Thursday, July 23, 2015 at 1:31PM The battle between Dungey and Roczen for the 2015 MX Championship has been a contrast in styles. Troy Adamitis and his fime crew have created the MX Nation series to give an inside look at the different approaches these two riders have taken. Great video sponsored by Red Bull.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015 at 5:04PM This hard enduro stuff is really hard!
It all comes down to a clash of titans for the title. The Young gun Jonny Walker versus the legend of hard enduro, Graham Jarvis. After 17 hours on the bikes, only 2.5 minutes set the two apart, making for the closest race in Romaniacs history. Can Jarvis catch last years champion from behind? Will Walker be able to outpace the legend? No doubt it's a nail bitter, so click play, hold your breath, and take a look at the best action from day 4 of racing in Romania.
Sunday, July 19, 2015 at 8:38PM
Washougal summer 2015
Looking for a motocross vacation? Over 40 years old? Well a quick trip to the annual OTMX Motocross National at Washougal, Washington might be the answer. Held two weeks before the annual AMA Pro Motocross this event is one of the premier races of the year.
We have all seen the pictures from Washougal; pine trees, lots of elevation changes. And what appears to be the perfect traction surface (more on that later}) This year did not disappoint as the track was near perfect. Veteran Washougal riders can tell you stories of hot dry slippery tracks, huge rain storms and the worst mud known to motocross. But 2015 was near perfect. Temperatures huddled in the mid 60’s and for the most part the sky remained cloudy both Saturday and Sunday. The track surface was near perfect all weekend long.
Over 275 riders attended the two day five moto event. The format was near perfect and not a comment was heard about not enough track time. Those riders who make a point of sticking with their training programs have an advantage especially during the third moto on Saturday as the track was fun, but it got very rough . The section before the step up jump in the back portion of the track was very challenging.
Former AMA pro and the track promoter Ryan Huffman put his familiarity with the track to good use as he won all five moto’s in the very competitive 40 Master class. Ted Holt won a large class of 50 Master riders which also included Craig Christian in 4th and former AMA 500 National Motocross champion Chuck Sun.
Perhaps the most interesting class is the 80 year old plus. There were three riders this year. They attacked the course with the same enthusiasm as the Support riders. It gives you hope that even if you are laboring in the 50 year old class that you can still be racing 30 years from now.
The OTMX National at Washougal is a celebration of senior class motocross. It’s well worth any true motocross riders time and expense of getting to the event. Mark it on the calendar for 2016.
Barry 16S
Tuesday, July 14, 2015 at 2:51PM All my Old timer Moto Cross friends (Both of them) have been telling me I need to at least once make the trek up to Washougal WA to experience the incredible venue and race on this iconic track.
Last year at this time I was just beginning to get out and around after having suffered with vertigo issues for months. I’ve been riding and racing a lot this year, because I can and none of us know when we won’t be able to.
So I decided to make the drive and check it out. I’m a little odd in that I enjoy the getting there and back as much as I enjoy being there. And what’s not to like about driving up through Northern California, Oregon and just a little bit of Washington. It’s very easy to see why some call it god’s country.
Pulling into the Washougal MX Park for the first time is amazing; it’s like pulling into a state park. The trees and grass are all manicured with lots of carved out flat spots to park and camp on and winding through out all this beauty is a MX track.
For those of us who have only seen it on TV, as they say can’t appreciate how serpentine and up and down it really is. The venue and setting are truly nothing like I’ve ever seen before and I was well aware of the beauty and setting while I was riding.
Based on the horror stories I’d been told I didn’t know what to expect regarding track prep and watering. (They apparently have a well deserved reputation for over watering before and during the races) Because of the stories I didn’t make this trip just to experience the track, actually I had made up my mind that the track wasn’t going to define my trip.
Well, the weekend before the event it had been in the mid nineties, the weekend of the event it was high sixties mid seventies and over cast almost the entire weekend. The weather was perfect. Having only seen this track on TV and no practice on Friday along with only two laps of practice Saturday morning at 7:15AM and I was in the first race after practice it was a little daunting.
They have made a number of changes to the track that the real riders who show up in a couple of weeks for the National will experience; it will be interesting to see how they attack these new sections.
As they say TV can’t do justice to the actual elevation changes you experience, you see horse power hill on TV and how far they fly off the back side of that but to actually experience it, it’s quite a thrill. (And for the record I may have flown a whole fifteen feet down the other side of horsepower hill) I thought the track was fair and by that I mean it wasn’t set up to test your testicle size, (Going up and down the hills did that) it didn’t penalize you big time if you didn’t make something. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t challenging far from it, it was very challenging. I liked all the elevation changes and the twisty tourney sections. It seemed more like a rhythm track where you could over jump (Not me of course) and that could put you in a bad position for the next corner. There were lots of fun fall way downhill ski jumps and there weren’t any high banked bowl corners. You always had options of going inside or riding around the rim on the outside. And the start straight dirt and prep was the best I’ve ever seen. And for the first time this year I actually got some good starts. Problem was I’m not used to doing that and when I got to the end of the straight part of it I didn’t know what to do. (You know like make the turn with some speed, I got passed like I was standing still) Oh and the famous Washougal whoops was all it was cracked up to be. For me it was second gear, occasionally jumping one or two. Some of the talented support riders showed us how it was supposed to be done. (Amazing to watch them skim over the tops like that)
My first race was pretty muddy and slick and I was still learning which hill you jump over and which you couldn’t. By my second race the dirt was just about perfect. And because of the weather they hardly had to water at all. Sunday was a repeat of Saturday.
A lot of the regulars who make this event every year say this was the best the track had been in years. I lucked out with perfect weather and track conditions along with first place in my class. I won’t be going back, been there done that as they say, besides no sense tempting fate.
Next up in the fall Glen Helen another iconic track in Southern California.
Doug 21J
Monday, July 13, 2015 at 2:09PM Here are a couple of tips from Buck that many riders never think about. Small maintence tricks can keep your suspension in tip top shape.
916-910-3532
Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 5:13PM Red Bull does a great job giving an inside look at the different approaches these riders take. Explore the curious contrast between the 2015 AMA Pro MX title contenders Ryan Dungey & Ken Roczen. Be sure to click on Episode 2 of MX Nation at the end of this write up to see the Red Bull video.
In Episode 2 of the 'MX Nation' series, the gate drops on the 2015 AMA Pro Motocross Championship, where again we see two polar opposites in a head-to-head battle for the 450 no. 1 plate. Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen battled tooth-and-nail for the championship in 2014, and their rivalry has only continued into 2015. Dungey and Roczen have brought a duality to the motocross series that we have not seen since the early Ricky Carmichael vs. James Stewart days - the workhorse against the natural.
Dungey was not a star as an amateur racer until he was 16, when he won his first major title at Loretta Lynn’s in the Schoolboy class. It was not until Roger DeCoster gave him an extremely unexpected shot at a professional factory ride that Dungey really started to shine. Roczen, on the other hand, was a prodigy on a minibike, a world-renowned name by the time he was 12. and is the youngest rider ever to win a FIM World MXGP race, at just 15 years old. But each have met now in the same arena.
Roczen bested Dungey in 2014, but 2015 has marked yet another chapter in Ryan Dungey’s saga of hard word paying off, and he has proven to be the rider to beat throughout the year.
The 2015 Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross series did not start out with either rider out front. Instead it was Honda’s Eli Tomac who put in five straight demoralizing (for his competitors) performances in the first five motos of the season, racing unchallenged to crushing victory each time. But a massive get-off for Tomac in the second moto at Thunder Valley spelled the end of his season, and blew the door open for the Dungey-Roczen battle to continue. Check out Episode 2 of MX Nation as we explore more into the dynamic and contrasting personalities of Ryan Dungey and Ken Roczen as they fight to yet again to reach the pinnacle of American motocross.
Thursday, July 9, 2015 at 12:44PM Farewell
by Ryan Villopoto
It is with gratitude, humility, a bit of sadness but without regret, that I announce my retirement from motorcycle racing today.
As many of you know, I experienced a pretty horrendous crash back in April that left me with multiple fractures in my tailbone along with soft tissue damage. My initial thought was that I could be back riding in a few weeks if I just stayed quiet for a while. That has not proven to be the case. Follow-up X-Rays have made clear that I also suffered severe compression of multiple disks in my lower back. I am still in significant discomfort and I realize that even if I start my fitness program and training now that I been cleared by my physician, I will not be able, prior to the end of the MXGP season, to achieve the fitness necessary for me to compete at the level I have always striven for.
I am grateful for having had the opportunity to do something I have loved since I was a kid and turn it into my livelihood. I am grateful for the support of my family for all the years they spent hauling my bikes and me around to races, interrupting their lives in the process.
I am grateful for the support of my many sponsors through the years. What people don’t often think about, when it comes to individual “action” sports like motocross, is that we rely on sponsors to compete. In motocross, the sponsors aren’t just a name on your jersey – they are part of your racing team. If they are good, they are sponsors in the truest sense of the word. They are involved in building the best bike, putting together the best team, supporting your training, and so much more. So, with that in mind, first and foremost I want to thank Kawasaki, which has been my bike of choice since my Team Green days. They have been with me through ups and downs, serious injuries and great successes. They’ve always cared about me and I’ve been successful in large part because of it. THOR/Parts Unlimited and Monster Energy Company have been with me through it all as well. Thanks also to DC, GoPro, Oakley, Alpinestars, Atlas and Mobius Braces. Each of you has been an integral part of making this an amazing career.
I want to thank my long-time agent, my friend, Bobby Nichols, and his agency The Sports Syndicate, for the strong guidance and support they have offered my entire career.
But most of all, I’m writing this retirement note to my fans. I am grateful for the hundreds of thousands of fans, not only in the U.S., but throughout the world. It is amazing to know that you have cared so much and been so supportive along the way.
That gets me to the sadness about making this decision now. I was so stoked to make the decision to be a part of MXGP racing. It has always been important to me to ride my best and to be in the best possible position to give my best, in part because of wanting to give back to you, the fans. I am sad that this year did not work out the way I had hoped in that regard. I wanted to be at my best, to compete with these riders who are among the very best in the world and leave it all out on the track as each of them does every race. The sadness is that I only got to do that for a few races.
I am grateful to have had the chance to race with the very best in world, my competitors in Supercross and Motocross in the States as well as those who make the MXGP what it is. I am grateful to know that our competitiveness helped to continue the growth of our sport.
I leave with no regrets. I have been blessed to experience so much of life through my racing. I have never wanted to disappoint my fans nor my supporters and my hope is that for the most part I have lived up to that.
Again, thanks to each and every one of you who have been a part of my team.
Sincerely,
Ryan Villopoto
Monday, July 6, 2015 at 1:59PM
Speedy Working Motors (SWM) has used the Italian round of the World Enduro Championship (WEC) in Bergamo to introduce its new range of street and off-road motorcycles. With seven new models in the pipeline, the Italian company plans to start production this month with a 650 cc enduro bike.
Founded in 1971, SWM manufactured Trial, Enduro and Motocross bikes with Sachs and Rotax engines until it went into liquidation in 1984. Its honors include several national Trial and Motocross titles as well as a Trial World Championship.
The resurrection of SWM was first announced at the 2014 EICMA Milan show after securing funding from Chinese motorcycle and ATV manufacturer Shineray, a.k.a. China Chongqing Shineray Motorcycle Co.,Ltd. The new company’s CEO is Ampelio Macchi, a former Cagiva, Husqvarna and Aprilia engineer and renowned figure in Italian motorcycling history.
Production is set to begin this month in SWM’s new manufacturing facility in Varese, Italy. The 2016 range presented during the Italian WEC round includes three enduro models, RS300R, RS500R and RS650R, two supermotos, SM500R and SM650R, the Silver Vase 440 scrambler and the Gran Milano 440 roadster.
Shineray acquired the rights to the SWM brand name as a vehicle for expansion to western markets. The Chinese company also bought a factory in Varese, Italy, that produced Husqvarna motorcycles under BMW ownership until 2013, when the Germans sold the brand to KTM. With the Austrians poised to abort operations in Italy, Shineray stepped in to acquire 10 Husqvarna models designed by BMW engineers, a fully operational plant and all the expert personnel required to run it.
The enduro and supermoto models run on older Husqvarna single cylinder engines, updated to 2016 standards by the same R&D engineers that curated them in the pre-KTM period. Frames and most of the running gear come from the relevant BMW-era Huskies as well.
What is more interesting though is the power plant of the scrambler and roadster models. The air cooled, fuel injected, 445 cc single is a novel appearance in Shineray’s European lineup, which until now comprised of small displacement engines between 50 and 250 cc. Since Husqvarna had nothing of the kind in its production line, this is probably the first sighting of a new Shineray unit.
Apparently SWM has big plans for the future. The first model to come out of the Varese production line will be the RS650R on July 8, followed by the SM650R in August, the rest of the enduro and supermoto models in September and the two "classic" 440s in October. May 2016 will see the introduction of a 125 cc model, August will bring a new 250 and there is also a 450 motor in the making. The latter will be an important step for the company, after formally declaring its intention to go Motocross racing in Europe by 2016. And there’s a lot more to come; Shineray envisages a range of off-road racing, street and adventure models, including a 900 cc multi cylinder engine available by 2018. If we are to speculate, an evolution of the Husqvarna Nuda 900 twin inescapably comes to mind.
The enduro RS650R is the first new model on offer, with production starting on July 8
SWM motorcycles will be initially available in Europe; Australia will be next and North America will follow soon after. In China, South America, Asia and Africa the same motorcycles will be sold under the Shineray logo, which is more recognizable there.
Thursday, July 2, 2015 at 3:03PM Truly amazing what a talented rider can do on two wheels even a road bike. The downhill shots in SF are stunning.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015 at 3:49PM Mike, puts in a few laps on his YZ 325 at the Mammoth Bar track along the American river near Auburn, CA. Watch for a one year update on this bike coming soon.
