Team Hammer replacing Yoshimura

You want kids and younger folk riding sport bikes? Or bikes in n general?

Big four need to pony up some cash and pay a kardashian, or puffy or some other half talent YouTube/Instagram ‘stars’ to start riding and be all like OMG! This is amazing you have to try it.

This is who these people listen to.
Just back the money dump truck up to a few of these gomers and wait for the pitter patter of skinny jeans and man buns to come through the door.

 

I'd love to see that as well, but even in Stock 1000 and SS600 there would be 3 guys that run off from the field at each race.

How many different winners in Stock 1000 and how many different winners in SS600 this past year?

 

IMO, you don't know who the millennials are and who isn't. Millennials are currently 25-39 years old.

I think you mean you've lost a full generation of potential riders with GenZ… GenZ are currently 7-24 years old.

 

Channing Tatum already does trackdays in CA. Keanu owns his own MC company and goes to the track all over the world. unfortunately, it doesnt seem to be enough.

most younger folks dont have $$ nor enough credit to afford a sport bike. they are capable of spending $500 on a video game console that offers thousands of hours of enjoyment. they are not capable of dropping $10000 for a bike, suit, and gear which then enables them to spend $500 for 1 trackday and tires. hours of entertainment per dollar isnt even comparable btw those two. but its what road racing is up against.

 

The video game argument is crap. I've been playing video games my entire life, literally as long as I can remember and that didn't stop me from getting into racing. I had a gaming controller in my hand well before I knew what racing was.

 

the actual point was the cost, not the video game.

 

4 winners in each. IMO, thats about average for most road racing championships these days.

7 diff podium finishers in both as well. that might be a little below average. but im not surprised. the talent (rider & team) and budget difference between the front and mid-pack is HUGE in MA.

 

Brace yourself. This is exactly the argument Rob Mclendon and I made this time last year on the beeb and we nearly got run out of here.

 

Have you met our lord and savior: the minimoto?

 

Something I notice is I don't see many kids on bicycles anymore.That's where it started for me.I dunno,this has been beat to death and I don't know if there is a solution.Maybe kids nowadays have too many options for entertainment readily available?

 

You probably don’t live at home with your parents, without a job, doing nothing, claiming someday you’ll be a millionaire once you win the video game championship.

 

Meh, I ain’t skeered.

I didn’t say what “needs to happen”, or what “would be best”. I just stated my opinion on what I’d prefer to see.

 

im hopeful and patiently waiting for that to take off more. the influx of new models and good PR from people like Herrin has gotta be helping. unfortunately, they still seem to be more expensive than dirt bikes with fewer available riding spots.

everyone here should do their part. have a kid or two and buy them an Ohvale instead of a dirtbike. maybe then in 15yrs, US RR will look a lot better.

 

While I personally would welcome the move to Stock 1000 rules for the superbike class, or even BSB rules, I really think it all depends on what the industry sponsors MA has tried to attract say when they ask them why they won't get involved. Is electronics cost the reason we don't have a Graves Kawasaki SBK team? If not, what is it? I assume MA does at least some level of prospecting or surveying with industry leaders, so I trust they know the answers and what they need to do moving forward to attract additional teams.

 

Everyone is entitled to an opinion. Yours just happens to be spot on correct this time.
No casual fans could likely point out the difference between a stock1000 bike and a SBK sitting on the grid let alone at speed on the track.
Case in point, at the NJMP round, my somewhat cycle literate GF walked up to Dumas' twins bike and said it was one of her favorite bikes besides Wyman's Ducati.
We think the trick shit is cool. The folks buying the tickets barely know what they're looking at, but they love deep fields and lots of passing.

And before anybody jumps on the R&D argument, the OEMs have MotoGP and WSBK. I doubt much manufacture testing is going on in MA.
Just my .02

 

Same here. I wanted a motorcycle or dirt bike bad when I was 12-13ish. Parents flat out denied that request. I then found road bicycle racing and would spend hours in the winter doing base training while watching old MotoGP races I downloaded off of Limewire in glorious 240p.

 

<wild speculation>
theres no $$ to be made racing on your own dime. Kawasaki isnt paying Graves enough to fund a national race team, no matter the ruleset. the base cost of driving a rig and flying a crew around the country, plus entry fees, equipment, and tires is too damn expensive, especially at the level Graves would do it. Chuck Graves is a smart businessman and will not come back to MA unless someone pays him to do so.
</wild speculation>

 

And, that shit ain’t no cheaper!

 

Haha. Tires and race entries are cheaper. The bikes cost about the same.

 

Neighbor gave me an MT50 when I was 9ish. Didn't have anywhere to ride it except around the house (1/4 acre). Found some other kids who all got mopeds. Next year I got one and we had a little moped gang and rode everywhere. Started it all. Can't remember last time I saw someone riding a moped now.
Don't think that route is possible anymore. Parents likely too protective to let their 14yo ride a moped on the street. With more people moving to cities, no space to keep bikes in these new apartment complexes. They are finishing up a new apartment building down from the machine shop. Zero parking spaces for cars. Not sure if there's even a lot for visitors.
Need to have the equivalent of go-karts for motorcycles. Then maybe might get a 1% increase in riders.

Side note. We hosted an after-party for the FUEL motorcycle show. Harley/chopper/bro crowd. Suzuka 8 hours was live on the TV. No one watched it.