#2 The Rise and Fall of Motocross in America

Motocross is a niche sport that became wildly popular in america in the 1970's, with help from the movie On Any Sunday, and abc's wide world of sports.

The sport spread like wildfire after being introduced to America by Edison Dye (some disagree) He created a plan to distribute Husqvarna motorcycles in America. He brought Roger Decoster and Some Other Riders to America, When they first came to America they were literally travelling to towns, helping people make tracks, and going to radio stations to explain it to people and to show the sport to people the way they were doing it in Europe.

A very brief History lesson... Motocross started out in Belgium, and was originally called scrambles.

After it caught on here it was everywhere! Kids were making tracks in fields and you would see kids riding dirt bikes all throughout the USA while you were out and about travelling,

I think it would be safe to say that in the 70's and 80's it was more likely that a school aged boy had tried riding a dirt bike at sometime in their life than had not.

The sport was so popular in the 1970's that there where even high school motocross teams in some states,

The bikes of the 70's where a lot mellower and easy to ride, bikes like The Honda XR75.

Which was introduced in 1973, and other low horse power models and even well known brands like Harley Davidson And Indian motorcycles made dirt bikes back then. It wasn't uncommon for local race tracks to have 300 riders or more on any Sunday all over the country.

The sport has had some ups and downs over the years, but for the past 30 years there has been a steady decline in the number of participants, and bike sales are way down (this was written pre Corona virus) this has been talked about in the industry for years and recently is talked about daily among core fans of the sport in, Motocross uis a big business for some and the decline has had a big effect on some people's livelihoods. its a tough time in the sport, the sport needs to keep businesses within the industry busy and involved to be able to pay pro racers.

There are pro riders that have dedicated their lives to this sport and put in countless hours of riding and training that are struggling to make a living some struggle just to get to the races, we live in the richest country in the world, there are more than 30 million businesses in the united states, and most other things in the world have recovered from the 2008 recession, but in a way it seems like motocross never did.

Are we all going to stand by and do nothing and watch the sport we are passionate about die?

We the fans of the sport and people in the industry need to come together and unite to work together for the better of the sport if we want to see it thrive again.

There are things that can be done, we need to stop watching our sport struggle and put our heads together and work together. Lets unite and Collaborate.

Seriously though If we want it to grow we need to start somewhere, as a core fan of the sport for many years, I always thought someone was going to do something to fix the problems and bring new people to the sport but that just hasn't happened, I always thought somebody somewhere has to be working on this right? but who? it's been declining for 20 years and we have all just been watching and waiting, What we need is a Strategic plan that everyone is in on and to get everyone on the same page.

I have personally been an enthusiast of motocross since the early 90's, I have followed professional and amateur Motocross in person and online since the internets existed. It seems like the only people at the amateur racer these days are people that grew up racing in the past, and their kids its all second and third generation riders, so I started doing research a lot of research, and I now believe that the people in the industry that would be capable of making a difference are just to busy with the businesses they are running and the AMA, MIC, And a few other groups all work with all types of motorcycling and are just too broad to tackle this problem.

I believe there is a need for a new organization that will be 100% dedicated to Motocross, and I now believe that I am the guy that is going to come along and make a difference and get the sport re-ignited. I have been an enthusiast of the sport for 30 years. I have read everything motocross related, I have watched every pro race throughout that time. I have listened to all the podcasts, and I've done the research, I have also lived in multiple states, and traveled extensively throughout the USA while working in sales and marketing which gives me a unique perspective, I also believe that I lived in just the right era (and paid very close attention) to see everything that changed and how changes unfolded with tracks, with land use, environmentalists, laws, and how the sport itself evolved, how the bikes evolved and how inflation played a role plus economics and recession. I have put in countless hours of research and I see things that could have and should have been done differently by the manufactures and key people in the industry. more importantly I see things that could be done now that would make a difference! and bring thousands of new people into the sport and help sell millions of dollars worth of bikes, gear, and aftermarket parts and accessories.

I originally started out thinking how could I start a business that would allow me to work in an industry I'm passionate about, while combining my entrepreneurial spirit and the problems plaguing the industry, I believe have come up with some solutions that will reignite the whole sport and get it to thrive again. And I am looking forward to and sharing these plans with everyone.

Steve Jobs says "everything in life is a remix"

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