Fans of knobby wheels will already know the answer. The in-depth look at the birth of Motocross will leave you amazed.
The very first cross races were held in England with the so-called “scramblers” or bikes derived from trials, a discipline that has always been very popular in the United Kingdom. This type of racing began to become popular in Europeapplying modifications with shortened tracks and increasing the number of laps, as well as artificial obstacles to add spectacle to the competition.
In the 1930s the popularity of motocross began to grow especially in England where official teams such as Norton, BSA and JS battled on the track. At the time, motorcycles with knobby wheels were not much different from those used on the street. The duels gave the manufacturers the opportunity to refine the technique of motorcycles. In the early 1930s rigid frames were replaced with suspensions and the rear swingarm made its first appearance in the 1950s
BSA was the best-known manufacturer in the world thanks to its international victories. The FIM, the International Motorcycling Federation, created the first European individual championship in the 500 category, which later became the world championship in 1957, while only in 1962 was the 500 joined by a second category of 250.
In this situation the manufacturers of motorcycles with two-stroke engines like the Swedish company Husqvarna and the Czechoslovakian CZ, they acquired popularity thanks to the agility of the vehicles and many Swedish and Belgian riders began to obtain notable results in the relevant championships.
The origin of the name motocross
In the 1960s, Japan began to notice the popularity of knobby-wheeled motorcycles, and to counter the dominance of European companies, major brands launched innovative motorcycles. Suzuki won the first 250cc world championship in 1970. In the mid-1970s the class with one-eighth liter engines of 125 displacement was launched.
In the 1980s, American champions appeared and little by little the stars and stripes school supplanted the European one. The rider Jean Michel Bayle played a very prominent role, capable of winning in the United States in Supercross and in major championships, despite having a French nationality and having grown up in Europe. In the motocross of Nations, riders from all over the world compete on equal terms on every engine capacity and Italians are often capable of real feats. Here’s who has won the most in history.
The English term motocross derives from the aplological compound of the words “motorcycle” and “cross-country”, formerly called motocampestre. It is commonly abbreviated to cross or MXas it is a global motorcycle sport (MXGP) that is practiced on closed dirt circuits called cross-tracks.
