Supercross: Chad Reed's 'Last Ride' Might Not Be the End

The 38-year-old Aussie considers coming back for a few Supercross events once fans are in the stands again.

By Joey Barnes

Chad Reed isn’t quite ready to call it quits.

The 38-year-old Aussie was set for “one last ride” entering the 2020 Monster Energy AMA Supercross season, but that was before the coronavirus pandemic interrupted his plan midway through. Now, instead of making his farewell in front of fans on the back end of the schedule, Reed's final seven races are happening behind closed doors at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Sunday will mark the final round of 17 in the championship (3 p.m. ET on NBCSN; 4 p.m. on NBC), but it might not officially mark the last time Reed’s iconic No. 22 plate will be at the gate.

“For me, I never trusted myself,” said Reed, during a Zoom call on Thursday. “It was always, 'This is the end of a full-time racing career.' I no longer have that burning desire to want to work year-round to do a 17-round series anymore. But yeah, just jumping in and doing some races, whether that's here in the U.S. or Europe, Australia, whatever.

“Obviously, with the ending that we're currently experiencing, it's far from what I pitch it as my last seven races, and that doesn't need to be a negative. It's not that I'm talking like these races suck or anything like that, it's just a very different feeling. I decided to race this year fully based on the fact that I wanted to kind of say my goodbyes and enjoy multiple stadiums around the country, and I didn't get that opportunity. We're really six stadiums short of what I originally had planned out to do.”

After his professional career began in 1998, Reed came to the United States in 2002 and has become one of the most decorated—and notoriously gritty—riders in the history of the sport, amassing 44 premier class wins (fourth all-time), 132 podiums (most all-time), 264 starts (most all-time) and he is a two-time Monster Energy Supercross champion (2004, 2008). He is also the only international rider to win titles in both 450cc and 250cc.

Over the past couple of years, though, he has caught the four-wheel bug and run events in Lamborghini Super Trofeo, even winning at the World Finals in Jerez, Spain, last year. Although his eyes have moved toward sports cars, there is still a desire to not let Sunday be the final chapter of his storied Supercross career.

“As I sit here today and I'm in shape and I'm racing, I absolutely want to come back and race,” said Reed. “As I start to phase out and start looking at car data and racing four wheels and all these kinds of things, do I have the motivation to want to get back into shape and the work that it takes to qualify and race these races? That's the unknown.

“Sitting here today, emotionally, physically, I don't want this to be the end right now. I really want to race some races next year. I think that'd be really fun to experience fans again. What I get from racing in front of fans and when they turn the lights off, do opening ceremonies, the fireworks, the anthem, all those things, that's what I want to experience one last time.”

Anaheim, Daytona and Indianapolis were among the list of potential venues he mentioned returning to. Looking beyond his riding career, Reed sees the appeal of emulating Roger De Coster, who earned five motocross championships in the 1970s before retiring and finding a prominent second career running programs for Honda, Husqvarna, KTM and Suzuki.

“I mean, I love it,” said Reed. “I feel like a lot of people retire—there's a few reasons—a lot of people just don't want to travel anymore. It's a gnarly schedule. The schedule doesn't scare me. I'm probably most fearful of not being able to pack my bag and get on a plane 17 times a year. I actually have more fear from that than anything. I love it. I would love the position (of a) Roger De Coster. If I was to put effort and to go and do something, you'd want to be Roger, because it's so hard being and seeing what I've seen and knowing what I know and running my own race team—seeing what makes a team successful and what makes a team fail.

“I think that you have to be in the position of a Roger to be the guy that if you make bad choices, you fail, and then if you make good choices, you win. Anything in between that line is probably where I struggle the most with every individual in our sport, so I wouldn't want to be that person. But I would have a huge desire to take over a factory race team at the highest level.”

That notion isn’t so farfetched, considering Reed is familiar with being in a team ownership role and has represented six different manufacturers throughout his career. Although there is one that he is partial to, it all comes down to whether the manufacturer is willing to provide the resources it takes to win.

“Give you the resources and give you the reins to be successful,” stated Reed. “Don't give you just enough reins to hang yourself, give you enough to go out and get the job done. It's always hard to talk about this while you're still racing, but I mean, never really shied away, but I think that Yamaha probably needs my help the most. It's near and dear to my heart. I have a lot of successful years. The years that you look back on and think, 'Man, they were the cool years. They were fun,' I was riding blue. So, to see them at the level that they're at now is less than the highest level, in my opinion.

 

“Yeah, I’m retiring, but I didn’t have the thought process of a retiring athlete, yet. I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”

“Yeah, a team like that would be fun, but we're saying that you want to be involved in a company that's thriving to build rad motorcycles and people that are producing motorcycles at near the weight limit and pushing that envelope like KTM, Husky [Husqvarna] are. Roger's got himself a fun project.”

While the idea of Reed in that type of role is fascinating, there is no timeline for when that might come to be.

"I really haven't given it any thought,” said Reed. “There's so many things, it still hasn't sunk in if I'm honest. It hasn't. Obviously, doing these kinds of things and the opening ceremonies at the beginning of the season, they hit home. But right now, I still feel very amongst the racing and training and riding, and we've still got one to go. I can't wait to get home and ride my two-stroke.

“Yeah, I'm retiring, but I don't have the thought process of a retiring athlete, yet. I don't know if that's good or bad.”

Eli Tomac SX Champion 2020

 

Monster Energy Kawasaki rider Eli Tomac has won the 2020 AMA 450 supercross championship and finally put his name amongst the indoor legends of the AMA supercross championship. It was a night of taking it easy as the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna riders dominated the podium with Tomac finishing fifth in the main event and showing again signs of an all new Eli Tomac.

"I mean," Tomac said. "It is unbelievable and I think about everything we went through with the team and so many ups and downs and it is unbelievable. We didn't even know if we were going to race here."

Veteran Zach Osborne passed early leader Jason Anderson to win the main event, while Anderson lost his seat during the main event and handed the lead to his team-mate to finish second and another Husky rider Dean Wilson finished in third place. A Husky triple treat.

Major contenders Ken Roczen finished seventh, and Cooper Webb eight while retiring veteran Chad Reed finishing in 10th place.

In the 250 East and West it was Chase Sexton and Dylan Ferrandis who won, after red flag restarts and major crashes cost their opposition.

In the 250 shootout Austin Forkner looked likely to win the West Coast championship and Shane Mcelrath led the race and was looking a good bet to win the East Coast, when Forkner went down hard and forced a red flag restart. Out of the running the title was the Frenchmans, and in the restart Chase Sexton ruled the roost and won the main event and retained his East Coast championship. Drama, drama, drama!!

Chad Reed Tribute

#22 Hangs'em up!

5 minutes: Joachim Sauer – KTM Off-Road Product Manager talks 2021 EXCs

On the back of KTM launching the 2021 EXC and XC-W Enduro models, Enduro21 caught up with Off Road Product Manager Joachim Sauer to talk about the new bikes, who wins the two versus four stroke fight club and what future EXCs might look like…

The people behind the bikes coming out of Mattighofen in Austria are a many varied bunch but few can have invested as much time in the orange machines as Joachim Sauer. KTM’s  Product Manager for Off Road Motorcycles may, by his own admission, be getting on a bit in years these days but he has a passion and history racing Enduro most of us would be proud of. He is also mad enough to have once attempted Erzberg on a 500 but more on that later.

Who better then to dig deeper into the newly released 2021 EXC Enduro bikes and to get a bigger picture of the off-road market in this current climate than Jochi? While on the line we also asked burning questions like whether two-strokes are more popular than four strokes and what the future might hold for KTM enduro bikes – electronic suspension anyone? 

 

Hello Jochi, how has Coronavirus affected KTM and did it have any impact on the 2021 EXC models?

Joachim Sauer: Honestly, so far this year we can see sales are more or less the same level as they were at this time last year. We don’t know how that will change as the year progresses, so let’s see, but for now it is ok. 
As far as the new model development is concerned the bikes were changed quite a lot last year so there are no big steps to improve this year. We did some suspension tests and development but, in the end, decided we couldn’t make it work and leave it as it was last year. All-in-all we are at a good level with these bikes already. 

We got positive feedback from all our markets around the world and it also gives us time to develop next generation models. Before we launch a bike we are already working on the next generation.  

Can you just run us through the changes to the MY21 EXC and reasons behind them?

We have an upgrade to the fork preload adjuster on all standard models which honestly was a request of the market, the customers. It is a feature we already have on the SIX DAYS models and we had the request to have it as standard. It has a simple benefit for riders who can make an adjustment on the side of the track or at the start of a special test. 

And the new graphics are a little bit of a departure from normal this year…

Yes, this year we decided to make a more visible change on the bikes to bring new graphics and colours to show more of a change and bigger differences to the previous models – a new feel, colour and appearance to the bikes.

 

Has anything changed with the fuel injection systems and TPI software this year?

No, no changes there. There are always little updates happening but in terms of maps there are no changes since the 2020 model launch. I spoke with the R&D guys only yesterday to check this detail in fact and they assured me there are no changes. 

Last year when the bikes came on the market there were some small software updates that the first bikes needed installing but that was already one year ago now. 

Looking at the 150 EXC TPI, can you explain the concept behind this bike compared to a 125 and also the update for 2021?

The change for 2021 is the cast instead of forged piston which is a reliability thing and nothing to big really. Even though people would estimate the forged piston is stronger, but it is not the case. A cast one is more reliable in this bike. 

The 150 is a model for younger riders and also for the people who do not want to race, they don’t want or need the high-end, super performing race bike. The engine characteristics are not like a high revving 125 carburettor engine, there is more torque and it works well on the hills – say if you stop or stall on a hill it will start up and pull away again. A 125 two-stroke race bike struggles in this situation so it is more friendly and this is the concept.

For those who want small, lighter bikes the 150 has the same engine base, the same light handling character and so on. Plus it has all the ease of use the fuel injected bikes bring so no worrying about jetting or mixing fuel and so on.  

We also can’t make a 125 anymore because of homologation reasons it is as simple as that.

Over the whole world what bikes are popular? Is the 350 4T champion or is it the 300 TPI? What are people buying?

In total with all the models we sell as many four strokes as two-strokes. Within that the 300 is very popular model and that makes up the numbers on the two-stroke side. 

In America we sell a different kind of bike generally. The numbers are pretty equal between the XC (based on the motocross bike) and the XC-W (based on the EXC) if we look at the 300 two-stroke for example. The two-strokes are pretty strong and also the 500, dual-sport model over there is very popular.

What is popular goes in waves but since we introduced the fuel injected bikes the two-stroke is more attractive because life is easy with it in terms of maintenance and running costs. And for many a two-stroke is more comfortable and easier to ride in general.

 

I remember back in 2000 when we launched that generation of four stroke, everybody said it was the future and the two-stroke would die out. I even went to Erzberg on one, I was 40 that year after in 2001 and wanted to race Erzberg one time. I took a 525!

There was a clear wave towards four strokes but then we saw the two-stroke come back especially in model year 2008 when we mounted the electric start on the 300 it proved very popular again and from then on into the TPI era.

One thing to remember is that we who love racing, and the media surrounding the WESS events like Erzberg, are all seeing the 300 two-stroke all the time. Everybody is riding that bike in these events and in the videos and so on. But in reality not everybody is riding like that. We still see a high percentage of KTM Enduro riders don’t even race, they ride for fun. Many of the EXC customers are older riders and they don’t race anymore. They have the bike for riding with friends in the mountains and so on. What we see on social media doesn’t represent the whole market.

Does that represent a problem then? How do you attract younger riders?

The older guy watching Lettenbichler doesn’t want to do those doing stupid things [laughs] with his bike but the young riders are inspired by it and that makes our bikes attractive to the younger riders. The traditional enduro doesn’t attract many young people anymore but for sure WESS riders are impressive to many.

Does it get harder to achieve the big development changes to bikes?

Yeah, really. I don’t see the big development steps coming in the next five or 10 years. I don’t see a supercharger or whatever. If you compare a 2030 bike with 2020 it will be a big step but year-on-year it is a small evolution. Looking back the TPI was a big step but looking forward I don’t see any sensational developments coming. 

If you compare the four stroke produced in 2000 to the one produced today the big change is the fuel injection. Apart from that there is just a steady evolution. There was never any big step especially on the four stroke side. The fuel injection was a bigger step on the two-stroke simply because it was always harder to set the two-stroke carburettor where the four stroke once it was set it was no problem.

Riding a 520 of 2000 compared to a model year 2020 obviously feels completely different in terms of ergonomics and suspension and the type of racing has changed in that time as well of course. Now it is much more about the special tests and not so traditional enduro as it was. 

What I hope and think will change in the future will be more electronics, more connectivity. Currently it is not allowed to use semi-active suspension but in the future for sure we will, I hope, be able to see more electronically controlled suspension. This made a big difference on the Adventure bikes but the FIM doesn’t allow us any solutions like this on off-road bikes. I’m pretty sure once the industry tells the FIM the systems are reliable enough then we can change the rules. 

You launched the Freeride E a while ago now, why hasn’t KTM followed that up with a ‘proper’ electric Enduro bike by now?

Honestly speaking it is still the conflict between the expense and the limited range of the bikes. It is that simple. An off-road bike is not an ideal base bike for electric drive – a scooter for example is a better bike where you have much more space to put a battery and you do not have such a conflict with price and mileage.

Two years ago we increased the battery on the Freeride E by 50% but it is still not enough for off-road. You still need more capacity to run for two or three hours without any change in performance when it comes to an EXC. At the moment the technology is not there for a bike holding a battery for that amount of time riding. If we could, people would not buy because it would be too expensive. Battery capacity is expensive. 

If one manufacturer makes it work then we might see a quicker move from everybody else but at the moment I am not convinced, especially for enduro.  

I hope that the kids sitting on our SX-E bikes today, when they want to sit on a full-size bike in eight or 10 years time, will want to sit on an electric bike. They will be our future customers for sure because they will be used to the cleaner bikes, less noise pollution and so on. Noise is our biggest enemy when it comes to off-road racing. They will grow up with a different attitude and for sure the technology will have changed in 10 years. 

For now I do not see it coming from KTM in the near future. We saw a lot of noise around Alta but the battery capacity was a weak point and also the price – so far no one can make profit on electric motorcycles. We are moving to invest always in the future. There will be products coming in the near future but focused on the young kids.

SX Racing Is Back...Hooray!

Blake Baggett got out front early and he was riding well as he’s a great rider on slick hard pack tracks historically. Cooper Webb, Ken Roczen and Eli Tomac were battling behind Baggett, Brayton and Cianciarulo when Adam had a big crash in the second rhythm section. Eli Tomac almost crashed when he ran over Adam’s bike and Cooper Webb had nowhere to go when he landed in the rhythm section and he ran over Adam Cianciarulo’s back. Adam looked to be in major pain, but he was able to move under his own strength. Then Eli Tomac passed his way up into the lead with 12-minutes left while Blake Baggett was second, Webb third and Roczen fourth. Eli battled hard with Webb and Roczen, but then he seemingly grabbed another gear and pulled away. Eli Tomac went on to win the Main Event with Cooper Webb second. Ken Roczen would finish third after saving what could have been a big crash late in the race.

2020 MXDN ?

BELIEVE IT OR NOT! MXGP’S CRACKPOT 2020
MOTOCROSS DES NATIONS

 

You mean we could have brought Broc, Kent, Hurricane, Marty, Too Tall, Barnett, Wardy, Rocket Rex and Bailey with us? Wouldn’t it get a little crowded.”

The Motocross des Nations is under attack, by the men who are suppose to protect it. There is talk, among the rear guard of Grand Prix executives (which means the Italians), to throw away the 73 years of the tradition of the MXDN being a nation-versus-nation showdown — and open it up to all the GP riders—which would lessen the importance of and demean the stature of the World Team Motocross Championship.

It would become nothing but another GP in a schedule that already has 5 too many Grands Prix to begin with (and you know the 5 GPs without us telling you who they are, where they are and why the promoters want to go to those non-moto countries).

The idea is to turn the Motocross des Nations into a points paying GP, open to every GP rider (please don’t called it the Motocross “of” Nations—that was just a marketing ploy to sell sponsorship packages to corporations that knew nothing and cared nothing about motocross history). By allowing everybody to race at the Motocross des Nations the riders who weren’t named to their nation’s teams will be placed in the mix as “wild card” riders (mucking up the mix is more like it). If In Front Racing, formerly Youthstream, makes this change, the MXDN will lose its reason for being. It will just become another GP.

 

Ricky Carmichael at the 2007 Motocross des Nations.

Why do they want to make this change? Because the way the current MXGP schedule is laid out, the previously last race of the year, the Motocross des Nations, is now in the middle of the MXGP season—with 11 GPs scheduled after the MXDN.  Frontstream is worried that most of the Grand Prix contenders will refuse to race for their national teams with so many GPs left on the schedule (where injury at the mid-season MXDN could harm their chances of being number one).

They have already lost Team USA, at least the upper crust of the potential Team USA, to the late starting AMA National series and now they are worried that the European stars will bow out also to focus on the 11 races left in the World Championship points chance.

And since In Front Racing refuses to budge off  the September 27th date—it seems as through they would rather kill the event’s uniqueness than think about re-arranging the schedule—which starts with getting rid of at least  5 meaningless GPs.

If they dropped all of the To be Announced (TBA) dates and the five races that no one wants to go to, the MXDN could be the last race of the season.

REVISED 2020 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

Mar. 1…Matterley, Great Britain (Held)
Mar. 8…Valkenswaard, Holland (Held)
Aug. 2…Russia, Orlyonok,
Aug. 9…Kegums, Latvia
Aug. 16…Uddevalla, Sweden
Aug. 23…KymiRing, Finland
Sept. 6.…Afyonkarahisar, Turkey
Sept. 13…Shanghai, China
Sept. 13…TBA
Sept. 27…MXDN, Ernee, France
Oct. 4…Trentino, Italy
Oct. 11..Arroyomolinos, Spain
Oct. 18…Agueda, Portgual
Oct. 25…Lommel, Belgium
Nov. 1…Jakarta, Indonesia
Nov. 8…TBA, Indonesia
Nov. 22…Neuquen, Argentina
Nov. 29…TBA
TBA…Loket, Czech Republic
TBA…Teutschenthal, Germany
TBA…Imola, Italy

Let's Go Racing!

There’s finally a locked-in end to the racing lockdown. Monster Energy AMA Supercross announced today that the championship would resume on May 31 and finish on June 21, and conduct the remaining seven rounds in one building: Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In order to fit seven races into a three-week span, racing will take place on Sundays and Wednesdays. Here's the full press release:

Ellenton, Fla., (May 14, 2020) – Feld Entertainment, Inc. announced today that the Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, will resume racing at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah on May 31 and will run through June 21. The final seven, made-for-tv races will be broadcast on NBC networks without fans in attendance. The Utah Sports Commission, a longtime partner of Supercross, has coordinated our return to Utah.

Like all forms of sports, the Monster Energy Supercross Championship was abruptly halted in early March after completing ten rounds of the 17-round Championship. The last race was held on March 7 at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Fla. where Monster Energy Kawasaki’s Eli Tomac earned his fifth win of the season over top rival Team Honda HRC’s Ken Roczen, both of whom are competing for their first premiere class title with only three points of separation.

The sports industry in the United States, like virtually all industries, is being severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Monster Energy Supercross fuels an entire industry and is the primary source of income for thousands, including competitors. With no events, the industry is in severe economic peril. It’s important to the economic infrastructure to get back-to-work. Unlike other professional sports with guaranteed contracts, Supercross athletes, team personnel and many others involved in event and television production are independent contractors.

"We're excited to continue our work with Feld Entertainment, Rice-Eccles Stadium at the University of Utah, and the Utah Department of Health Services. Their continued support along with Utah's Governor Gary R. Herbert, have made it possible for Supercross’ return to Utah," said Jeff Robbins, President and CEO, Utah Sports Commission. "We also look forward to showcasing Utah worldwide via Supercross' global footprint." 

The responsible return to racing will provide guidelines and protocols to competitors and essential staff that complies with all federal, state and local health guidance and mandates. Mitigation efforts include mandated prescreening, testing, temperature checks, face masks, increased sanitation efforts and social distancing to limit contact among individuals executing the events. The stadium will assist with the implementation and execution of our plan. Supercross, in partnership with the Alpinestars Medical Unit, has a trained medical team of 7 professionals to assist on site.

The racing format has been adjusted to reduce the number of athletes to stay within the minimum requirements and a standard race format will be used for all seven rounds, except for the finale which will be an Eastern/Western Regional 250SX Class Showdown.

• Supercross Race Format for Final Seven Rounds:
  • 450SX Class – 40 Riders based on current point standings and 2020 top 100 number or combined season qualifying results
  • 250SX Class – 40 Riders based on current point standings and 2020 top 100 number or combined season qualifying results
  • Two qualifying sessions will be held for gate pick
  • 250SX Class – Two Heat Races and a Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
  • 450SX Class – Two Heat Races and a Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
  • 250SX Class Main Event
  • 450SX Class Main Event

In the final seven races, three champions will be crowned – one in the 450SX Class and two in the 250SX Eastern and Western Regional Classes. It is the hope of the series that the final seven races will start to bring some normalcy to race fans by creating memorable experiences through the live television broadcast that continue to bring people together via a shared experience while also uplifting the human spirit, as all forms of sport do.

Supercross athletes have little to no contact as riders race solo against other competitors and wear several protective elements – full-face helmets that cover the mouth, goggles, gloves, jerseys and pants that leave little to no skin exposed, plus fully secured knee-high boots.

Supercross partners Oakley, Toyota and VP Racing Fuels have been lending their expertise to the medical community and first responders by developing and mass-producing protective shields, eyewear and hand sanitizer. This type of expertise that exists within the industry, coupled with Utah’s leadership and Feld Entertainment’s live event experience will all factor in to helping the industry get back to racing while aiding in the recovery and healing process nationwide.

NBC and NBCSN Television Schedule:

Round 11 (East) – Sunday, May 31                 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm ET on NBCSN then 4:00 – 6:00 ET on NBC

Round 12 (East) – Wednesday, June 3          10:00 pm – 1:00 am ET on NBCSN

Round 13 (East) – Sunday, June 7                  5:00 pm – 8:00 pm ET on NBCSN

Round 14 (West) – Wednesday, June 10      7:00 pm – 10:00 pm ET on NBCSN

Round 15 (West) – Sunday, June 14              7:00 pm – 10:00 pm ET on NBCSN

Round 16 (East) – Wednesday, June 17        7:00 pm – 10:00 pm ET on NBCSN

Round 17 (East/West) – Sunday, June 21      3:00 pm – 4:30 pm ET on NBCSN then 4:30 – 6:00 ET on NBC

*TV schedule subject to change.

NBC Sports will present the final seven, made-for-TV races across NBC, NBCSN & NBCSports.com. Races will also be available to domestic livestream subscribers via the NBC Sports Gold “Supercross Pass” and internationally via the Supercross Video Pass.

For more information on either one of these livestream options please visit NBCSports.com/Gold or SupercrossLIVE.tv .

Racer X had learned of some of the extensive social-distancing guidelines to be in place at these events. Spectators will not be allowed at these raced. Teams will likely have to keep to their own rigs and not come within distance of the staff of other teams. Surely there will be many other rules in place, but sacrifices are needed to get back to racing.

Expect much more info as we ramp up toward the continuation of supercross for 2020. Just 17 days to go!

Memorial Day...Day to Remember Those That Serve

Matrix Concepts Memorial Sale!

Happy Memorial Day! Stay safe!  Go ride! 

Use code: g640c at check out for core products. 

Use code: TT35 for tables and Toolboxes. 

www.matrixracingproducts.com

Sale end June 1, 2020 at midnight. 

THE MATRIX CONCEPTS STORY

THE MATRIX CONCEPT… IT'S WHAT THE FACTORY TEAM USE

It all started in 2009 as a college project for Chadd and Cameron Cole and after several months of product design, development, testing and input from Eddie Cole, some of the top riders and mechanics in the world of motorcycling racing, including MX legend Bob Hannah.

In 2010 Eddie Cole who was the founder and President of Answer Products, Protaper, Manitou, SIXSIXONE, Tag Metals, Sunline and Filtron led the Matrix team of Chadd Cole, Cameron Cole, Brady Sheren, Arnold Taylor and Brad McLean, they introduced and launched the MATRIX CONCEPTS line in the spring of 2010. 

The company had instant success with over 20 professional and amateur teams using and endorsing the product line.

 

The company set up and has offices and warehousing facilities in both Valencia, CA USA and Vancouver, BC Canada.

 

The phase-1 product strategy was focused on motorcycle off road composite stands, loading ramps, tie-downs, utility cans and unique line of motorcycle rubber work mats.

The design team wanted to introduce a new approach to some old school products and developed a five part design criteria;

1. Make the products from high strength material that was lightweight and very strong.

2. Offer new innovative features that improved the product over the competition.

3. Give the rider/team the ability to personalize the products with their name/number giving them the "factory look".

4. Offer a great retail value.

5. Offer a complete line of garage and track necessities.

TODAY

The company has over 1,000 part numbers. Has distribution in 50+ countries. Matrix Concepts now has the top 22 teams worldwide in racing using and endorsing our products.