New vs Old

[NQ1965]

I should be out riding but I'm working today so I got time to stew on these things.

I see all these thread post on tracks, track layouts, track prep or lack-of, and jumps. Does anyone ever stop to think about how motocross tracks have evolved and has it really gotten better? And I didn't say "or worse" because if people really thought it has gotten worse then we would go back the other way, right?

I'm a late bloomer and didn't get to ride tracks really "back in the day", but I do enjoy old photos and moto movies. It is very plain to see that the tracks were significantly different.

Back then did riders complain about track flow and that they couldn't quite get up to mach 6, or jump 100' doubles, or that this section or that is stupid, or that it's not cut deep, or that because it's too hard pack, or not enough lines or ruts?

I think I actually would like to ride some of those old style tracks here and there, with lots of hairy, brutally rough sections that don't flow well and cause congestion and a fair amount of skill to maneuver.

All this being said, I do like a deep cut moist track, deep berms, braking and accelleration bumps. But like variety as well. It's probably why GP courses are so much fun, not too much man made about them other than course layout.

Now I have spotted some of this in the videos of some current national tracks, so I'm not saying it don't exist. Looks like Unadilla has some pretty ugly sections. But don't see any of this at local tracks. It's as though a track today has to meet all of these current requirements to be any good and popular?

 

[ballinger19]

I think the word motocross came from motoring across the terrain or something close to that. As we know the only thing constant is change. The bikes are so much better and more expensive now. New and improved has evolved to the point that jumps are bigger and the tracks are more and more man made. I like the idea of 1 hour GP's and I know not that many tracks have that option but it is more seat time and safer. Not everyone wants to be at the races several hours to ride 2 short moto's. No wonder the trend is go ride practice and ride all you want with your friends and go home at a reasonable time. I know I am an old guy just rambling but More bikes on the gate and fewer drops would be an improvement but then there wouldn't as many class winners.

 

[halffast]

When I read your post I started thinking back ( My first race was in '74 ). There was little said about track layouts , conditions , safety , prep , etc. as I remember . There weren't as many tracks to choose from and everybody seemed glad just to have a place to race . Track prep was sometimes horrible and I recall heavy choking dust , hard packed soil and ruts left from the previous race , mud holes that all but the top A riders got hung up in .... you get the idea . Didn't seem to be as much complaining as I hear now . We were there to race EACH OTHER , not the track . Conditions were the same for everybody . Most talk in the pits was about who was there , what bike they were on ( things changed fast back in the day ) , or how how somebody was flying through a section that most were having trouble with . If you couldn't master a section , you felt like it was your fault because others were doing it and smoking you there . Double jumps started appearing and we all wanted to do them just like our heroes did , racing the " Yurpeans " .

Harescrambles were tough ; single track , tree sections you had to " saw " your cut-down bars through , hills and mudholes that many didn't make without spectators or other riders helping push/pull/drag , major creek crossings . The only time I complained ( and left after 1 lap ) was at a harescramble where they had created a new section by cutting down trees and leaving the foot high stumps . You entered it from a fairly fast straight . There were many broken footpegs ( including mine ) that day and I thought it was unsafe .

Maybe nostalgia has fogged my memory a bit . I grew up and started riding during the infancy of motocross . The differences between the bikes and tracks of those times as opposed to those of the present are pretty vast . I'm not sure that all the changes were for the better . There seem to be far more injuries ( and more serious ones ) with the fast , technical tracks of today . The top pro's have been busted up at an alarming rate . Of course little Joey down at the local Motoplex wants to emulate his hero , just like I did when I was young and bulletproof .

 

[firehawkmph]

Interesting thread. I started racing in the very early 70's on a hodaka of course. First race was at OIR, back when they had loamy dirt, 20 minute plus a lap motos, and big turnouts. I consider myself lucky to race back then during the golden age of motocross. With the suspension changing every month prior to 1977, things were interesting. Bikes were simple and cheap to work on. And like previously stated, track prep wasn't like it is today. If you were lucky, it was disced. If you were real lucky, they had a water truck on hand. I remember hand on your helmet starts, followed by rubber band starts, and then finally pretty crude starting gates that fell forward (if they fell). No individual starting gates, one continuous pipe. Back then Smith road raceway ran every other weekend and two day races on the holidays. You never heard the whining back then, but we didn't have the internet to voice our opinion on either. If you thought a track was too dusty or sucked, you just went somewhere else next time they ran. And I also remember Smith road having their own race series for points and giving a way a new 250 at the end of the season. Believe it was a yamaha. Lotsa fun back then, without the severity of injuries. When I stopped racing around '82, guys were banging up there knees, requiring surgery. That was about the worst of it. I guess when you fell, you didn't fall from such heights, you were pretty close to the ground. Also remember hauling my bike with bumper racks, back when cars had real bumpers and nobody had a pickup truck unless they used it for work.
Mike Hawkins

 

[k01]

Think I posted this one before, Athens Motorcycle Club, Mid 70's. Just the way it was...