Motocross - Ducati.ms

DuckMan · Jul 18th, 2011, 12:55 pm

Did anyone happen to watch the outdoor national at Millville this weekend. This one of the most spectacular get offs I've ever seen!

You Tube

rcrob · Jul 18th, 2011, 1:00 pm

That was a serious highside!

jcasella · Jul 18th, 2011, 1:48 pm

man I miss dirtbiking!

DuckMan · Jul 18th, 2011, 2:47 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcasella

man I miss dirtbiking!

Yes, but I don't miss emergency rooms.

jcasella · Jul 18th, 2011, 3:31 pm

True dat duckman, I still have scars from the early 80's but getting air off jumps like that was a blast!

tye1138 · Jul 18th, 2011, 3:35 pm

Reed's accident was brutal, he finished the race on adrenaline and I bet you money his injury is way more then first seen. He really showed everyone his might, totally blew me away after that accident!!! WOW!

Motocross is a young man's sport, kids just seem to bounce off obstacles instead of get absorbed into them and break things. I've been VERY lucky with only concussions, scrapes, bruises and some minor vertebrae damage. Its one thing if you start as a child, get all your accidents out of the way and then KNOW how to ride and prevent them. Its another to learn how to ride at the age most motocross racers retire, only to have a more frail body and have a higher rate of injury.

Honestly, I've been beaten up pretty bad in motocross, I'm pretty thick-skinned now and I'm sure that will help if I ever get back to roadracing.

As I always like to say, motocross will hurt you, riding sport bikes on or off the track can kill you. I'll take broken bones vs getting run over by a car or another sport bike, any day of the week.

DuckMan · Jul 18th, 2011, 3:46 pm

Reed has been awesome this year! When I saw that I really thought it was a career ender. I couldn't believe he got back on the bike. Those Aussie dudes are bad ass.

DaC · Jul 18th, 2011, 3:57 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by tye1138

Reed's accident was brutal, he finished the race on adrenaline and I bet you money his injury is way more then first seen. He really showed everyone his might, totally blew me away after that accident!!! WOW!

Motocross is a young man's sport, kids just seem to bounce off obstacles instead of get absorbed into them and break things. I've been VERY lucky with only concussions, scrapes, bruises and some minor vertebrae damage. Its one thing if you start as a child, get all your accidents out of the way and then KNOW how to ride and prevent them. Its another to learn how to ride at the age most motocross racers retire, only to have a more frail body and have a higher rate of injury.

Honestly, I've been beaten up pretty bad in motocross, I'm pretty thick-skinned now and I'm sure that will help if I ever get back to roadracing.

As I always like to say, motocross will hurt you, riding sport bikes on or off the track can kill you. I'll take broken bones vs getting run over by a car or another sport bike, any day of the week.

I've got no data to back this up, just a general feeling.

I see more people hurt in motocross than in road racing myself, but it's probably because I have been around a lot more guys with dirt bikes.

Yes, deaths are uncommon, but injuries to neck/back and broken appendages are a lot more common offroad I think. One of the locals around here who coaches young riders does so from a wheel chair.

While I think speed kills, the kind of crash that you can encounter in motocross is probably more likely to lead to paralysis of some sort.

Years ago a guy riding up near Forrest Hill lost control doing no more than 25MPH and hit a tree. Paralyzed his left arm. I never found out if it was permanent, but what was odd to me was that so many of the offroad riders seemed to be in denial about the dangers of riding a dirtbike. Speed doesn't kill; coming to a sudden STOP is what does it and hitting a tree or dropping from the sky 20' tends to have that effect.

I don't know why, but I've got less fear of speed and a great fear of heights. So maybe that has something to do with my opinion. That and the fact that I've never been hurt on a sport bike but HAVE been hurt badly on a dirt bike (lost the ability to raise my right arm above shoulder height for a year).

tye1138 · Jul 18th, 2011, 5:41 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaC

I've got no data to back this up, just a general feeling.

I see more people hurt in motocross than in road racing myself, but it's probably because I have been around a lot more guys with dirt bikes.

Well, there is no comparison between motocross and roadracing in terms of attendees. For every one roadracer, there is probably 5000 motocross riders. Living here in southern california, you see this physically every weekend, there might be ONE track day in the area going on every weekend. There is probably 150 - 250 people at that one track day. At the same time, there are 7 local motocross tracks which are open sat/sun who bring in roughly 200 - 500 people EACH DAY! Then you add trail riders and dune riders to the mix, which is another few thousand riders.

Another reason why you can't compare the two is something I found just ridiculous about motocross, you don't have to pass a test to ride on the track! I was so shocked when my friend first told me that anyone could ride on the track without any education. Heck, even with tarmac track days, you've gotta pass a test, roadracing requires a temp license and then a year worth of riding to make it official. So expert/pro licensed roadracers in general are, for lack of a better definition; more educated riders.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaC

Yes, deaths are uncommon, but injuries to neck/back and broken appendages are a lot more common offroad I think. One of the locals around here who coaches young riders does so from a wheel chair. While I think speed kills, the kind of crash that you can encounter in motocross is probably more likely to lead to paralysis of some sort.

With the invention of the neck brace, knee braces, chest/back protector (all of which I wear) major debilitating injuries can be decreased. I have landed from 30 feed in the air, on my head and only had a sore neck for a week. Without my leatt neck brace, I would be dead right now more times then I can count. I also wear the best helmets and replace gear when damaged.

In the two years I roadraced, I've played witness as in physically seen with my own eyes, two deaths. One was due to a suspension issue and a nasty head shake that threw the rider off, it was his own fault. The other was a mystery, I think the rider (who was in his 50's) had a heart attack as he just went straight off the track with no warning. In roadracing, I've seen way worse accidents then in motocross. I've witnessed the medevac helicopter land on the track so many times, when you hear it coming, you kinda don't care anymore as its just a normal occurrence. I've seen people's helmets split in half due to crashing onto tarmac. I've seen bikes disintegrate into unrecognizable pieces and riders fly through the air like rag dolls. I've lost one good friend, I've seen others seriously injured, way past anything I've witnessed in motocross.

I've only been riding motocross since the beginning of 2010, so it hasn't even been 2 years, but I do ride 2 - 4 times a week and when I ride, I spend considerably more time on the track and frequent 5 different facilities, so I have a good "pulse" on the situation out here in California. I've seen some doozy crashes, (nothing like reed's crash) and honestly most of the time, the rider gets up, his friends strap something on his broken bone and drive him to the hospital. Heck, I know some guys who bring crutches to the track, so if they break a bone, they can still walk around!!! Everyone knows in motocross that your gonna break something and I have yet to see a medevac helicopter or anyone injured enough to require one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaC

I don't know why, but I've got less fear of speed and a great fear of heights. So maybe that has something to do with my opinion. That and the fact that I've never been hurt on a sport bike but HAVE been hurt badly on a dirt bike (lost the ability to raise my right arm above shoulder height for a year).

I have permanent scars on my body from both roadracing and motocross.

I always had a fear of heights and motocross has for sure broken them.

I too am not as scared of speed as heights, I still prefer going fast on the ground rather then flying through the air. Still, there is nothing like the rush of hitting a huge jump in 5th gear pinned and clearing it. There is also nothing like the rush of going into a corner in 6th gear, max RPM leaned all the way over doing 150mph.

Don't get me wrong, roadracing is my first and only real passion. Motocross just happens to fit the hole that needs to be filled and it does a good job as its just as much fun for 1/10th the price!

I'm glad I've done both and lived to tell the stories.

Tard · Jul 18th, 2011, 6:12 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by DuckMan

Reed has been awesome this year! When I saw that I really thought it was a career ender. I couldn't believe he got back on the bike. Those Aussie dudes are bad ass.

You got that right! Not only did he get back on, but he then managed to slice his way back through a field of 40 riders to finish 14th. He still leads the championship.