Shane....I certainly hope you aren't including me in your description of " blokes who ride earlier bikes that think it is thier given right to rain over all us more modern bike owners". I have no problem with Evo or pre '85 bikes and my rantings on things to do with those divisions are purely based on the politics and philosophy involved, not the bikes or their owners. With regard to the taints from old bike owners towards the evo bikes, you'd be surprised at the "old shitbox" and "dinosaur" stuff that's thrown at the old bikes from some younger vintage enthusiasts. It works both ways unfortunately, there are bigots on both sides. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have very little, if any, bias in my love of and interest in old dirt bikes. My own collection reflects on the bikes from my serious MX racing days from the 69-75 period and no particualr brand is loved above another (well..maybe a little Maico bias, but not much!). In recent years I've owned a couple of '81 Maicos, an 81 500 Maico, a KX420 and a 465 J Yamaha and I'm currently considering buying an 80s CR500 Honda. I rode enduros in the 80s on 400 and 490 Maicos and big bore Yamahas so have a definite connection to bikes from that era. I am a huge fan of the GP racing of the 80's and consider it the most exciting period in our sports history. My DVD collection (which I just checked) backs that up.
My smarmy reply to Dave is based not purely on Daves throw away line but also on the previous times he's mentioned the same need for more evo period bikes in VMX. Dave's cried that cry before so I thought I'd put it all in perspective by mapping out just what the model spread was in the magazine. I was surprised that there were more post '78 bikes than any other division myself. I'm sure Dave saw my reply in the light hearted way in which it was intended. My mistake was to leave the smiley face out
.
Having said that I stick by what I wrote. Even though I have no editorial or financial ties to VMX I am very proud of the quality and content spread of the magazine and feel that Ken, Ajay and Jeff have achieved a formula that keeps everyone happy. The trouble with any magazine that covers special interests is that no matter what you publish in a particular issue, you can never keep all of the punters happy. There is always somebody that wants more of his particular interest category. Mark Oastler, the editor of Australian Muscle Car magazine, the four wheel equivalent to VMX recently wrote an editorial explaining that no matter what balance he tries to put into the mag, he always gets letters complaining about "too many Fords" or "not enough Holdens" or whatever. I'm sure Ken gets the same lind of complaints at VMX. Some people it seems, are never satisfied.
The sport should be thankful that there are people like you that are prepared to sponsor events purely for the love of it.
I know that there's often little to be gained on a business sense by sponsorship and I wish there were more of you out there. Realise though Shane that I was also using the forum to state an opinion. I wasn't criticising Dave at all, he's almost certainly a good bloke and a rabid enthusiast of the best kind. All I was doing was to address a point that I thought needed addressing.
Cheers, Mark.
