Hopefully I have caught your attention with a headline grabbing title - because we do have a serious race bike issue to discuss, that concerns an ever growing number of riders!

Year after year manufacturers R & D teams (research and development), sweat away burning the midnight oil, to bring out faster and better bikes - and to take our hard earned cash of course!

And why - because we want to win races and want the best bike to do it on. But even so, buying a bike that could help us to win a race is getting even harder than it was many years ago!

I won't argue when it comes to the point that bikes are becoming faster, more controllable and better suspended. Because in those areas the manufacturers have done wonders. In fact most modern race bikes are so 'rider friendly' that its never been easier to ride a race bike well.

And as regards maintenance and reliability, well what can you say. Disc brakes are so easy to maintain, cable controls - if you still have them, seem to last forever. Once not so long ago, a rider dare not go out without a spare cable strapped to the bike, or a couple in the van.

Yes that’s right trackside maintenance. We all know ideally we shouldn't have to do any, but unexpected incidents do occur - and then when they do, we need to be able to fix the bike quick!

And this is where a lot of modern bikes do let us down!

Let me give you two examples that I have come across recently, one of which ended up costing a rider a lot of money!

I was marshalling at a local Hare & Hounds race recently, when I came across a very dejected rider in the woods staring at his lifeless race bike. It was a 3 month old 250cc two-stroke from a major manufacturer. Apparently it had misfired a few times and then came to a halt.

After trying to kickstart it for ages, the rider had now given up any hope of it magically starting and allowing him to continue the 3 hour race.

It was an almost new machine and had been serviced regularly, but even so all two-strokes can be liable to foul a spark plug. Because of this, wise enduro riders always carried a spare spark plug and spanner. But here's the rub; on this new bike, it was impossible for either of to easily take off the spark plug cap to use it to check for a spark. To 'simply' do this meant that first the seat and then the fuel tank would have to be removed first. Which would not only mean a long job timewise, but also that you need to carry a complete toolkit around for this purpose. Not very practical really - and you certainly wouldn't be able to do this job and still get a good result in a race.

KTM's great little 200, but where is the spark plug, its not on the left side?

You can just see the spark plug on the right side of the KTM, 
it's hidden deep inside between the hose and airbox and many 
people can't manage to get the plug cap off or on properly.
But KTM are NOT the worst manufacturer for this problem!

But on an older race bike, checking for a spark or changing a spark plug would take a few moments - and still leave you in the hunt for a race win!

You can't plan for this, spark plugs and plug caps can fail at anytime without notice - even brand new plugs. I have had this happen to me many times in the past - but fortunately I was always on bikes that made it quick and easy to check and fix!

The Spark plug and carburettor were so accessible on this 1987 Husky 125.

The other modern 'can't fix quick' area is the carburettor. Only last week a local championship level enduro rider and I were going out for a bit of riding practice. As he wheeled his bike out of Fort Knox and switched on the fuel tap to test run it before loading up, petrol started pouring out of the carburettor overflow pipe.

Sadly a quick tap on the float bowl side didn't stop it (or twenty more!). Now what should and would have been a 2 minute job to take the float bowl off and get at the float needle, was now going to take quite a while on this new bike. As once more to fix this simple job - the seat and tank had to come off - to allow the top of the carb to be undone, so that we could twist the carb and get at the stuck float needle inside.

Again we are not talking about poor maintenance. This bike and rider I know well and he is so fastidious with bike checking and preparation, because he knows he needs to be to race at the top level and do well. To stop any chance of this happening he had always run a fuel filter - but sods law had intervened and the float needle still jammed.

Fortunately as we were still at home we had all the tools needed - but he could have been in the middle of a competition!

2004 YZ250 - a great bike, but can you get at the carburettor?

This was one more example of how a modern bike could let you down in a race, by taking so long to fix - what would have been a simple trackside problem on an older bike!

Older Honda200 4-stroke - with easy spark plug access.

Surely if we need to stand a chance of doing well in an event, then we need a race bike that will allow us to do so!

Most modern race bikes have evolved for 'world class' riders to win at international level MX or SX, not for average - or even very good riders at your local club race!

Worse still, some are developed especially to impress magazine and newspaper testers, who often expect to be sitting on an uncontrollably wilder beast year after year. So that if the bike is not vastly improved, at least they can still write really eye catching headlines about it - after all that is what sells bikes and we fall for it!

Now moving the fuel tank as low as possible may just give the best in the world a bit of an edge, as regards lowering the centre of gravity a touch - and therefore improving handling. Sadly I suspect that 99% of riders could not actually tell the difference - but again it looks good on the sales brochure: 'Fuel tank lowered for even greater handling!'.

How about: 'Race day wiped out due to not being able to fix a simple - but now inaccessible problem'!

I suppose it doesn't have quite the same ring to it ;o)

But sadly this type of experience is becoming more and more common - and are you prepared to accept it when you have already shelled out £4.500 for a new bike?

I am told that part of the reason many of you buy a new bike every year, is to ensure that you have more of a chance of actually finishing an event - without having bike problems and also to cut down on maintenance and running costs!

So what should have been a small job has not only cost you the race and given you a bum day, but it has also cost you a lot more!

Recently my son sat down and worked out the true cost of racing his 250 2-stroke at a fairly local Hare and Hound event. (for those who don't know, a H&H event is a bit like a 3 hour scramble.)

The following figures are averaged out over a series of local races (which means they are day trips) - are conservative figures and only a rough guide: -

And its not just enduro's that have these problems either. What chance has an MX'er got for a good result when he stalls a 4-stroke and has to try and kick start it quickly? Never mind losing a few seconds, it is not uncommon in this situation to be lapped at least once!

Plus of course there is the big disappointment of it all. A race that you have been waiting for and preparing for, for months, the big day finally arrives - and you are sidelined because of something so petty!

Of course new bikes are good, they are all very, very good and so much better than bikes of twenty years ago that there is no comparison. But they also have some serious design flaws and the big question is -

If you have any thoughts on this subject, or irritations with dirtbike design that you would like to see changed, tell us about it in Biker's Chat Forum in the 'Feedback' section.

Meanwhile I'll be sticking with my 16yr old race bike. (no comments about me liking sixteen year olds please !!!)