Class's are meant to be for grouping together bikes of similar spec/performance/age
Opening the class up to later model components makes the class cheaper because one does not have to find rare & overpriced components that comply (eg: set of YZ 43mm forks or KDX400 engine). This makes it cheaper & easier to build an Evo bike; there will then be many more bikes on the track.
AGREE 100%
I am sick of all this crap over Evo, I for one will NOT be entering an Evo class race until it allows 'Pre 85' components; END OF (MY) STORY :-)
Sorry John, but having pre85 components allowed is just wrong in my view. Only for the fact that most pre85 bikes were water cooled and had disc brakes. Any twin shock bike with a disc brake front end just looks wrong! It isn't in with the "era" of drum brakes, air cooled, twin shock (non linkage Yamaha) Evo class bikes, even if an adaptor is made to fit drum brakes.
I get a buzz out of building a hybrid from a whole mish mash of parts. It's a real challenge and not as easy as just bolting it all together in the hope it will work.
And no, I don't butcher perfectly good old motorcycles to build a hybrid, I just use the salvageable parts that get collected over the years. The only modern parts I use are the "consumeables" and rear shocks. Even with shocks I try to use period aftermarket stuff.
The thing I don't get about the rule nazi's is this........Did anyone argue with Aberg, Hallam, C&J, Champion, Metisse etc. when they rolled up to a race meeting with a bike from outside the box? Answer is NO! Point is, does it really matter if your young gun is going to beat all the old boys on their specials when he is on a 100% correct (insert heavily modified modern internals)YZ465? Oh, there is the $10 trophy to take home. You don't even get your name in print anymore, the MoMs is online now......
I don't give two flyin flucks what bike I am riding against.....as long as it looks right from 10 feet (insert metric if you have to) away. My days of racing for glory are well and truly behind me so I choose to ride old bikes and just want to have some fun with someone around my ability and talk crap with a beverage or 2 after the racing is done.
I will race classic MX (pre78) national events but I can't be bothered with all the (racing for airports) bull crap that is going on with Evo at the moment. It can only lead to a bad day out with all the arguing about what is eligible and what isn't. I have no interest in anything after Evo these days, apart from my trail bike, so driving all the way to Timbuctoo to have someone whinge in my ear that I can't ride my bike because it has 43mm conventional Showa forks on it and an aftermarket swingarm. Then I'd have to ride my 4st twin shock, drum brake, aircooled hybrid in pre90 because ............? No! I will not pay $70 to argue my case that my bike is eligible.
Makes no sense to me at all