Rant: Motocross Action is Boring

[Philip]

I haven't opened the last two MXA issues yet, and I just received the third one. I am not excited about opening and reading it nearly as much as I have always been. Does anyone else here feel the same way?

I am dreading to see another 2018 RMZ review, the exact same review of the exact same bike as last year's. Or 10 year-old Craigslist 2-stroke restoration projects. Or the shootout between the KTM and the Husky (spoiler: KTM is faster and 1 lbs lighter, but everyone likes the Husky more, you just need to drill airbox vent holes to make it just like the KTM). Etc, etc, etc. Their YouTube videos are exactly the same.

There was a blurb about the Alta in one of the issues. It did not say much.

No coverage of new technologies, boutique manufacturers, or any half-decent engineering analysis of anything. They won't even print the dyno graphs, preferring to spend two pages taking about the graphs instead.

I just learned here from @rayivers that Alta might actually have an Italian competitor. Why did I not learn this from MXA???

MXA is becoming temporarily irrelevant to me until they start writing about the bikes that I care about! Grrrrr!

 

[WoodsWeapon]

I subscribed for many years and let it lapse 2 years ago. But i still went to their website on a daily basis, but no more. Its been more than 6 months since ive been there.

 

[Fod]

Yeah but they give great tests and in depth reviews compared to others. Wonder why they have not tested the redshift yet.

 

[Gertech]

While I agree with this to an extent, nobody else really fully test bikes like MXA does. They really figure out how to make them work better and publish the info in their articles. It would be nice to see them open their minds a bit and test some new-tech stuff...like maybe an ALTA! I get the feeling that they don't care for them seeing as how they never write or post about them on the website.

 

[Philip]

Yes, I agree, MXA is the best when it comes to shootouts. And they do have some mild technical content too. This is why I subscribe to them in the first place, and this is why I used to love to read them. I am allergic to magazines that only have pictures and ads.

I was getting a feeling though that things were getting stagnant in the MX industry. Then the 2-stroke fuel injection came about, which was (still is) very cool. But other than that there really is not much out there for them to write about, if they are not willing to write about electric MX bikes.

 

[Mark911]

I quit reading dirt bike magazines when Super Hunky left DB. He was the BEST!

 

[Philip]

I quit reading dirt bike magazines when Super Hunky left DB. He was the BEST!

I had to Google that one. OMG! Super Hunky is a technical writer who is actually seriously funny.

http://articles.superhunky.com/4/80

 

[rayivers]

Super Hunky is a technical writer who is actually seriously funny.

+1 ! His book ('Monkey Butt!') is excellent, and he also has scans of the first four years of Dirt Bike magazine for sale (or used to).

 

[rayivers]

they are not willing to write about electric MX bikes.

+1. I've read many comments over the years re magazines favoring testing brands that provide significant ad revenue - some of it might be sour grapes, but I don't think all of it is. If this is the case, I'd imagine you'll start seeing Alta etc. tests when you see ads for those bikes.

 

[Philip]

@Judaslefourbe -- Please give MXA a bike to test and pay for a one-page ad. Make MXA great again!

 

[rayivers]

Please give MXA a bike to test and pay for a one-page ad.

Excellent ideas! I think if one MXA employee rode the Alta once in the parking lot, every riding employee would've tried it by day's end, with a review to follow shortly (hopefully).

 

[Philip]

IIRC, one of the MXA writers (Dennis Stapleton??) has already ridden an Alta, probably in a parking lot. But it took a few rides, a couple or practices, and an actual racing experience (as a hard confirmation) to get me to fall in love with the Alta with both my heart and mind.

 

[Judaslefourbe]

@Judaslefourbe -- Please give MXA a bike to test and pay for a one-page ad. Make MXA great again!

I'm not that powerful within Alta.

 

[Philip]

I'm not that powerful within Alta.

Fiddlesticks! You are powerful enough that they are letting you hang out on this board and chat with us instead of doing actual work. Tell Marc you need a positive MXA review to empower you to do your work. Use your corporate credit card to buy an MXA ad. Then sneak out a new MXR from out the back when no one is watching. You will get a promotion for exercising initiative!

 

[Fod]

Maybe Alta is not able to keep up with current demand let alone a positive review from MXA!?!?!?! Just a thought.

 

[Philip]

Yeah, perhaps they are trying not to succeed. Else they will have to keep increasing their production to keep up with the demand.

 

[snydes]

Maybe Alta is not able to keep up with current demand let alone a positive review from MXA!?!?!?! Just a thought.

The power of a positive magazine review can be substantial. I recently was looking for a tire recommendation from my favorite local shop, he told me there are these Metzelers that (I think) MXA recently gave good reviews about. He was having trouble getting them because the manufacturer wasn’t prepared for the surge of sales from the magazine article.

The problem is if said manufacturer gets tooled up for a sales surge and then things slump, then you have problems. Ask Harley Davidson about that. There were waiting lists to get a new Harley back in the late 90’s, guys we’re getting new bike prices for their used bikes because people didn’t want to wait. Now the market is so flooded with them they can’t sell new ones. My how things change.

 

[Fod]

Sounds like Tesla is repeating what Harley did with their new model.

 

[Fod]

So I ran into a friend/employee (Keep his name off record) at MXA at lunch after riding today. He was asking me a whole bunch of questions about my MXR. He said they have asked Alta for a bike and they said no. So they said how about we just ride it at REM races and you take it back, and they said no again. He said some other stuff too but keepin it to the point. I told him all the positives and negatives I have had (More positives by quantity but some heavy hitter negatives) and he is very interested to get that bike tested. So dont blame MXA from what my discussion was for them not testing. Then again MXA can sacrifice a couple article builds where they throw every carbon fiber, titanium, factory part at a bike and triple its cost and move that budget into an MXR. I was thinking Alta doesnt have the inventory yet to accommodate a MXA article....but if that was the case I think they would have mentioned that to MXA so they don't come off as being snobby. Also my buddy races REM quite a few and he raced my MXR up there and Jody was like...yeah fun bike, and ended the conversation there.

 

[Philip]

I think providing one bike and receiving a positive MXA review will create way more sales for Alta than several dealer demo bikes, which are just sitting there on the dealer's floor and are ridden by the dealership staff.