Junior Road Racing needs to be more attractive

[scott411]

This thread was started by a genuine man wanting to help or sport and it;s future, and there has been some healthy things said so far, DO NOT STOP posting folks, it is all being watched from above and WILL help the future given time

there needs to be more than talking to get this to happen, Choppa has already said that he does not have the time to do it, but as what happened with Streetstock in Canterbury is that a group of people stopped talking, and went and did it, the people currently give up a heap of there own time running the meetings are not interested in doing it, then someone else will have to, but until that one person or a group steps up it will be only talk,

and if you are not willing to do it yourself, i do not think it is fair to bag others who will not as well,

1. Everyone has their different opinions and everyone thinks they're right. Stay open minded, things aren't always as they seem.
2. Everyone's priorities are different, and saying someone elses priorities are wrong doesn't necessarily make it so.
3. Everyone has their own ideas of how to improve the sport and quite often they are all absolutely right, (see 1 and 2 above)
4. Trying to get someone who is already overwhelmed/pissed off/broke to listen, let alone act is a big ask, but is ultimately better achieved with the aid of sugar rather than salt.
5. People try to win too many arguments instead of agreeing to disagree.
6. This isn't life and death, it's sport. It's supposed to be fun, both on and off the track. Enjoy yourselves, goddamnit!

this is the best thing i have ever read in this forum, great post

[Shaun]

there needs to be more than talking to get this to happen, Choppa has already said that he does not have the time to do it, but as what happened with Streetstock in Canterbury is that a group of people stopped talking, and went and did it, the people currently give up a heap of there own time running the meetings are not interested in doing it, then someone else will have to, but until that one person or a group steps up it will be only talk,

and if you are not willing to do it yourself, i do not think it is fair to bag others who will not as well,





this is the best thing i have ever read in this forum, great post

All I was meaning from my post is what you have said in a nicer choice of words mate, I was NOT bagging any one

[oyster]

There's a bit of work involved, but bugger all. The big step is the culture change at club leadership level.
A couple of years ago at the MNZ AGM in Nelson the room was full at the RR workshop. Geoff Cain, Motorcycling Canterbury president, stood up and gave quite a good speech about the huge benefits the club has derived by committing to junior development. More riders, more money, elite results, more people involved in club and meeting management. Winning in every quarter. A round of applause and few other commented. Then Chris Costello of Auckland stood up and said "We could never have Streetstock here, they're so slow it would be as boring as watching paint dry" Fair enough, he was honest about his club's stand on this. And it was true, about this time I bought a 150 from a family up there who'd got all set to go and even went to meeting only to be turned away. So they sold the bike and went Karting instead
Fast forward. Very soon the Hyosung Cup will be underway. I don't doubt it'll be a big success. And yet these bikes are even slower and less "racey" that the bike Chris talked about. Why will it succeed? Cos the the club said "YES". They made a new class (not even MNZ! ) Then a commercial enterprise got stuck with the basics I've been talking about for years and years. Promote, Recruit, Train, Support and Recognise. All easy stuff.

That's all that's needed, the leaders to push the "go" button

[jellywrestler]

13 years he can make the decision to road race on a Moto 3 style bike, MX race and join the royal NZ ballet

Fixed it for ya.
Asphalt is for racing on, dirt is for house-training kittens...

[scott411]

Asphalt is for getting there, dirt is racing

thats better

[puddytat]

Well I reckon you just need to look at buckets & Streetstock & see the folk racing them ....most of them would own a faster bike, but choose to race a bucket....Why?
Because they are way cheaper to race & the Streetstock would be faster still,& as someone once said "race the bike you can afford to crash"...perfect for learning on.
I started as a "senior' on my R6 in Clubmans & soon realised that I was running before I could walk so to speak & then got a prolite which Ive enjoyed much more & more importantly, it taught me way more about racing than the R6 which was way quicker than I was
Man, you should see the pit wall at Ruapuna at a club day...full with all sorts watching the SS & Buckets going at it. And even as a self confessed "old fart" I try my hardest to take it to the young fellas....just need that extra 4 secs or so to stick with Seth, Johnny et al
Oyster raises many good points about the youngsters & the fragility of thier ego...encourage them & they bloom.Good on ya MCC, thats why 2 of them are trying out in Europe for the Rookie Cup
I'd love a crack on a quick bike again 'cause I reckon what I ve learnt in Prolite would've possibly gained me up to 10 secs on my P.B on the R6.

[J_Buell]

I've only just got into the road racing thing in the past year, and its awesome im hooked for life. Previous to racing I was trail riding for 10 years, and its only within the last two years that I found out about the winter series came to watch some racing and then decided to compete in Streetstock.

To be honest I think it has less to do with how attractive the bikes are to race, and more to do with the fact that nobody knows it exists. From what I can see the sport has too low a profile especially compared to motocross or karting, which in all reality is the market in which road racing is competing.

How to raise the profile of the sport I don't know (should have studied marketing at uni instead of engineering) but if you can get more people to attend events, show them how enjoyable it is then you will get more youth involved.

I also don't think you necessarily have to drag young guys out of motocross, you just need them to be keen, willing to learn/give anything a go, and some experience on a bike so they understand a bit about brake/throttle/clutch control.

[slowpoke]

I also don't think you necessarily have to drag young guys out of motocross, you just need them to be keen, willing to learn/give anything a go, and some experience on a bike so they understand a bit about brake/throttle/clutch control.

I think Choppa's point was that there is a ready made crop of often highly skilled young riders on sexy wee bikes that could well be on the fast track to road racing success if we can just find some way of enticng them over. Given how well he's doing, and how well other dirt converts have gone it's hard to disagree.

[Kickaha]

Well I reckon you just need to look at buckets & Streetstock & see the folk racing them ....most of them would own a faster bike, but choose to race a bucket....Why?
Because they are way cheaper to race & the Streetstock would be faster still,& as someone once said "race the bike you can afford to crash"...perfect for learning on.

A lot of the bucket guys have two or three bikes and race different classes they race buckets because it's very competitive racing and a lot more fun not because it's cheaper

That same level of competitiveness also means it isn't a good class for learning in and the good buckets will beat most of the S/S field

Given how well he's doing, and how well other dirt converts have gone it's hard to disagree.

Given how well the Juniors and S/S have done at MCC it hard to see why you would need them

[Henk]

A lot of the bucket guys have two or three bikes and race different classes they race buckets because it's very competitive racing and a lot more fun not because it's cheaper

What he said.

I'm a confirmed bucket guy and the main reason is that I can get a lot more racing in with buckets than I would with a "real bike"
On the bright side we have had quite a few young guys start up here recently so that shows some promise.
Interstingly enough one of the newer guys here got into buckets because it was cheaper than track days, not as a cheap form of racing, he has quite a bit of talent and I wouldn't be suprised to see him go to a bigger class given time and budget.

[budda]

That's a question for MNZ. I note they're making a real effort to train new stewards and other roles in the sport, but nothing I'm aware of re coaching.
.

Pete : sorry for the delay in getting back to you, havent been on here for quite a while ....... MNZ's Junior Development Standing Committee has this well in hand, they have made excellent strides in getting their new Coaching system streamlined and practical, so that when it is released it will hit the ground running.

Having already been through part of it as a "crash test Dummy", can see that once the initial formalities are dealt with, those who buy into it will certainly gain from the experience - and this will certainly have a positive flow-on effect ..........

As in most cases, lack of visible progress doesnt mean there has been none - these guys have been working long and hard on this - be prepared to support it and reap the benefits in the near future

Yours in Motorcycling
Peter R

[slowpoke]

Given how well the Juniors and S/S have done at MCC it hard to see why you would need them

Because I haven't seen a young Kiwi road racing overseas on the telly for 10 years now and I'd like to see that change. Attracting skilled young riders from a different code would help bridge the skill gap to the young overseas riders who are years ahead of our young kids. For whatever reason our dirt scene is great at producing world class riders, why not snaffle a few young guns if we can? Why limit ourselves?

[ellipsis]

.attracting kids from one code is cool...if they wanna be attracted...whats the attractant...starts there, doesn't it ?...

[slowpoke]

.attracting kids from one code is cool...if they wanna be attracted...whats the attractant...starts there, doesn't it ?...

I think that's what Choppa was getting at. I agree with him, but others don't, that's life.

[CHOPPA]

I think that's what Choppa was getting at. I agree with him, but others don't, that's life.

Yup spot on Spud, the classes that are there atm are great and I wasnt suggesting they should change but a rider that starts road racing at say 16 is never gonna be moto gp material. A kid that is a national MX champion that starts road racing at 15 or 16 could quite possibly get there.

I have been talking to a couple of current champions and they have no interest in Road Racing because it doesnt have the flair but I know if they tried it they would love it. If Kiwirider or BRM print the article im writing it might get some young minds thinking.

The other ideas I had was like a scholarship idea to offer as a prize to a MX rider if they choose to accept it that would do good things for promotion.

Maybe the whole idea im getting at is that the MNZ jnr road race commitee should maybe be looking at promoting Road Racing to young MX riders because thats where I see the talent and the already keen riders to come from