Old School

By David Porter

 If somehow you could go back in time, say ten maybe fifteen years, do you think you could race at the same level you do now? Do you think you could win races, fix the average problem and keep everything fine tuned to get the top performance from your ATV and the most out of your race program? I’m pretty confident that most of you could never get it done. Why do I say this you ask? I think most of us have got it a lot easier now days versus the way things got done back in the day. When I see the trailers and super rigs that show up at even the Sunday local races these days I’m amazed. There’s no way most of you could function back in the day.

I was there back then and here now, and I don’t know if I could even function again back then without my own 24ft enclosed trailer. If I were to go back in time and show up at the nationals fifteen years ago with the pickup and trailer I own now I would be ooed and awed like a factory-backed rider. Let me describe to you the way we used to get it done and maybe you’ll realize how good you have it in this modern ATV racing day.

Pick Ups Ruled the Roost
I’ll start with transportation. Your typical pick up truck was how the majority of us got to and from the local races and a most of us used the same truck to chase points at the nationals. Back then you could only take one maybe two of your buddies to the races. There were mostly extended cab or crew cab pickups. If we look back fifteen years it was just regular cab trucks that dominated the pits. Most all of us had 8 foot box trucks. We would pile everything in as tight as we could and head out after work on Thursday or Friday. We stuffed tires, toolboxes, gear, gas, and limited spare parts just about any place we could on the side of the three or four wheeler. We looked like we were moving out of our houses as we rolled down the highway, or maybe more like a scene out of the Beverley Hillbillies is a better description. One of the hot setups was the open trailer with the tire rack on the front. I had one of those and felt like I was rolling pretty big to tell you the truth. We could fit three 3-wheelers on it and one in the back of my truck. Now this was styling!

Canned Air
There weren’t too many old schoolers that had onboard compressors in their trailers back in the day. Most used air tanks like this for their air needs. Most of you don’t even give air much of a second thought when you’re at the race track. You just reach for the air line hanging on the wall or inside a cabinet. But let me tell you, there was a time when air was a limited commodity. When I say air I mean compressed air for simple tasks like tire pressure and mounting tires on rims. Back in the day if you had an air compressor you were king of the pits. I know most of you are laughing but trust me this is how it was. When I first started racing I used a foot pump. I’m not sure if most of you have seen a foot pump or even know what it was, but the foot pump was actually pretty standard stuff that most racers had at the track. If you were really serious you had your own air tank usually made out of a propane tank and some parts from the hardware store. Guys would proudly fill their homemade tanks up just before the trip to the track and hope they would have enough air for the whole weekend. We would always try to get our mounting done before we got to the track since air was so rare once we were trackside. There were no Maxxis or ITP guys at the track to change tires for you. Now if you knew me back then, I could pop your tires on in a matter of a few seconds but it wouldn’t be pretty that’s for sure. I employed the ether-method, which usually scared the living shit out of anyone that hadn’t seen such a thing. Now I know the “I can’t live without a cell phone generation” have no idea what the ether-method is. All I can tell you is back in the day people would stand in awe when I would put a set of tires on rims in less than a minute. I’ll admit it was pretty dangerous and I was pretty lucky that I never lost a hand or had blew something or someone up. It’s amazing the fun you can have with a Bic lighter and a can of ether. What memories…

ATVs of Yesterday vs. Today’s
Without doubt one of the biggest things that have changed in the last ten or fifteen years has got to be the quads themselves. I still marvel at the things full blown race quads can do these days. When I watch the pros, pro-am, or even the A class I see things that guys would never even think of trying back in the day. Back then you could never come up short like I see guys do now and survive. Coming up short was simply not an option. You knew going in that you either cleared the jump or crashed if you were anywhere near short. Suspension systems now days are absolutely incredible.

Horsepower and handling are at a premium as well. Most guys that ride now have no idea the difference between then and now. We had basically one or two suspension companies making aftermarket shocks and most riders ran stock shocks. And trust me the stock shocks were not even in the same league as the stock shocks that come on today’s 450s. As good as the new stock shocks are most of you still wouldn’t attempt to hit the big jumps and woops at the same speed as you do with the race set ups you currently enjoy. That gives you somewhat of an idea as to what our equipment was back in the day.

 I guess the down grade to all this is the complexity of things now. I’ll give you an example. In 1999 I was in my qualifier at the Ashtabula, Ohio TT National. I blew the motor on my quad just as I crossed the finish line. We needed to quickly rebuild it in time for my next qualifier. We only had about a half hour or so. My buddies and I tore into the project and had no trouble getting it done in time. I made my next race no problem. Try that nowadays with the complex four stroke power plant. You would be out of luck unless you had the money to have a back up engine ready to bolt into your frame.

Old School Riders vs. Today’s
Next on the list would have to be the riders themselves. The speed that the top classes are riding is so unbelievable these days. To you old school racers of yesterday that haven’t been to a motocross national in ten or more years, I could easily pass off the A class as the pro class and you would be in awe as to how much faster the competition is these days. And once the pro class gate dropped the speed and air time would literally scare you. It’s night and day different now.

The distance guys are jumping these days is insane! And within the last few years I’ve noticed more and more guys trying to scrub height when they jump. This was something that no one thought about ten years ago. We were more concerned with simply clearing the jump than shoving the quad back down on the track as fast as possible in an effort to continue forward drive.

Every class and just about every rider is getting noticeably faster every year. I’ve never seen improvement happen so fast. Now days, if you’re not training all year long you’ll be mid pack or worse when the gate drops. Back in the day no one trained like most everyone does now, not even the top pros! Professionals in the ATV race scene watched television, ate bon-bons & fast food and basically took the Winter off from riding. Now days even amateur quad racers travel south to train during the off season and most every single rider in the pro class from the east coast heads south as soon as the weather starts getting remotely wet and cold. What’s more I can remember when it was rare to have a practice track in your back yard. It amazes me to hear of all the riders that ride out of their garages and onto beautifully groomed professionally built practice tracks. It’s crazy the way things have changed. Now days riders are actually living out of their rigs so they can ride and train all year long. This was unheard of only ten years ago.

Passion, Determination, Dreams and Success
I’ve been in this sport long enough to remember when everyone wished for a future where things would be the way they are now. What I mean is back in the day we all would talk about hopes of factory big rigs, factory rides, paid mechanics, television coverage and mainstream attention and recognition. Basically we just wanted to see our sport quit getting kicked in the teeth and grow like the dirt bikes. Well guess what, those hopes and dreams are now reality. That someday is now. Each year ATV racing is getting closer and closer to becoming a relevant addition in the motor sports world.

All the changes over they years have all been for the better. They have all seemed to head us in the right direction. This may sound a little sappy but in looking back, I think we can point to all the old school die hard ATVers and dedicated ATV aftermarket companies that have stuck it out and devoted their lives to the sport’s progression. They’ve contributed more time, hard work, innovation and money than many could ever know. The aftermarket companies and all the riders that have supported them over the years are truly one of the biggest reasons we are where we are now. Of course the new production quads have sent us in the right direction, but leading up to our success has undoubtedly been the aftermarket companies and all of the die hard ATVers that stuck with the sport even in the most trying times of bans, lackluster race entries and negative media attention. There were days in the early nineties that looked pretty grim. When the chips were down, ten or so aftermarket companies and a few hundred die hards across the country kept things alive enough to limp the sport along. Most sports don’t have anywhere near the pit falls that ours has had in its history, and in a way I think this has given ATV racing its character and united its competitors over the years. I’m confident that without this group of passionate, who were here from the beginning, and shared the same hope of success for this sport, we wouldn’t be nearly as accomplished as we are now.

Then….

and now. (photo by Adam Campbell)

 

Tags:

Comments

comments