Sunday, July 13, 2008

Long live the two-stroke Part Deux: FUD in the marketplace

Two-stroke technology is not banned. Never was. Yet this myth continues to run rampant over the internet. Two-stroke technology is changing, getting cleaner, but this is a story about how purposeful misdirection and a campaign of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt created a myth, killed development of a promising technology for over a decade, and changed the face of a sport.

Let's assume that a large, multi-national corporation (for simplicity we'll use a fictitious entity called Company H) manufactures everything from inexpensive lawn mowers and power generators to motorcycles and $40,000 SUVs. Every item in their massive product line is powered by a four-stroke motor. Every item, that is, except a small group of dirt bikes. The company has enormous investments and intellectual property in the development, marketing, and sales of four-stroke-driven products.

Company H is aware that certain proprietary methods, techniques, or technologies for lowering two-stroke emissions are either available or under development, some by their primary competitors. But Company H doesn't own any of the intellectual property (patents) associated with this improvement. Further, two-stroke engines do not fit the company's financial model — costing extra for development (since they can't leverage their vast institutional knowledge of four-strokes) — while generating lower margins in sales and service parts.

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

AMA approves sale to Daytona Motorsports Group

Here's the press release from the AMA regarding final approval of the Pro Racing/DMG deal. I'm sure the road race community is up in arms over this, and I feel for them. The changes underway there have created a lot of friction with the riders, factories, and race track owners. There's a lot of bluster going on now between all sides. As Dave Despain said in his Wind Tunnel editorial a couple of Sundays ago, a lot of this is posturing for negotiation, so let's get to negotiating guys and get it worked out.

But the NPG have been busting their butts in a way that has not been seen since...

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Friday, May 30, 2008

Residents and Greenies fight new track in Seattle

This Seattle Times news story tells the tale of another local battle to prevent legal riding areas. MXGP of Kirkland, WA have a 467-acre tract in rural Washington state, about an hour from Seattle. The promoters want to use 75 acres to build a multi-track MX facility and have gone to great lengths to address noise and environmental issues. Of course, there is no such thing as addressing all the issues where EcoNazis are concerned.

No doubt, this is the future all all riding facilities - new or old - and we had better get our act together on the federal, state, and local levels and begin a coordinated effort across the country to keep our right to ride intact. [Found via Blogandt]

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Finally! D.C. says we'll get our answer this week.

In this week's Racer Head Davey Coombs said the Big News we've all been waiting for - what's going to happen to the AMA Toyota Motocross Championshps - will likely be announced before Hangtown next weekend. To quote DC:

Needless to say, there are going to be a few confused people out there, but the vast majority of motocross fans and industry folks will just be glad to put this all behind them and start focusing on the racing and the future.

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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Dan Kleen, President of NOHVCC on PitPass Radio

Tonight's PitPass Radio featured Dan Kleen, president of NOHVCC - the National Off-Highway Vehicle Conservation Council. Dan did a good job of explaining some of the organization's functions. Specifically, he was on to discuss a legislative victory in Iowa that got the State to return ATV fees that the legislature had confiscated for the past six years. It's a good segment. It's a small victory but an important one that shows we can be successful if we just organize ourselves and take the time to be heard. He's the first guest starting at about the 15-minute mark.