Old School
- Updated: November 13, 2006
By David Porter
One of my pet peeves is how much it costs to race a four stroke compared to the old school two strokes. O well I guess that’s how the cookie crumbles now days. I don’t think I am that much different than most ATV racers. I think we all get upset from time to time. I guess I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Everyone has a pet peeve or two and surely there’s something about racing, wrenching, traveling or just being at the races that just ticks you off. So with this month’s column, I am going to bring some things up that tick me off.
Maybe my cup has runeth over, I don’t know, maybe we all need to vent once in a while. I guess I’m one of the lucky ones. I get to vent here on my own page. Maybe you’re not the type that gets ticked off, maybe you’re the type that is happy all the time about everything. Well goodie-two-shoes for you, maybe you should log off now because this article is probably not for you.
For those still with me, I’m confident that as you read along you will pick up on something that strikes your sweet spot of ticked-offness. How about the overly happy guy that takes your money at the gate? He’s just taken minimally $60 to $120 dollars from your crew, told you that the track is dry and there are all kinds of good pit spots left. As you drive away looking for all those good pit spots (which you never find) you think about the hours of rain you just drove through. I hate that guy. Why is it such a monumental task for most tracks I visit to pass along a simple copy of the race order? Can anyone fill me in as to why four stroke spark plugs cost so much? C-mon, it’s a spark plug. If you can answer that one you should be able to explain why a four stroke pipe cost so much too. Have you ever wondered why most motocross tracks have an intermission between the first and second motos? Do the flaggers really need a break from sitting there and waving that extremely heavy yellow flag? I don’t know about you but I am not a big fan of riding my last moto in the dark. Rolling out of the race track before sunset is something I think we all try to shoot for.
My new thumper kept spitting coolant every moto. That ticked me off, so check it out, I put a fan on it. Mud, I hate mud! I hate riding in it, I hate cleaning my quad because of it, and I hate having to wash race clothes over and over because of it. And racing in mud ticks me off too. Most of all, I hate all the damage to my equipment caused by mud. It’s like every lap you ride in it your wallet gets thinner and thinner.
What about that guy that brings his NONSTOP barking dog to the track? By the end of the day you’re ready to explode. Then there’s the guy that parks ridiculously close to you. Which is bad enough, but then he pulls out his 1965 ACME Generator that’s louder than any Harley you have ever heard, — that’s a fun day, huh?
Now this is a no brainer, — slow traffic in the passing lane. I swear all the driving schools in America have forgotten to explain to their students that if you are going to drive the speed limit or slower, stay in the right lane. I just love the look I get from people when they finally get out of the way. As I pass them, usually while pulling a trailer (boy that’s got to make them feel a little awkward), they look at me like 49 mph in a 65 mph zone is fine and dandy. I just smile and wave. Someone please explain to these Sunday afternooners that the left lane is for passing. Hello!
What really bothers me is I never seem to get enough time to spend with this. Yes this is my wife Mrs. Old School. All you guys that wonder how a old guy like me can go so fast…. The fact is I hurry like hell so I can get home to this. :) I surely don’t want to forget this one. As some of you may have noticed, I am NOT a big fan of four strokes. Two strokes were much cheaper to maintain and a heck of a lot easier to work on. All the switch to four strokes have done is raise the price of racing. The only people that are happy are the guys behind the part’s counters. You couldn’t be competitive on anything else now days, so there is really no way around it.
Then there’s the promoters that have been running the ATV nationals for the past umpteen years. I’m so damn sick of the smug self-centered attitude they all seem to have. I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve been pissed off at a national even before I get in the gate. One example comes to mind. It was the ’05 Mt Morris GNC. We’ve always liked to show up Thursday early afternoon. This is something all my friends and I have done for the last six years. When we get there they tell us that we have to park across the road and wait until they open the gate, so I’m thinking no big deal, right. WRONG! Within about 25 minutes this lady shows up and wants $15 to park. This doesn’t count towards the gate price either. This $15 is just to park and wait for the gate to open! The next slap in the face was having to pay for water. Yes, pay for water. If you wanted to wash your quad you had to pay for the damn water. Anyway, I think I’m really going to like the WPSA ATV Tour in 2007. Hopefully it doesn’t all go to their head and they always remain the same as they were this year.
I could come up with a few more tick-me-offs. And I could go on and on about a whole lot of other stuff that irritates me, but all this negativity is getting me down. I need to go kiss my wife and remember how good I have it. If you need to vent in the forums or wherever – go for it, but we all need to remember, myself included, that a bad day at the races is better than any good day at work.
