I did my first AHRMA race today in Crofton, KY. It wasn't a big turnout but there were racers from 14 states. I met a small, dedicated group of mostly older riders that enjoyed the day and raced hard. The track prep wasn't perfect but it had a fun, competitive adaptation to a modern track and was safe.
AHRMA had a more thorough tech inspection than the AMA races I have attended. This included checking my helmet's manufacture date. Mine was older than the 60 month old maximum per AHRMA's rules. It was my issue for not reading the rules that were clearly spelled out and highlighted in bold - but nobody chased me off the property. The officials explained why they had the rule, let me race, and said get a new helmet before the next race.
MXKID was, of course, there and racing his tail end off. I was in a gate with him and he battled hard to win a moto with a guy that was
over 25 but under 30. I got out of the way so I didn't mess up a great battle.
Let's talk about that 25-30 year old. Alex, it would be interesting to survey the AMA's Vintage/Post Vintage under 30 year olds to understand why they are racing these old bikes. It is not because of nostalgia.
- Are they doing it as a way to spend time with their dads or dads that are racing?
- Are they doing it because it is a safer alternative to modern MX?
- Are they doing it because they can be competitive without the time/cost commitment necessary to run modern motocross?
- Is it something else?
As I was waiting for a gate drop, they guy running the starting gate had previously raced at Loretta's but said he hadn't raced in over 2 years because he couldn't justify the bike purchase/maintenance costs and training time necessary to run in Modern Motos.
Maybe Market with a little less emphasis about the Vintage aspect and more about A Safer, Cheaper Alternative to Modern MX.
Some of the most debated threads on PitRacer and other sites is about how to make MX safer. Here is a potential answer for a lot of people that will never race pro or Lorettas. How many 20-30 year olds play in softball leagues as a competitive but safer, less demanding alternative to baseball.
One way to promote, market Vintage and Post Vintage racing (especially with the newer non-current classes) might be to to put less emphasis on the Vintage/Post Vintage aspect and market it a bit more as it as a safer, cost effective alternative to modern racing - especially for guys that raced when their parents were paying most of the cost for racing and are now trying to start their families, financial independence, careers, and still trying to find a way to keep participating in the sport they had so much passion for.
I'll repost part of a prior post I sent about looking at this from a customer segmentation to understand where the growth might come from.
- Racers that raced bikes 1974 and earlier when they were 18-25 year olds are now 59-66. Is the number of new racers or returning racers really going to increase enough to make a difference?
- Racers that raced bikes 1984 and earlier when they were 18-25 year olds are now 49-56. Is it realistic to think hundreds of new or returning racers will decide to join the sport even with great promotion?
- Racers that raced bikes 1989 and earlier when they were 18-25 year olds are now 44-51. Now were are getting into an interesting market segment and from what I understand was a boom period in Ohio Motocross.
- Racers that raced bikes 1998 and earlier when they were 18-25 year olds are now 35-42. Start marketing to them with attractive bike classes and this segment will grow - keeping the gate big enough for the track owner and have Vintage/Post Vintage classes.
