Interesting Facts About Motocross
Motocross is a racing sport in which a group of motorcycles or similar all terrain vehicles compete against each other in an enclosed circuit. The circuits generally consist of off road terrain that include dirt, mud, water, and jumps. The sport was originally called scrambles and evolved from early motorcycle trials. The origins of motocross can be traced back to the early nineteen hundreds in Great Britain.
The activity emerged out of an English early trial which was meant to determine whether a certain rider could qualify for a race or not. The strict scoring of the trials, over time, were abandoned for the full races in which scoring was totally eliminated and riders that were faster won. The racing fans in the UK highly preferred the new competition and the fad spread eventually and slowly to Europe’s main land. There it was referred to as motocross after the words for ‘cross country’ and ‘motorcycle’ in French.
The events became extremely popular during the early thirties and people would often travel long distances to watch them. Back then street bikes and ones used for off road racing were exactly the same but as motocross’s popularity grew, so did the need to develop better, more rugged motorcycles. The early bikes featured thin wheels and rigid frames which were eventually replaced with traction tires and rear suspensions.
The hobby of motocross was introduced to the United States public in the mid nineteen sixties when a well known rider from Sweden raced in a big exhibition against a few of the United State’s top rated motorcycle riders in southern California. The following year the same rider again competed against the ones from the United States and dominated the events. This actually led to a revolution about the way these type of events were looked at in America. Just as with Europe, factories there started making major changes to their products as well.
By the early sixties, Japanese companies were developing faster, lighter, stronger bikes and claimed their first world championship when a Suzuki built motorcycle won a 1970 crown. The sport’s increasing popularity and motorcycle production in America led to an intense competition between the two countries. The Europeans, not wanting to get left behind in the dust, upped their factory production as well, which helped lead to an explosive growth in the sport.
Throughout its long and rich history, the sport of motocross has evolved into many different sub events such as ones held in indoor arenas. There is even a freestyle version which involves the riders doing various tricks and acrobatics during a big jump. Fans of the older all terrain vehicles can watch or compete in vintage games, where the bikes that are used are all from before 1975.
Finally, there is supermoto, the popular version which has a racer competing on closed circuit tracks that have unpaved and paved terrain.
Bikes being used for supermoto events are fitted with special tires that help them grip all road types prior to their race.
Motocross is an interesting sport and you can always play motocross games online. These online motocross games are usually free to play.