DEATH OF THE 500s.

The production bike didn't change that much over five years, and Mike's bike, like the machines of his predecessors, came out of a crate that just as easily could have gone to a dealer. With less travel and perhaps an age limit (or a champion-moves-up rule like the U.S. had), the 125 class would be cheaper for manufacturers, as well as privateers, allowing budgets to be stretched to cover all three classes. Mike LaRocco's championship '93 KX500 wasn't much different from Mike Kiedrowski's '92 title bike or Jeff Ward's '89 and '90 machines. Another possibility might have been to enforce the production rule in just two classes, while the 500 class was left open to works bikes. [Extracted from the article]
Copyright of Dirt Bike is the property of Hi-Torque Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)