Anyway, here's a point that I think is very important to the future of VMX. I'd like everyone to read it, and then give yourself at least five minutes to think about it before posting anything in reply to it (even if you agree with me).
It's unquestioned that the late 1980s to mid 1990s was the high tide mark for VMX - easily the time with the most competitors.
Now, the obvious difference between the sport then and the sport now is that back then, bikes were limited to pre-75 or older.
But what other ingredients were there to create 'the perfect storm'?
1. The bikes were cheap, and readily available.
2. The blokes who have a personal history with that era bike, were in their 30s and 40s.
3. The bikes were relatively new, and at least some bikes could be kept running exclusively with bits from the local dealer.
4. There was essentially only one class (given that pre-70 and pre-65 were never huge), so if you were involved, you were on the start grid with other bikes of the same age/capacity.
5. It was a shitty time economically speaking, so lots of people raced VMX because it was significantly cheaper than racing a modern.
OK, looking at those points in a bit more detail:
1. Pre-75 bikes are not cheap or readily available anymore. In fact, the good race bikes in well sorted race-ready condition are $5000 at a minimum. Yes, it's possible to build a pre-75 race bike for under $1000, but only if you've already got a shed full of bits or some generous mates to draw from. And enough spare time (and skills) to perform a thorough rebuild. Nowdays, its unheard of for anyone to pay $500 on a pre-75 beater and race it the next weekend.
2. Those blokes who filled the grids 'back in the day' are now in their mid fifties at the youngest, and many simply aren't interested in pounding their bodies around an MX track. Conversely, the blokes who are in that age bracket where they're old enough to have the kids/wife/finances under control well enough to afford to go bike racing again, while still being keen to bounce their way around an MX track, are the blokes who were originally involved in the modern MX scene in the mid-80s to mid 90s.
3. OK, so even back in 88, some stuff was already unavailable. But (I'm told) that it was possible to walk into your Honda dealer and order 2nd and 3rd geard for a 250 Elsinore... Broadly speaking, you could buy a competitive pre-75 bike and race it with needing to know any secret handshakes or passwords to keep the thing running.
And yes, you're right - there's a lot more re-pro stuff out there nowdays which simplifies things enormously. But even with the simplicity of the internet, it's still several steps more involved than fronting at the parts counter of the local dealer and asking for what you want.
I mean, I'm sure we've all had the conversation with an interested bystander about VMX, and they ask about getting parts for a 25 year old bike, and you say "Yeah, not a problem! You've gotta get pistons from the USA, but they're cheap. Oh, and plastics are impossible to find, but there's a bloke about to start making re-pros".
All that Mr Bystander has really heard is "Can't get plastics, pistons are a drama" and then his obvious though is "Stuff that for a joke! No point in spending all that money and then not being able to use it as soon as the piston wears out!".
4. There's no turning back the clock, like it or not. The pre-75 hard-core racers have happily kept their dream alive - adding another era is not suddenly going to have them saying "Y'know, I love racing my old Bully, and I was never tempted to leave it at home in favour of pre-78, Evo, or pre-85. But hey, now I can race an 87 RM250, and suddenly I have no interest in pre-75"....
In fact, I'm really struggling to think of people who regularly race pre-75 bikes and have shown any interest in even pre-85. The attitude of the pre-75 owners is typically far more like the one shown here: "I have no interest in anything newer than Evo"...
The 'only one era' horse has already bolted, so it doesn't matter how wide you open the gate now.
5. Hmmm... we might be back at that point again, much to everyone's dismay. So the sport of VMX is being handed a gold-plated opportunity to maximise its appeal by being affordable to all of those 30~45 year old blokes who are about to realise that they can't afford a new modern every season... And like it or not, we aren't going to lure them in with old bikes that cost more than they're going to get for their two-seasons-old modern. But we stand a damn good chance of getting them in with bikes from the late 1980s and early 1990s that can be bought in decent, rideable condition any day of the week from Ebay.
I have no doubt that the early days of VMX were an awesome time to be involved, and I fully understand why people lament their passing.
However, we need to look to the future of VMX, rather than forever grumbling into our beers about the good old days of VMX.
Indeed, given the aging demographic of its participants, it should be 'smack in the face' obvious that we need to get some new blood into the sport.
And given that we all regularly lament the younger generations' interest in history, it would seem unlikely that any measures to get bus loads of spotty yoof onto the pre-Evo bikes will be successful (and indeed, we are talking about bus-loads of extra participants to meet the hey-day).
However, appealling to the next generation (ie: Generation X, rather than Y) of potential VMXers would be relatively easy if we take the next step and allow something that already holds some appeal to them - in exactly the same way that VMX appealled to so many people c1990.
Disclaimer: Most people will already know this, but I've got bikes that I (would like to) race that run from pre-70 to modern. This year, I've only raced pre-78 and older and I've enjoyed it hugely - more than previous years when I regularly used my Evo bikes.
In fact, this year I've barely ridden a bike younger than myself, even trail-riding.
So don't even bother trying to write me off as someone with no interest in the older bikes, 'cause it'll be badly misguided.
And remember, take some time chewing over the above before launching into anything.
