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| *Vultures Knob>>>Sport Bike |
Why isn't motorcycle roadracing not in the mainstream in the U.S. unlike other countries? |
in other countries, such as Spain and Italy motorcycle racing is probably the #1 sport next to soccer. It's mentioned in the new right along with other major new events of the day. THey show qualifying and practice on their major news network. We get nothing here. SpeedTV (NASCARTV) only throws race fans scraps, and ESPN doesn't show it. Legends like Kevin Schwantz, Wayne Rainey, Eddie Lawson, Freddie Spencer have made racing what it is and are revered all over the world for it, but they are pretty much unknown in their own country...sad. Maybe it has to do alot with Harley Davidson. Most of the bike manufacturers are Japanese and maybe any promotion will directly compete with HD, and for the fans, maybe it will compete directly with NASCAR Which is hugh here in the states...I don't know. It baffles me. Its under promoted and expensive for ordinary people. If you want to blame anyone, Henry Ford pretty much killed any real interest from public by introducing model T. Motorcycle racing in US was real popular in 1920's but as more people got cars less people wanted anything to do with noisy, dirty, smelly motorbikes. Most of american public automatically thinks of chopper when they hear motorcycle, and you dont race choppers (except stoplight to stoplight) I wouldn't blame Harley for this - Harley dirt races and tractor pulls are almost as poorly attended as real racing. But the failure of MC racing to catch on big in the US is mystifying to me, as well. People will go to NASCAR to watch as those tubby, clumsy boats slide around a plain oval for three hours, but the stands at AMA road races are empty. Go figure. I think part of the problem is the tracks have not participated in promoting bike racing. They don't offer reduced prices for motorcycle races, keeping it "elite" and frankly too high a price for a lot of the American motorcycling community. I personally force my friends to watch motorcycle races whenever I can, and some have caught the fever. I think, at the bottom line, it's ignorance of the sport. After all, we're talking about a viewing public that can watch POKER for God's sake. You can't tell me that the crash-hungry NASCAR rubes wouldn't enjoy watching a high-side at 90 mph in a hairpin! No, it's because we have 'speed limits' and so road-racing gets strongly discouraged by local police departments. However, there is Laguna Seca, California, and there are supersportbike races here and there. Europe and Japan are big on it, get your go-fast... http://trackaddix.com/ In the US it isn't catching on due to the fact motorcycles are not a primary means of transportation, "way of life" as compared to Europe and Austrailia. It as considered more of a hobby to most people. The link is a group that is helping to change that. |
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