Couldn't for the life of me figure out why I was never better than mid-pack in motocross races - then I saw a coule youtube videos showing there's supposed to be more than 3 gears! Have tried all bikes, manual and auto - they all stop at 3rd gear. Have tried on two separate PCs also. What gives?

I have the same problem. I compared with my retail version, along with others, and yes there are supposed to be higher gears/top speeds. The version on GoG.com now is crippled somehow I think. I sent a support mail so hopefully they look further into it.

I can confirm not being able to get past 3rd gear as a definite problem. However, there is greater depth to the problem worthy of elaboration.

Only Motocross bikes are limited to 3rd gear. This is a definite error as such bikes top out at about 135mph, even if they are rated with significantly higher top speed stats. This essentially kills any strategy in picking the bikes as the top speed stat simply does not exist. It has no effect whatsoever. It also means there is no point in boosting once at this top speed. More importantly, this situation prevents me from winning any Motocross races.

However, in Superbike races the gear is not limited to 3. It is limited to 4. This does not prevent me from winning any races, however, I have a good intuition the maximum gear should be 5.

Regardless, the problem remains. It is possible that perhaps there was some kind of patch or the dirt bikes are very unbalanced compared to the speed bikes, but this seems highly unlikely and essentially impossible. The OP is right. There are you tube vidoes of players successfully going past 3rd gear up to gear 5 (retail versions). This is a huge issue hampering the playability and enjoyability of this game. For this to truly live up to the glory of it's good old days, this must be fixed. GOG, do something.

Has a support ticket been raised with GOG?

Is the best way to raise a support ticket just through their contact section and classifying it as other, or is there a better more official way to do this so it doesn't get lost in a sea of emails?

I sent GOG a support question marked 'Other' a few days ago regarding this problem. Hope to hear from them soon.

Having same problem. Can't get out of 3rd in moto, 4th in street.

Just for fun, tried creating a track. Tested it (there's a button that allows this) and was able to get to 5th gear in motocross and 6th gear w/ street bikes. (No racing though -- just you and your track.)

Saved that track, then opened as normal race. Stuck again in 3rd gear.

I tried creating and testing a track also, and you're right. The other gears are there, a 5th gear for motocross, and 6th for street bikes.

Unfortunately, this joy is dampened when you realize you're condemned either to solitude and gears, or competition and a crippled bike. This game would be so much more fun with a full set of gears, beatable even. I hope GOG finds the time amidst their holiday promotions and future releases to fix this.

I must admit to being a bit confused as to whether you gentlemen are talking about Moto Racer or Moto Racer 2. Perhaps both, as both seem to suffer from the same problem?
In the case of the original Moto Racer, I have found an alternative .EXE that enables the missing gears and seems to be functional in all other respects as well.
Moto Racer 2 is an entirely different beast - the GOG.com EXE is byte-for-byte identical with the 1.36 version cracked by scene group MYTH, and happens to be the only version locatable anywhere...which could mean that we are shit out of luck...

Thanks for the insight Red. This discussion was centered around Motor Racer 2, as the track editor (which mysteriously allows the other gears) is only included in the sequel. But it sounds like the problem permeates the whole series as well. Perhaps a modified exe is part of the solution for an eventual fix. I also wonder if this particular exe has anything to do with the cut off replay problem also mentioned in the forum, since it is a missing feature as well.

Let's hope this gets mended soon, and people don't just settle. While I do admire GOG for dusting off these classics, the current game is crippled in a crucial area. If Moto Racer 2 is a classic novel, the GOG reissuing of it is missing the middle. Let's hope they find the time to included the rest of the manuscript.

In my case, I was talking about Moto Racer 1 being crippled. But from what you guys have experienced, I guess it applies to Moto Racer 2 as well.

I'm speaking about the 2nd game in particular. I did not know the 1st game had the same problem. I will not be buying that one.
I understand that this kind of bug may take a bit to get rid of, seeing how the company that made this game is gone, but if GOG doesn't come up with something soon, I am going to ask for my money back.

Apparently someone had a fix for the gear problem in MR1 in the other thread: http://81red.dk/mr.zip
Just replace the game.exe with that one. I'm hoping GOG incorporates that version and releases a fixed one. Cheers.

81 red did come up with a fix for the gear problem in MR1, but it looks like motoracer 2 is out of luck at this point: While, I am completely in favor of finding a fix rather than complaining and asking for my money back, like songblev said, if this is not fixed soon, I will be asking for my money back. As is the game is broken and unbeatable.

I'm glad to hear there is a fix for the 1st game. I looked over the files of the 2nd as best as I can and could not find any .ini files or config-like files that might have a fixable bug in them. Who did GOG license this game from? Perhaps they could help if they have the original code.