Southwick Motocross track receives permits

SOUTHWICK, Mass. (WWLP) - Motocross will be returning to Southwick.  Selectman Joe Deedy told 22News the town has issued American Legion Post 338 permits to run up to 20 motorized events in the next year.  As well as four other events like the Rugged Maniac.

The Legion owns the track, Mike Grondhal, founder of Planet Fitness is the new promoter.  They won’t be holding their annual national event this year, but hope to bring one back in the future.

The track owners will have to go in front of the Board of Selectman again in February to be issued permits for 2015 and 2016.

By Ryan Walsh, Investigative Reporter

Roger De Coster: The 50 Most Powerful People in Motocross (No. 5)

World champ, motocross exporter, American Mx evangelist and KTM pioneer, Roger De Coster...

  

   

Roger De Coster may be Belgian, but he’s probably the greatest man in American motocross! He was one of a group of riders that exported modern motocross to the USA, exposing the Yanks to the sport.

To some, he remains the greatest motocross rider that ever lived, winning five world 500 championships and leading the Belgian team to six Motocross des nations wins. He pioneered riding techniques and dedication to physical fitness that changed the face of motocross. He defined what it meant to be a professional rider.

When he stopped racing, he joined Honda and helped turn its production bikes from archaic twin-shock, air-cooled dinosaur Elsinores to single-shock, watercooled CRs that would go on to dominate.

With Roger De Coster being a Nations fan, he was shocked to find that his adopted homeland of the USA didn’t take the event seriously. So as boss of the U.S. Honda team, he took his whole squad of Donnie Hansen, Chuck Sun, Johnny O’Mara and Danny La Porte to represent the USA in 1981. And they won, as the team did for 13 straight years afterwards under his guidance. He’s still boss of the team, which has won a record 22 times since 1981, including every year since 2005.

He built and managed the U.S. Honda powerhouse team of riders like Ricky Johnson, David Bailey, Chuck Sun, Johnny O’Mara and Danny “Magoo” Chandler, Jeremy McGrath. Jeff Stanton and Ricky Carmichael.

He helped turn a deserted bit of Californian desert called Glen Helen into a world-class facility, personally promoting the first ever major event there – the 1990 American 500 GP.

At Suzuki, he helped riders like Ryan Dungey reach their potential and win the U.S. Supercross and national championship.

So when KTM decided it was time to really get serious about winning in the USA, they hired the 67-year-old to run the revamped KTM team of Dungey, Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin. And in his first season, De Coster guided Dungey to not only KTM’s first ever Supercross win but then to go on to take a hat-trick.

Roger De Coster knows how to win at the very highest level. He’s turned many riders and teams from being almost-there to being winners, and he continues to do so.

“I’m proud of what I did. Along with Torsten Hallman, Joel Robert, Dave Bickers and myself, we really got things going in America. It’s something I’m very proud of. But I don’t live in that time any more,” he says. “I live for today and tomorrow and next year.”

Reprinted from moto.mpora.com

WA Track Under Attack Before It Even Gets Started!

Hearing reopened on Granite Falls motocross track

Herald staff

GRANITE FALLS — Snohomish County plans to reopen a public hearing on a proposed new motocross track near the Mountain Loop Highway in Granite Falls.

---

A county hearing examiner ruled May 13 that the track could be built if it complies with a list of conditions, such as managing water runoff, studying sloped terrain and reducing noise levels. The hearing is being reopened to review some stipulations, specifically those regarding slope and sound analysis, according to a June 25 order.

---

The hearing is not meant to challenge the May decision allowing the project to move forward, according to the order. The county wants MXGP of Kirkland to submit new information by July 31, after which a date and time limit will be set for reopening the hearing.

Exotic Bikes in Motocross History

Trampas Parker's 1991 CR250

Feast your eyes on the first ever Factory Honda 1991 CR250 run by the Martin team. Words by Doc Wobs, photos by Adam Duckworth.

Taken from Moto issue 78, April 2012.

When the softly-spoken American Trampas Parker won the 1989 world 125 championships in Europe, it was an eye-opener for many. Americans, and indeed a lot of European GP fans, who never really expected the little-known Parker to really make his mark. But he got his name in the history books in fine style.

A lot of the Americans didn’t realise who he was as he decided he liked his middle name better. He’d raced in the USA as Chad Parker but changed to Trampas. Two years after he took the 125 KTM to the world crown, he made history as the first American to win two world championships.

This time it was with Honda and a fledgling, first-year team known as Martin Honda. The Martin brothers Paulo and Maurizio formed a team in the late 80s, but in 1991 they got excellent backing from Honda Europe and took a chance on Trampas Parker.

He hadn’t had a good year in 1990. In his first year full time on a 250, he was injured in a freak accident where he hit a rider travelling the wrong way on the track, wrecking his foot.

With team owner/manager and now mechanic Paulo spinning the wrenches, the team was Parker and Michele Fanton – an Italian legend in his own right. They made an impressive attack on the world and Italian championships, winning the FIM world title and incredibly the 125, 250 and 500 Italian national championships with Trampas Parker all in the same year, a feat which has never been repeated.

The team, now known as “Honda World Motocross” is still managed by Paulo at their impressive workshops near Venice. They are well known as one of the premier set-ups in the world championship paddock, running Evgeny Bobryshev and Rui Goncalves this year on the all-new factory Honda CRF450s. But they still state 1991 as their finest hour.

Trampas Parker’s bike has pride of place at the team’s headquarters. As you can see it is in immaculate shape and is mostly a full HRC bike. The motor is full HRC. The crank, which is a work of art, is a machined billet part with titanium weights to allow the crank to be perfectly balanced. The gearbox is factory Honda and it’s a slightly different ratio to stock as well as a stronger material and better shifting.

The clutch is factory and HRC provided the magnesium clutch cover. There are adjustable powervalve springs and the waterpump is bigger to keep everything cooler. The cylinder and head is factory Honda, as is the single-ring piston. The pipe is pure factory Honda and doesn’t look like anything else on the market and the silencer is an aluminium HRC part. The suspension is where it gets really special, and very spendy!

This bike has the full factory Showa forks and shock, this isn’t kit stuff but the very top shelf £50,000 forks which is a stag-gering amount of money. But if the rider is quick enough, and more importantly able to set these up, they are simply the best and are only offered to the very few.

The shock is factory Showa bolted to a HRC linkage and HRC swingarm, which not only have different ratios from stock but also offer less flex and are a lot stronger. The triple clamps have adjustable bar mount positions and Trampas used Italian-made Arrow bars.

The wheels used were pure factory HRC items with DID rims and Dunlop tyres. AFAM sprockets were used with Regina chains. The brakes are the straight shot factory Nissin part and have incredible performance.

The tank was an Italian made VRP component to get enough fuel on board to do the gruelling 40 mins plus two laps. The plastics are all stock apart from the crazy expensive £180 front number plate from factory Honda.

Industry leaders Technosel made the graphics in Italy and their grippy seatcover is fitted. The whole package was very trick and brutally effective in the hands of Trampas Parker and is a milestone in the history of Honda’s racing in Europe.

Tom White - Hall of Fame!!

AMA: Industry Icon Tom White Elected to Motorcycle Hall of Fame

June 24, 2014 By Cycle News

 

American Motorcycle Association Press Release:

Tom White, acclaimed racer, White Brothers Cycle Specialties founder and a lifetime advocate of motorcycling and the sport of motocross, has been elected to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class of 2014.

White, who was elected to the Ambassador/Industry category, will be inducted at the 2014 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony Friday, Oct. 17, in Orlando, Fla. The induction ceremony is part of the AMA National Convention being held in conjunction with the American International Motorcycle Expo (AIMExpo) Oct. 16-19.

“Few have done more to advance the sport of motocross racing, and the history of motocross racing, than Tom White,” said Ken Ford, a member of the Hall of Fame executive committee and treasurer of the AMA board of directors. “By virtue of his early racing success, his long and successful career in motorcycling, his personal dedication to promoting both the past and present of this great sport and his selfless dedication to the Hall of Fame on the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation board, Tom White is personally responsible for improving the experience and opportunity for motocross racers and motorcyclists of all ages.”

White first tasted motorcycling at the age of 15. By the time he was in his early 20s, White was ranked among the top 100 motorcycle racers in America, earning AMA National No. 80. Soon after, he founded White Brothers Cycle Specialties in 1975, which became one of the top off-road motorcycle accessory companies in America. When White sold the company in 2000, the firm listed more than 30,000 items.

Today, White feeds his passion by racing motocross, as a race announcer, and as owner and curator of the Early Years of Motocross Museum in in Villa Park, Calif., which features 160 motorcycles and related displays.

“There is no higher honor in motorcycling than being inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame,” White said. “This is special because it comes from your peers in the industry and existing Hall of Famers. I am humbled to think that my heroes, these great people of the sport, believe that I’m worthy of this acknowledgement of my life and career. It’s a real testimony that if you love motorcycling enough, sooner or later people will notice.”

White’s lasting contributions also include the Edison Dye Motocross Lifetime Achievement Award, which recognizes the person or persons who have made the largest impact on the growth of motocross in America, and creating the World Veteran MX Championship and the World Four-Stroke Championship, which has become the World Two-Stroke Championship.

“I’ve always had the attitude that we as an industry need to work together for a common goal, and that’s to make this activity of motorcycling so cool that everyone wants to do it,” White said. “I’m probably most proud for carrying on after the sale of my company. I’ve been able to spend a lot of positive energy to promote the sport. One of my goals has been to make more of today’s motorcyclists more appreciative and aware of the pioneers and trailblazers of the past, and I’m blessed that I’ve been in a position where I’ve been able to do that.”

White expressed his appreciation to those who nominated and elected him to the Hall of Fame.

“I’m just very thankful to everyone who played a part in this recognition,” White said. “You look at the Hall of Fame, and you look at the people who are in the Hall of Fame, and you realize the significance of it. You come to realize that when your name gets added to that wall, it will go on for generations. It’s just such a huge tribute, and I really don’t know what it’s going to feel like when that happens. Besides being married to the love of my life and the birth of my children, this is one of the most wonderful things that has happened to me.”

White is the second member of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame class of 2014 to be announced. He joins previously announced inductee motocross pioneer Pierre Karsmakers. The remaining 2014 inductees will be announced in random order in the coming weeks.

AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famers are selected through a nomination and voting procedure that includes ballots cast by living Hall of Fame members, members of the American Motorcyclist Association and AMHF boards of directors, and members of, and advisers to, the Hall of Fame category committees.

YZ 295 Project

8 REASONS WHY U.S. MOTOCROSS THRIVES

This is a little dated but everything seems to be the same today.

Published in 2010 in MOTO

1.

Supercross. Say no more

It’s the world’s biggest dirt bike sport with thousands of fans crammed into stadiums the length and breadth of the country to see their heroes in action. Big money salaries, big money sponsors, big money TV deals. Replica rider action figures in every toy shop across the land. It’s big time. And is there any correlation between America becoming a powerhouse in motocross from the start of the 1980s, precisely when supercross was taking off? Well, it’s hardly a coincidence.

2.

The top riders are not all automatons

OK, we admit plenty of riders are. Especially when podium speeches turn into a list of sponsors and deities they seem contractually obliged to pay homage to.

Some of the most confident riders are still capable of being cocky, controversial and funny. Like Chad Reed, responding to Mike Alessi who said at the Hangtown national: “In the second moto I looked back and there was nobody even close.”

Winner Reed countered: “I won, right? I was almost as confused by that as Mike is…

“I almost didn’t break a sweat in the first moto. I have spent just one day on a motorcycle in the past two weeks. I came under the weather and won so easily. I absolutely expected to win.”

3.

The amateur classes produce winners

Unlike in the UK or Europe where you don’t see any AMCA-bred GP winners, the massively professional “amateur” scene has fully backed riders being put through their paces before they turn pro. Famous amateurs of the past include Ricky Carmichael, Travis Pastrana, James Stewart, Mike Alessi, Ryan Villopoto and Justin Barcia.

And this year they’ve been joined by Eli Tomac, the first rookie to win his pro debut in 38 years. “It definitely helped that I went testing with

Barcia and Trey Canard before the Nationals and I knew I was close to them. I had a top five goal in my mind and didn’t expect to win,” he said.

“As an amateur, I worked hard but not too much to get burned out as a pro. I have tried to keep it fun all through my career. But I still make rookie mistakes!”

4.

There’s lots and lots of room

Which means there are lots of tracks, especially
in the hotbed of motocross which is Southern California. There are 31 tracks in SoCal alone – Perris, Pala, Glen Helen, Competitive Edge, Gorman, Lake Elsinore, Piru, Starwest, Barona Oaks, Adelanto and more.

In a bid to get you to ride there, most are well groomed and watered, and several have supercross tracks, too. And many run night sessions under floodlights so you can ride after work. More people ride, so there are more tracks.

And more people own more land, which always seem to have room for a track. Or two.

5.

Ex-pats are welcomed

From Roger DeCoster to Jean-Michel Bayle to Seb Tortelli and loads in between, America has always been a welcome home for international riders looking to make a name and perhaps a new life and home for themselves.

And the current crop included Christophe Pourcel, Dean Wilson, Tommy Searle and MOTO cover star Max Anstie.

Brit Anstie loves his new home in the SoCal desert, including life with his Dad, ex-GP start Mervyn Anstie – and Merv’s new other half, American Devin.

Max, who challenged for supercross wins in his first season this year until he got injured, says: “It’s every young racer’s dream to come and race in the USA and I’m enjoying every minute of it.

“Every time I race in America, it’s great and I’m enjoying it more and more. The tracks are cool and the riders take different lines to European riders. The sun’s always shining, the bikes are fast and I’ve been made very welcome here.

“I’ve even got my Green Card to work here now, so I’m practically American!”

Soon he’ll be joined by Marvin Musquin, and eventually by Ken Roczen and Jeffrey Herlings.

6.

The No.1 domestic series

American Nationals are often mentioned as a great rival to GPs. But face it, the U.S. series is a domestic championship and the GPs are a world championship. They shouldn’t be on the same playing field, but they are. With the vast majority of American riders earning more and often being more revered than their GP counterparts. The Nationals pay great prize money but are one-day events organised by local organisers and aren’t a patch on the infrastructure of GPs. National tracks are often better than GP tracks, and the kudos is still greater.

7.

Heroes are honoured

From the soldiers who fight for them in wars around the globe to the riders who have given all for American glory, the USA way is to still show support and respect for the greats of yesteryear. Former champs are revered and never forgotten.

They are inducted into the AMA’s “Hall of Fame” and still get regular coverage in magazines and draw crowds at events, years after they retire. Take the curious case of people called Smith. Americans Malcolm Smith and Marty Smith get far more respect than our early heroes like Jeff Smith.

8.

It’s the centre of world motocross

From motocross riding holidays to the world’s biggest MX shop at Chapparal to the tuning houses and aftermarket suppliers like Pro Circuit and Troy Lee, California has it all. Plus the five major manufacturers not only have bases there, but supercross and motocross test tracks. But it’s not just about the West Coast, as motocross is big in the Mid West and Florida, with facilities like the Millsaps Training Facility in Georgia producing a crop of talent annually. America buys more motocross bikes than the rest of the world combined. Sell big in America, and you’ll sell big! That’s why KTMs now have a linkage – to crack the fickle U.S. market.

TAKEN FROM ISSUE 80, JULY 2010

WORDS BY ADAM DUCKWORTH

2014 Sierra Classic MX

June 14 - 15 Prairie City OHV Park

This year the Sierra Old Timer club decided it was time to take advantage of the Hangtown National track and use it for their 38th annual Sierra Classic IOTMX. This was a wise choice. Senior riders from all over the western US showed up to test their skills on the same track the national pros used just two weeks prior. The jumps were tamed down but the track was essentially the same. Riders from 40 to 88 years young had fun chasing each other around in perfect northern california weather. The track was prepared by REP racing and I believe it was the best prepped and maintained race course the IOTMX has used in many years. The turn out was good, the racing hot and the stories tall. My class alone had riders from five states and two countries. They served an award winning BBQ dinner and had nice awards. The whole program ran smoothly and I believe everyone had a good time. Lots of photos are posted in the Gallery section. If you are a vet rider put this one on your schedule for next year.

Greg Albertyn...Moto History

ICONS OF MOTOCROSS: ALBEE'S MADE TO MEASURE WINNER

Greg Albertyn signed off in world championship motocross with his third title in a row in 1994. This is the bike he did it on

 

 

TAKEN FROM MOTO ISSUE 82, AUGUST 2012

Words Gez Kane, photos by Adam Duckworth

Greg Albertyn is a motocross legend. He’s one of very few riders to have won on the world stage – a 125 world title in 1992, followed up with back to back 250 championships in 1993 and 1994 – and gone on to beat the best American riders in their own back yard.

With those three world crowns in his pocket, South African Albertyn headed for the States in 1995. He raced Supercross and outdoors, finally claiming the AMA National title in 1999 – beating a host of established stars including Jeff Emig, Doug Henry, Mike LaRocco and Sebastien Tortelli along the way. It gave Suzuki its first US title in almost 20 years which was a fantastic achievement and lifted Al- bertyn into the superstar category at a stroke.

But to get a ride with Roger DeCoster’s US Suzuki team in the first place, Albertyn had to impress on the GP circuit – and to do that, he needed world class bikes. This is one of them.

Albertyn had been riding for Honda in his 250 GP debut year. He’d beaten the best in Europe in what had become the premier class in GPs in his first year. So you’d have expected him to stay with Honda to defend his title. But in fact, Alber- tyn already had an eye on moving to the States with Honda in 1994 and had agreed terms in principle to do just that. But at the last minute, Honda decided not to fund the move and Albertyn was left without a ride in the Jan DeGroot GP squad. Believing Albertyn was heading to America,DeGroot already had Ste- fan Everts to replace him. Sylvain Geboers came up with a Suzuki deal and Albertyn signed to campaign what was, in essence, the bike that Everts had ridden in 1993.

Albertyn immediately set about developing the bike to suit himself and this is the result of his hard work. It might look like a production RM250 at first glance, but it’s a real one-off factory effort and virtually nothing remains of Everts’ old bike. It’s an RH250, Suzuki’s designation for works 250s. RN was the 500 designation and RA for 125s.

The whole package is tailored to suit Albertyn. Having signed the reigning world champion, Suzuki obviously decided to throw the kitchen sink at the bike he was to defend his title on and the first thing to go was the old frame. This one is hand-fabricated to Albertyn’s specification and is lighter than the ’93 design, it has a steeper steering geometry to make it turn quicker too. Similarly, the works swingarm is an im- mensely strong fabrication – again all hand welded – and every component in the rear suspension linkage is hand machined, too. During his winning season in 1994, Albertyn used four or five different sets of linkages to suit different tracks and conditions – and all were just as meticulously hand crafted as this set.

Suzuki’s works 250s were probably the horsepower kings of the heap in 1994 and with good reason. There are no production parts in Albertyn’s

RH250 engine – it’s a full factory build, with works crank, gearbox and barrel. The crankcases and outer engine covers are all magnesium, while all fasteners are titanium to save a few more vital grammes. In fact, the 1994 RH250 engine was so good Suzuki modified some of its 1995 and 1996 works frames to take the old 1994 engine while it was trying to squeeze a bit more power out of the disap- pointing replacement for it.

The obvious centrepiece of the bike is the titanium exhaust. It’s fab- ricated from individually rolled strips of titanium sheet and hand welded. To get the inside diameter of each seg- ment exactly right at each end, sheet titanium had to be cut into radiused strips with a complex calculation used to determine the exact radius of the arc. Bearing that in mind, it’s no surprise that each pipe used on Alber- tyn’s RH250 is reported to have cost around £7500 – and that’s without the hand built carbon fibre silencer.

Factory Showa upside down forks are housed in hand-machined factory yokes and the steerer tube is titanium. Naturally, there’s a full works Showa shock absorber at the rear too.

But just take a closer look at those yokes. They are a marvel of minimal- ist engineering. There’s precious little alloy wrapped round the top of the fork slider – just enough to do the job without carrying any excess weight. But looking at the yokes, it’s also easy to understand why just about every component on the bike had a strictly defined lifespan in terms of motos raced or hours run.

Details everywhere reveal Suzuki’s no expense spared attitude to prepar- ing a bike fit for a world champion. The fuel tank is a one-off alloy fabrication, the brakes are full factory Nissin units developed specifically for this bike and there are countless details you don’t fully appreciate until you spend a bit of time just looking at the bike. There’s the graceful arc of the rear brake pedal, the sand-cast magne- sium hubs, one-off hand crafted rear sub-frame and the custom plastics.

And then there’s the kick start lever – a short 125-type item. Albertyn wore knee braces and the reduced flex- ibility they afforded made it easier for him to use the shorter lever.

Despite all the effort that has clearly gone into making this bike, Albertyn was, apparently, less than impressed with it back in 1994. Three DNFs due to mechanical failures dur- ing the season probably didn’t help, but Albertyn is on record as describing the 1994 season as the worst cham- pionship he won and saying that the bike was “terrible”. That may be so, but then Albertyn is a multi-world and AMA champion. To mere mortals like us, his 1994 RH250 still looks pretty special. And the results prove that – at least with Greg Albertyn aboard – this 1994 RH250 was the best in the world.

Bell on Display at Mammoth MX

Bell Official Helmet for Mammoth Motocross

Courtesy of Bell Helmets

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Email a Friend

*Email Addresses (up to 5):

One Email Address is Required Valid Email Address is Required

 

Valid Email Address is Required

 

Valid Email Address is Required

 

Valid Email Address is Required

 

Valid Email Address is Required

Personal Message:

Limit: 250 characters

*Your Name:

Your Name is Required

*Your Email Address:

Your Email Address is Required Valid Email Address is Required

Send me a copy of this email

* Indicates a required field

Email addresses will only be used to send this message. They will not be used for promotional purposes. See our Privacy Policy.

Bell’s groundbreaking head-scanning technology will be on display for riders to experience first hand along with trackside demos for its Moto-9 Carbon.

Bell Helmets, an industry leader in innovative head protection, today announced its status as the official helmet for Mammoth Motocross 2014. Bell will be onsite in Mammoth June 20-29 showcasing its industry-first custom-fit helmet technology, offering head scanning demos for riders. In addition, Bell will also be offering ride demos for its Moto-9 Carbon.

Custom-fitting demonstrations will allow riders to experience Bell’s break-through head scanning system – a first of its kind for the industry. Through it’s innovative new technology, each Bell Moto 9 helmet is customized to the unique shape and dimensions of the rider’s head. Since the internal shape of the helmet is a direct offset of the rider’s head, there are no uncomfortable pressure points or hot spots, creating maximum comfort and stability at a level that feels like wearing nothing at all.

“We’ve fine-tuned our custom-fit process since introducing it at the end of 2013 to a point that we feel it’s truly ready to begin offering to the public which is why you’ll see us showcasing this at more and more events like Mammoth, “ said Chris Sackett, Vice President Bell Helmets. “Not only will we be traveling the country and training sales reps to scan heads, but our overall scan and build process has become incredibly efficient. We’ll be assembling all custom-fit helmets here in the States – in Rantoul (Illinois).”

Bell first announced its custom-fit program at the 2013 World SuperBike Championship at Laguna Seca. Bell has since taken its custom-fit process to Austin MotoGP this season and have plans on tour with their newly-developed custom-fit Sprinter Van to more than 20 races and events all across the country, including Loretta Lynn’s, Indy MotoGP, AIM Expo, IMS Shows and more.

Bell Helmets will be on-hand at the Mammoth Motocross as the official helmet with the Moto 9 Carbon ready for demos.

As if the head-scanning experience isn’t enough, Bell is also providing riders the chance to ride test its Moto 9 Carbon – the same helmet James Stewart straps on for every race. The Moto-9 features an ultra-light Carbon TriMatrix construction, Velocity Flow Ventilation and Bell’s Magnefusion Emergency Release System.

More information on Bell’s custom-fit helmet and Moto-9 Carbon can be found at www.BellHelmets.com.  

About BELL
From humble beginnings in the garage of a 1950’s Southern California speed shop to the heads of champions in auto, motorcycle and bicycle competitions all over the world, Bell is synonymous with protection and progression. Part of Easton-Bell Sports, Inc. and based in Scotts Valley, Calif., Bell is the world leader in the design, manufacture and distribution of motorcycle and cycling helmets and accessories.