Shayne King....whinge......yawn

[ali-s]

being a long term husky fan couldn't help but pick up a copy of the latest ADB mag with a review of the new husky FI 450, up pops a Shayne King (almost) full page interview on p.26, oh good, lets see what the man's got to say. First off dad owned a bike shop (nice) then bought a farm so the boys could get into mx proper (double nice) dad bought a van and took the the lads all over the place mx'ing ( sweeet) then our Shayne ends up world champ ( luvin it) - last question in interview " is mx healthy in NZ ?" Shayne reckons we've taken a step backwards and havn't capitalised on 'our' opportunities (?) he reckons "at the bottom end it's good" ( so all you guys and girls buying and maintaining your YZ's & CR's busting a gut to get a van to a meet and paying to race and buying kit and oil and everything else are good) "Trailbike market is good" (phew, so all of us on klx's drz's etc. are doing our bit paying to ride, buying oil.............well you get the message.) but "i'd still be in the sport for two or three years yet if i didn't think it was going backwards...(?)we need to focus on the top instead of the bottom end" (uuuuuuum, well that would be up to the likes of you then i reckon shayney, you are at the top so get on and do something about it instead of whinging in some aussie mag about the state of mx in nz, all us at the 'bottom' are doing our bit - you've got the cred - well did have - and the fancy mx import company....make it happen)

[Coyote]

Let them eat cake

[ali-s]

Let them eat cake

...........

[ali-s]

the missus just pointed out another cracker from said interview,
"We are a minority sport in New Zealand"
uuum, make that the world Shayne.

[merv]

...... and your point is?

[scott411]

hes right, the top end of nz mx is very sick at the moment, yet the junior scene is very strong,
150 riders and less than 1000 paying spectators at the motocross nationals, he has a fucken point,

good old kiwi knocking machine, screw anyone for having a opinion right,

[ali-s]

are you sure he's got a point tho? my point is he's in the top level of nz mx and he's using his interview to have a moan about the top level of nz mx, instead of telling us all what he's doing to get things going. I only say this cos he's still involved in the scene with his import/distribution business - so the junior/grassroots/trail scene is healthy and buying lots of product - (off the importers/distributors/shops) making them money - well, do something with it!

[takitimu]

hes right, the top end of nz mx is very sick at the moment, yet the junior scene is very strong,
150 riders and less than 1000 paying spectators at the motocross nationals, he has a fucken point,

good old kiwi knocking machine, screw anyone for having a opinion right,

I'm with Scott, look at the numbers at trail rides & then the national enduro's. The base is strong but at the top level it's just not looking so good, which reduces the sponsorship, which makes it tougher for the riders, bit of a vicious circle.

Though I do think that I'd rather be MNZ facing a strong base with issues at the top level, rather than the NZRFU which ( excepting the WC ) has the opposite problem.

[ali-s]

Though I do think that I'd rather be MNZ facing a strong base with issues at the top level, rather than the NZRFU which ( excepting the WC ) has the opposite problem.

In a way takitimu that is my point - the scene is healthy, from groms to clubmen we do our day jobs, buy the bikes, gear, maintenence etc. so for the people who are in the industry and at the top to have a moan seems a bit rich, after all they do the sponsoring. Do they want us to organise the mx nats as well.

[takitimu]

In a way takitimu that is my point - the scene is healthy, from groms to clubmen we do our day jobs, buy the bikes, gear, maintenence etc. so for the people who are in the industry and at the top to have a moan seems a bit rich, after all they do the sponsoring. Do they want us to organise the mx nats as well.

I have not read the original article, but from what was in your original posting, I think you're misjudging his intent, my gut feel is he's saying we've got this great base, but it's not being leveraged it at the top end to generate publicity/revenue which would circle back around again ( attract more riders / spectators to feed the circle ).

Which to me suggests there is an opportunity in terms of promotion of the key events & getting media coverage, I do think things look interesting on the Enduro side, with the North Island series over 2 weeks attracting alot of interest from Australian riders, which is great ( kinda scarey for novices like me who'll be in the first one which is a TTR/National/North Island round mind you ).

So I read the comments as glass 1/2 full, vs 1/2 empty & all it'll take is Coppin's to win MX1 in Europe or Townley to win in the US or Prumm to get on the podium in a men's 250 event to generate the volume of media coverage that will feed the local MX series & then how long before say 3 do live TV coverage of something like the Fall's MX series ( nice cause it's one track & they use sat to get back to base ) or SX series or MX series, the Free to Air broadcasters are screaming for content but they need a bit more profile yet is my read, mind you there has to be more interest in SX than the boring as watching paint dry Mini's running around Puke, just a matter of proving it.

[scott411]

are you sure he's got a point tho?

yes i am sure he has a point, 150 riders and 1000 spectators at a mx nationals is a joke compared to what it was 10 years ago,

i have not read the article, but you seem to be jumping down his troat for having an opinion, he does more than most the other gear distrubtors in nz, in regards to sponsorship of mx meetings and riders, so i am unsure of why you think is opinion is not valid,

[telliman]

i think bringing the a supercross round to auckland is gonna be a shot in the arm for the sport. i hope its a start of bigger and better things in nz's main city!
the bike industry must be pretty big in auckland and yet its starved of any exposure of this kind.i went to a round in tokaroa (SX) last year and it was packed,wasnt a huge venue but wat a night.

[telliman]

good luck with that by the way scott,me and my family cant wait!

[ali-s]

all it'll take is Coppin's to win MX1 in Europe or Townley to win in the US or Prumm to get on the podium in a men's 250 event

that ain't a bad outlook for a sport that is "sick at the top" - fans in the uk or oz would be rubbing their hands together if their riders were cutting it this good internationally (mind you after reading Mr Coppins column in the same issue of ADB you'd think he'd won it already !)

I am looking forward to the SX in auck as well, as telliman says tokoroa was ace, just been to whakatane summer x and it was brilliant - i suppose some folks realise that if things are 'sick at the top' it's up to the top to sort it. look at what Reedy's up to in oz.

"good old kiwi knocking machine" - now that's what Scott said about my opinion BUT that is exactly what i'm saying about Shayne - why is he knocking?

[takitimu]

that ain't a bad outlook for a sport that is "sick at the top" - fans in the uk or oz would be rubbing their hands together if their riders were cutting it this good internationally (mind you after reading Mr Coppins column in the same issue of ADB you'd think he'd won it already !)

Well the uk would be happy to win anything, so safe to leave them out

"good old kiwi knocking machine" - now that's what Scott said about my opinion BUT that is exactly what i'm saying about Shayne - why is he knocking?

I'll reiterate, I also don't think Shayne was knocking, he was making valid critical observations on the state of top level MX/SX/Enduro in NZ ( I added Enduro ) & they are valid & I don't think the answer is quite as simple as you make out or indeed that Shayne is part of the problem, there's got to be a few elements of good luck ( winning overseas titles does include an element of luck ) to help raise the profile & help get back spectators.

Maybe there are some people the comments targeted who are dragging the chain & need a wake up call, but that's be just a suspicion & has no fundamental impact on the validity of the comments Shayne made.