So What's it Gonna Be (US Roadracing)?

yep. America is about 2% of Worldwide sales....

 

Fair enough, I was thinking sport bikes. But I see your point.

 

Heres my take on it, I may be wrong... I probably am but by admitting that up front I am immune from any potential flaming that may ensue due to my opinion.

WSBK and MotoGP both need the US market. They need it for sponsors for the series, the riders and advertising revenue. Without US riders the Series and Teams have that much smaller of a pool to pull money from. It's probably much easier to get (more) money from Monster and RedBull if you have a US presence in the paddock, the stands and on your TV stream numbers. Its also good to pull american asses into the seats if there are Americans racing.

Dorna has a proven track record in several countries on how to create a viable Series that creates ROI for sponsors and Teams. They need to build a Series here that mirrors the other national series and GP. Our biggest downfall in sending our riders overseas is the difference in equipment. If our riders are on the same (similar) equipment then the transition is much easier and the riders are more successful.

We need to develop riders, not bikes. WSBK, BSB, MotoGP, CEV and the others are already developing the bikes... we need to train our guys to ride that bike well if we want them to go over there and do well.

I was asked last week why we had gone to the new Dunlop Spec tire on my kids bike when there are other (better) tires to run. Why is your bike set up that way? Why do you do that with (insert part or whatever here). Because thats as close to how the AMA guys are running their bikes as I can get it. If my kid is going to have a shot at going Pro and getting a good ride then he needs to be on the same equipment now. The transition needs to be seamless and the comfort level already there with the bike, tires and suspension. If the next step changes from the current AMA scenario into something different we will change the bike to match that as well.

If we develop and race bikes that are not similar to what the "world" is racing then when our riders get a chance to shine they will fail.

 

I think they need to make gambling legal on motorcycle racing.....think about it, how many people bet on the horses every friggin day......

 

Do you have stats that show that?

 

http://www.webbikeworld.com/motorcycle-news/statistics/motorcycle-sales-statistics.htm

US was #2 for BMW sales.

 

They don't make anything that would sell well in the high-volume Asian markets.

 

Market size by what metric?

 

See my comment below sir!

Yep, momma signs a contract when the water breaks. Never happen here. I only see a small handful of kids being supported at all here in the SE. Pretty sad, but I don't see it changing. Boy would I love to see 20 Draiks at every WERA round. If we could level any reason as to why JH is struggling, we could trace it back to being here in the southeast with little competition when he was Draik's age. The Spanish kids get very serious at the young age of which I speak with Moto2&3 level of competition (I assume). Don't see this changing realistically. If any of you do, please tell me how you change this culture we have in the US? So I say we go as best we can, with folks like JU, WERA, and whoever can run the AMA pro series and hope for the next Ben Spies. As was referenced in another link, sales were pretty good 10 years back or so. Directly related to world success? I think so. Another variable. Also the Hayden formula can work: ride everything, all types of racing from when you can walk. But Earl was the exception. How many Earl's are here in the US now? I am talking total life commitment dedicated to his sons' success in racing. I don't see any dads going that far at the present. Our reality here in the US does not appear to lead to success on the world stage. Unfortunately, many other components of life here are catching the other failing qualities of the countries producing race champions. For the forum another day!

Chris, we haven't met (hope to someday) but your posts on this subject are right on the money IMO. So your big crash didn't affect your mind (unlike some I know).

If successful and some good sponsors jump on board, do you foresee those possible increased purses attracting some of the big talent?

BMW is not a big player here in the US, is it? Why is BMW relevant to the conversation? And the link gets me dizzy. But so do some Stravinsky orchestral parts... (It's a good dizzy)

 

How many parents give ANY commitment to the success of their children? Most are content to placate the little bastards with electronics and junk food.

 

There are a handful of us doing everything we can short of bankruptcy to make this happen for the next generation.

 

Nope...America is still a big portion of world wide sales but the market isn't growing like Asia or South America. The American market is still a significant factor in new/ future model focus.

 

There it is folks. It takes damn near bankruptcy to do anything in this sport. I have my daughter racing a damn near 20 year old xr100 on a kart track and I can barely afford it. Not many people out there can drop $30,000 into a motorcycle, then the untold more it takes for gear, spares, tires, fees, ect. You find a way to make racing cost less then $10k to get into and you might see more racers. TV coverage is not the answer here in the US. The general public could care less about motorcycle racing. It is what it is. We all want tv coverage because we love the racing and want to see it. But Joe Sixpack would pass by a motorcycle race to watch a baseball game. Why? I don't know. But I can tell you one thing, the idea that motorcycle racing is better then NASCAR has got to stop. It is no higher a sport. The riders are no higher status then a NASCAR driver. The snob attitude about NASCAR among the roadracing elitists needs to end. We all need to be looking at what NASCAR has done right and learn from it. Learn from the marketing they have done. Learn from how they have put the drivers front and center and made them the show. Forget the DMG owns AMA Pro, they are not running it like they run NASCAR.

 

If we didnt have the Sponsors that we do.... well my kid would be playing AYSO soccer or something.

Theres a few people and companies out there doing everything they can to keep a few kids dreams alive. Hopefully one day we can pay them back.

 

We are keeping our dreams real small to avoid future heartbreak.

 

Deal breaker.

 

Dont do that... dream big, setbacks and failure are the single greatest motivator you will ever have.

 

No

 

Honda is the #1 motorcycle seller worldwide. Around 16 million units/yr. they sold under 200,000 in the US.

http://rideapart.com/2011/01/why-the-american-motorcycle-market-is-irrelevant/

http://www.statista.com/statistics/267277/worldwide-motorcycle-sales-of-honda/

these aren't the most current, but a general idea.


just looked at 2013. North America 250k units. Asia 13 million. Japan 217k. Europe 179k. All other regions 1.8 million.

 

And there is the problem. I am no fan of NASCAR, but they have done something right. Let's face it, there are more people at one NASCAR race then there are at all the AMA races combined. I am not saying to make motorcycle racing just like NASCAR. I am saying to look at what they have done to grow and learn from it.