I am sure the hobby will do just fine with $100 J motors.
I always describe the hobby is similar to fishing. You can buy a pole and some bait and sit by a creek, or spend $1M on a boat and fish offshore, and everything in-between. I think that holds true no matter what the prices of motors are.
Our club made a conscious decision to be more inclusive of younger member to get them more involved instead of just the "old guys". When someone is involved, they feel a sense of ownership. That has worked very well. They brought many new ideas and points of view forward. It didn't sit well with all the old guys, but that's OK and actually needed. The future is looking bright.
I think with the huge increase in TARC, IREC, and other college teams and competitions, we are going to see a large growth in the hobby. There might not be a lot of those students joining after the college projects are done, but like a lot of us BARs, many of them will come back when life settles down and things get more stable for them.
I don't think the price of motors is going to make any difference. Look at RV and boat sales. The price of gas hasn't really hurt that much.
I always describe the hobby is similar to fishing. You can buy a pole and some bait and sit by a creek, or spend $1M on a boat and fish offshore, and everything in-between. I think that holds true no matter what the prices of motors are.
Our club made a conscious decision to be more inclusive of younger member to get them more involved instead of just the "old guys". When someone is involved, they feel a sense of ownership. That has worked very well. They brought many new ideas and points of view forward. It didn't sit well with all the old guys, but that's OK and actually needed. The future is looking bright.
I think with the huge increase in TARC, IREC, and other college teams and competitions, we are going to see a large growth in the hobby. There might not be a lot of those students joining after the college projects are done, but like a lot of us BARs, many of them will come back when life settles down and things get more stable for them.
I don't think the price of motors is going to make any difference. Look at RV and boat sales. The price of gas hasn't really hurt that much.