Arizona National Feedback

[old trials fanatic]

3.79 a gallon for fuel..thats easier on my wallet.

$3.79 a gallon !!!!!! God even though that's not real gallons and not real money you guys have it so good over there. Wonder how you would manage if you had to pay our prices? Currently £6.36 that's approx. $9.80 ok that's for a real gallon LOL but seriously you live so cheep over there.

Just found a conversion table and for your mini gallon it's still £8.17 in real money over here. As we say "you've never had it so good".

Edited August 6, 2013 by old trials fanatic

[steve fracy]

OTF....might be cheap enough compared to what you pay, bu have you ever driven from one side of the country to the other?? I doubt it, it adds up! Back in the day we could do it non-stop from one coast to the other in just over 60hrs!!!! Thats non stop driving time.

[chuckindenver]

lets put this in reality..

just to compete in my state...for one event.. i travel 400 miles round trip...200 up 200 back..{turkey Rock}

since our club thinks they need to have most the events in the south end of the state..thats the norm.

i ride with ITSA as well. they are having a National event..350 miles each way... fuel plus eats, ect..ill spend about 850.00 to ride.

i ride in Wyoming and New Mexico as well. so.800.00 to 1000.00 is the normal cost to ride an event..

to ride the NATC national just in my end of the country.. AZ was 1300 mile round trip..

NM 750 miles round trip...MN 1500 mile round trip..

my truck and camper gets 12 to 15 miles a gallon.. and my suburban gets 18 to 20 if i use a hitch carrier.

add food. and entry fees to this cost...

this last spring i mastered a new location 50 miles from my house...even so..i made many trips throught the winter to work the property.

if you drove the long way through the UK...i doubt you would put 750 miles on..driving end to end... heck id bet you can make every club trial you have without totalling 750 miles for the year..

as i posted...i spent around 50,000.00 last year to compete in Trials, both modern and vintage...not including the cost of a new 2013 Beta 4T

you can talk smak all you like...but i work just as hard for my money as you do for yours...its spends just fine..

matter fact...the trials parts sellers in the UK seem to like it just fine..if it wernt for the U.S. youd be speaking German right now...if ya wanna talk some smak/

Edited August 6, 2013 by chuckindenver

[old trials fanatic]

Sorry saviours of the free world obviously a sense of humor deficiency. WTF is "smack/"

Youre right about the milage we travel here but why do you need a suburban , I assume that is some kind of car?, that does 18 to 20 somethings, assume you mean miles per us gallon ? My van with 4 bikes in averages 40 - 50 mpg and that's proper gallons.

Oh and the whole of western Europe collectively tugs it's forelock to you

[b40rt]

USA Gallons - UK Gallons

USA version of history - UK version of history.

[chuckindenver]

talking smak {not smack}...is talking sh*^t..

i drive a suburban {full size 4x4 SUV}..cuz im single and still have my balls, i live were the weather is bad usually, and need something that will haul 2,000 LBS of guns around for my business, id like to see your mini van make a high mountain pass, loaded with bikes, and last more then a couple months, , .. and usually only soccer moms drive mini vans here.. i have a great since of humor...remember..

you started it..you trolled for it...not me...

i only gave it back.. i dont give my opinions on what the UK trials clubs does..i only observe the comments...as it doesnt effect me, i cant relate and have no real say in the matter..

i live at 5400 Ft, most of our events are at 9,000Ft and above. so small vans like yours dont last long here, a mile high kills them pretty fast.

[zippy]

OTF,

Talking Smak = It generally refers to the use of intentionally inflammatory language. "My money and gallons are real, yours are mini." OR translated "My lower body part is bigger than yours"

40-50 mpg and you're complaining about $9.80/ "real" gallon. So if you rode one of my "local" events. at 200 miles round trip (I am luckier than Chuck ours are closer) at average of 45mpg You would spend $43.56. My truck gets an average of 14 mpg. (just bike in back) at $3.79/ "mini" gallon I spend $54.14 so yours is still cheaper. And I believe (may be wrong) but for you to attend a local event you only drive a fraction of that mileage.

Now why do I need a truck that only gets 14 mpg? I am not required to explain to anyone but I will. I routinely tow/haul logs/obstacles for events, firewood for family, haul tractors, backhoes etc... basically it is a work truck and I work it. but it is not what I do for work to make $$. It's a big truck with a big motor and big muscle. Also we can only choose from what is available We don't have vans that get 40-50mpg over here, and even though diesel motors are easier and simpler to produce than gasoline motors they add an addition $8,000 to the cost of a new truck, and used diesel trucks are still priced way out of reach at approx. $6,000 more than a gasoline counterpart

Now factor in that many jobs have dropped wages over the last few years, (some production jobs as much as half), most companies eliminating overtime being worked, an increased cost in health care premiums/prices etc.,

I would LOVE to contest the entire NATC series (I rode one national and LOVED it) but I cannot afford to ride them, that's life.

Let's talk about fuel prices: Europe taxes the heck out of the fuel, (not our fault) Other countries and the oil companies keep saying the US should be brought more "in-line" with the rest of the world for fuel prices. So they try to up the prices, but here's the thing, If the gas prices increase in the US to $9/ gal the oil companies will reap a HUGE profit / gal compared to $9/gal in the UK. So of course the oil companies want US prices to go up, and Europe wants US prices to go up because they are p****d off about paying more because their government taxes the hell out of it.

Point of all this ranting and raving in a nutshell this: Economies suck all over the world right now. Disposable income for hobbies is way down for everyone. So choosing one part of the cost to compare without looking at the whole picture is nothing more than an exercise in argument baiting.

Edited August 6, 2013 by zippy

[old trials fanatic]

Interesting explanation Zippy. Just shows how different our two worlds are. Think the reason vehicles over here are more economical is because the fuel price is so high and the reason the vehicles over your side of the pond are all gas guzzlers is because your fuel prices have always traditionally been so low so everybody had massive overweight vehicles and fuel economy didn't matter. Whatever you drive what you choose to drive and cough up to fill her up.

Back to the subject of the post as you and Chuck pointed out the distances you travel are ridiculous from our point of view and are surely a major part of the lack of entries. Strange how you live in "Redneck Hell" but Chuck comes over as the redneck not you LOL

Enjoy your sport

[chuckindenver]

its ok..iv been a Redneck all my life..and proud of it.. now what you think a Redneck is...and what a Redeck actually is..may not be the same thing..but thats ok..

but now that weve totally highjacked this post...i belive the big reason the USA Nationals dont get the riders..is money...

one thig AZ didnt get riders was the fear of heat. but travel and money were and are the big factor.

as for fuel costs in the U.S.

the actuall cost of gasoline..is around .65cents a gallon small or large..the rest is tax taken by state or federal Gov, i could get into a big drawn out polotical post...but i have enough friends that do that.

in the U.S, Trials is the best kept secret in motorcycle racing...until some things here change...it wont likely get any better..i have lots of ideas..but like our government...the NATC doesnt care what i think, after all im just a Redneck Colorado...but have been known to host a kick butt trials event. we have no shortage of rocks here..anytime you like..your welcome to come ride.

[jrsunt]

Thats dedication to the sport, for us, traveling to fort william for the ssdt once a year is a big deal! Thats only a 500mile round trip.

I expect we would be using similar trials transport if we had to travel as far as you guys did every week or month.

[kramit]

lets put this in reality..

just to compete in my state...for one event.. i travel 400 miles round trip...200 up 200 back..{turkey Rock}

since our club thinks they need to have most the events in the south end of the state..thats the norm.

i ride with ITSA as well. they are having a National event..350 miles each way... fuel plus eats, ect..ill spend about 850.00 to ride.

i ride in Wyoming and New Mexico as well. so.800.00 to 1000.00 is the normal cost to ride an event..

to ride the NATC national just in my end of the country.. AZ was 1300 mile round trip..

NM 750 miles round trip...MN 1500 mile round trip..

my truck and camper gets 12 to 15 miles a gallon.. and my suburban gets 18 to 20 if i use a hitch carrier.

add food. and entry fees to this cost...

this last spring i mastered a new location 50 miles from my house...even so..i made many trips throught the winter to work the property.

if you drove the long way through the UK...i doubt you would put 750 miles on..driving end to end... heck id bet you can make every club trial you have without totalling 750 miles for the year..

as i posted...i spent around 50,000.00 last year to compete in Trials, both modern and vintage...not including the cost of a new 2013 Beta 4T

you can talk smak all you like...but i work just as hard for my money as you do for yours...its spends just fine..

matter fact...the trials parts sellers in the UK seem to like it just fine..if it wernt for the U.S. youd be speaking German right now...if ya wanna talk some smak/

Come on Chuck........you could surely find something better to spend $50k on than Trials. Its not that fun !!!

[chuckindenver]

now if they just had mudd races, moon shine, and stripper poles at the events...id be in Redneck heven lol..

[beta_trials]

now if they just had mudd races, moon shine, and stripper poles at the events...id be in Redneck heven lol..

You and me both Brother!!

[zippy]

now if they just had mudd races, moon shine, and stripper poles at the events...id be in Redneck heven lol..

My only concern with that is if Chuck was to perform on the stripper pole!

[zippy]

So I shall give some feedback about why I did not attend the Nationals

$$ I ain't got enough of it to spend on trials.... and as Chuck mentioned, I think that is the largest factor. Now is a reduction in entry fees going to make a big difference? I don't know because my opinion is the travel/lodging/food expenses are so high that for most of us a $20 or so cut in entry fee won't really be noticed. Unfortunately the NATC cannot control the other expenses..........

But maybe regional series (East, Central, West or some variation) may be the way to go, but that would also depend on enough clubs willing to host the events, This is a tough one also, getting clubs willing to host a national event.

Not sure if my opinions matter much because I don't ride the nationals anyways and probably wouldn't at this time ride a regional series either.