So here's a weird bike example for you Jeff, that certainly would not be expected to do well in NovU/O or AmU/O -

the trusty SV650.

You can still run it in those 4 classes - as well as in LWEND, HWEND, STU, LWGP - as a Novice.

for simple math, say Say you finished 25th in each Novice and AM class class which is 6 points x 4 = 24 points

say you finished 15th in both HWEnd, LWEnd 16 points x 2 = 32 points

and 10th in STU and LWGP 21 points x 2 = 42 points

so for the weekend you'd have 98 points even with those very realistic finishes.

the guy on an open bike who can ONLY run NovO, AMO, and EndO - even if he wins both Nov and AM and finishes 5th in EndO will have only 98 as well... and soon as he moves up to Provisional Expert, he's out of Novice and certainly won't do as well in the open Expert classes - so the little guy still has a fighting chance imo.