QVMX go Pre '90

[magoo]

Is it true? I heard today the boys in QVMX voted to run Pre '90 at their AGM on the weekend. Congratulations on some forward thinking, if anyone can pull it off successfully, it's you guys.

[evo550]

That would justify me buying a beautiful '85/'86 Husky, fit a set of '87 honda forks and a rear disc and go ridin'...money well spent I say.

[worms]

there will be more info soon in a newsletter going to all current members, it was voted in by majority of members who attended the AGM and we are working towards those wishes.

Cheers Trev

[VMX247]

stop the world I wanna get off.
Hope the Pre 90 guys are in for the long haul and have a good gang of volunteers/officials/riders etc.
Best of luck with this venture.

[Maico31]

That's good news to me.. I just bought an '89 CR250.

[090]

Cool. The 85 cr500 will get a run. Mmmm i need a bigger trailer!

[Nathan S]

Look out! The sky is falling!

 

Good work by the QVMX crew. Despite all of the fuss, bother, and excuses, time is running out for pre-90 to be a success, and we really ought to be looking at pre-95 sometime real soon (1988 - 1975 = 13years... 2008 - 1995 =   ).
If we continue to hide behind nonsense like "pre-85 hasn't reached its potential yet" (because we knee-capped it by introducing it nearly a decade too late), then we'll never be able to dream of another late 1980s/early 1990s style hey-day.

[firko]

This is so detrimental to the vintage racing movement it actually maked me quite angry. This is another victory for the self interest factions who have no interest in the long term health of the sport as long as their selfish wants are addressed. How long is it going to be before some self absorbed ''what about me'' dickhead calls for a pre 2000  class because he's got a YZ400F sitting around the shed doing nothing. All of the sheep will say "Yay, What a great idea" and put another nail in the coffin of all of the earlier under subscribed classes. 

I have no problem with the gradual introduction of new divisions as long as it's done without damaging the growth potential of earlier classes. New divisions should only be introduced when the existing class starts to show a decline in entry levels and interest. Despite Nathan calling it nonsense, the pre '85 class hasn't had a chance to establish itself yet and now it's being gazumped before it even has a proper space in the rulebook.

I know my opinion will be brushed aside by many as the rants of a grumpy old fart who doesn't understand and they maybe right. However I've been involved in the sport from the beginning and my passion for the vintage movement makes me want to see it remain the viable alternative to the modern scene that it has been for 20 years. By 'modernizing' the sport so quickly we are narrowing the technological gap between modern and vintage too quickly and it won't be long before my hypothetical 'vintage'YZ400F is a reality.

 

[DJRacing]

This is just so wrong on so many levels. I hope you pre90 guys will wear you matching pink-green-fleuros-with pastel blue and purple leopard print gear with pride.           :'(

Long live  AIRCOOLED and  TWINSHOCKS

[090]

But you guys have pre 86. My cr500 water bottle can get a run in nz . From where i stand, the guys that are keen to ride the pre 90 are probably the ones hiding in the long travel eras ( evo/ pre 85 ) as they just dont want to ride the earlier bikes. Also because they are soft as well!!
Im just keen to ride anything with two wheels....or two breasts even ( not man boobs though)

[Nitram]

I'm with Firko.  The quickest way to kill off interest in the older (i.e. pre-'75 and pre-78) bikes is to run later classes at the same meeting.

Don't believe me ?  Well have a look around and you'll notice that the most vibrant racing for older VMX bikes IN AUSTRALIA is in one of the LEAST POPULATED states (i.e. W.A.)  where the The Vintage Motocross Club of WA runs exclusively pre-'75 and have resisted the push for later and later classes.  They have the biggest pre-'75 fields in Australia by far.
Compare that to the NSW HEAVEN meetings where the pre-'75 numbers are in free fall.

Still don't believe me ?  Go to a road race meeting of the Post-Classic Racing Association and the first thing you'll notice is the almost total absence of Post-Classic (i.e.'63-'72) bikes.  The PCRA introduced Forgotten Era racing (i.e. '73-'80) and everyone abandoned the Postie classes in droves.  More recently the club has introduced New Era #1 and New Era #2 ('81–'89 and '90–'95 respectively) and now the Forgotten Era riders are grumbling about decreasing numbers.

Still don't believe me ?  Well just think about it.  The older bikes in VMX are much, much harder to ride, requiring significantly more rider fitness, bike maintenance and input in general.  The bikes are getting expensive and the engines can be finiky to keep going and hard to get bits for.  And at the end of the day only the really elite riders can actually go fast on them.  No-hopers like me just make up the numbers.
Contrast that to EVO or Pre-'85/pre-'90 where the bikes are civilised, smooth and generally pretty reliable, and you can buy a quite reasonable bike off ebay anytime for a song, and bits are available just as easily.. 

Why would anyone choose to ride an old pre-'75 bike ?  Only where that's what they have to ride to be involved in riding at particular meeting or with a particular club. Give them a choice and they'll leave the old bike in the shed gathering dust.

That's what I reckon anyway.  And I say it from the experience of watching the demise of Post-Classic racing, and more recently from my own VMX riding where the pre'75 bike is so hard to ride that the temptation to leave it at home has proved too much and it gathers dust while I ride the later bikes which the HEAVEN club caters for.  If it didn't have EVO and pre'78 then I'd certainly be batting on with the pre-'75. 

So it's a shame to see the QVMX people choosing to go down that path, because I'm pretty confident that the old bikes up there will soon become extinct. Mind you, I expect that the WA Club will be rubbing their hands together with glee as it means that even more unwanted old VMX bikes will be heading to enthusiasts across the Nullabor, as their club goes from strength-to-strength.

And yes Nathan, for enthusiasts of the pre-'75 classes like Firko and others, the sky is falling in.

Nitram

[VMX247]

Good words Nitram,hows ya shoulder ?

[Nitram]

Shoulders working at about 95%. I spoke to the Dr yesterday and I think that last 5% (which is the bit you use for overarm bowling, freestyle swimming and changing lightbulbs) may never come back fully. But I can ride bikes OK, provided I keep it upright.  I was going to race at Glenbawn in a few weeks except that I told my daughter I'd take her bushwalking that weekend.  A pretty lame excuse I guess, but............. well the plan was to stay away from racing 'til after Xmas to make sure it's all sweet.

My plan for the new year is to try to get the pre-'75 suspension working 1/2 decent so it's not such a bone-shaker.  But maybe that's a bit optimistic !
Cheers,
Martin

[TM BILL]

As stated the pre 90 thing was voted in at the Qvmx club AGM so obviously thats what the majority wanted . I found the Qvmx club to be a well organised operation yet still able to keep the fun aspect in the sport , i wish them well with their new class and hope that it is not detrimental to the older classes.

Personally im with Firko Nitram and DJ and think that generaly its a bit premeture to introduce pre 90. Firko and Nitram have highlighted the reasons why .

Nathan your a top bloke but your opinion shows your youth, good things take time yong man.

Iv'e said it before and ill say it again there is already a pre 90 class its called MODERN MX and you can ride it on any weekend anywhere in the world.

And for all its technical wonderness the introduction of the YZF 400 was the begining of the end for the sport of real MX .

Long live the 2 Stroke 

[STW996]

I am neither for or against, I have bought a 89 500 but thought it would not get a run for 5 or more years, Firko you have your points and they are valid but always look for positives in everything. This is only "club" level racing not championship level. Also the QVMX has had an upsurge in younger rides who (and don't get offside with this) do not wat to run any bike pre 1980. I like all bikes and specially pre 85, that will not change for me and I will enjoy riding the pre 85 classes for years to come.

This is a bit of forward thinking to improve an already strong club. In the last 5 years that I have attended club meets I have seen this club grow from 30 to 40 riders at a meeting then, with pre 85, introduced it now averages 80+ and can only see that number rising (something the Brisbane club needs to look at for more members but that is another thread). A lot of the guys who ride pre 80 can now look for good cheap secondhand 125's to have their son's come and ride rather than 10,000 dollar 250 four-strokes that only a technician can work on.

I would think that this would not mean a fazing out of the older bikes and why would it, it may mean combining classes at club level and make for bigger fields which makes for better racing. The QVMX run no points score or trophies so nothing is up for grabs except a fun days riding for all and is that not what it is about?

I am sure meets like classic dirt and the nationals will still show case the true vintage bikes (I still can't call a Evo bike vintage and refer to them as post vintage) and will be there for us all to enjoy.