"booyah" for bikes

OK SportsCenter junkies, when was the last time you remember seeing motorcycle racing covered on ESPN? Sure, Supercross stunts sneak in during a slow news day, especially since ESPN and espn2 have hitched their wagons to the X-Games. But you'd never know that motorcycle roadracing (as opposed to dirt racing) is a professional sport since coverage is absolutely non-existent on major cable outlets. Only SPEED channel (digital cable required in Austin) carries any motorcycle racing at all, and even that programming is dwarfed roughly 10-to-1 by the blue-collar behemoth of NASCAR.

But all that's about to change. I expect that this is the year that the US's premiere motorcycle racing organization, AMA Superbike, takes a major step forward in the public consciousness. There are three social and economic factors changing the dynamics of two-wheeled motorsports in this country, presented in rough order of importance:

1. Jumpman23: Michael Jordan is one of the biggest names on the planet, and his popularity cuts across any demographic or sociological lines you care to draw. Michael Jordan is also a huge sportbike afficianodo, and I'm not referring to the size of his shoes. Our man #23 rides expensive Italian superbikes and totally digs motorcycle racing; so much so that last year he started his own racing team. His 2004 effort was small-time, with an unknown rider in a lesser bike class. For 2005, Jordan is stepping up to the big time with a full factory effort and riding talent to back him up. If Jordan's team makes it to the podium this year, it'll make news beyond the typical motojournalist nation. There are rumors of sponsorship by Nike and Gatorade, so can an ad campaign be far behind?
   


2. The Redcoats are Coming: The traditional migration path has been for promising American stars to attain success in the US, then bolt for a higher profile and fatter checks in Europe. In case you didn't know, Europeans love bikes and they love their motorcycle racing like Americans love NASCAR. For the first time in a long while, the tables will be turned in 2005 and a British and World superbike champion will compete in the American series. Neil Hodgson is a Brit, a nice guy, and one helluva rider. His arrival has already drawn a lot of European attention, and puts the AMA squarely in the spotlight. If a world champion gets up-ended on US soil, then the American series gets an instant shot of credibility, and some newfound exposure around the world. But Hodgson has already gone really fast while testing new tires on an unfamiliar track, so if he wipes up the Yanks then *heh heh* ... boy, is our face red ... *heh heh* ... Hey, look over there!
   


3. Torqued: For better or worse, bikes are back in the forefront of the pop culture consciousness. Not that they ever went away, but their outlaw metaphor has certainly undergone substantial revision since Marlon Brando's Triumph Thunderbird and Peter Fonda's Harley Panhead defined the genre. Today's two-wheeled rebels are pretty urban youngsters straddling outrageously powerful Japanese sportbikes. Their physics-defying antics may be laughable, but the performance-oriented image it embodies carries a direct lineage to the 200 mph beasts that populate the AMA Superbike series. The old adage of "win on Sunday, sell on Monday" may still be true among motorcycle loyalists, but there is a new generation of enthusiasts who buy on Friday and go to an informal track day on Saturday. Interest in sportbikes continues to grow, and interest in roadracing is a likely outgrowth of that phenomenon.

So keep your eyes peeled for AMA Superbike coverage over the next 12 months, and don't be surprised if you see Michael Jordon holding a handlebar instead of a basketball in his next Nike commercial. The moment that Stuart Scott applies faux street vernacular to describe a victory wheelie, you'll know that motorcycle racing has finally arrived in the US.