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FLEXIBILITY
for the Promoter 
If anything is going to sink Ahrma it is inflexability.
Because of the nature of Vintage Racing promotors need to be left alone
to do the job, and not told HOW to do the job. All that does is breed
resentment. And eventually the race becomes a non-Ahrma Race, or even
a series as Hammer & Tongs is. And then Ahrma has to compete with
it. take a look at the Unites States, and you find that so many of the
pockets of resistance have turned into sucessful non-Ahrma outfits.
And if Ahrma digs in its heels about "clamping down" they
win the battle, lose the War. Wanna see a map of the US with all the
holes where Ahrma lost the War? More about that later when I can put
a map together.
If
you keep track owners happy they are ready to have Ahrma back. This
is what makes Hammer & Tongs easy to promote - we can
have a one day race, or a full weekend, with racing on two days- can
run a GP one time, have a relay race the next. We can have trials or
flat tracking or ice racing or a tiddlywinks contest if we feel like
it. You'd think a healthy flexibility for Ahrma would be a no-brainer.
I'm
not going to choose to add a Modern Class at a Vintage Race because
it changes the flavor of the event. We will not be running a modern
class at Washougal. BUT I won't be supporting the FORCING of
all Ahrma races to be the same with regards to support classes. It would
be refreshing to see a mix- two day events, and single day events with
V & PV. Each has pros and cons.
AFFORDABILITY
for the Racer
This aspect goes hand in hand with flexibility. One of the main things
racers mention when I say why don't you race Ahrma? is the entry
fees as compared to other organizations. If
the promoter is happy financially the cost per entry doesn't need to
be as high. Ahrma's tradition of natural terrain tracks is admirable,
and cool, but it costs a great deal more than racing at a track which
has all the elements in place already. Part of Ahrma's solution has
been to rely on volunteers, but 5% of the people do 90% of the work,
which leads to the revolving door of burnt out volunteers. And the entry
fees don't come down. And Natural Terrain tracks are important to have-
but all of these elements works into the mix, and need to be considered.
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Approach
to Criticism
Over the last
number of years that this whole unfolding drama with Ahrma has
been going on there has been a growing impression.
Members
concerns and requests were ignored or blown off.
So the Pacific Northwest Ahrma Team agreed that we would go out
of our way not only the LISTEN to riders comments, thoughts &
concerns, but also to INVITE CRITICISM about any race we are involved
in. Len Lowery in particular has made it a habit to post requests
for feedback on chat groups and in personal one on one conversations
in the pits.
Adding
to the list of headaches for Ahrma members who are trying to include
riders and solve problems are those on the same side of the
fence whose online manner is contemptuous and disagreeable. Bulletin
Boards & Chat Groups often bring the worst out in people,
and words are often misinterpreted without the help of inflection.
Add a few tough guys and a few primadonnas into the mix, and soon
real issues are lost, and having a civilized discussion of is
futile. Those
people are few, but cause a lot of trouble, and I would once again
plead for those persons to either behave like gentleman or be
quiet.
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KEEPING
THE TRACKS SUITABLE FOR VINTAGE
The notion that Vintage dies when PV come into the
picture does have a thread of validity in it. But that thread is
totally lost in the hype. Vintage entries WILL fall off IF the tracks
get jumpy. Grown 200 lb. Men landing on 30+ year old bikes eventually
means broken spokes, bent rims and it's simply too hard.
But
the deciding factor is the TRACK, not the presence of
PV Bikes.
The
thing that made Woodland (VDR's Home Track forever, before it closed)
so agreeable was specifically that it was so flat and largely without
technical jumps.
Jeff Osborn's YZ250 soaking up the landing in
Spokane. This is a bit much for most riders, even those with
some suspension to work with. Imagine this on a Vintage Bike.
Over
the last decade I saw that the way things were is really not
what Vintage Racing is about. We weren't trying to imitate period tracks,
or re-create anything. We were just having fun racing old bikes. The
track had few or no jumps. So Vintage Bikes could be raced hard. And
the PV Bikes simply raced harder than that, until they were pushing
the envelope. Everyone was happy- there was no griping that the track
didn't accurately represent the era. Also as a side note motocross wasn't
the same everywhere: check out footage of the 1979 FIM Season in Europe,
and you'll notice that the only air the racers got was off hilltops-
the courses are fast and relatively flat.
On
top of that back in the day most racers were young. And there are ex-pros,
ex World Champions who can handle a fierce track. But most people trying
to enjoy Vintage Motocross don't have that skillset. We have to go to
work on Monday. Lets keep it reasonable, and fun for everyone. 
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