Hmmm... maybe it's my language skills. I *used* to think I did English OK.
Let me try once more. Yes 'Vintage' motocross reflects a particular era, and it was a great era. It should be preserved, enshrined even. So, no argument, vintage motocross is Pre 75.
That said, I don't think Pre 85 is vintage in that respect. It's an 'evolution' of the bikes of Pre 75, part of the change into modern bikes.
But Pre 85, Pre 90 or Pre 95 are part of a continuum. And the people who were 18 or so that rode those bikes will one day want to recreate their youth. I don't race VMX just because it's a magical era. Hell, I had no interest in MX back then. rather, I do so because it is reliving the sights, sounds and spirit of my youth.
Pre 85 didn't happen because of some magical technical aspect of those bikes. It happened because younger guys got to the point they wanted to relive THEIR youth, and they wanted to ride those bikes, not the Pre 75 things that they laughed at when they were 18.
The happy outcome of course is that many of those guys were introduced to a time they'd missed and they embraced the older classes. I don't think this will happen forever, but it will for a little while yet. But time marches on.
Even though WE might see Pre 95 bikes or Pre 2005 bikes as just more of the same soulless plastic hordes, people in the future won't. I really doubt that in 2020, blokes will think to themselves as they turn 40, "Hey, I wanna go relive my youth. I know, I'll get me a 1972 Husky. Yessir, that'll be FUN. Whooee".
So, here it is again.
* Classic Motocross can be the umbrella term for racing old dirtbikes.
* Within that we can have divisions that reflect the various eras. No matter what we may think, someday there will be people who are 20 now who will be 40.
* Those divisions can be described now. Not so that we can have more classes at existing meetings. No. So that we can have a defined, considered framework to enable those divisions to become an active, vibrant part of the broader spectrum.
* Today's clubs, your HEAVENS and WAVMXs and BMCCs and so on, do NOT have to run a Pre 95 class just because it's defined in the MoMS. But, if we have these divisions defined, AND someone wants to start up a Pre 95 club, they CAN. In a way that complements the sport.
To summarise, this is our chance to define how the sport evolves, whilst preserving all that's good about what we have now.
DJ says:
Just because time marchs on doesnt mean that the eras of Vintage Motocross have to march with it. Thats the whole point of Vintage Motocross.
If the bikes of 1985 and onwards are so prevalent to the modern motocrosser of today/yesterday wouldnt they themselves be fighting to have a 'retro class' at their modern meetings? After all, bikes of post '85 would fit in better with their modern counterparts, at least they would look 'old' at those meetings.
Why should it be up to the Classic Motocross guys to contemplate adding these bikes to an already time constrainted race day.
Why cant time stand still? - We are the ones who need to make that happen so that the bikes that started this "Era of time sport" is preserved.
But... time DOES march on. And by moving on defining and preserving the various eras and what they represent, we prevent the loss of those eras to the sport.
I repeat, this does not mean that clubs need to add the new classes to their race day. Why on earth is that the conclusion? The new classes exist to offer direction. Clubs can adopt new classes if their members wish, just as happened with Pre 85. Or they can say NO to modern bikes, as HEAVEN has. Or the fans of Pre 95 can start their own club.
Why can't time stand still? It doesn't. Period. BUT we can preserve the eras of Classic MX such that to all intents and purposes, we can make time stand still, for all of us.
We are the ones who need to make that happen. We are the ones who need to ensure the future still has a place for our vintage motocross, as well as that of the CMX fan of tomorrow. And those in between.
The sport evolved because time moves. So do we have to evolve.
