Yeah totally, I agree 100%
I'm one of those armchair guys, I'd like to come spectate but I decided a few years ago that I just don't have the time or dedication to actually compete. The whole reason I got into moto track days and AHRMA (LO fuckin L) was because I wanted to focus on the riding skill and not the machine, then I discovered dirt which is cheap and way more fun and hurts less, and now I just enjoy mopeds for what they are and when I want to ride to ride, I grab one of my 'ready to race' orange bois.
When your time is super limited with projects, a farm, 3 kids and everything else I cram in a average summer, showing up to race and not even getting to start because your wrist pin bearing gives up after a 4 month death slog building a bike is just too soul crushing to recover from, haha.
All I'm saying is I love this spirit in this thread! It kinda bums me out to think that the climax after all of this is 'yeah, cool, nice job but just slap on a spx pulley' but I know that's not really the point here. I'm just talking trassssssssshhhhhhh!