Hey Ping,
Long-time listener, first-time caller. There’s been something pissing me off for years and I’m hoping you’ll have the exact answer I need to hear. Why is it that in the movies, whenever there is a motorcycle prevalent in a scene, they avoid using the correct engine sound for it? I caught Terminator 2 the other night and it reminded me of why that movie pisses me off. Little Johnny rides an ’87 XR 80 (or 100, I can’t tell for sure) but every time he’s riding it, all you hear is the sweet sound of a two-stroke. Now, if they gave his sidekick that sweet mullet with the hope that it would distract those of us with half a clue how bikes are supposed to sound, they failed. I know this isn’t the only movie that has done this, but right now I’m too pissed to think of any others.
Since you’ve spent your fair share of time out on the left coast, I figured you’d have a good idea why those sneaky Hollywood bastards would pull such a heinous act.
Sincerely,
PO’ed in NJ.
PO’ed,
I don’t like to admit this but I did all the stunt riding for one of the main characters in “Supercross: The Movie.” Trip Carlyle was my guy and along with Rich Taylor and Dave Castillo I spent quite a few days shooting footage for that movie. The production company rented Sam Boyd stadium after the Vegas supercross one year and we shot there for a week. Then we spent another several days up in the Valencia area getting more shots at the Team Nami “test track.” They were shooting with really expensive cameras and equipment and when they let us watch the raw footage we were all stoked; it looked amazing! That’s why it was such a bummer when we saw the movie and it was a gigantic pile of steaming donkey crap. Sequences were chopped up with ridiculous close-ups of rider’s goggles and the sounds, as you alluded to, were all off. I was on a two-stroke and almost every time they paired it with a four-stroke sound. The problem is that the guy sitting in the editing room is an idiot. He doesn’t have a clue about dirt bikes and he isn’t taking the time to research it. And unless motocross gets really mainstream you can expect these film-cutting nerds to keep getting it wrong.
PING
Ping,
So I was walking through the pits in Atlanta and I came upon the MotoConcepts rig and there sat an older Honda 450 with some kind of note on the front number plate. I looked closely at the note and it said “Mike Alessi podium bike from Steele City 2004, at only 16 years of age !!! So what do you think that bike is worth? $100k? More? And why isn’t it in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Ohio?
Thanks
Tim
Tim,
Motorcycle Hall of Fame? I was thinking more along the lines of the Smithsonian or one of our esteemed museums of natural history. Hell, maybe we can get it hung from the ceiling of the White House? Look, nobody “believes the hype” more than Tony and his minions and when you think that a twelve-year-old bike that got a third once is worthy of a display case, well, you are putting your familial narcissism on full display. There’s nothing wrong with believing the hype… just not your own.
PING
Ping,
First off let me say I've read this email a few times to try and correct any grammar errors that irritate you so bad, and I probably still missed a bunch. But anyway my question is what is your take on Eli Tomacs [Editor’s note: that should read Tomac’s] rather poor first half of the season? It seams [Editor’s note: seems] to me that if this is because of some lingering issues from his shoulder injury then he should take some time off to let them heal properly. Or is he having problems meshing with his new bike and team? It wouldn't be the first time that a high profile rider couldn't mesh with that team. Either way he needs to get it right soon because this season has been a huge let down so far.
Thanks
Donald S.
Anchorage, AK
Don,
I’ve said this before but I think everybody needs to back off Eli. He is starting with a new team and a new bike after dual surgeries. But, more importantly, Eli has no history of being dominant in supercross. He’s shown flashes of speed on the big bike but he’s never done what he did the first few rounds of Lucas Oil Pro Motocross last year, i.e., make everybody look stupid. I think Eli will get there but we need to give him time and stop holding him to unrealistic expectations.
PING
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