mum. That's the difference.
We'd be allowed to run it for at
least three, and if they decided
to go to "production-based"
bikes after that, they could. So
yeah, it's partially true."
Regardless if the proposed
three-year limit was meant to
protect AFT's long-term pro-
duction-based plans or Indian's
developmental investment,
by 2020, the FTR750 was so
ubiquitous and so successful
that simply banning it at that
time was untenable.
Such a draconian measure
would have likely only suc-
ceeded in causing the premier
Mission SuperTwins class to
implode while chasing away
the paddock's most high-pro-
file factory effort and instantly
transforming the significant
investments of numerous FTR
owners into museum relics with
limited resale value.
As Vance said, "If you're in
AFT shoes, it's very hard to be
successful when you fire your
customers. So you've got to
figure it out. The knock on AFT
is they should have been figuring
this out five years ago, not today,
and not let it get where it is. But
that's water under the bridge, so
now they've got to figure out what
they want to do going forward."
Coming next week in Part 3:
To ban or to balance? Progres-
sive American Flat Track weighs
its options to determine the
future of the sport.
CN
"The cost of the
bike is the biggest
thing to me. If it was
amazing—like it is,
and more reasonably
cost—you'd see an
abundance of riders
in the class, which
you don't see. How
many new guys have
signed up in the last
couple of years? Not
many. That's a big
part of it."
– Bryan Smith
FEATURE I STATE OF AMERICAN FLAT TRACK PART 2
P106
