Supermoto's father...

[Atitalongtime]

I remember watching this the first time and getting goosebumps...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUEyWgyQOKg

Why it disappeared and da' FRENCH had to bring it back is beyond me.

I'm glad it's back and growing... even if the AMA is stupid enough to put the new NY round on the same weekend as Unidilla
Talk about splitting the customer base

[Mac]

Cool stuff. Hard to tell much difference between then and now other than the bikes.

[zooplancton]

that was sweet!
it's nice to see some dirt moto racing that's not all jumps...
sure miss the old school closed course races. (similar to cross country)

the cool think about that old school super motard was it was built around speed!
thanks for that flashback.

[Capirex]

Jim McKay and Wide World of Sports.  Now there's a blast from the past.  I remember watching that stuff back then. You never knew if they were going to show racing or ping pong from China.

I'd say Jay Springsteen was a blast from the past too but the guy is still racing.  

[Rincewind]

The most surprising thing in that video is to hear, "...the Harley Davidson on the long fast straightaway."  You just don't hear Harley's being called out by announcers anymore.  Too bad they didn't continue to be competitive in racing.

[1KPerDay]

I had no idea the XR750 was even allowed in the first superbikers events. Amazing. I bet that thing was a handful in the uphill-downhill-bumpy sections.

[ventur4th]

As a teenager, I went to two Superbikers events at Carlsbad. To this day, it's some of the best racing that I've seen. At the first event, the Harleys would literally walk away from the modified MX bikes on the pavement sections only to loose ground in the dirt. The XRs were (and still are!) fast and they demonstrated a clear horsepower advantage. The subsequent events were noteable because the two strokes were much closer in speed to the XRs and the racing became even tighter. I was at the race when that footage was shot, and I can tell you that Magoo rode that bike for all it was worth! The guy was simply amazing! I understand that he was in an accident some time later that left him paralysed.
The race was created as a 'for television special'.
I went to the supermoto final in Long Beach, and it seems that the Superbikers were getting a lot more speed than the supermoto guys were. But hey, at this age, my memory is suspect...
Any one know where to get a full length version of those races?

[Atitalongtime]

Beleave it or not...
I still have two VHS cassettes, taped from the TV at the time. no remakes about packrats.

I just tried to play one, It was the race won by Howerton, the quality was POOR, but the action was hot.

I don't think there's a remastered version for sale... wasupABC?

Here's some history pages...

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Speedway/9137/remember1.html

[Orson]

Why it disappeared and da' FRENCH had to bring it back is beyond me.

I think it was produced by ABC Sports as nothing more than something to fill up an hour of TV time. They had no interest in running a series.

Regarding the Harleys...I grew up during the motocross heyday of the 1970s and regarded the Grand National Championship with disdain as "roundy-round" racing, even though I had only read about it in magazines.

That all changed years later when I had the chance to attend the Sacramento Mile. Lemme tell ya. It's a whole different ball game when you witness it live. 20 Harleys lining up at the start line being revved in anger gets the hair on the back of your neck standing.

Then they head into the first turn at a hundred miles an hour and flick'er sideways  

[stk0308]

2 minutes isn't enough for that!  MORE, MORE!  

Ricky Graham in the lead.  Boy, I kinda miss those days