250 Pursang was $1551.80 out the door. A blue-collar family could go racing. Air-cooled bikes with drum brakes that common tools could fix. Cylinders had 5 over-bores…then you could sleeve it for $100. Any race shop could do this and be ready for the next weekend.
There were rich guys sure. Always will be. Some were fast, most not. I remember a fat little kid on an rm100……he had Fox Airshox, Simons forks….best of the best. He looked like a fat tick on that bike and couldn’t win a race if his life depended on it. Big motorhome and all. I had a friend whose Dad was a Doctor. My friend had it all…Good Times van in high school. He was fast when he wasn’t high smoking dope. Just couldn’t put it together. He died just after dropping out of high school. Our 65′ Ford truck and not so trusty Bultaco got us to the races just fine.
Love to have you back Ping! I share your love of writing so I appreciate the fact that you’re still busting your hump to give us your take on all things moto. I used to write for the Raceway News in Englishtown NJ, and got a few penned items in Racer X way back in the day, so when I see you keep moving forward in this little universe of ours, I do everything I can to consume every bit of it; when I read your stuff it gives me the same feeling I used to get when I’d write my own perspectives about moto. If you ever decide to make an East Coast swing one of these days, come out to Etown and spin a few laps. I’ll meet you out there with my ’96 YZ250 (bought it new, still ripping it whenever I can). Great to have you back, and looking forward to each and every new drop!
Loving this factory writer article in my opinion love them or hate them 4 strokes have caused some issues in our sport unless you got deep pockets you just can’t compete at national level and I see a lot of really good riders stepping away from racing because they feel there banging there heads against the wall And it’s costing big to turn out every week to race it’s a tricky one who knows where it will go