Brutal Editorial from Sweden...

[JohnN]

.... the thing is, he might be right!! 

http://twostrokemotocross.com/2010/11/the-yanks-messed-up-motocross/

[factoryX]

oh snap. 

[SachsGS]

At the time all of this was taking place (the 60s and 70s) ,the domestic Japanese motorcycle market was the largest in the world and a highly protected one at that.The Japanese manufacturers had resources to draw upon that the Europeans could only dream about. Compounding the problem for the Euros was that at this time European demand for automobiles was skyrocketing with the corresponding loss of demand for two wheelers. So the Japanese were in the right place at the right time to satisfy the enormous American appetite for motorcycles during this era.

Payback is a b*tch however and companies like Harley Davidson were able to recoup much market share in the last two decades.Ktm is unable to satisfy demand (for 2s !) presently and BMW is on the warpath.

[riffraff]

That reads almost like a post from Muddy Waters MX site by a person called Big Sven, http://www.muddywatersmx.net/2010/05/28/mx-spode-looking-good-while-losing/comment-page-1/#comment-179 , who sounds like he has a big problem, blaming the Yanks and the Japs for the evolution or de-evolution of motocross is pretty damn simplistic and bigoted if you ask me.

[luthier269]

I think he has a point But, The racers here in the 60's and 70's and early 80's were the same as the euros remember the european riders ruled motocross in the 60's and 70's. We were trying to be like them and beat them. Also the euros went the way of Americans  Roger Decoster switched to a Suzuki and  other big named European riders switched to Yamaha and Honda leaving CZ, Maico,KTM,Husqvarna,Montessa,Bultaco,Ossa just like the American riders. Lets name the Swedes and Finns that left european bike manufacturers Hekki Mikklola(Yamaha) Hakan Anderson(Yamaha)Torleif Hansen(Kawasaki) also Gerrit Wolsink(Suzuki)Joel Robert(Suzuki) and many more not just the Americans.There were many reasons.  
   I agree the Supercross tracks are more like a circus with big jumps. Even at the amateur level in the 70's and 80's when I raced we would go 45min. plus two laps and would be dead by the end. The races today are 4 to 5 laps and my kid gets off of the bike like he's hardly worked up a sweat.
   My point is MX changed for Euros and Americans no fault of either side, just the evolution of racing.

[GlennC]

What a tool.

[JETZcorp]

I think I got a message on YouTube from this guy - Swedish dude ranting and raving about how badass the old European tracks were and how the Americans and Japanese ruined the sport and so on and so forth.  As I recall, however, he had some good Husqvarna history.  'Matter of fact, I saved that message because it was so epic.  Tried to copy/paste it into this message, but being epic like it is, I got an error because the post was too long.  As you all know, I type a lot, and that hasn't really ever happened to me before.

[MMS]

Well he's right in one respect, but "the yanks" have played no greater a part in all of this other than being the largest off-road market in the world. If you want you could then argue by default that they've played a greater part but it would be a very mute point indeed.

However, his overall analysis of the situation is absolutely spot on but again take just about anything you want and the same theory can be applied. Watch a modern GP with their huge run off areas, etc, and then look at where they were racing 30 odd years ago and you'll find a similar thing. Now they have traction control, fly-by-wire, fuel maps to curb the power delivery, back then the quest for power delivered some of the most violent machines ever produced.

Can we blame the Japs, well a bit like the America thing, they were the guys who produced most of the bikes over this era, but yet again it was people the world over who bought the stuff (including Europe) and unlike now when you can absolutely lay the blame for this present 4-stroke debacle at the Japanese manufacturers in general and Honda in particular, I doubt there was similar deliberate manipulation of the situation back then.

So overall, his assessment of things is correct but his attempt to attach blame is where he gets it wrong.

[pontiac252]

more likely blame the pony tailed long hairs,,aka marketing gurus,,,,,know nothin about the passion, just makin money

[JETZcorp]

I think Hanlon's Razor comes into play here.

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

The stupidity, in this case, comes in the form of people who like to see people flying through the air with explosions on TV, and foremost the rule-makers in the AMA, for whom I need say no more.

[Coop]

Good stuff, thanks for posting that John.

[SachsGS]

The old style GP tracks created natural terrain high speed motocrossers like Husqvarnas and Maicos. The evolution of the indoor supercross track has resulted in MX'rs like the latest Honda CRF's, bikes that are unstable even with a factory equipped steering damper.

 

[JohnN]

a person called Big Sven

You are correct, that is who wrote it....

people who like to see people flying through the air with explosions on TV

One of the big problems with motocross in the old days was that it was difficult if not impossible to capture the excitement of motocross. If you were a racer you got it, but the casual fan only understood the crashes, battles and aspects that stood out from the plain look of motorcycles going by the camera really fast.

Some of the films shot way back then like "Winner Takes All" probably contributed to that.

Epic Race Where Winners Take All.wmv

[Coop]

I loved that movie back in the day. Watching that clip now makes me wonder why LOL.

[JohnN]

I loved that movie back in the day. Watching that clip now makes me wonder why LOL.

Hey Coop, Like the rest of us, you only cared because it had dirt bikes in it.... take a look at some of the movies you watched as a kid, not the classic ones, but the ones you thought were cool at the time. They look old and dated now...

I went through a bunch to track down the Winner Takes All on e-bay quite a few years ago. I got the package, all excited about finally seeing the movie after all those years, popped it into the VCR and was disappointed. How awful can you get?

I made a DVD copy which I have not played since I made it.... Oh well...