The trade show schedule is now in full swing, as is the 2004 Supercross season. It won’t be long until the roadracers, drag racers and supermoto riders will be in action too. It’s an exciting time as we anticipate the outcome of the many forms of motorcycle racing as well as the sales activity in the marketplace.

Here’s a list of things I’ll be watching for this year:

1. The career development of Thor riders Chad Reed and Grant Langston.
Due to Ricky Carmichael’s injury we won’t get to see how Chad Reed and RC would have measured up in Supercross this year. Barring injury, Reed should win the Supercross title in a romp, but what I see coming up will be a great Motocross National series later this year. Not only will Reed be looking to unseat Carmichael in the 250cc class, watch out for Grant Langston in the Outdoor series. The 2003 125cc champ is a bit better on the natural tracks right now than in Supercross, and I think he’ll be one of the Motocross National contenders in 2004.

2. The demise of the two-stroke off-road motorcycle.
I see the four-stroke switch-over gaining even more speed in 2004 and since the manufacturers already know they will eventually stop making two-strokes, they couldn’t be happier. I have a Suzuki DRZ400 for Dual Sport riding, but for real trail riding you just can’t beat a lightweight two-stroke. I love my other trailbike, a KTM 300 E/XC, and I might just stock up lots of pistons and rings and other parts and finish out my riding days on that bike. But many riders are watching and waiting to see how light and fun the new crop of four-stroke trailbikes could be.

3. Fan support in “Year Two” of the AMA Red Bull Supermoto series.
AMA Pro Racing was in a hurry to take the sport of Supermoto to “Prime Time,” and they lined a lot of sponsors up to get things off the ground. I personally attended the Las Vegas finale and they really worked hard to include lots of things for people to see and do. The festival atmosphere was great and the racing was close and exciting. But where were the crowds? The motorcycle industry jumped in to kick the inaugural series off, now Supermoto needs to start making the cash registers ring.

4. The expansion of television coverage of motorcycle-related programming.

Motorcycling has become a hot sport, helped greatly by television. On one hand there are reality shows like “American Chopper” that is as much about a dad and his son and their attempts to work together in the same business as it is about motorcycling. But other motorcycle programs (including “Inside Motorcycling presented by Parts Unlimited”) will spotlight people, products and events and will only make more people want to get in on the fun.

As motorcycling becomes even more “In,” I think the demands on dealers are going to increase at the retail level to become more sophisticated retailers…better looking displays and more mainstream customer service. Those who stay with the times will thrive and the old “bike shops” will ultimately get left behind.

5. All things MotoGP.
I’ve been attending one Grand Prix roadrace a year for the past three years and each event I go to makes me want more. The crowds are huge, the racing is close and the excitement is unmatched. The FIM has created a format that is refreshingly all about a vast variety of high tech machinery and the best racers in the world going head to head.
The MotoGP format replaced the old 500cc two-stroke Grand Prix bikes with four-strokes and now the predicted future of the 125cc and 250cc two-stroke classes is that they will be replaced with exotic four-stroke machines as well. These three classes of racing will be where we will see the motorcycles of tomorrow developed.

Meanwhile, the AMA’s roadracing series is struggling with its format. In my opinion, they don’t have a good handle on what would bring fans to the tracks, and sorely underestimate the importance of level playing fields.

It didn’t seem to concern the guys in Ohio when Yamaha and Kawasaki dropped out of Superbike (which is supposed to be the premier class) and I’d bet that Suzuki will be next. The AMA appears to be headed towards the same Honda versus Ducati competition that we saw in World Superbike for a few years and where did that go? Today the World Superbike series is on its knees.

We can only hope that the FIM works out the details with an American race promoter to bring a MotoGP race to the United States. Until they do, don’t drop your subscription to Speed Channel.