Rant: Motocross Action is Boring

[WoodsWeapon]

A friend of mine who is a well known bike builder, has told me every bike he has ever sent to MXA for testing, he has had to beg to get returned. To the point of several months of calls and emails, and when they did get returned they were absolutely roached. I witnessed one that was Craigslist material they sent back.

 

[Fod]

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.

I agree, but dealers make money on every demo I was told, so maybe there are more demos then we think.

 

[Mark911]

Chris Keefer was going to include the Alta in his 2018 250F shootout but Alta backed out. Apparently they weren't quite ready with the MXR and didn't feel the 17 was representative. The testing process isn't really suited for the Alta right now. The bike would spend most the day on charger so you'd need at least two bikes to keep the rotation going. Plus, I'm not sure the company is quite ready for the kind of bashing MXA can dish out. Alta's been very successful at "managing" the kind of brutal criticism that can kill a company before it even has a chance to prove its product. That's smart business but it does leave the consumer groping for answers or worse yet making assumptions that may not pan out.
Of course, the Alta has lots of KTM/KTM like parts so MXA (aka KTMaction, aka YamahaAction) should love it! LOL.

 

[Fod]

A friend of mine who is a well known bike builder, has told me every bike he has ever sent to MXA for testing, he has had to beg to get returned. To the point of several months of calls and emails, and when they did get returned they were absolutely roached. I witnessed one that was Craigslist material they sent back.

Yeah I see how they treat the bikes...totally get it though....but that is why I didnt offer them my bike to ride.

 

[teddyquinn]

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

Wonder what Super Hunky thinks of the Alta? I remember reading some “1984”-esque short story he wrote a long time ago (likely in protest of the BLM closing riding areas) about the near future off-road riding experience being simulated in a warehouse or something (like a big arcade) because that was all that was available. And after a riding session, the protagonist is shot by government agents for riding his electro cycle in a construction lot (or something). Methinks he’s not a fan of the EV movement.

However, for a person who’s such a fan of the hard-hitting powerbands of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s big bore two strokes (Maico 490, YZ465), and for someone who hated seeing moto be dominated by complex, expensive to maintain and rebuild four strokes, would think he’d prefer an Alta over a 450 four stroke. Who knows though.

I’d write to him and ask if I felt I could bare his cantankerous response. Monkey Butt is a great read.

 

[Philip]

I’d write to him and ask if I felt I could bare his cantankerous response. Monkey Butt is a great read.

If he hasn't ridden an Alta himself yet, then he wouldn't be able to write a good article. A local Alta owner or Alta dealer needs to bring him a bike to try out.