Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

_ _WMWM~" $uper$ale Going out of business i 40% - 50% Off Dealers Cost Dealer inquiries invited New 7 5125 Kawasaki MX New '74 Husky 450 CR New 74% Maico 450 New 74% Maico 400 GP New '74 Ossa Phantom 250 New Ossa Phantom 250 Used Husky 400 CR $399 (rebuilt/needs ignition) 10 KTM Mopeds $99 each Husky, Pento n, CZ & Maico mi sc. accessories, tools, & parts HALF PRICE. Nrilil\rrn (,.,.··'0.. RACING »«, U .ft. ,to:.••<'~ FRAMES r sc".,..... 'Otratkma,ttr au.lily Track Rei", EquipnMnt ~.Best Price s Largest selection ~ChaSSi;~ certant Kennedy forks. S wneers, & W snecks. disc brakes. sprockets and Banke pipes.. Vamaha 750 kits. cams, valve sP ring s., pipes and megs. etc. Special K & N filters - GaS tanks - seats. Send for FREE catolog .nd decal 2415 Brown Rei., SL Louis, Mo. 63 114 Phono 13t4 14~9 • or cnas Ch apple 313· 735-5453 IIIIi I Specializing in BULTACO ASTRO PARTS Fast Bus service il-cKawasaki rf ~ ':"~.' Bay town Cycle Inn, Inc. 322 W. Texas Ave. Bayt own , Texas 77520 713-427-2062 r Sales-Service-Parts Complete frame repair & mods .... M OM O K M O M O .... MOM ..0 . 00 MAICO CD 1911 Peters Rd. Building 1 Irving, Tx 15601 214-438-1919 MOTORCYCLES~~ PARTS ~ a ... COMPLETE PISTONS MACHINE SHOP,REPAIR 8 SERVICEON ALL MAKES (714)630-5720 22 ;-r. ll:;" caE c.... E.......r.... as_ Iv 1140- A N Kraemer . Anohe"" ea . , 2806 Opinion~- The AMA's big professional payoff.. Big time motocross may be in more trouble than anyone imagines In the sport of p rofessional m otocross, the old saying "the rich get rich and the p oor get p oorer" really applies. The present AMA system is unjust in th at it overly rewards a few professional riders and leaves the rest with nothing. Every sional States There year the sport of profesmotocross in the United gets bigger and bigger. are more Nationals each year with increased purses for the classes . Events like the Yamaha Super Series, Super Bowl of Motocross, and other stadium type races are becoming increasingly popular for the spe ctators and more salable to sponsors and media like television, also bringing an increase in purses. The only problem is, while the popularity of motocross seems to be growing, the quality of the competition is getting worse. In the long run, professional motocross is going to suffer. 1975 was the last o f the Inter-MiA Series. European riders stopped coming over for the Series, so the spe ctators stopped going out to see the races , and no promoter wants to put on a race th at is unprofitable. Besides, everyone reasoned, why do we need another International series in the United States when we have the Trans-AMA Series? The Inter-MfA Series would still be a popular series if the best 250cc riders in the world came over for it. ' Now th at Trans-AkfA Series seems to be heading down the same road the Inter-AsfA Series went. This year's Trans-MiA Series only had a token entry of International rid ers, and if it wasn't for U.S. Suzaki paying the expense for Roger De, Coster, Gerrit Wolsink, Kojii Masuda and Masaru Ikeda, the Series would be no different than a National race . Next year perhaps there will be no International riders in the Trans-MiA. Imagine the Trans-MiA Series going down the tubes, just like the Inter-MiA went, because no one wants to see the same American riders they can see at a National. There were numerous reasons why this year's Trans-MIA Series was attended by so few International riders. Yamaha was busy with inner-company politics, the Maico riders were injured, the Husky riders wanted a rest. But when you get right down to it . the main reason was that no one can afford to come over any more. To make any money racing the Trans-MfA Series, a rider has to finish in the top ten ea ch week. and these days the American riders are just too quick to let the International riders fill up the top ten like they used to. Riders like Ake Jonsson and Hakan Anderson went to Australia this fall for a series where they knew the competition was easier and they could be assured of at least making their expenses. The present MiA purse structure only pays off big to the top ten riders at a Trans-MiA or a National event. Those top ten riders are the only ones who make a profit each week. The payoff structure then goes down to 20th place overall, but only paying enough for a rider to make his traveling expenses. In no way is it enough to pay the cost of bikes, parts, vans, mechanics, and living expenses. The irony of the whole payoff system is that out of the 40 "professional" riders in a National or Trans-MIA race, only ten make any m on ey , ten more m igh t ma ke their traveling ex penses, but half the riders go home with n o m oney at all (that's if they can afford to get home) and these are all sup po sed to be p rofessional riders who make their living racing motocross. That's the reason why this year's Trans-MiA has so few In tern a tional riders. There are many good European riders who would like to race the Trans-MiA, but just not enough places are paid off. It works the same way for American riders at the MiA Nationals. There are a lot of fast local riders who would like to follow the National circuit and improve even more, bu t they can't afford to do it. What all the Trans-MiA and National races tum out to be are battles for the top positions among the factory riders, with the rest of the entry filled out by riders who came up with enough money to race a few of the even ts for the fun of it. The purses need to restructured so that everyone in the 40 bike entry at a National or International event will make enough money to at least pay their expenses. That way the best riders in the world will want to race the Trans-MiA Series, and the best riders in Am eric a can afford to follow the National circuit. Present qualifying systems will still be used to sort out the talented professional rider from the untalented local hot shoe. The end , result would be the best possible racing. A typical National Motocross or Trans-AMA purse is $20,000 and pays down to 10 or 15th place p er mo to and 20th overall. If only $10,000 were paid out in a sim ilar purse structure, the remaining $10,0 00 could be paid ou t as starting money to all the riders entered. In a 40 bike starting field that works out to $250 per rider, enough money to keep a pro rider, his bike and mechanic on the road from one week t o the next. For the sake of simplicity, the Support class purse has been left out of this example, because the Supp ort class is sup posed to be made up of local riders and not sponsored factory efforts. The biggest objection to having the purse structure redone so a guaranteed fee is paid to each starter in the race, co mes from the to p p rofessi onal riders themselves, who fin ish in th e top ten each week. Riders like Jimmy Weinert, Pierre Karsmakers and Tony DiStefano sit on the MiA Professional rules co mmittee and ad m it they like the purs e structu re as it is. Why sho uld th ey change it when they make the most money fro m it? That wo uld be voting against themselves. The riders they are ' supposed to represent have ye t to demand any changes that in the long run would help the sport and make everyone richer. The ironic thing is, a restructure of the purses to help the other riders would hardly be felt by the top professionals. A factory rider usually earns a yearly contract salary of $ I 0,000 to $70,000 j ust to ride a particular brand bike. From there, he might be paid an additional $100 to $500 for every race he enters and starts. The factory then pays him ' bonus money if he finishes in the top three positions at a race, is the top American rider, or does well in a Series or Championship overall. A typical b onus for winning a race is $500 and for winning a Series or Championship is $10,000. On top of the factory money, there's thousands of dollars from contingency sponsors like oil , leathers, and helmet manufacturers. A promoter has to pay the reigning MiA National Champion, per MiA rules, to show up at h is event even though he has to come anyway to earn po in ts. A few other rid ers also get ap pearance money, especially if th e promoter wan ts them for pre-race publicity. On top of all that, a factory rider has all his traveling, food, rental cars, and motels pai d for by the factory when he is not at home. All of the riders are ou t on the track to put on a show for the spectators and (Con tinued on page 42 ) ' . ~ .. ~. ' "

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