cycle news 2012-01-10

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QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 20 STEVE MCQUEEN EDITION TR

ANAHEIM SUPERCROSS

VILLOPOTO

THE DOMINATOR

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PH 70 VOL. 49 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 10, 20

FIRST RID

2012 HONDACBR1000RR

A LOOK ATTEAM ALESS

2012

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CONTENTS

RACED

38 ANAHEIM I SUPERCROSS

And so it all begins…

TESTED

54 2012 HONDA CBR1000RR

The legend continues.

66 DUNLOP ROADSMART II

Trying out Dunlop’s latest rubber.

70 STEVE MCQUEEN EDITION

TRIUMPH

Be like Captain Virgil Hilts, aka Steve

McQueen.

FEATURED

62 ALESSI RACING

A peek inside the Alessis’ program

for 2012.

DEPARTMENTALIZED

6 CAPTURED8 CAPTURED

10 CAPTURED

12 CAPTURED

16 VOICES

18 THE INSIDE TWEET

20 IN THE WIND

76 PRODUCT REVIEW

78 STUFF

82 BIKES OF THE STARS

84 ARCHIVES

86 CLASSIFIED ADS88 IN THE PADDOCK

90 WHAT’S NEXT

On The Cover:Ryan Villopoto (1) showed exactly

why he is the defending AMA Supercross Champion with a

dominating victory in the seasonopener in Anaheim, California.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KIT PALMER

QUICK LINKS IN THE WIND 20 STEVE MCQUEEN EDITION TRIUMPH 70 VOL.49 ISSUE1 JANUARY10,2012

FIRST RIDE

2012 HONDACBR1000RR

A LOOK ATTEAM ALESSI

2012

ANAHEIM SUPERCROSS

VILLOPOTO THE DOMINATOR

38

P

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VOL. 49 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 10, 2012 P

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CAPTURED

Happy New Years!Freestyler Robbie Maddison andsnowmobiler Levi LaVallee fly throughthe night over a portion of the waterfrontwith their simultaneous distance jumpson New Year’s Eve in San Diego, California.The jumps were billed as Red Bull’s NewYears No Limits.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY GARTH MILAN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

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CAPTURED

Dakar!

If it’s January, it must be Dakar.Francisco “Chaleco” Lopez rides hisAprilia under the watchful eye of ahelicopter in the first stage of theDakar Rally, which for the past severalyears has been held in South Americaand not Africa.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARCELO MARAGNI/RED BULL

CONTENT POOL

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CAPTURED

P

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VOL. 49 ISSUE 1 JANUARY 10, 2012 P1

CR22 JR.

Tate Reed, Chad and Ellie Reed’s sonlooks pretty comfortable on dad’sTwoTwo Motorsports Honda CRF450Maybe it’s time to look forward to tAnaheim Supercross, circa 2030.

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON

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CAPTURED

P

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Much More Monster

With the announcement coming prio

to the Anaheim Supercross thatMonster Energy has signed up for fomore years of being the title sponsoof the AMA Supercross Series, thatmeans four more years of MonsterGirls. Just sayin…


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CAPTURED

P

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Hurry Up And Wait

Mike Alessi, donned in his new JT Racinggear, waits for his chance to get on thetrack at the Anaheim I Supercross. Alessipulled one of his patented holeshots in hisheat race and had a good race with eventuwinner Chad Reed. Alessi got another goodstart in the main but later slid out, finishinninth on his new MotoConcepts Suzuki.


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FIREBALL

The photo on page 20 (Issue

44, December 13) with the

beautiful motocross bikes is

well done. On the wall in that

picture is a poster titled “Road

Racing” and it shows a road

racer with a fire ball behind it.

Do you know the story behind

that and what is happening?

Thank you for your time.Steven Hoelter

Englewood, CO

That poster features Mark

Brelsford and his Harley-

Davidson XR750 on fire at

Daytona in 1973 after he col-

lided with Larry Darr... Editor

WHAT WENT WRONG?

My hat’s off to Michael Scotton the article on Valentino

Rossi (“What Went Wrong,” Is-

sue 44, December 13). It was

so well written and interesting

to read. It’s not too often I read

an article that will make me

rethink certain things that have

been cemented in my brain.

Like “It’s all the rider.”

For well over 20 years, Ihave stuck with the thought

that you could put Rossi on

anything and magic would

happen - either a win on

sub-par machinery or a great

show. In 2011 that changed;

I saw neither. I witnessed my

hero crashing and getting

frustrated on machinery that

we all witnessed Casey Stoner

win on. I embarrassingly have

underestimated Casey’s talent

and I think it’s safe to assume

that Rossi did too. How could

this be? How could Rossi not

get one win this entire year?

Hence the new prospective:

It’s not all the rider… or is it

just in this one instance? Yes

there are so many variables

to consider. I have thought ofasking a physics professor to

take all the variables and come

up with an answer. I need to

know! So why not ask the ex-

perts – Cycle News? Please

put together a case study on

a rider with a basic bike and

record lap times and then put

him on modified, semi-factory

machinery and record laptimes. Or an A rider and a B

rider and a C rider and do the

same. Will the differences be

negligible or will there be an

obvious difference? Whatever

the results, I’m aware this will

not be the final answer, but it

might give all of us some new

prospective. Jaime Ponce

Via the Internet

I think we just need to relax

and see how Rossi performs

this season on a bike that

he’s had some time to de-

velop… Editor

CRT SCORING

I am trying to stay up on all the

changes for the 2012 MotoGP

class and I am wondering…

“Will the CRT riders be scored

separately from high-tech

guys?” I’m thinking it might

end up like a local motocross

track does it here in Ohio…

the winner’s trophy says first

place and everyone else’s

says, “almost won!”

Will they be scored togeth-

er? Did I miss the explanationJoe Wahre

Via the Interne

The riders on the Claiming

Rules Teams (CRT) will be

scored along with the factory

bikes in the MotoGP class.

No separate scoring ap-

plies…. Editor

PHOTOS RULE

Cycle News rules! I just got

to page 28 (Issue 44, Decem-

ber 13) and had to write. The

photos in it are friggin’ amaz-

ing. Any chance of these

being sold as posters - with

no tire manufacturers name o

them? It is still called photog-

raphy, right? Dan Jendr

Cleveland, O

Yes, it’s still photography…

Editor

RIDER OF THE YEAR

Your feature on Greg Han-

cock - 2011 Speedway World

Champion - in the year-end

“The photos in it are friggin’ amazing.”

CN III VOICES L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R P

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/HWWHUVWRWKHHGLWRUFDQEHVHQWWRYRLFHV#F\FOHQHZVFRP3XEOLVKHGOHWWHUVGRQRWQHFHVVDULO\UHÁHFWWKHSRVLWLRQRI&\FOH1HZV/HWWHUVVKRXOGQRWH[FHHGZRUGVDQGDUHVXEMHFWWRHGLWLQJ$QRQ\PRXVOHWWHUVZRQWEHFRQVLGHUHGIRUSXEOLFDWLRQDQGHDFKOHWWHUVKRXOG

FRQWDLQWKHZULWHUVQDPHDGGUHVVDQGGD\WLPHSKRQHQXPEHU«Editor


issue was great and brings upa giant irritation to me: Why we

have no TV coverage of the

Speedway GP series in this

country. A couple of years ago

HD Theatre (now Velocity) car-

ried it and I seem to remember

some other network having

coverage eight or nine years

ago... but for the last couple

of years there is nothing.Seems like right now (with

an American World Champion)

would be a absolutely perfect

time for Speed to show the

series, especially during the

winter when there is very little

domestic racing to present

and they are just trying to fillthe time.

Could you give your close

personal friend Dave Despain

a ring and get that handled

please. Thanks in advance for

your attention to this problem.

Tom Mabry

Vacaville, CA

RIDER OF THE YEAR II

Awesome choice. Greg Han-

cock is a true American hero.

World Speedway is so exciting

to watch, I sure hope HD Net

shows the races this year.

J. Haaker

Gilroy, CA

RIDER OF THE YEAR III

Greg Hancock’s dedication

and enthusiasm are an inspira-

tion to all racers and riders.

Great choice!Elliott Iverson

Riverside, CA

ALL WET

On page 160 of the year-end

issue, you mentioned a steer-

ing dampener. What’s getting wet?

Cheers.

Paul Ward

Via the Internet

Good catch… yes, it’s damp-

er. Not dampener… Editor

Greg Hancock was our 2011 Rider of the Year.

P H O T O G R A P H Y B

Y J O H N

H I P K I S S

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Chad Reed @CRtwotwo

Tate and I watched a bunch of YouTube vids from the early 90s damn I wish I

raced that era tracks were way cool!

Dennis Noyes @DennisNoyes

Australian journo Don Cox was making list of road racers injured with MX bikes.

Quit to start shorter list of road racers not injured by MX

Chaz Davies @chazdavies

Just seen about Dovi. Tennis players play tennis, golfers play golf, F1 guys have

simulators. Road racers should stay @ home in cotton wool!

James Stewart @js7 What an awesome day!!! Press, then autograph session at the dealer, then dinner

with my fans. Thanks everyone for showing up. Huge turn out!

Nicky Hayden @NickyHayden69

Thanks to Mercedes-Benz of Laguna Niguel for loaning me a ride while on the

west coast... #Amg

Kevin Windham @kdub_14

Press day says everyone is ready, bikes are good, no stone is unturned in prep for 2012 and I have my transfer lined up.

Quinn Cody @quinncody

Realized I look like a beat up boxer walking through the airport with a huge black

eye, stitches, and my hands so swollen you can’t see my knuckle.

Make sure and follow @CycleNews on Twitter and also on Facebook.

The Inside

kkkkkk03!!0

P1

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Volume XLVIII

EDITORIALPAUL CARRUTHERS

EDITOR

[email protected]

KIT PALMER

OFF-ROAD EDITOR

[email protected]

CONTRIBUTORSHENNY RAY ABRAMS

CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

SHAN MOORECONTRIBUTING EDITOR

ALAN CATHCART

EUROPEAN EDITOR

COPY EDITORSMICHELLE BAIRD

COPY EDITOR

MARY KETTLES

COPY EDITOR

ADVERTISING SALESSEAN FINLEY

GM, AD SALES MANAGER

[email protected]

SUZZIE SMITH

NATIONAL AD SALES MANAGER

[email protected]

ART DIRECTION AND DESIGNSUNJU KWON

ART DIRECTOR/ART MANAGER

[email protected]

OPERATIONSDOUGLAS BRINEY

OPERATIONS SPECIALIST

[email protected]

NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS7771 Mitchell North, Irvine, CA 92614

949-863-7082

P.O. Box 16121, Irvine, CA 92623

America’s Motorcycle News Source

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INTHEWIND

P2

DAKAR RALLY: ALL

CHANGE. AGAIN.It’s funny how quickly things can change in what

is arguably the longest, most grueling motorcycle

race in the world. And then change back.

KTM factory rider Cyril Despres found that out

on Monday, January 9. After the halfway stage of

the 14-stage rally in South America, Despres – a

three-time winner of the event and one of its mega-

stars – was leading his rival and fellow KTM rider

Marc Coma by seven minutes and 48 seconds. Sixmiles into stage eight and that lead was gone in a

mud bog.

Despres spent roughly eight minutes getting his

Red Bull-backed KTM out of the mud as Com

sped through unscathed. By the end of the stage

Despres was 17 minutes and 20 seconds behin

Coma – his nearly eight minute lead in the overa

standings a distant memory. He trailed by 9:30 a

ter a complete reversal of fortune. Then it change

again with race officials giving Despres back som

of that time because the bog wasn’t on the roa

map and the Frenchman and only a few other

were penalized by it.

Now Coma leads by just 1:26 in the overall stand

ings and it’s game on. Again.

The rally will be fought out between those twmen – both three-time Dakar Champions.

Yamaha’s Helder Rodrigues was third overall a

ter the eighth stage after steadily climbing up th

HAYDENON THE MEND

T

he good news was that Ducati Marlboro’s Nicky

Hayden wouldn’t need surgery on the left scap-ula he broke over the holidays. The bad news was

that he doesn’t know if natural healing would allow

him to ride the Ducati Marlboro Desmosedici GP12

at the first MotoGP test of the year in Sepang at the

end of the month.

“Overall, I would say it was a pretty good visit,”

Hayden said after seeing Dr. Arthur Ting on Jan-

uary 4, eight days after the accident that put his

left arm in a sling. “I was pretty happy that I didn’t

need an operation, so if that was the case Malaysia would’ve probably definitely been out of the ques-

tion. Now just do the rehab and do all the stuff and

that’s the goal.”

The accident happened on December 27 while

he was riding with friends and family from Owens-

boro, including his brother Tommy and J.D. Beach,

at an indoor facility they’d rented in nearby Green-

ville, Kentucky. Riding his Honda XR100, Hayden

came up on a slower rider, who tried to move out

of the way. Instead the rider moved into Hayden’s

path, with the 2006 MotoGP World Champio

making contact and going down hard on his le

side. Besides the broken scapula, Hayden brok

three ribs and had a slight fracture in his left wrist

Hayden flew to his winter training base in O

ange, California, early in the new year and visite

Dr. Ting a few days later. Ting wanted to wait

week after the accident to judge the progress an

recommend a course of action. Surgery would’v

set Hayden’s recovery back, which is why he wa

Nicky Hayden suffered a shoulder injury on December 2

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Briefly...

Fast Babies

A baby girl, Ava May

Haslam, was born to

World Superbike racer Leon Haslam and his

wife, Oli, on December

12, 2011; a baby girl, Lucia

Leigh Parkes, was born to

World Supersport racer

Broc Parkes and his wife,

Courtney, on December

19.

Erion Out At Dunlop

Dunlop issued a pressrelease on January 3 an-

nouncing that, “Erion

Racing is no longer an

authorized distributor for

Dunlop road race prod-

ucts. Until such time that

Dunlop designates a

new distributor, custom-

ers seeking to purchase

Dunlop road race prod-

uct should contact Race Tire Service, Inc.” Erion

took over the Dunlop deal

for the Western U.S. in

January of 2011. For more

information, call 800/772-

8473.

Dovi Also Hurt

Ducati Marlboro’s Nicky

Hayden isn’t the only

rider with a broken wing.Monster Yamaha Tech

3’s Andrea Dovizioso

tweeted on January 5 that

he’d broken his right col-

larbone in a motocross

accident. The English

part of the Tweet - the first

part is in his native Italian -

read, “f---, I broke my right

collarbone doing moto-

cross.” The damage m

not keep him out of

first MotoGP test of 20

in Sepang, Malaysia January 31-February 1

“He will have an op on S

urday [January 7], sho

be okay for Sepa

Fingers crossed!” te

owner Herve Poncha

said in an e-mail m

sage. Though not

the teams will take p

- there’s some quest

about all the CRTs beready - it will be the fi

look at the 2012 Moto

grid on their revised ra

bikes nearly three mon

after the final group tes

2011 following the seas

ending 2011 Grand Prix

Valencia.

Lehman Passes

John K. Lehman, 60, founder and director

Lehman Trikes pass

away on Thursday, Ja

ary 5, in Arizona. T

suspected cause of de

was a heart failure brou

on by an embolism. He

survived by his wife L

da, son Quinten, dau

ter Leann, three sist

Gladys, Linda, Carol, athree grandchildren.

Alexander And

Michael Jordan

Road racer Corey Al

ander will ride a Natio

Guard Fairhills Gro

Racing Suzuki in t

year’s AMA Pro Su

sport Series thanks

continued on next p

standings after finishing 15th and 12th in the first two

stages. The Portuguese rider, however, was 51 min-

utes and 37 seconds behind Coma after stage eight.

Marc Coma regained

control of the Dakar

Rally in stage eight.

pleased Ting didn’t recommend it.

The right wrist, which survived the crash, had

been broken when he and teammate Valentino

Rossi were knocked down in the first corner of the

season-ending Valencia Grand Prix, putting him out

of the post-Valencia test. Having not ridden the newGP12 with the perimeter frame, Hayden was anx-

ious to test in Malaysia, but knows that it’s now just a

waiting game. He was only allowed to begin cardio

training on Friday, January 6.

“Sepang is definitely in the cards. Just with figur-

ing it up, I leave three weeks from today,” he said

of his January 26 departure date for the January

31/February 1-2 test.” I’ll see how it’s healing in two

weeks and then check back in with Dr. Ting and see

if it’s possible.“I’m in a sling and stuff now. So the main thing is

I can’t go there for a test and just go try to ride. It’s

not like I got to go there and try to get points. I’ve

got to go there and be ready to go fast and test out a

new bike, so I need to wait and see. I would like to,

because I already missed Valencia and don’t want

to miss another test. But it’s going to be tough, it’s

going to be tight.”

As to what he’ll be testing, Hayden said, “I’ve spo-

ken to ‘em a bit. I mean, we’ll definitely have a fewcontinued on next page

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INTHEWIND

P2

new bits to try, but I don’t know all the details.”

The details will likely be revealed, to Hayden and

Rossi, at least, at this week’s Wrooom 2012, the an-

nual ski meeting/team intro of the Ducati and Fer-rari Marlboro teams in Madonna di Campiglio, high

in the Italian Dolomites. Hayden and Rossi ho

separate news conferences on Tuesday, Janua

10, where he’ll likely have an update on the prog

ress of his recovery.Henny Ray Abram

STREET CALLS ITA CAREERA mechanical problem knocked

Jonah Street out of this

year’s Dakar Rally. A lack of

funds to allow him to do future

rallies the way he feels he needs

to do them prompted him to also

announce his retirement from the

sport.

“I don’t really know what hap-

pened with the bike, yet,” Street

said after mechanical woes

knocked him out of the rally in

just the second stage. “It’s some-thing electrical for sure. It started

acting up at about 220 km [136

miles] into the special test today,

and then at about 224 km [138

miles] the bike died. It took me

about three hours to get from that

point to the 256 km [159 miles]

mark. From there, it just kept get-

ting worse - going only a tenth of

a kilometer at times and waitingsometimes for 15 minutes to get

it fired again. At 256 km there

was a turn where I could go into

the village where the finish line

was for the day or I could turn

and go through the sand dunes

to attempt to finish the stage. I

knew the bike wouldn’t make it

through the dunes so, unfortu-

nately, the Dakar rally ended for

me right there.”

Then came his retirement an-

nouncement.

“I’m officially retiring from

rally racing,” Street said. “I be-

lieve now is an appropriate time

to make this announcement in

a positive light despite today’s

events. The most important rea-

son to do this, for me, is that now

is the time people are tuned into

Dakar. For my supporters, spon-

sors, family and friends that work year-round to get the recognition

they deserve, expressing my sin-

cere gratitude now is the right

thing to do.

“It’s an endless venture to try

to find the right race budget as a

privateer to do Dakar right. The

budget I really need to compete

is never there - never has been

- and so I am generally broke all year. If I told you that fact didn’t

have a lot to do with my deci-

sion, I would be lying. I have a

great family of supporters behind

me that have made my six Da-

kar starts possible. The RiffRaff

members are my number one

monetary sponsor each year

and my friends and family are

the heart of my team. Yamaha

stepped up in a big way the las

two years and without their he

my last stage win and the sta

of this rally definitely wouldn

have happened. These types o

efforts are above and beyond. will never be able to fully repa

or thank everyone that has mad

my career so spectacular. But I

keep trying.”

In his six Dakars, Street’s be

finish came in 2010 when he fin

ished seventh. Last year he wa

14th overall, but took the secon

stage victory of his career (h

also won a stage in 2009).

Jonah Street is out of this year’s

Dakar Rally and has also an-

nounced his retirement.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CODY’S GREATESCAPE!

Until watching the video footage of his horrificcrash in stage three of the Dakar Rally, Quinn

Cody had no idea what happened. And he’s still

not sure.

“I really have no idea,” Cody said after returning

home to California. “I don’t remember crashing

or anything. To me it looks like I hit a ledge or a

rock and it bucked me straight over. It happened

so quick.”

It’s hard to believe that after crashing at that

speed in that terrain that Cody escaped with justa broken right collarbone, a concussion and a cut

under his eye that required 10 stitches

“I don’t remember sitting there at all,” he said.

“The first thing I remember was sitting on the side

of the road and I looked over and the helicopter

was on the ground and they were working on me

there – the medics. I was like… ‘whoa!’

Cody has time to recuperate, as his next sched-

uled race is the San Felipe 250, which is some

nine weeks away.“I just have to take it easy,” Cody said. “My doc-

tor thinks the collarbone will heal okay without

surgery. I’m just going to take it easy and let the

concussion get back to normal and let the collar-

bone heal.”

After finishing the first stage fourth, Cody’s rally

unraveled the next day with a myriad of mechani-

cal issues.

“I had a couple of issues that day,” Cody ex-

plained. “First I was on the liaison stage and justgoing down the highway when the rear tire just

popped off the bead. It popped off and the medal

bead wrapped around and put a hole in the gas

tank. It was one thing after another. I ended up

borrowing a tire and mousse from the KTM truck

and they helped me change it and everything.

That got me back in the race. During that special

[stage], I was blowing fuel and I think it had an air

bubble or something in it and it wouldn’t run with

the fuel pump so I ended up taking some fuel line


Briefly...

a partnership between

Michael Jordan Motors-

ports (MJM) with the Army

National Guard, FairhillsGroup and Celtic Racing.

Celtic Racing will provide

the technical and logistical

services for the team with

Fairhills Group, a New

York-based alternative

investment management

firm founded by Edward

Bronson, is the co-title

sponsor with the National

Guard. Alexander , 17, wonhis first AMA National and

went on to finish third in

the AMA West Coast Su-

perSport Championship

in 2011.

What Happens In

Vegas…

Feld Motor Sports has

announced a three-year

agreement for the HardRock Hotel & Casino Las

Vegas, to be the official

host hotel of the Monster

Energy AMA Supercross

Series beginning with the

2012 finale on May 5 at

Sam Boyd Stadium.

No More TT/Short

Track For Springfield

According to a releasefrom AMA Pro Racing, this

year’s short track and TT

races at the Illinois State

Fairgrounds in Spring-

field, Illinois, will be the

last ones. “We regret that

we have been forced to

make this decision, but

in order to keep our asso-

ciation going we have to

do this, at least for no

said. Jay Hall, presid

of the Illinois Motorcy

Dealers Association. “take great pride in w

we have been able to

for this sport, but for 20

we will focus on mile r

es, which is the most

toric and why Springfi

is so well known.” Ti

ets for all four IMDA-p

moted Grand Nation

at Springfield are now

sale by calling 217/78866.

More Monster

Monster Energysigned on for four m

years as the title spon

of the AMA Monster

ergy Supercross. “Hav

a stable, long-term sp

sor is vital to Supercro

- it’s vital to any motoports property and

have been blessed sin

2008 to have Mons

Energy as the title sp

sor of Supercross and

official energy drink of

enacross,” said Feld M

torsports Chief Operat

Officer Ken Hudgens. “

my pleasure to announ

today that Feld Motoports and Monster Ene

are extending that agr

ment to the year 20

It’s a big deal in all of

worlds. Monster is hea

invested in the sport fr

every aspect, whethe

be the athletes, the tea

and the property its

What we look for in a

continued on pagecontinued on next page

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INTHEWIND

P2

and bypassing the fuel pump.”

Frustration set it, but Cody also

realized there was plenty of rally

left.“I lost about 20 minutes,” he

said. “I was a little bit frustrated. I

started back in the dust and was

passing guys. I wasn’t too wor-

ried about it because gaps open

up so quick in the rally. I think

right now back to third is over an

hour so… I wasn’t too worried

about the time. It was just frustra-

tion with… ‘what else is going to

go wrong?’ “

But the bottom line is, Cody is

a lucky man.

“It’s a bummer because of allthe preparation and everything,

but at the same time I look at

that video and it’s hard to b

bummed. I’m walking and talkinand I’m okay. I feel lucky.”

Paul Carruthe

PROFESSOR SCHWANTZFor as long as he can remem-

ber, Kevin Schwantz thinks

motorcycles and motorcyclists

have gotten a bum rap, but nowhe’s using his school to change

that.

Schwantz will let students at

the 2012 Schwantz Schools use

their own motorcycles as a way

of allowing them to find their lim-

its when they’re on more familiar

turf, and provide for better out-

comes. It’s a big change for theschool, which began with Suzu-

kis and later added Hondas, but

it’s one Schwantz thinks will help

move motorcycling forward in the

public eye.

“If you asked me when I start-

ed school what my intentions

were, my intentions were to try

and make us a community that

was much more respected by

everybody out there,” he began

“and I think there’s so many of us

out there that don’t ride well and

do stupid things.“I think as motorcyclists we

have responsibilities to each oth-

er. We’re never going to change

the image of motorcycles, but we

sure can do our best to try.”

Schwantz’s parents, Jim and

Shirley, opened a Yamaha fran-

chise in 1964, the year he was

born. He remembers being os-tracized by his friends’ parents.

“And to me, that’s not the way

motorcycling is portrayed almost

everywhere else in the world.

We’re that one society that has

motorcyclists as kinda bad peo-

ple. And I think the better we

ride, the safer that we are and

the more responsible, and that

we’re not doing wheelies and

stoppies and burnouts and a

that stuff on the street will help

There’s places to do that. Yo

have competitions for stunting

Want to learn to ride from a World

Champion?

continued on page 2

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INTHEWIND

They have places if you want to

go race. If you want to do things

on your streetbike make sure youdo it in the right environment has

always kind of been my bit of ad-

vice, if I had any.”

The school is returning to its

original home at Road Atlanta,

where they always had a differ-

ent relationship than they’ve had

for the past three years at Barber

Motorsports Park.

“Most of the time, especially

at Road Atlanta, we were always

there, we were trying to help, we

were trying to help them make

things better and safer,” he said.

“Everything about it was we really

added something to the equa-

tion. Whereas Barber was pretty much Barber, and it’s pristine

and it almost looks like a golf

course when you drive in and

there’s not much we can do to

improve. Having us and having

our school and having the image

of the Schwantz school wasn’t a

big benefit to them.”

Eventually the school hopes to

move to the Circuit of the Ameri-

cas in Austin, Texas, Schwantz’s

hometown.

Schwantz will also serve as the

guest instructor for the Club Pon-

tgrup Safety Schools at each o

the four Spanish GPs, Jerez, Ba

celona, Aragon, and Valencia There will be two days of schools

but a single-day curriculum “s

that we can bring more people in

They have a school that’s alread

set up, we’re just trying to make

a little more special.”

The following are the dat

for the 2012 Schwantz Schools

Road Atlanta - April 16-17; Ma26-28 (three day); June 30-Ju

1; September 1-2: Indianapol

Motor Speedway - August 20-21

Henny Ray Abram

P2

AHOLA

RETIRES!Five-time World Enduro Cham-

pion Mika Ahola announced

on January 1 that he was retiring

from the sport.

The Finnish rider, who won

his five championships consecu-

tively starting in 2007, won titles

in three different classes (E1, E2

and E3). He is also a seven-time winner of the ISDE with Team

Finland and a three-time individ-

ual winner of the event.

“I gave it my all, and even

though the sport took a lot, it

also rewarded me with more than

I could have ever imagined when

I first started,”Ahola wrote in an

email that he sent out on New

Year’s Eve.

At 37, Ahola won last year’s E3

title on a Honda to become the

oldest-ever World Enduro Cham-

pion. He’s also the first rider to

win in all three classes of the

World Enduro Championship.

“I have fulfilled my ambitions

and I feel that it is time to move

on and see what else the wor

has to offer,” he wrote.

Ahola started his career wi

Husqvarna before moving to TM

and VOR. For the 2004 seaso

the Finn went back to Husky fo

two more seasons before spend

ing the last five years with Honda

Five-time World Champion Mika Ahola has

announced his retirement from racing.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


BOSTROM DOESHOMESTEADHomestead Miami Speedway, which returns to

the AMA Superbike calendar after a 16-year

absence, may not be ready for prime time accord-

ing to a Homestead race winner from 1996 who

expects to be a factor in this year’s Superbike

race.Jordan Suzuki’s Ben Bostrom is one of the few

current riders who took part in the lone AMA week-

end on the 15-turn, 2.21-mile road course back in

1996, but he didn’t remember much about the cir-

cuit. And what he found wasn’t entirely positive.

“All I remember was there was a really fast turn

one, because on a 600 back then - okay, the

bikes weren’t as fast - but you could literally hold

the throttle wide open going through turn one,”

Bostrom said. “The back straight is actually scari-er than the front straight.”

But the scariest spot is in the infield where “it

felt pretty tight in a couple of spots and there is

one wall that’s pretty close, that the trajectory. It’s

not so good if you have a highside early, I’ll tell you

that,” he said. “It’s a bit like Tron, like you’re racing

a slot car.

“There’s a double right in the infield [turns six

and seven] and coming off the second right, the

wall’s way too close. I mean, the track itself is


Briefly...

sponsor is stability and

somebody who can take

the sport to places we

can’t take it on our own.Monster gives us all of

that. They market to a fan

base that we can’t get to

ourselves; they activate

around that fan base in a

way that we could never

do. A 47-year-old guy like

me can’t make Super-

cross cool, but Monster

can. They bring every-

thing to the table that weare looking for and they

are great partners.”

Jendro Promoted

In a separate announce-

ment made at the pre-

Anaheim Supercross

press conference, Ken

Hudgens also announced

that Todd Jendro had

been promoted to VicePresident of Feld Motor-

sports. “It’s long overdue

and very well deserved,”

Hudgens said.

Pirelli Wanting…

Pirelli tires and JGRMX

have developed a rider-

support program and are

now accepting resumes.

Any rider accepted intothe program will receive

preferred pricing on se-

lect Pirelli motocross tires,

as well as free shipping

on orders of 10 or more

tires. All resumes must

be received by January

31, be neatly typed and

include name, address,

phone and if applicable

facsimile number, em

address (riders accep

into the program will

notified by email), datebirth, series raced, cla

es raced, current sta

ings in each series a

class raced, the year a

model of all motorcyc

raced, and the top-th

racing achievements

the applicant. Resum

can be submitted to T

Gearhart, at tgearha

jgrmx.com or by maiJGRMX, attention T

Gearhart, 11515 Vanst

Drive, Suite 145 Hunte

ville, NC 28078.

Where’s That Hill?

A nine-race AMA P

Hillclimb schedule

been released. T

rounds are as follow

White Rose MC, Jeson, Pennsylvania, Ju

3; Bushkill Valley M

Freemansburg, Pe

sylvania, June 10; Rid

Runner Prom, Cana

New Hampshire, Ju

13 (a Wednesday eve

Dayton MC, Oregon

Ohio, June 23; Ogem

Hills Bike Week, W e

Branch, Michigan, J15; Muskegon MC, M

kegon, Michigan, Aug

5; Bushkill Valley M

Freemansburg, Pe

sylvania, September

White Rose MC, Je

son, Pennsylvania, S

tember 30; Dayton M

Oregonia, Ohio, Octo

14.

Ben Bostrom recently returned to Homestead Miami

Raceway for a test with his Michael Jordan Suzuki team.

continued on next page

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


INTHEWIND

P2

quite fun. It’s got huge braking,

so there should be some excit-

ing passes and it’s got some real

scary corners. Turn one and theturn on the back straight… it’s

hairy. You just got to have a big

sack and bury it off in there. But I

think it’s probably going to create

a great race. It’s just the one cor-

ner is a little hectic. I don’t want

to see anyone else crash there.”

Because it was a private test,

the track would not have been

set up to the safety standards of

an AMA Pro Road Race.

In an e-mail provided by AMA

Pro Racing, Dave McGrath, Di-

rector of Road Racing said, “I

and other key members of the

AMA Pro Racing staff have vis-

ited Homestead-Miami Speed-

way on a number of occasions

during the past several months

in order to evaluate the track and

consider its suitability for our se-

ries. We are looking forward to

not only the race in Homestead in

September but also an official se-

ries test in March soon after the

Daytona 200 race weekend. As

is our standard practice duringall official AMA Pro activities, we

will be consulting with our profes-

sional athletes to evaluate evolv-

ing track conditions in order to

carefully determine raceability.”

Adding to the excitement of

Bostrom’s test was that condi-

tions weren’t ideal.

“The whole test it was really

windy,” Bostrom said. “It add-

ed to the fear factor coming off

the back straight and the front

straight. You didn’t know if you

had a big headwind or the wind

died down for a second or you

had a tailwind coming off the

front. It would go from - I don’t

know - probably five to 20 mph

gusts. It just added to the excite-

ment.”

Bostrom won the 883 Sport-

ster race in 1996, but it’s the Su-

persport race that’s etched in his

memory, and not in a good way

“I’m pretty sure I won the 88

race and my biggest memo

from there was two guys wer

going really fast in practice,

was my first year in 600, and

was Miguel [Duhamel] and

he said. “I was like, ‘At lea

we’re guaranteed first or secon

here.’ Then the worst thing tha

could happen. I was talking t

[American Honda team manag

er] Gary Mathers in the pits an we were chat, chat, chat, so h

said, ‘Ben, you got to stop talk

ing or otherwise you’re going t

miss the start,’ and I missed th

start. I was so mad at myself a

terwards because Miguel won b

a mile [Duhamel also won the Su

perbike race]. It was only goin

to be a race between him and

So I had strong memories of th

place, I just couldn’t remembe

the track. It ’s crazy.”

Henny Ray Abram

MONSTER MANON CRT

The gnashing of teeth and wringing of

hands over the impending arrival of

Claiming Rule Teams (CRT) in MotoGP will

likely continue for years to come. Does it

signal the end of the World Championships,

as some suggest? Will riders retire rather

than race with a hopped-up street engine?

How long before the front-runners, notably

World Champion Casey Stoner, blasts the

less-talented riders on the less highly devel-

oped motorcycles? Only one of those ques-

Herve Poncharal likes the idea of the CRT.

continued on page 30

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


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8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


INTHEWIND

P3

tions will be known shortly, the

others will be debated for some

time. One thing is certain, how-

ever, without the CRT machinesthe grid would be embarrassingly

thin, which is one of the reasons

it has the support of Monster Ya-

maha Tech 3 team owner Herve

Poncharal.

Poncharal has a unique view

of the paddock. Not only does

he own a MotoGP team with a

major sponsor, Monster Energy,

and factory equipment, leased

from Yamaha, but he also runs

a Moto2 squad for which his

technical team builds the chas-

sis. And he’s also the president

of IRTA, the team’s association

that’s one of the cornerstones of

all decision-making in the pad-

dock.

At Motegi last year, before the

best of the CRT bikes had been

tested, Poncharal said the hope

in 2012 was that the first CRT ma-

chine would beat the last proto-

type. Early tests didn’t look prom-

ising, though later tests were

much better. Now, with the first

MotoGP test of 2012 beginning

on January 31 in Sepang, Ma-

laysia, Poncharal, like everyoneelse, is anxious for a preview of

the coming season.

“It’s going to be exciting. It’s

not going to be easy in year

one,” Poncharal said in a phone

interview from his shop in the

Provence region of southeastern

France. “Clearly the gap is quite

big, but I mean, we have to be

positive, because without CRT

we would be only 12 on the grid

and you can’t have a champion-

ship with 12 bikes on the grid; this

is no way. So we have to supportthat and we have to try to think

how to allow the manufacturers

to still remain here, but give the

CRT the possibility, technically,

to be closer from ’13 to the real

prototypes. It is an interesting

time for all of us. I think the world

is having a lot of big decisions to

take, so does MotoGP.”

He added that he was “really

curious, like everybody else, to

see how good or what’s going to

be the difference between CRTs

and prototypes in year one. We

are talking and thinking and dis-

cussing a lot about the future,

because from ‘13 we will do ev-

erything we can to make the gap

smaller between prototypes and

CRTs. I think Aprilia and Aspar

together are a really good thing

for CRT, because clearly they will

be, together along with Suter/

BMW with Colin [Edwards], the

two leading CRT teams.”

Poncharal compared the gen-

esis of CRT to 2010 when Moto2

made its debut. The class was

widely derided, but has provided very close racing, despite the

less than world-caliber techni-

cal level of the control Honda

CBR600RR engines.

“When you look at Moto2, with

keeping the same engine, the

same tuning, the same suspen-

sion, the same tire, we almost

improve 1.5 to 2 seconds ev-

erywhere from year one to year

two,” Poncharal said. “So clear

the beginning, the first GPs wit

CRT, will be difficult for them

But we have to support that anclearly they will improve. And w

have to find some ways from ’1

to make the rules, the technic

rules more open for CRT to b

competitive, and I think this

Carmelo’s [Ezpeleta] main thing

I’m sure he’s going to make som

right decisions to allow that.”

Ezpeleta, the CEO of Dorna

was praised by Poncharal

embracing the CRT concept at

time when the grid had dwindle

to 17 prototypes, in 2011, and th

prospect of many fewer in 2012

“We all have to sit and thin

but think using our heads

Poncharal said. “And a lot mor

people should open the windo

and have a look at the real world

Okay, we love racing, we love th

technical part, we love develop

ment, we love a lot of things, b

the bottom line is we love racing

If we don’t think before we act,

we don’t take the right decisio

racing could be dying soon.”

Now was not the time to dela

these important decisions, h

said. Rather now was the time tmake decisions, “that will for sur

make our future easier, bette

and hopefully healthier, and th

will bring a better show. I’m quit

pessimistic if we don’t do any

thing. But I’m very excited by th

fact that together with the FIM

Dorna and the MSMA we ca

find some new route. And Ca

melo is very, very, very excite

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INTHEWIND

about that too.”

Poncharal is the only team

owner in Moto2 to build his own

chassis, a route he plans to fol-low in CRT. He has a deal with

Yamaha Motor Company Japan

to lease prototypes in 2012 and

’13. Andrea Dovizioso and Cal

Crutchlow are signed up for 2012

and Bradley Smith for 2013, with

another rider to come, ‘so I’m

here for the next two years.”

The team will build its own

chassis, Poncharal said, “be-

cause I think we can do it and

it’s more exciting and it’s moremotivating for the whole team.

So we have now a lot of facilities,

a lot of tools that we’ve bought

for Moto2 that we can use from

Moto2. So during ‘12 we’re go-

ing to build a CRT, we’re going to

go testing, hopefully late spring,

and see how it goes. And mean-

while, there will be discussion

between Dorna and MSMA, s

I don’t know what’s going to b

’13. But if the bike is ready I woulike to enter the championsh

with our CRT in ’13. But if I’ve g

the two M1s, maybe I will have t

find a deal with a team to use ou

bikes. Everything is open, bu

clearly during 2012 we’re goin

to work and test the CRT.”

Henny Ray Abram

P3

THE PLIGHTOF AUSTINNothing has been easy about the con-

struction or financing of the Circuit of the

Americas (COTA), the ambitious world-class

multi-use facility being built outside of Aus-

tin, Texas. The infighting among the project’s

original backers and developers has played

out for all to see, with significant changes in

the financiers, as well as the inaugural For-

mula One race being in jeopardy before an

11th hour rescue. That rescue appears to

have provided a happy ending, though that

won’t be certain until the lights go out on the inau-

gural F1 race on November 18, 2012. But what of

the 2013 MotoGP race?

Austin resident Kevin Schwantz has been in-

volved with the track since its inception throughhis close friendship with Tavo Hellmund, one of

the original principals in the project. Hellmund

has been squeezed out of the F1 picture, but re-

mains involved in the MotoGP race, according to

Schwantz.

The current contractual status is that Schwantz

and Dorna have assigned the rights to Full Throt-

tle Productions, Hellmund’s company, “so really

what’s got to happen is the Circuit of the Americas

needs to get Tavo to sign that contract.”

A spokesman for Dorna, the MotoGP rightshol

ers, said Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta was u

concerned with the COTA drama and believes thDorna has a contract to hold the race in 2013 an

beyond. In a December interview with the Spanis

daily ‘Marca,’ Ezpeleta said that it was certain th

Argentina and Texas would be on the calendar

2013. He added Dorna was still talking to tracks

India and Brazil.

Schwantz said he spoke to Hellmund “pret

much twice a day” and doesn’t think it can “wa

much later than after the new year, because I thin

[COTA] is still trying to find a way to get some

Kevin Schwantz is hopeful that MotoGP will indeed

make it to Austin, Texas.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


nancing in place. And having the

real big portion of your business

model not committed yet I think

will affect that.”

Asked about the contract ofthe status, a COTA spokesper-

son replied by e-mail, “Unfortu-

nately the details of that contract

are proprietary.”

At this point, Schwantz himself

is “trying to…help them solve the

problems, to try and keep it go-

ing. I never have been financially

involved,” he said. More impor-

tantly, he added, “I hold the rightsto MotoGP when it comes to Tex-

as. And, of course, our hope is

that it gets to happen at Circuit of

the Americas. So we’ll just have

to wait and see right now.”

Schwantz said the circuit has

focused all of its attention on F1

and a few other series, includ-

ing the Australian V8 Supercar

series, which will bring their

championship to Texas starting

in 2013.

“And I think a big part of their

business model is MotoGP,”

Schwantz said. “So, I keep get-

ting phone calls from different

people there. ‘You still want to

have MotoGP or don’t you? Yeah,

yeah, yeah.’

“I more want to see how every-

thing’s going to be run and what

it’s going to be like. I think of it as

home for my school.”Schwantz said in the past he’s

been able to tolerate “facilities

that don’t just want to work with

us every way possible. But the

last thing I want to do is bring the

environment of MotoGP here if

that’s going to be the case. Be-

cause I can correct it for a couple

of days for a school - I can over-

look things - but I can’t when thebest motorcyclists in the world

are coming here.”

As for concerns that the track

won’t get built, Schwantz is dis-

missive.

“I see the fact that they’ve

committed to Formula One and

signing that contract with Bernie

[Ecclestone] as, it’s more expen-

sive now not to build the track,”

he said. “So I think there’s been

some concern up until that hap-

pened that maybe this place

wasn’t going to be built. I think

once they make that commitment

I don’t see how they cannot build

it now.”

But it won’t be easy, Schwantz

said, especially if rain holds u

the project, “because bein

ready for November 18 is goin

to be no easy feat for sure. The

think it’s all about getting pave

ment down. The logistics side

There’s so many other things.”

And Schwantz believes t

track will be built with the sam

safety margins that he and He

mund designed into the 3.4-mi

Herman Tilke layout.

“So much of the work th

Tavo [Hellmund] and I put into

in getting the layout of the trac

and making sure safety was co

rect is already in place; they

still build the same track. Ther

was some concern that pos

bly with funds being a little tig

maybe they weren’t going to co

cern themselves with F1 and the weren’t going to build that hug

pit complex and they weren’t go

ing to do all that stuff that wa

going to make it F1 caliber. No

that they’ve agreed to Bernie

terms, I think the sky’s the lim

right now.”

Henny Ray Abram


T wo things stand out in this one: Why would

you ride your Honda Elite scooter on Mulhol-

land Blvd.?; and, if you chose to do so, why wouldyou wear shorts and Crocs?

VIDEO OFTHE WEEK: WHAT A CROC

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


INTHEWIND

P3

COMA’S

NUMBERSSo just how far had defending race cham-

pion Marc Coma covered in the first half

of the Dakar Rally? How much fuel had he

used? It’s all here – thanks to the work of his

team in giving us the information.

We’ve saved you the work in doing the

metric conversions…

After seven days and six stages (one stage

was cancelled due to inclement weather),

Coma had covered a total of 2786 miles; 963

miles of those were spent full-on racing in special

stages while another 1823 miles were spent in

what they call connections – or getting from one

stage to the other. With half the race gone, Coma

had 2353 miles remaining in the race.

The highest altitude reached thus far in the race

was 15,557 feet; Coma’s factory KTM had gone

through 104 gallons of fuel and 10.5 quarts of o

The team had also used 28 brake pads and seve

front and seven rear wheels thus far with Com

spending 18 hours, 20 minutes and 26 second

on the bike.

The most important number of all, however – a

the halfway mark, Coma trailed race leader Cy

Despres by seven minutes and 48 seconds.

KIDS SPEEDWAY: A REVIVALFormer World Speedway

Champion Billy Hamill is do-

ing all he can to revive youth

speedway in the U.S., including

offering motorcycles and instruc-

tion – for cheap.

Hamill, in conjunction with

Hagon Shocks, will be holding

speedway tryouts for kids 8 to 15

years old.

“We are looking for kids with

motorcycle experience who

want to try and get it sideways

under professional instruction,”

Hamill said. “We provide entry

level 150cc speedway motorcy-

cles, fuel, oil and boots witha steel shoe. All the partici-

pants need to bring is some

kind of motorcycle experi-

ence, safety gear, and a good

attitude.”

The cost is just for the $40

track fee. Hamill and his staff

do the rest – for free.

“We feel that there are

a lot of talented motorcyclis

out there who could make it

World Championship Speedwa

- if only they were exposed to it

Hamill said. “We make it as eas

as possible for kids to try it an

see if it appeals to them. Amer

can Speedway needs fresh ne

talent.”

The tryouts will be held o

January 15 and January 29 at 1

a.m. at Inland Motorcycle Speed

way at Orange National Show

San Bernardino, California. Pa

ticipants must RSVP by phon

(760/798-8015) or via email t

[email protected].

Youth speedway is alive and well thanks to Billy Hamill and Hagon Shoc

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8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


SUPERCROSS

P

MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WO

ROUND 1/JANUARY 7, 2012ANGEL STADIUM OF ANAHEIM/ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA

HE’S THE

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



CHAMPIONSHIP

A FAST AND IMPRESSIVESTART FOR RYAN VILLOPOTOAT ANAHEIM I.BY KIT PALMER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREA WILSON AND PALMER

ONE

(Left to right) Ryan Dungey, Ry

Villopoto and Chad Reed celebr

on the Anaheim podium. It was KT

first time ever on an AMA Supercr

podium in the premier cla

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


SUPERCROSS MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WO

ROUND 1/JANUARY 7, 2012ANGEL STADIUM OF ANAHEIM/ANAHEIM, CALIFORNIA P

For the first time in his ca-

reer, Ryan Villopoto lined

up for a 450 main event in

Supercross sporting the presti-

gious number one on his bike.

Then he wasted little time in re-

minding everyone why it’s there

after running away with the open-

ing round of the 2012 Monster

Energy AMA Supercross Series

at a jammed-packed Angel Sta-

dium of Anaheim.

The sellout crowd 45,050 –

though there was surely a lot

more than that in the house - saw

Villopoto ride the track like he

was on rails, making the win look

easy after claiming the holeshot

on his Monster Energy Kawasaki

KX450F and pulling away from a

stacked field of racers, which in-

cluded three former Supercross

Champions - Chad Reed, Ryan

Dungey and James Stewart - and

three past Supercross winners

- Kevin Windham, Davi Millsaps

and Josh Grant. If Villopoto had

any first-race-of-the-season jit-

ters they certainly didn’t show, as

he rode a nearly flawless 20 laps,

finishing a whopping 12.223 sec-

onds ahead of Reed, who was

closely chased across the finish

line by Dungey.

Villopoto had some help along

the way, though. While he had

clear sailing up front, his main

rivals, who had settled in behind

him after a few laps, all had their

share of mishaps as they fought

closely for second through

fourth. Reed, who started off in

Winner Cole Seely (34) leads

second-place finisher Tyla Rattray

in the West Lites main.

Reed (22), Dungey (5) and JamesStewart (7) spent much of the race

this close.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CHAMPIONSHIP


second, Dungey third and Stew-

art fourth, all fell at one point or

another.

Of the three close pursuers,

Dungey was first to make a move

as he slowly reeled in Reed, only

to slide out on the moist dirt, giv-

ing his spot to Stewart. Once

Racers were greeted by a tra

that was rather different than yo

traditional Supercross track, a

it wasn’t received well by mostthem. The track was long, w

lap times hovering just over t

one-minute mark, and it zigge

zagged and snaked all over

Angel Stadium floor. There w

no long straights or any sign

cant whoop sections, leaving li

opportunities for passing fr

what many of the racers said

liked the track on the safe s

of things,” said Ryan Villopo who tried finding the positives

seemed like it was fairly safe, b

think they can still make it safe a

make it with longer straightawa

instead, there was a lot of turnin

To race a 450 on a track like this

really hard, because of the wei

[of the bike] and because of t

power. You’re always switch

directions, so it’s pretty hard

race a 450, from going to rightleft, and the power, exploding

makes it hard.” Chad Reed sa

“I truly believe it’s subpar. It’s

acceptable how pathetic t

racetrack is, and it’s a shame. W

spend four months working o

asses off going in a direction t

a Supercross track should ch

lenge you, then suddenly we

a curve ball. You could’ve thro

in some trees and logs and y would’ve had a good End

Cross track.” “It was weird,” s

Cole Seely. “It wasn’t your ty

cal 90-degree, 180-degree tu

track. The whole infield was l

a snake section. It was differ

for everyone, but I kind of lik

it, it was all right. There were

whoops, so I’m kind of bumm

on that. I like whoops and they a

just another place to pass. I kn

Briefly...

(Left to right) Reed and Dungey talk about their battle in the main,

including Dungey’s team manager (and Reed’s former team manager)

Roger DeCoster.

continued on next p

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10




again, Dungey went on the attack

and actually caught and passed

Stewart, as those two suddenly

found themselves close to Reed,

who had also tipped over.

Dungey and Stewart contin-

ued to duke it out until the 15th

lap when Stewart bobbled while

running third and veered off in

the Tuff Blocks, damaging h

bike and severely slowing h

momentum. By the time he gat

Ryan Villopoto: “Believe me,they’re not allgoing to be thateasy”

Knowing all the hype, pressure

and anticipation that always goes

along with the opening round of the

AMA Supercross Series, and know-

ing well and good that things that can

go wrong at A1- 2009 quickly comes

to mind when the top two stars,

James Stewart and Chad Reed,

took themselves out - Ryan Villopoto

said before the race that he’d be

happy just to come out of A1 with a

podium finish and healthy. Instead,

the defending champ came out with

an impressive win (and healthy), defi-

nitely establishing himself as, without

doubt, the guy to beat in 2012.

“I rode smooth and flawless,” Villopoto said. “I made only one mis-

take and almost went down. Other

than that I felt good.

“Anaheim I is probably one of

the hardest races to win,” he said.

“There’s a lot of hype around it, lot

of pressure, lot of pressure to see

where everyone is at, and I’m glad

it’s out of the way. I feel good where

we as a team are at. Believe me,

they’re not all going to be that

not that that [this win] was easy

I feel like I’m in a very good po

This year’s A1 track was tigh

twisty, making passing difficult

best, so getting nothing less th

the holeshot was on everyonemind. But no one got out of the

quicker than Villopoto.

“I lined up next to the box, b

there was a little hole right in fr

my gate,” Villopoto said of his

strategy, “but I felt like the spa

side of the box gives you on th

was better for me than to line u

another gate. I just tried to leav

gate smoothly without wheelyin

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CHAMPIONSHIP


ered himself up and finished rip-

ping off the left radiator shroudthat had been torn lose in the fall,

he had dropped several positions

and would eventually finish sixth.

Again, Dungey was on the

move during the remaining laps.

He had his sights on Reed once

more, but time - or the lack there-

of - was his enemy on this night

and had to settle for a close third

in what was a very impressiveshowing in his first official Super-

cross race on this new Red Bull

KTM 450 SX. Dungey’s podium

was also KTM’s first-ever in AMA

Supercross in the premier class.

Justin Brayton, competing in

his first official Supercross race

on the Muscle Milk Honda, was

also impressive. Having crashed

in his heat race, forcing him to

ride the LCQ (which he won),

Brayton had a less than desir-

a lot of teams base a lot of their test-

ing around the whoops.”

For the first time since breakinghis leg while attempting a back

flip in 2010, Josh Hill returned to

the track, but the day did not go

smoothly for the Hart & Hunting-

ton/Dodge Motorsports/Sycuan

Casino/Bel-Ray Kawasaki team

rider. He admitted that he felt out

of sync in practice and that he was

still suffering the effects from nerve

damage in the leg that he broke. He

still has a hard time feeling the shift-lever and making quick moves with

his foot. Hill made it through timed

qualifying and into the night pro-

gram, but was involved in a multi-

rider crash in his heat race, injuring

the leg again. He tried finishing the

race but pulled off. X-rays revealed

no broken bones and, after re-

ceiving a shot of heavy-duty anti-

inflammatory medicine, lined up for

the LCQ, but the pain was just toomuch, and he returned to the track

after a lap. According to his team

manager, Hill was set to undergo an

MRI on Monday, January 9.

Muscle Milk Honda’s Trey Can

did not suit up for the Anaheirace. A few weeks ago, Can

broke his collarbone while test

and was somewhat secretive ab

whether or not he was going to r

right up to the last moment. A

the race, Canard said that he

ridden some after getting the o

from his doctor but felt that he w

only about 60 percent and decid

not push it and wait. He has not

decided if he’ll join the series n weekend at Phoenix.

Troy Lee Design/Lucas Oil Hond

Christian Craig was back in

tion at Anaheim. The Lites-cl

rider had only started riding ag

a few weeks before the race, h

ing broken his wrist a while ba

Craig qualified for the main ev

but jammed the wrist, forcing

to retire early. Craig was scheduto have the wrist reevaluated by

doctor on Monday.

One of the biggest surprises of

day was seeing Bevo Forti sp

100% logos on his hat and sh

Bevo, whose name is synonymo

with Scott goggles, has left

company after 30 years of servi

“100% came out with a new gog

and I’ve decided to join them ing development and sales,” F

said. “I’m very happy; I worked

a good goggle company and n

I feel I’m working for a little be

one. I’m happy to be back out

the circuit. After 30 years at Sc

and now one day at 100% - I beli

in them.” Justin Brayton is one

the company’s first riders to w

the 100% goggles.

Briefly...

i

i

cause the dirt was really tacky there.

I was able to do that.”

Once he got out in front, Vil-

lopoto focused on not making any

mistakes.

“I just wanted to keep pushing,”

he said. “The track was long, rightabout a minute, and those are long

lap times, so you just have to stay

focused. There was a lot of moisture

coming up through the track. When

we did the hot lap, you could see

that [the surface] was shiny and re-

ally slippery. You just had to stay on

your toes and ride the outside lines.

“Overall, it was a great race for

me.”

Eli Tomac had a tough night but was

very fast and ended up squeaking

onto the Lites podium.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


FOLLOW FMF RACING ONFACEBOOK AND TWITTERWWW.FMFRACING.COM

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10




able gate pick for the main even

Without many gates left to chosfrom, Brayton lined up on the f

outside and made the best of

by holding the throttle on a litt

longer through the far right sid

of the left-hand turn to come o

a respectable eighth. After som

hard-fought battles with Ivan T

desco, Andrew Short and Jak

Weimer, Brayton finished out th

night in fourth.For Monster Energy Kawas

ki’s Jake Weimer, the night wa

all about the number five. He wa

fifth fastest in combined qualif

ing and was fifth fastest in th

main event after rounding out th

Chad Reed:

“It was a roughday for me

”

It might have been a “rough

day” for Chad Reed, but to

come away with second place

after being at odds with the

track from start to finish, it

was actually a pretty good day

- at least many other racers

would think so.

“I feel good,” he said. “I thought it was a great night

as far as coming out and getting a good start in both

races, winning a heat race, and then coming back

and getting another good start and being a distant

second. I’ll take that with a crash and a few mistakes

here and there.

“But, it was a rough day for me. It wasn’t like I was

struggling with myself or anything like that - it was just

that I really fought this track all day long. It was a dif-

ficult track for me to find motivation on, so I was happy

to have results with starts like that.

“I wanted to be on the podium. I was just trying

to ride the track and find the

limits where you could push.

[Ryan] Villopoto was realstrong in the tight sections and

was smooth, and he seemed

to have more traction than any-

body I was around all night.”

Reed and Ryan Dungey

had some close battles on

the track, and the two of them

could be seeing talking at

length with each other after

the race, but no hard feelings seemed to be present.

“It was all good,” Reed said. “We kept it clean.

Ryan - both Ryans - we both seem to keep it pretty

clean and try to keep it hard and aggressive.”

Any remote chance Reed had of challenging for the

win ended when he washed out midway through the

race, which allowed Dungey and Stewart to close in

on him.

“It is a shame I lost the front end. I felt like I was try-

ing to pick it up a little bit and be faster in some of the

turns, but there was a limit, and my limit was not high

enough today.”

Josh Hansen (100) and Ben Lamay

(52) fight for positions in a 450 hea

race.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CHAMPIONSHIP


first lap in 10th place.

Stewart, and his battle-scarred

bike, limped across the finish line

in sixth ahead of Supercross.

com Honda’s Andrew Short,

GEICO Powersports Honda’s

Kevin Windham, MotoConcepts’

Mike Alessi and Hart & Hunting-

ton/Dodge Motorsports/Sycuan

Casino/Bel-Ray Kawasaki’s Josh

Hansen, who had battled throug

flu-like symptoms in the day

leading up to the race.

West Lites Supercross

Cole Seely might not hav

My Own Race:

10 JUSTIN BRAYTON 4TH SX Justin Brayton did a commendable job holding down the

fort at the Muscle Milk Honda rig. While his teammate Trey

Canard heals up from a broken collarbone, Brayton made

his first official Supercross appearance as a factory-backed

Honda rider, and he did his new team proud, finishing one

spot out of a podium. Brayton was fourth quickest in timed

qualifying and was full of confidence going into his first heatrace. But a first-turn crash left him heading into the LCQ,

which he won. “I had a bad gate pick, so I chose the far

outside and the plan was just to hold it open on the outside

through the first turn,” Brayton said. “It worked out pretty well

and came out inside the top 10. I felt pretty good and made

some passes and got into fourth, and I’m pretty happy with

that considering.”

21 JAKE WEIMER 5TH SX Ryan Villopoto’s teammate under the Monster Energy Ka-

wasaki awning, Jake Weimer kind of flew under the radar

all day. Having sat out all of the 2011 Supercross season

with an injury, Weimer rode in the B group during qualify-ing and when everyone’s times were added up, Weimer was

fifth-quickest overall. A 10th-place start in the main left him

obscured in the pack, but without much fanfare, he quietly

worked his way up through the pack to finish a strong fifth.

29 ANDREW SHORT 7TH SX Andrew Short had a promising start with his new Jeremy

McGrath/Larry Brooks-run Supercross.com Honda team.

The former factory Honda rider was impressive in the sec-

ond heat race, grabbing the holeshot and holding off James

Stewart and Ryan Dungey for many laps. A midpack start

in the main pretty much sealed his fate and he ended upfinishing a solid seventh. “The night went really well for me

and the whole team came together,” Short said. “The heat

race was the highlight of the night for me. I got a good start

and led some laps and felt comfortable, and my eyes were

huge. The main event I didn’t have a very good start and had

to ride hard and then just rode tight, which is kind of to be

expected. Overall, there were a lot of positives to take away.

I know I’m only going to get better week in and week out.”

800 MIKE ALESSI 9TH SX Riding a black-colored Suzuki for MotoConcepts, Mike Ales-

si showed some of his old form over the course of the night.

He pulled one of his typical Alessi holeshots in the first heat

race and opened up a small lead over Chad Reed that heheld for a few laps. He was seeded fourth going into the

main. Unfortunately, he couldn’t pull off another holeshot but

still came around the first lap in fifth. A small wash out later

in the race cost him some time and he eventually finishedninth.

9 IVAN TEDESCO 13TH SXIvan Tedesco, on his new Hart & Huntington/Dodge Motor-

sports/Sycuan Casino/Bel-Ray Kawasaki, looked strong al

night, contrary to what his results might appear. He got off to

a fast start in the main event, nearly pulling off the holeshot.He held third for a while, holding both Dungey and Stewart

at bay for a couple of laps. He ran in the top five for much of

the race before crashing when, because of a slower rider,

miss-timed a triple jump and went down hard.

17 ELI TOMAC 3RD SX LITESGEICO Powersports Honda’s Eli Tomac was favored by many

to win the opening round of the West Lites Series, but things

just didn’t go his way over the course of the evening. Hetangled with another rider right off the gate in his heat race

and was left behind picking up his bike. Later in the race,his bike quit running and was forced to ride the LCQ, which

he won over Ryan Sipes. In the main, Tomac was caught by

a late-falling gate and had to come from behind, pressuring

Dean Wilson into a mistake on the last lap to squeeze ontothe podium. “It was a tough night, but Dean slid out at the

end and gave it to me the easy way,” Tomac said.

38 MARVIN MUSQUIN 4TH SX LITESRed Bull KTM’s Marvin Musquin made his first official start

in AMA Supercross in the Lites class, and the former MX2

World Champion was impressive. He came out swinging inthe first timed qualifying session, setting the quickest time

and nearly did it again in the session. He finished third be-

hind Wil Hahn and Tyla Rattray in the first heat race, but a

bad start in the main resulted in a fourth-place finish. “It was

a good night,” he said. “I had fun on my bike, it was awe-some, and I felt really good on it. I just need better starts.

But I feel good getting fourth in my first main event ever. It’s

really nice. I really enjoyed the racing and feel healthy and

I’m ready to go. I just need to get a good start. First qualifier

I had a really good lap time and the first heat race I was third,it’s good. Now I just have to get ready for Phoenix. I learned

a lot and it’s going to good.”

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10




James Stewart: “I’m not frustratedat all

”

In his first race in eight months,

James Stewart looked fast and

loose on his new heavily modified

Toyota/JGRMX Racing Yamaha

YZ450F. Despite admitting later thathe was struggling with bike set-up,

he laid down the quickest lap time

in qualifying (by more than a second

over Ryan Villopoto) and won his

heat race, but not without some

resistance by early leader Andrew

Short. But bad starts and one very

untimely crash in the main ruined

what otherwise was a promising

beginning to the season for Stewart.

“I just lost the front end a little bit,”

Stewart said of the crash that cost

him a possible podium finish. “I kind

of got cross-rutted off that rut. I was

just uncomfortable in the main; we

just didn’t have the right setup, so I

was just riding around and waiting

for those guys to make mistakes and

capitalize. And they did. They gave

me an opportunity to try and get

second and get Chad [Reed]. I got a

bad start and was battling with those

guys and let Ryan [Villopoto] go.

“I was riding all right,” he added.

“I really wasn’t pushing it at all, even

when I caught up to Ryan and Chad.

I just kind of rode around. I felt like…

I’ve got a lot more speed in me. I

just felt like I was uncomfortable and

I didn’t want to do anything stupid

the first race and just try to be th

But, unfortunately, I made a mis

I was a tough track to pass on, b

we’ll be better. We know what w

need to work on. I got through t

first race healthy and, I mean, th

is my first race in eight months -

been a while.”

In his heat and main, Stewart

could not get out of the hole qui

“I think Chad cut me off pretty

good [off the start],” he said of t

main. “I got off okay, but someth

happened right over the gate. [H

ever] I feel like speedwise - by fa

we’re good.”

Stewart summed up his night

“We’re there, just a lot of little th

add up to big things. But I figure

we’ll get it done, and I feel confi

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CHAMPIONSHIP


been on the top of many people’s

list as to who might pull off the winin the opening round of the West

Lites Supercross Series, but he

should have been. Some might

say that Seely’s Lites main-event

win came as a surprise, but those

people had undoubtedly forgot-

ten that Seely already has two Li-

tes wins under his belt, so a third

victory was only a matter of time.

However, what might have beensurprising was how Seely pulled

off the victory at Anaheim I - by

passing two of the fastest riders in

the class and then pulling away like

it was no big deal.

Those two riders were Dean

Wilson, the 2011 AMA 250 Na-

tional Motocross Champion, and

Tyla Rattray, the 2008 MX2 World

Champion, and both riders are

members of the mighty Monster

Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki

squad. But that just didn’t seem

to matter to Seely. If anything it

only motivated him. Seely startedoff behind both the Kawasaki rid-

ers, but made short work of them

and slowly edged away, finishing

4.059 seconds ahead of Rattray

on his Troy Lee Designs/Lucas Oil

Honda.

Rattray worked hard for his sec-

ond-place finish. He was pushed

from behind by his teammate Wil-

son the entire way - not to mentionEli Tomac, who was hovering in

fourth place.

Tomac made a charge at the end

of the race that carried him right

up to Wilson’s rear wheel. On the

last lap, Tomac pressured Wilson

into making a mistake that caused

him to run off the track and land in

an awkward position on the Tuff

Blocks. Wilson struggled to get

ent. The race was pretty easy,

hysically wise - I just started off the

ack and let the guy get out in front

nd made a few mistakes. I’m going

take a lot of positives from this

’m not frustrated at all, we’ll get

ere. I’ve won this race, I’ve DNF’ed

is race, and I’ve won champion-

hips either way. I’ve been around

ng enough to know that once we

et things set up, we’re going to be

ard to beat.

“We’ll get it done next week.”

Stewart did not talk about any

pecifics when it came to what prob-

ms he was having with bike setup,

ut we do know that Stewart was

ruggling with tire selection all day.

he team runs Pirellis on Stewart

nd Davi Millsaps’ YZs and it’s been

reported that Stewart wasn’t

happy with the Pirelli rubber

at Anaheim. According to

reliable sources, he rode the

first non-timed practice ses-

sion with a Bridgestone front

and a Pirelli rear; then, in the

second session, which was

also the first timed session,

he ran Pirellis front and rear,

recording the second-fastest

time behind Villopoto. In the

third and final session, he ran

a Pirelli front and a Dunlop

rear, clicking off the fastest

lap time of the afternoon quali-

fiers by more than a second

over Villopoto. However, he

switched back to full Pirellis

for the main.

ResultsSupercross Main

1. Ryan Villopoto (Kaw)2. Chad Reed (Hon)

3. Ryan Dungey (KTM)4. Justin Brayton (Hon)5. Jake Weimer (Kaw)6. James Stewart (Yam7. Andrew Short (Hon)8. Kevin Windham (Hon9. Mike Alessi (Suz)10. Josh Hansen (Kaw)

West Lites Main1. Coley Seeley (Hon)2. Tyla Rattray (Kaw)

3. Eli Tomac (Hon)4. Marvin Musquin (KTM5. Ryan Sipes (Yam)6. Dean Wilson (Kaw)7. Jason Anderson (Suz8. Wil Hahn (Hon)9. Zach Osborne (Yam)10. Travis Baker (Hon)

For complete results, click

Angel Stadium was more than

packed for the opening round of the

2012 series.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10




Cole Seely:“The smarter Irode the easi-er it got

”

Emerging from the Lites

qualifiers second fastest was

probably the key to Cole

Seely’s success in the Litesclass. That boosted his confi-

dence two-fold, which he car-

ried into and put to good use in the 15-lap main event.

“The day started off good,” Seely said. “I qualified

well, which is good for me, since I don’t typically do

well in qualifying. I was pumped I got one good lap in,

but I knew I could run that consistently.

“In my heat race, I got a little bit of a bad start and

worked my way up, but I knew by the way I was riding

that I could definitely win tonight.

“I just went out in the main and tried to get a good

start,” he added. “I think I

came out fifth or sixth in the

first turn, made some good

passes in the opening laps

and just tried to ride a smart

and mature race after that.

“It was hard to pull away

once I got ahead of those

guys,” he admitted. “I just

kept making mistakes andhad to keep telling myself to

take it down a notch and ride

consistently, don’t make mistakes and ride smart. The

smarter I rode the easier it got and the faster I went. I

just tried to ride that way the last laps.”

Seely also admitted that Anaheim I is one of the

tougher races.

“There is just so much hype and nerves going into

A1, and to come out on top is just awesome. Just to

get through it is awesome, but to get through it on top

is even better.”

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CHAMPIONSHIP


back going again and lost a fe

positions, ending up an eve

tual sixth. Tomac, who logge

the fastest lap time of the race

went on to finish third.

Red Bull KTM’s Marvin Mu

quin, competing in his first offi

cial AMA Supercross race, fi

ished fourth after getting off t

an eighth-place start.

Ryan Sipes, the top Lite

qualifier, rounded out the to

five on his Rockstar/Valli/Sta

Ryan Dungey: “Just needto eliminate the mistakes

”

Although he didn’t win, the Anaheim race was

a good one for Ryan Dungey. He looked fast and

comfortable on the KTM, and seemed far more ag-

gressive than we’ve seen from him in the past. He

actually reeled in and passed James Stewart once,

and caught Chad Reed twice. Had he not slid out,

the finish might have been a lot more exciting than it

already was.

“I feel like we got off to a pretty decent start in the

main,” Dungey said. “I kind of got boxed out there on

the outside [through the first turn], but we were able

to tuck under and come out about third or fourth.

From that point forward, it was just trying to be work-

ing ahead and making passes. Villopoto, he kind of

got out there right away and so did Chad [Reed]. I

got around Ivan [Tedesco, who had gotten off to a

fast start] and I was working on my way to Chad and,

about halfway in, I tucked my front - I missed the rut

and the whole rear came out and made a mistake and

fell over. The was unfortunate. You never want to lose

that much time, but we rebounded and came back

up, passed James and got up to Chad - he made a

mistake too - and then from that point forward it was

us three battling it out trying to get that second-place

spot. But we ended up third. I don’t think that was too

bad.

“Chad and I had a good race,” he added. “Every-

thing was fine afterward. Towards the end, I was trying

to put the pressure on and obviously he knew I was

there. I was trying everything I could to get by. It was a

tough track to pass on. It was great racing. Just need

to eliminate the mistakes.”

Dungey added that he feels very right at home on

the KTM.

“To be honest, it’s the most comfortable I’ve ever

felt on a 450.”

(Left) Josh Grant (33) and team-

mate Kyle Chisholm made their

debut on the new Jeff Ward Rac-

ing Kawasaki team.

(Far left) Dungey (5), Mike Alessi

(800) and Ivan Tedesco (9) mix it

up in a heat race. Both Alessi andTedesco looked strong.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


SUPERCROSS


Racing Yamaha, followed by W

son, Rockstar Energy Suzuki

Jason Anderson, and GEIC

Powersports Honda’s Wil Hahn

who had fallen and broken h

nose earlier in the race.

GP regular Zach Osborne fin

ished ninth, while Travis Bake

on the Troy Lee Designs/Luca

Oil Honda rounded out the to

10 overall. C

MONSTER ENERGY AMA SUPERCROSS SERIES, AN FIM WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

GettingSerious AboutConcussions

At Anaheim, Dr. Bodnar, of

the Asterisk Mobile Medical

Unit, announced a new pro-

gram for evaluating concus-sions. For now the program

is strictly on a volunteer basis

for the riders, but starting with

this year’s outdoor series it

will be mandatory. The program calls for every rider

to be tested to establish a baseline value so that if

that rider takes a hit to the head during a race they

will be required to get retested so that value can be

compared to their baseline, which will then be a factor

used to determine if and when they will be allowed to

return to racing.“Over the last six months we’ve been working

on upgrading our concussion policy,” said Bodnar.

“Things have changed over the past 10 years, as all

medicine has, and we’re looking at ways to manage

concussions, like you see in a lot of sports now like

the NFL and hockey. With the help of Dr. Rhymer, the

medical advisor for the program, we have changed

the way we look at concussions from the old Grade 1,

2, and 3, to more of a multi-faceted approach, using

multiple formulas and testing to evaluate how bad a hit

a rider has taken.”

In a nutshell, all riders will

be asked to take a “test” while

healthy and the results will be

held on file, so when/if a rider

hits his head on race day,

he’ll be required to take that

same test. If the Asterisk crew

doesn’t like what they see incomparison, they will have the

authority to tell that rider that

he/she can’t ride until they’ve

had a chance to recover.

“We want to treat concussions just like any other

injury,” Bodnar said. “In the past, ringing your bell

was just considered that, ringing your bell, and not

something that was taken too seriously. Now we real-

ize it’s just like breaking your leg and you need time to

recover from it. Just because you’re still walking and

talking doesn’t mean it’s safe to ride. In my mind, thisprogram is going to extend a rider’s career, because

we have riders who have fallen by the wayside due to

not handling concussions properly, and now they have

problems concentrating and they can’t ride the way

they once could.”

Thanks to a donation from Shoei Safety Helmet

Corporation, all baseline testing done during the

Supercross season, as well as any necessary follow

up tests, will be free of charge for all AMA licensed

riders.

Josh Hill returned to racing but

pulled off after possibly re-injuring

his leg.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


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8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


2012 HONDA CBR1000RR

FIRST RIDE P5

Honda refined its 2012 CBR1000RR and let us loose

at Infineon Raceway to see if we liked it. We did.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



BY TOM MONTANO

PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRIAN J. NELSON

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix. It’s a saying you

often hear when someone is trying to

make something better and it all goes hor-

ribly wrong. In the highly competitive world

of open-class sportbikes, this could mean

the introduction of costly redesigns and use-

less new parts that make things more com-

plicated and ultimately have an outcome of

very little improvement. It appears the men at

Honda had this in mind when they decided

to leave good enough alone with its 2012CBR1000RR.

Why completely change what already

works when a few subtle upgrades will do

the job just fine?

Honda has opted to build on the same ba-

sic platform that has taken Johnny Rea and

his Ten Kate CBR1000RR to several victo-

ries in the World Superbike Championship.

The same bike that Karl Muggeridge also

achieved success on by claiming the 2011

German Superbike Championship aboard

an ABS-equipped CBR.

So without engaging in any kind of great

overhaul or redesign of the current CBR,Honda has come up with some exceptional

upgrades that they believe will keep them

at the top of the heap in the open sportbike

class.

Unlike many of its rivals, Honda decided

to forgo the ever-popular electronic riding

aides and stick to the basics. Thus, traction

control, engine mapping and power-mode

controls are all absent from the new CBR,

but that doesn’t mean you will be left behind.Instead what you will find is what Honda calls

“a perfect balance of power and handling

designed to work together as a complete

package.”

Back in 1992 when Honda introduced the

original CBR900RR, the main goal was to

build a bike that worked great everywhere.

Whether on the track or in town, Honda

wanted the rider to feel at ease with the bike

while having the confidence to take full ad-

NO MESSIN’

ABOUTHONDA DIDN’T SCRAP ITSCBR1000RR, IT JUST REFINED IT

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



FIRST RIDE P5

vantage of the available perfor-

mance at hand. The new model

marks the 20th anniversary ofthe CBR1000 and the rationale

behind the original CBR900RR

still rings true today. With some

of the same engineers heading

up development, the new 2012

CBR1000RR project should be

a step forward in the continuing

success of the CBR family. Or is

it?

The previous CBR1000RR wasa good bike and it had reason-

able success at the racetrack.

But the street market is where it

really counts. After all, if the bikes

don’t sell there won’t be any rac-

ing.

Over the years Honda has man-

aged for the most part to design

motorcycles that perform well at

the racetrack while still retain-

ing the elements crucial to being

a great streetbike – things like

comfort and ridability. It’s been afew years since the CBR1000RR

has been updated and without fit-

ting electronics what could they

do to sweeten the prize?

First off, Honda engineers de-

cided to enhance the handling

characteristics of the CBR by fit-

ting a new Showa 43mm Big Pis-

ton Fork (BPF) up front. The new

BPF fork offers a larger damp-ing volume that will reduce the

hydraulic pressure generated as

the fork legs compress and ex-

tend. The increased surface area

of the larger piston helps control

oil flow through the cartridge, al-

lowing for a better damping ef-

fect. This in effect translates to

increased feel and stability under

heavy braking and corner entry,

and the superior bump comp

ance of the new Big Piston Fo

is also a welcomed attribute.

At the rear of the bike, Hond

still incorporates its Unit PrLink suspension, but with a ne

Showa Balance-Free shoc

This patented new design spor

a unique double-tube dampe

case, plus an internal cylinde

for added damping response. It

much like an Ohlins TTX racin

shock except it comes as sta

dard kit on the 2012 CBR1000RR

Both front and rear suspensio

components are equipped wi

external compression and r

bound adjustments, and pre-loa

may also be adjusted on bo

units to suit your riding needs.

New 12-spoke cast aluminu

wheels also play an importa

part in the handling of the bike

The theory is that the added rigid

ity of the 12-spoke design - com

bined with the new suspensio

- allows the rider to better tran

late what is going on underneat

him/her.

Another notable update is th

new layered-fairing design th

increases cooling, reduces dra

and creates a nice pocket of cal

air around the rider for improvecomfort. The new fairing als

sports an integrated chin spoile

in the nose for reduced aerod

namic lift to further enhance th

handling.

Okay let’s put the new update

to the test. The press launch fo

the new CBR1000RR was he

at Infineon Raceway in Sonom

California - a great track for tes

The newest of the CBR1000s –

available with ABS or without.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



ing motorcycles. What isn’t so

great is the fact that the weather

in mid-December in Northern

California can be a bit dodgy.

And dodgy it was. I awoke tomorning fog and heavy mist and

by the time we got to the track it

hadn’t lifted, which prevented us

from riding. Eventually we made it

out, but the weather didn’t make

it very productive or much fun.

But one thing I could test in

the iffy conditions was the re-

vised fuel injection mapping with

better throttle performance. Infi-

neon Raceway is sketchy when

it is wet so the smoother you are

on the throttle, the better off you

are. I quickly found the new fuel-

injection settings to be spot on.

There was plenty of power when

you wanted it and it came on

smoothly and in a linear fashion.

The fact that Honda had

brought some 2011 CBR1000RRs

to compare the new one with was

insightful on their part because

you could really feel the differ-

ence between the two bikes. The

new CBR was definitely smooth-

er, yet more responsive.

As the sun started to break

through and the track warmed,

the fun started. While we foundthe new bike to be smoother and

easier to ride in less than ideal

conditions, just how would it han-

dle the abuses of a proper track-

day thrashing?

When the conditions were

less than ideal, the 2012 model

soaked up the bumps and felt at

ease with the conditions at hand,

but I thought the suspension

might be a bit too soft to be so

composed at less than full tilt. I

quickly discovered that the new

suspension has a wide range

of operating parameters. As the

speed increased so did the abil-

ity of the new Showa fork an

rear shock to handle a pletho

of situations. Infineon has a l

of elevation changes, turns, an

not much in the way of straigh

to rest - so you’re working all th

The CBR1000 has always b

a very capable streetbike. T

hasn’t chang

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



FIRST RIDE P5

That was then, this is now: The new CBR1000RR and theone that started it all 20 years ago – the CBR900RR.

time. Thus you want a bike that’s

easy to ride and won’t wear you

out.

The new Balance-Free rear

shock is a big improvementover the 2011 model. The new

CBR1000RR soaked up the

bumps and kept its composure

when you nailed it out of the

corners. The way the rear wheel

tracked over the bumps was

great and when you came off the

corners on the gas it was like you

were being pushed forward with

plenty of usable traction – just

like a proper race bike.

One note of interest was the

throttle response when transi-

tioning from off the gas to back

on while exiting the corners. The

fact that it is so smooth really

helps keep the bike from lurching

back and forth, taking away the

fear of craping open the throttle

on an open-class sportbike. They

got it right – and that’s just part of

the perfect balance of power and

handling they were talking about.By mid afternoon I was really

feeling good about the new CBR.

Infineon has lots of turns and a

few fast transitions to deal with so

a nimble bike is a real plus. Get-

ting hard on the gas out of turn

seven that leads down to the turn

eight esses is always a struggle,

and muscling the bike back and

forth is tough – not so on the

CBR. It’s really a joy to throw

around.

Once again, it’s here that the

new rear shock plays a key role

in keeping the attitude of the bike

neutral enough to be able to put it

where you want - when you want.

The Showa Big Piston Fork also

shines in places like the hard

braking turn nine chicane. Th

fork reacts predictably enterin

corners with a nice controlle

dive. As soon as you are don with your trail braking, the fo

settles in and allows the rider

continue through the corner wi

excellent feel and control.

Every now and then I wou

forget what gear I was in, but th

fact that the new multi-functio

LCD instrument cluster has

gear indicator would save me

It’s a nice addition, allowing yo

to look down and compare th

revs of the motor on the new ba

graph-like tachometer to wh

gear you are in and adjust you

riding accordingly. I am a big fa

of the old style needle-type tac

but the new dash layout on th

2012 CBR was very cool. The

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



braking system. On the previous

CBR1000RR the brake bias be-

tween the front and rear was a

bit too heavy on the front brake

when engaging the rear brake.

The 2012 C-ABS model has de-

creased the amount of pressure

applied to the front brake whenhard on the rear brake. Mean-

while, when you are hard on the

front brake the rear brake is en-

gaged just enough to settle the

bike a bit, which I like because

I’m a rear brake kind of guy.

Once you get your head

around the C-ABS system you

will come to realize how impres-

sive it really is. The one flaw isthat the lever pull is somewhat

compromised by the fact that you

don’t quite have the initial bite

and feel as you get into the lever

as on the no-ABS system. But

after you understand the differ-

ence in feel between the C-ABS

equipped bike and the no- ABS

model you can really hammer the

brakes. Even the added weight

SPECIFICATION

2012 CBR1000RR

Engine: ..........999cc liquid-cooled in

four-cylinder

Bore and Stroke: ......... 76mm x 55.1

Compression Ratio: ........................1

Valve Train: .........DOHC; four valves

cylinder

Induction: ......Dual Stage Fuel Injec

(DSFI)

Ignition: ..... Computer-controlled di

transistorized with 3-D mappingTransmission: ....... Close-ratio six-sp

Final Drive: ......................................C

SUSPENSION

Front: ...........43mm inverted Big Pi

Fork with spring preload, rebound a

compression damping adjustability

Rear: Unit Pro-Link Balance-Free Re

Shock with spring preload, rebound

and compression damping adjustab

BRAKES

Front: ..Dual radial-mounted four-pi

calipers with full-floating 320mm di

Rear: ........Single 220mm disc Opti

Honda Electronic Combined ABS

TIRES

Front: ........................120/70ZR-17 ra

Rear: ........................190/50ZR-17 raWheelbase: ...........................55.5 inc

Rake: ...............................................23

Trail: .....................96.0mm (3.8 inc

Seat Height: ..........................32.3 inc

Fuel Capacity: ......4.7 gallons, inclu

1.06-gallon reserve

Weight (wet): ..441 pounds/467 pou

(with C-ABS)

are also options for a lap timer,

five-level shift light indicator, fuel

consummation and efficiency,

and several other readouts.

The next thing on my com-

parison list was the newly re-

vised optional C-ABS linked

The author bends the

CBR into one of Infineon’s

corners.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



FIRST RIDE P6

of the C-ABS (an additional 26

pounds) is barely noticeable.

While on the subject of brak-ing and corner entry, I began

to question whether or not the

big Honda was fitted with a slip-

per clutch. As you pushed the

corner entry deeper and really

put the Tokico radial-mounted,

four-piston calipers and 320mm

brake rotors to the test, the

new CBR1000 was every bit as

smooth as you could imagine. I

inquired about the presence of a

slipper clutch and was informed

that the new CBR comes stan-

dard with Honda’s patented cen-

ter cam-assist mechanical type

slipper clutch. Instead of movingthe plates from side to side as on

regular slippers, Honda’s clutch

moves both the center cam as-

sist and the pressure plates to

provide additional slipper effect.

It worked well and I had no trou-

ble with rear wheel hopping. I left

the track very satisfied with the

new 2012 CRB1000RR.

The weather was even worsethe next morning for our street

ride and it was a bit daunting be-

cause it had rained and the roads

were damp. But it didn’t stop us

and we headed out from the ho-

tel to explore the back roads and

coastline of Northern California.

The roads there are ideal for

testing just how user-friendly and

forgiving a motorcycle can be.

There are plenty of bumps, o

camber turns, blind corners, an

wet patches to navigate and yo

need to feel confident with yo

ride when attacking those condtions. Well, the new CBR1000R

with its revised fuel injection an

new Showa suspension was u

to the task.

All the usual obstacles we

met with ease. The smooth thro

tle response was a big plus an

the way the suspension soake

up the bumps kept the ride exc

ing but never scary in such pr

carious conditions. Just like

the racetrack, both ends of th

bike tracked well over the bump

and stayed planted to the groun

all while driving forward.

I encountered several spo

throughout the ride that require

quick and precise action… i.e

blind corners and debris in th

road. The new ABS was grea

allowing you to brake as neede

while not throwing it down t

road if you happened to get into

panic situation. I have to say th

the perfect balance of power an

handling that the men from Ho

da talked about earlier was ve

evident on the new CBR1000RR

Well done, boys. The new 2012 CBR1000R

comes in three-color combin

tions: Black, red and pearl whit

with a splash of blue and re

The MSRP for the standard 201

CBR1000RR is $13,800 whi

the C-ABS equipped model w

run you $14,800. For just a gran

more, sign me up for the ABS

equipped model. C

The digital dash now has a gear-

position indicator.

Twenty years of CBRs.

Stylish in red.

The front fork is new – a 43mm

Showa Big Piston Fork.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


FEATURE P6

TEAM ALESSI

TONY ALESSI HASCARTE BLANCHE AT

MOTOCONCEPTS

A WINNINGCOMBINATION

OR A RECIPE FORDISASTER?

NEW YEAR,

NEW ALESSIS?

Mike Alessi will be re-united

with his brother Jeff at Moto-

Concepts.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



BY JEAN TURNER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY RESMARKET

It’s a new year, a new season,

and Tony Alessi has finally been given what he’s wanted

since 2004 - free reign over his

son’s race program. Plenty might

see that as a frightening idea

given the Alessi family’s notoriety,

and their history of strained rela-

tionships with factory teams. The

mere mention of the Alessi name

is synonymous with a parable of

talent being hindered by clashing

egos, which typically stars Tony

as the overbearing father. The

story played over and over again

through message boards and in-

dustry rumor mills as Mike Alessi

went from one factory team to an-

other. All the while, flashes of bril-

liance served as convincing re-

minders that his potential was stillthere, but the proverbial question

always lurked overhead: What

would it take to finally put it all to-

gether?

This year, the Alessis have a

new plan - one that brought Mike,

his brother Jeff, and Tony all back

together on the same team. Crit-

ics will say that they exhausted all

their options with factory teamsand were relegated to their cur-

rent deal, but Tony maintains they

had several options (including

more financially rewarding ones),

and chose to deal with Mike

Genova and MotoConcepts for

one very important reason - carte

blanche. Tony Alessi has always

longed for the freedom to devel-

op Mike’s program and now he

has finally been given the chance

to do so.

“This is a great opportunity

for us, bar none,” Tony said at

the MotoConcepts team intro at

Milestone MX. “We have an op-

portunity now for Mike and Jeff

and myself to pursue a dream

that we’ve been after for a while.”

MotoConcepts team owner

Mike Genova shares the Alessis’

perspective that the “shackles”

that come with a factory team

are what have been holding themback. Without the freedom to call

their own shots, Mike didn’t have

the tools to put together a solid

season. It might seem like excus-

es and finger pointing, but Tony

went on to bring up a valid point.

“In 2004, we took a privateer

effort - we took our own bike -

to Steel City with a kid that was

in ninth grade who weighed 125pounds,” Tony recalls. “We took

that effort that was ours and put

it on the podium. And beat many,

many factory riders that day.

Since that day, obviously we’ve

had some good results and good

performances along the way,

but it didn’t come with our own

program. It came with shackles.

Now we have an opportunity todo what we’ve always wanted to

do.”

The unique 2012 program is

isn’t one that any of the Alessis

are taking lightly. The significance

of this long awaited chance was

clear from Tony’s emotion-filled

speech at the team’s media day.

“It’s an opportunity for us to

take our own program and to

take our own 450 - a MotoCon

cepts Racing 450 - and to try t

develop a program that can be

the top talent and the top equip

ment in the world,” Tony conti

ued. “It’s not going to be easy b

any means, but we’re up for th

challenge and we’re going to g

for it. I really want to thank Mik

Genova for the opportunity.”

What led Genova to empow

the Alessis so freely? He ha

plenty of experience in racing

and is certainly not blind to thstigma associated with the Ales

name. He has his own perspe

tive on the matter and was quit

candid about his rationale at th

team’s press day.

“I see on those blogs peop

talking about what kind of peop

the Alessis are or aren’t, and

read some of these blogs abo

how Mike needs to be away fro Tony or that Tony is not a goo

guy,” Genova said. “But I got

tell ya; I’ve been around pro rac

ing about four or five years no

and these are some of the be

guys in the sport, in my opinion

Jeff, Mike, they get a bad, ba

rep. And you see [Tony] up her

with so much emotion. And pa

of that emotion is that peopdidn’t believe in him, didn’t tru

him and didn’t understand hi

and didn’t support him.”

Genova went on to talk abo

the synergy between Tony an

Mike, and how giving them free

dom rather than restrictions is th

key to unlocking Mike’s potentia

“Those guys are committed s

you don’t have to babysit them o

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


FEATURE

TEAM ALESSI

whether they’re working or try-

ing or focusing,” Genova said

of the Alessis. “They’re self-

motivated and self-reliant.”

Of course, it’s not just aboutMike and Tony. Jeff Alessi has

been reunited with his dad and

brother and is also looking for-

ward to a lucrative year in the

450 class. “It’s been, like,

four years, maybe even more

[since being on a team with his

brother]. I’m pretty pumped on

it. I think it will be good for all

of us.”

Jeff has played a key role in

developing the MotoConcepts

450 with Mike and his dad since

September. In accordance with

the carte blanche policy, they

tested a number of bikes before

making their choice, with no in-

fluence or obligation from any

brand sponsorship.

Pre-season testing led the

Alessis to abandon the existing

MotoConcepts Yamaha YZ450F

for the Suzuki RM-Z450, which

serves as the base model for

Mike’s and Jeff’s race bikes.

“Some of the riders we had

struggled with how the Yamaha

rode,” Genova said. “So we

made a decision that we wantedto have a bike that best suited the

rider because we were mostly

supporting the cost on our own,

we said we’re going to get the

bike that we want.”

But without any official back-

ing from the manufacturer, you

won’t hear any mention of “the S

word” under the MotoConcepts

tent. The unbridled freedom has

also led them to accessorize with

whatever they wish, and without

naming specifics, Genova re-

vealed that the #800 and #801

bikes are not even 100 percent

Suzuki-based.

In another renegade move, the

team is heading into the season

without a team manager. Former

manager David Vuillemin parted

ways with the MotoConcepts

team several months ago, and

his position has been filled by a

collaborative effort.

“Yeah, we’re kind of mixing it

up a little bit,” Genova said. “Da-

vid did a great job for us but we’regoing in a different direction. We

have so much infrastructure up in

our home base in Spokane, and

I’m more involved than ever. So

I’m becoming the owner/man-

ager and we’re relying on our in-

shop guys to do a lot of the man-

agement of the inventory and the

bikes.”

So now the question of the

hour is: Will it work? The Ale

sis have been granted free reig

and plenty will scoff at the idea.

but if there’s one thing we’v

learned in the past few years, it

that not all champions blosso

under a factory tent. Riders likRicky Carmichael, James Stew

art and Chad Reed showed th

building a team around their ow

needs can work even better tha

a standard issue factory rid

And it makes enough sense f

the Alessis to break with conve

tion since convention hasn’t pr

duced their desired results yet.

Will it work? Is now the time

Will Tony Alessi be able to pr

duce a winner and say, “I to

you so,” to all the factory teams

Stranger things have happened

Mike, Tony and Jeff are feelin

the weight of this long awaite

opportunity on their shoulder

and none of them plan to take

for granted. C

P6

Alessi said he could’ve cho

any bike he wanted - he ch

the Suzuki RM-Z4

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


TEST P6

DUNLOP ROADSMART II

BY BILL STERMER

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KEVIN WING

It’s no mystery what riders want in a tire. We

want to increase the envelope in which thetire will handle well and predictably, we want

it to last a greater number of miles, and we

want it to stick to the pavement like a pit bull

on a mailman’s pants—in the wet or dry.

Back in 2008, Dunlop introduced its origi-

nal Roadsmart sport-touring tire, which did a

reasonable job in all three areas. However,

since then, the number of sport-touring bikes

has expanded, and their performance has

been enhanced. Also, Dunlop has released anumber of new tires in the interim including the

Sportmax Q2 and D211, and racing slicks in-

cluding the KR106 and 108, and the KR448F

and KR449. According to Dunlop, the tech-

nology gleaned from developing these sport-

ing and racing tires, along with other tires in

their line, has now been incorporated into

the successor to the original Roadsmart tire,

which they call the Roadsmart II.

At the tire’s introduction in mid-December in Southern California, the good folks at Dun-

lop told us that they had invested more than

$30 million in their tire plant in Buffalo, New

York, and that their Dunlop Proving Grounds

is the only motorcycle tire testing facility in the

United States. We were also told that, “Rac-

ing is part of who we are; it’s part of our DNA.

We have a ‘race-to-road’ strategy.” Dunlop

personnel stated that they can cascade tech-

nology, utilizing what works on one kind of tire

in the development of another.” And, we were

told, the Roadsmart II benefits from this rac-

ing technology.

Because the Roadsmart II is a sport-tour-

ing tire it has to work well in the wet, deliver

exceptional longevity and of course stick well.

That means it needs to deliver sufficient lati-

tude so that it can be utilized on sportbikes,

sport-tourers and touring machines. Accord-

>Dunlop>enhances the>art of sport->touring rubber

GET GRIPPWITH

IT

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



We sampled the Dunlop Roadsmaron a variety of motorcyc

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


P6

DUNLOP ROADSMART II

TEST

ing to Dunlop’s Mike Manning,

the need to deliver this great lati-

tude means, “a sport-touring tire

is the most challenging type of

tire to build.”For starters, Dunlop has re-

designed the tread pattern front

and rear. While still utilizing the

“cosecant-curve” groove pat-

tern, the placement and shape of

those grooves has been altered

to reduce tire squirm, which pro-

motes more even wear and lon-

ger life.

The front Roadsmart II utilizesFlex Steel-Jointless Belt (FS-

JLB) technology that carries two

body plies arranged at opposing

angles for both grip and shock

absorption. The intent is to keep

the tread from squirming, while

not allowing the ride to become

too stiff. Meanwhile, the FS-JLB

technology also prevents the tire

from expanding at high speeds,

thus controlling carcass distor-

tion and heat buildup. It’s all in-

tended to keep the contact patch

stiff while allowing the sidewallsto flex (they’re part of the suspen-

sion system) and to lay down a

larger footprint when leaned over.

The rear tire also features JLB,

but with multi-tread compound-

ing that produces a harder com-

pound in the center for longer

wear and softer on the edges for

grip. In the profile area the goal

is for the tire to offer sporty han-dling, yet provide linear feel and

comfortable handling. The Dun-

lop folks call it “intuitive response

profile,” which means that the

tire responds in a way that is in-

tuitive for the rider—it delivers no

surprises. The Roadsmart II is

designed to provide a linear feel

to the contact patch, but when

really leaned over—at about

40-degree angle—the conta

patch actually becomes larger fo

greater grip.

The front tire’s tread pattefeatures long lateral grooves t

evacuate water and to promo

regular wear. For the rear tire

Dunlop engineers removed som

of the grooves from the cente

area to stiffen it for greater wea

They found that because the fro

tire evacuates water when th

bike is ridden straight up, the re

does not need as much channeing as it follows the same path

Both front and rear compound

utilize silica for greater wet gr

and extended wear.

The other major change fro

the original Roadsmart is slight

increased tread depth—how

ever, if the tread is overly dee

it can begin to squirm and de

(Above) The front tire’s tread pattern features long lateral grooves to evacu-

ate water and to promote regular wear. (Right) The rear gets a softer com-

pound on the outsides for grip and harder rubber in the middle for tread life.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



tract from handling. According

to Dunlop personnel they tested

the Roadsmart II at their Hunts-

ville, Alabama test track and the

results were improved lap timesin the wet over the previous tire,

and they were also able to gener-

ate greater G-forces while leaned

over. In short, the tire was able to

handle greater acceleration and

deceleration forces, while deliv-

ering increased grip and longev-

ity.

As part of the introduction the

press was invited to ride the newRoadsmart II on a number of dif-

ferent motorcycles on a primo

backroad course from Westlake

Village to Ojai, California, and

back again. Including a stint up

into the local mountains, the

route was around 100 miles over-

all. During the course of the rid-

ing day I was able to explore the

Roadsmart II’s performance on a variety of bikes. Because they’re

sport-touring tires I tried them on

a Yamaha FJR1300 and Triumph

Sprint ST. Because they’re also

meant for heavier touring bikes I

did a stint on BMW’s new K1600

six-cylinder; to throw a little sport

into the mix I also jumped aboard

a Yamaha YZ8.

As usual this press ride soonturned into a race, with the jour-

nalists scalding the backroads as

hard and fast as the law allows—

and then some. In all cases the

Roadsmart IIs turned in easily,

provided very predictable an

secure grip, and I felt at hom

immediately on each of the bike

I rode. Granted, a 100-mile sti

on a variety of bikes is far from comprehensive test—after all, th

day was dry, and longevity did n

enter into the equation. Howeve

regarding feel and handling, th

tires did perform as advertised.

From the technical inform

tion presented and our brief sad

dle time with them, it seems tha

Dunlop has done its homewo with the Roadsmart IIs. Th

handling was certainly intuitive

and grip assured. I’d be happ

for the opportunity to wear out

set. C

The author liked the feel and

the handling of the newest

Dunlops provided.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


TEST P7

Triumph’s tribute to Steve McQueen –

the Steve McQueen Edition.

2012 TRIUMPH STEVE MCQUEEN EDITIONTM

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



I c o nBY ALAN CATHCART

PHOTOGRAPHY BY KYOICHI NAKAMURA

E very time we see the movie, we think, ‘This time,

surely he’ll make it,’ as we urge on American air-

man Captain Virgil Hilts, aka Steve McQueen, in

his final daredevil bid for freedom in The Great Escape,

as he tries to leap to freedom after gunning his stolen

motorcycle back and forth across the undulating hill-

sides as he hunts for a gap in the barbed wire border

fence lying between him and Switzerland - away from

the German soldiers closing in on all sides. But, of

course, it all ends in tears every time, as Virgil’s heroic

attempt to leap the fence ends in a painful crash, anda return to the very POW camp he’d already escaped

from…

Two decades after his tragic early death from can-

cer in November 1980, at just 50 years old, the world’s

on-going fascination with McQueen lives on. As the

The Triumph Bonneville that paystribute to Steve McQueen and hislove of motorcycles

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


TEST P7

iconic Hollywood biker whose

movie exploits were matched by

his all-round two-wheeled riding

skills, especially off-road, the star

of The Great Escape and the ul-

timate motorcycle movie, On Any

Sunday, retains a special fascina-

tion for all bike enthusiasts. No

matter the generation.

With Triumph motorcycles play-

ing a key role in McQueen’s life

away from the film set, perhaps

it’s inevitable that Triumph Mo-

torcycles has now joined forces

with McQueen’s estate to create

an officially licenced version of

today’s classic Bonneville T10

air-cooled parallel-twin, whic

pays tribute to the late actor

love for British bikes. With the a

proval of McQueen’s son Chad

1100 individually-numbered e

amples of the Steve McQueen™

Edition – dig that trademark - a

The author went back in time for this one.


8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



scheduled to be sold worldwide

in the coming year.

The McQueen Edition (just a

bit over a $1000 more than the

stock Bonneville T100) is an un-

deniably cool-looking bike that

is more utilitarian warhorse than

custom model in appearance,

with a distinctly ‘60s feel even if

its design is inspired by the Tro-

phy TR6 that McQueen and Ek-

ins rode in The Great Escape.

The McQueen bike features aseries of modified parts aimed at

taking it a step beyond a normal

Bonneville model, painted in a

military-style matte Khaki Green

livery, with a rough cut-looking

stencil-style Triumph decal on

the tank, and the actor’s signa-

ture on the side covers.

Sporting a specially-designed

solo seat and black luggage rack,

the McQueen Edition comes

with a rugged-looking skid plate

and smaller black-bodied head-

lamp. It also features a host of

other blacked out components,

like the wheel rims and hubs,

handlebars, rear springs, mirrors

and front fender supports. And

to confirm its provenance, eachlimited edition bike is individually

numbered via a plaque on the tri-

ple clamp, while owners will also

receive a certificate of authentic-

ity with their machine.

With deliveries of the Mc-

Queen Edition not scheduled to

begin until April, the chance to

borrow the pre-production proto-type carrying the number 1 plate

from the Triumph factory (before

it ends up in Chad McQueen’s

garage as part of the deal) gave

me a special kind of ride down

memory lane. When The Great

Escape was released I remem-

ber coming out of the theater

with stars in my eyes, marvelling

at McQueen’s daredevil skills – I

must admit I thought he’d mad

That Jump, not stuntman B

Ekins. McQueen later becam

a folk hero for me after his pa

in bankrolling and also appearinin On Any Sunday in 1971. Memo

ries…

So the chance to pay tribut

to McQueen by riding Triumph

new Steve McQueen™ Editio

trademark sign and all, was we

come, especially as the sunn

English winter day I did so o

allowed Warwickshire to ma

querade as California. Time t

own up, though – before doin

so, I delved into our attic to pu

out my durable cowhide ‘70s rid

ing jacket – anyone remembe

Bates leathers? – that I used t

wear riding around McQueen

San Francisco base back

the 1970s. Sadly, though, it ha

shrunk during the 30 years it habeen squirreled away out of sig

– and, yes!, my Hermans ridin

boots still fitted. Add an ope

faced Arai, a pair of Octopu

goggles, and this living leap int

all our yesterdays was ready fo

the road.

The Steve McQueen™ Editio

is based on the older SwingiSixties-style T100 wire-wheele

version of the then born-aga

British manufacturer’s Bonnevil

model launched in 2000 as th

foundation of its Modern Cla

sic line-up. Since then, Triump

has built more than 120,000 ai

oil-cooled 790/865cc paralle

twins, spread between its Bon

eville, Scrambler, T100, Thru

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


TEST P7

(Far left) The fuel-injected

865cc parallel twin powers the

McQueen bike.

(Left) Just 1100 of the bike willbe produced and each is num-

bered accordingly.

(Bottom left) A retro seat and

luggage rack.

(Bottom right) Engine

protection for going scramblin’.

ton, America and Speedmaster

models – one-fifth of total Tri-

umph production in just half thetime the reborn company has

been alive, illustrating the air-

cooled parallel-twins’ broad on-

going appeal.

Most recently, this has been

spearheaded by the cast alumi-

num-wheeled Bonneville update

launched in 2009, subtly adapt-

ed to deliver a quite different

more ‘70s-type look, as well as

significantly altered handling via

the single most obvious change

to the aesthetics - those seven-spoke cast aluminum wheels

each carrying 17-inch tires.

The wire wheels fitted to the

McQueen model are both shod

with Metzelers, but the front one

is a 19-incher delivering more

languid, relaxed steering that’s

further promoted by the more

conservative front-end geometry

of the older model, with the non-

adjustable 41mm Kayaba fork th

offers 120mm of travel set a ran

ier 28-degree rake angle - ondegree more than on the curre

cast-wheeled version. The larg

diameter front wheel also has th

effect of kicking out the whee

base a couple of inches, to 5

inches from 57.2 inches.

On top of that, the riding pos

tion has also been altered. Th

stock T100’s very authentic ‘60

looking flat platform wasn’t ve


8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



comfortable for very long and

that’s been replaced by a much

more welcoming period-style

single seat that at 30.5 inches

in height, is already not only 1.3inches taller than today’s stock

Bonneville, but has also been

narrowed at the front to make it

easier for shorter riders to touch

their feet down at rest. Especially

women. Well, Steve McQueen

had his female fans, too – lots of

them, in fact.

The luggage rack behind the

seat is a useful as well as very

retro-looking item, plus the dif-

ferent foam density used in the

plush seat padding makes you

think this is a gel seat, though Tri-

umph’s product manager Simon

Warburton confirmed otherwise.

“We didn’t want to sacrifice

any comfort in making the seat,

so we tested countless differentfoam densities until we hit on this

one,” he said.

Little things mean a lot.

Visually, though, the most

striking features of the Steve Mc-

Queen™ Edition styling are the

traditional peashooter exhaust

silencers on either side, plus

the fact that the bike’s painted allover in the very distinctive mat-

ter Khaki Green livery, with the

engine powder-coated black all

over with the exception of the

cylinder finning.

Triumph’s established 865cc

air/oil-cooled eight-valve paral-

lel twin motor (measuring 90 x

68mm, with modular chain/gear

drive to the twin overhead cam-

shafts), remains at the heart of

the bike - complete with the 4mm

overbore adopted across the

range in 2005, and unchanged

internally from then. It still has a360-degree two-up crank that

delivers a satisfying if muted tra-

ditional Brit bike thump to the

exhaust note. But thanks to the

engine’s twin gear-driven coun-

ter-balancers, there’s absolutely

no undue vibration of any kind felt

through the seat, handlebar or

footpegs, even revved out to its

7500 rpm power peak (at which

point 68PS/67 hp/50kW is on

tap). The torque summit is a little

lower, with 68Nm or 50 foot/

pounds delivered at 5800 rpm.

But 90 percent of that torque

figure is already delivered at just

2500 rpm, says Warburton, and

this is maintained all the way

through to the 8000 rpm redline,providing smooth, effortless ac-

celeration as you run up the un-

changed ratios in the five-speed

gearbox.

This tranny has an exception-

ally smooth, crisp shift action that

made it the best of any Triumph

Bonneville I’ve yet sampled.

Clutch action was also light andprogressive, which stops your

hand cramping up while riding

in stop-and-go traffic. Note that

both brake and clutch levers

are adjustable, and the single

310mm Sunstar front disc has a

carrier with what Triumph terms a

‘swooshing’ design – still gripped

by a seemingly low-rent Nissin

two-piston caliper. But it does,

however, deliver adequate sto

ping power for this type of bike

There’s lots of bite as well

feel from the front brake, whic

is single-finger stuff thanks to aappropriate choice of master cy

inder. The rear is easy to use an

feels pretty responsive.

The Bonneville’s broad sprea

of torque and accessible powe

with just 67 horsepower to

name, makes it a relaxing, sati

fying ride thanks to the Keihin E

that arrived on the Bonnies fothe 2008 model year. The pac

age is both responsive and zes

ful. Triumph has been at pains t

make the throttle bodies look a

if they were carbs, and the Keih

closed loop multipoint seque

tial EFI that’s been calibrate

in-house at Hinckley (to be fiv

times cleaner than the previoucarburetted version), is Euro

compliant thanks to the sing

three-way catalyst. The sens

of willingness conveyed by th

well-mapped fuel-injected moto

which comes without being ove

aggressive or snatchy, make

that ride down memory lane re

laxing and fun.

Limited to a manufacturing ru

of just 1100 models, the Bonn

eville T100 Steve McQueen™

Edition is sure to jump straig

to the top of the wish list of ev

ery one of the Hollywood mov

actor’s fans - and who knows

maybe finally over that borde

fence. Let’s see you try it on

more time, Virgil. C

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


P7CN III PRODUCT REVIEW

SIDI ADVENTURE

RAIN BOOTS

3

$400

Website: www.motonation.com

Standout Feature A comfortable boot that you can wear all day that provides significant protection.

Rider AnalysisSlipping your foot into the Sidi Adventure Rain Boot immediately provides a comfortable

yet very supportive feeling around your foot and ankle. The pivoting ankle support is very

natural feeling and comfortable even when the boots are new. The stiff feeling sole does not

take away the necessary feel for the footpegs, brake lever or shifter. The buckles are easy

to open or close and there are no issues with getting into or out of the boots. The upper

area is slim enough to fit inside of boot cut pants or riding suits if desired, or they are stylish

enough to tuck riding pants inside the boot. The aggressive sole provides plenty of traction

for walking or hiking in loose dir t but are not designed for sliding your feet on the ground like

a typical motocross/off-road boot. Some people may find the toe box is a little tall to fit under

the shifter but you will likely either get used to it or can adjust the shifter position. Overall, the

Sidi Adventure Rain boots provide great protection and you can wear them all day and not

feel the need to take them off due to any comfort issues.

Sidi makes some of the finest motorcycle riding boots you can find and the Adventure Rain boot is

designed for Adventure and Dual Sport riding. The stif f sole, heal cup and pivoting ankle section are

constructed to provide ample support and protection for the foot and ankles. The boots are made

with split grain leather and Lorica and include a membrane to create a water resistant yet breathable

barrier to the elements. Cambrelle is used for the interior lining, which does not include any additiona

“bootie” to keep the boot slim and cool. Two cam-lock buckles are used along with a Velcro topclosure and the buckles and any other removable parts are available for replacement if needed.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



Excellent impact and twisting protection provided

by the stiff sole, heel cup and ankle hinge

Comfortable even after several long days of riding

Outstanding protection from the elements

Pricey

Some people may find the tall

toe box takes a little getting us

to when shifting

The new Sidi Adventure Rain

Boots are designed to keep you

dry and comfortable.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CN III STUFF P7

LUCAS CHAIN LUBEPrice: Call Your Local Lucas OilsDealer For PricingPhone: 951.270.0154

Website: www.lucasoil.com

Lucas Chain Lube is a low-odor, semi-

synthetic spray lubricant designed to meetthe demands of today’s high-performance

motorcycle sprockets and chains, includingO-ring types. Tested by professionals andcompetitive race teams, Lucas Chain Lube

Aerosol is designed to penetrate deeply intopins and bushing of the chains. The lube

inhibits rust and corrosion while leaving aprotective film to lessen wear and drag.

DUBYA USA TALON FACTORY WHEEL SETSPrice: $899Phone: 714.279.0200

Website: www.dubyausa.com

Dubya USA is now offering Talon

Factory Wheel Sets in OEMcolors for late-model MX bikes. These wheel sets

feature Talon billet hubs, Talon Factory rims and

high-quality stainless-steel spokes andnipples.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



PRO CIRCUIT SHIFT LEVERPrice: $99.95Phone: 951.738.8050

Website: www.procircuit.com

Used by the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit/Kawasaki Race Team, the Pro Circuit Shift Lever is now available to the public. The hard-anodized

levers are CNC-machined from billet 6061-T6511aluminum. Their stainless-steel springs and

hardware make them stronger than stock and moreresistant to wear, bending and corrosion. Thefree-folding, knurled shift tip is replaceable and

rebuildable. In addition, this design helps preventdirt from clogging it up. Levers are available for

2009-12 Kawasaki 250/450 models, with Honda250/450 fitments coming soon.

DUKE VIDEOS 2011 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DVDPrice: $29.99Phone: 800.561.0754

Website: www.DukeVideoUSA.com

The 2011 FIM Motocross World Championship two-disc set from Duke

Videos is out, and includes footage from all15 rounds/60 motos of the MX1 and MX2,

from Bulgaria to Italy. The official reviewdocuments how Antonio Cairoli fought back

from a knee injury at the opening GP tomount a season-long title battle with StevenFrossard and Clement Desalle, and all the

other highlights and stories from the 2011

World MX1/MX2 season.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CN III STUFF P8

ROTOPAX GAS CAN FROM ALTRIDERPrice: $49.97-$109.97Phone: 206.922.3618

Website: www.altrider.com

Rather than swapping out your bike’s stock fueltank for a bigger one, just bring along extra fuel only

when you need it with the RotopaX Gas Can from

AltRider. The plastic RotopaX cans are leakproof andcome in a variety of sizes. They are EPA and CARB

compliant and easily mount to AltRider luggageracks. RotopaX water tanks are also available.

GPR STABILIZER KIT FOR TRIUMPH 675Price: $495Phone: 619.661.0101

Website: www.GPRstabilizer.com

New Triumph 675 kits from GPR Stabilizer arenow out. They come with a GPRv4 steering

damper, billet-machined pin-less mountingsystem, and all the necessary installation

hardware. The GPRv4 steering damper isavailable in eight anodized colors.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



REC MX BILLET OIL FILTER COVER FOR HONDA CRF250RPrice: $54.95Phone: Call Your Local REC MX Dealer

Website: www.rec-mx.com

A Billet Oil Filter Cover from REC MX is now available for the HondaCRF250. This is the same cover that you will see in the 2012 AMA Supercross Lites Series on the bikes of Michael Leib, Alex Martin,

Brad Ripple, and Nick Click. They have “S” shaped cooling fins todirect air flow over a larger surface area and are CNC-machined from

6061 T6 aluminum for more strength and better heat transfer than thestock ones. They come with a new O-ring and are available in either red or black.

MOOSE RACING KTM GRAB HANDLEPrice: $39.95

Phone: Call Your Local Parts UnlimitedDealer Website: www.MooseRacing.com

The Moose Racing KTM Grab Handle lets youleverage your KTM onto its stand or out of the mud

without grabbing onto the hot pipe. It’s made from6061T6 aluminum and attaches with longer boltson the silencer mounts through CNC-machined

spacers. It fits 2011 KTM XC/XCF/SX/SXF modelsand all 2012 models.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


BIKEs OF THE STARS

KTM MRW RALLY DAKAR TEAM2012 KTM 450

FACTORY RALLY

RIDER: Marc ComaSPONSORS/HARD PARTS: MRW, RedBull, AMV,Repsol, Loctite, IPC, Alpinestars, TCX, Scorpion EXO,Michelin, GAES, Akrapovic, SuperSprox, HG Stickers,WP, X Trig, Acerbis, Selle Dalla Valle.

P

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


CN III ARCHIVESBY LARRY LAWRENCE

Some riders set the racing world on its ear and enter

like a fast-moving storm. Oth-

ers simmer, learn, progress

and eventually reach their full

potential. Doug Brauneck, a

former AMA Pro Twins and 250

Grand Prix Champi-

on, definitely falls in

the latter category.

Brauneck came

onto the racing

scene in the late

1970s, learned his

craft in the club

ranks and made no

great splash when

he turned Pro. In-

stead Brauneck took his time,

learned his craft, running on a

shoestring and seven or eight

years later became an “over-

night success” when he won

the 1987 AMA Pro Twins Cham-

pionship on the famous Dr.

John Wittner Moto Guzzi. Three

years after that triumph Brau-

neck went back to his first love,

the AMA 250 Grand Prix Series

and - at 35 - became a two-time

AMA road racing champion.

Brauneck grew up in Macon,

Georgia. He loved motorcycles,

but there was just one prob-

lem, he had no money, so he

improvised. “When I was 10 I

started repairing motorcycles,”

Brauneck said before adding,

“…which was funny because I

really didn’t know how to work

on motorcycles, but I somehow

convinced people that Idid.”

The motivation for dis-

guising himself as a sea-

soned young mechanic

was, of course, so that

he could take “test rides”

after the work

was done.

Brauneck learned

fast, both as a me-chanic and rider. It

didn’t take long before

he was legitimately a

go-to guy in Macon

when you needed

work done on your

bike. After high school, Brau-

neck worked as a dirt track rid-

er’s mechanic for a time before

getting a Yamaha TD350 andentering his first road race, a

WERA event, in 1976.

In his third-race ever Brau-

neck finished second to anoth-

er young rider named Freddie

Spencer, but Spencer’s bike

was disqualified in a post-race

tech inspection and Brauneck

was declared winner. “I found

out later that my motorcycle wasn’t legal either,” Brauneck

admits. “I’d built my RD from an

article on production racing on

the west coast and it turns out

they allowed some things that

WERA didn’t. So we were both

illegal, but Freddie was the only

one who got caught.”

Brauneck launched his Pro

P

career in 1980, in the AMA 25

Grand Prix class, and grad

ally made his way through th

ranks. While most of his resul

were unremarkable, one ea

pro race showed Brauneck

potential. He finished secon

to Craig Morris in the AMA 25

Grand Prix final at Talladega

March of 1981.

Soon after Brauneck adde

a Yamaha TZ750 to his racin

stable and ran both the AM

F-1 road races and 250 class. was on the 750 that Braunec

had one of the more famou

crashes ever in the 1982 Da

tona 200. “I’ll never live that on

down,” Brauneck says with

smile. “I was running third, on

because I was a lap late comin

in for fuel. I came in and hit som

sand and crashed at about 12

mph and ran off onto the motocross track that had bee

leveled off. It went from bad

worse. I went flying and my he

met came off and then the bik

started flipping and hit a parke

fire truck. To this day when I g

to a race people don’t ask m

about my championships; th

first thing they want to hear

about my Daytona crash.”

BIONIC BRAUNECK

w

fc

d

g

w

w

Doug Brauneck at speon the Moto Guzzi

Road America in 198

Doug Brauneck

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



Brauneck recovered from his

Daytona embarrassment and

very nearly won his first National

the next year on the big TZ. It was at Pocono and he and his

best buddy Gregg Smrz were

battling back and forth for sec-

ond. Miles Baldwin was leading

when a brake hose started to

fail. He slowed and Brauneck

took over the lead. Brauneck’s

brake pads wore through and

he ran off at the chicane giving

Smrz the chance he needed totake over the lead. Brauneck re-

covered, but ended up second.

Again in ’84 at Loudon, in what

he described as a race of attri-

tion, Brauneck finished second

to factory Honda’s Mike Bald-

win.

“It was a hot, greasy day

on that track and Mike was so

smooth on that little three-cylin-

der Honda, plus he had special

tires from the GPs. He took off

and about halfway through all

the rest of the guys had tires go

away and they just started fall-

ing. I was running around cau-

tiously in endurance mode, and

all of a sudden I was in second. It

was so slippery I was just trying

to be smooth and not fall down.

Mike came by and lapped me,

and it wasn’t even the last lap.

He went by with maybe three or

four laps to go. It was a bit of a

surprise.”

Brauneck finished fourth in

the AMA Formula 1 final stand-

ings in 1983 and fifth in ’84.

His big break came in 1986

when Dr. John’s Moto Guzzi

was doing AMA/CCS Endur-

ance racing and needed a fill-in

rider. They called on Brauneck.

Doug did well enough that in1987 he was asked to race the

Pro Twins series on a totally re-

vamped Guzzi.

“In ’86 when I rode the bike it

was pretty tricky because of the

torque effect of the driveshaft

under acceleration,” Brauneck

explained. “The rear end rose

up and became like a hardtail.”

Wittner went back to MotoGuzzi and came back with a

hand-built custom frame, a full

floater drive shaft and integrat-

ed braking system. “It was night

and day,” Brauneck remem-

bers. “It was like racing a little

250 Grand Prix bike with a giant

motor in it.”

With the new weapon Brau-

neck went on to beat Pro Twins

stars Jimmy Adamo and John

Long for the championship, win-

ning Loudon and Road America

along the way.

At one point in ’87 Brauneck

was racing Pro Twins, Super-

bike, 600 Supersport, 250

Grand Prix and endurance all

on a single pro weekend. Cycle

World’s Kevin Cameron nick-

named him “Bionic Brauneck.”

“When I took the 600 Supers-

port bike out once without gas

in it, I decided I needed to drop

at least one of them.”

Brauneck closed out his rac-

ing career on a high note. He

rode a John Hasty-sponsored

Yamaha to the 1990 AMA 250

Grand Prix Championship.

“That was the year after

[John] Kocinski left and then

Kenny Roberts pulled his team

and Rich Oliver was racing WERA,” Brauneck said. “It was

wide open and a bunch of rid-

ers won, but I don’t think any-

one won more than a couple of

races.”

After winning that champion-

ship Brauneck felt he had ac-

complished what he’d set out to

do. “We were spending a lot of

money and John said he’d keepthe team going if I could find a

sponsor and I didn’t. I was get-

ting pretty old then too, so it was

the right time to get out.”

After his racing career Brau-

neck worked as a mechanic on

the GP circuit for a few years,

primarily with Kenny Roberts

Jr. One day he realized he’d

been living his entire life out of

a suitcase and had a desire to

try a more normal life. Today

Brauneck runs a restaurant in

the Florida panhandle and oc-

casionally gets back to watch

races. He looks back with only

one minor regret - that the prime

of his career came during a dry

spell in American road racing.

“Before I raced there were a

lot of factory rides and then it

kind of all dried up and then as

soon as I got out of it the money

came back,” he laughs. “I made

more money as a mechanic

then I did as a rider. Still I had

great times over the years and I

met some really interesting peo-

ple. There was nothing like living

a life in racing.” CN

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


PC L A S S I F I E D A D S

2005 KTM 65 SX $1,995.00Brought from dealer. One owner. R

ridden and never raced or crashedbike is in perfect condition and runs

tastic.

2010 HONDA VFR1200F$10,500.00Spring will be here before you know

it. Brand new. Right off the showroom

floor. Never titled. Factory warranty.Only 37 miles. Super fast and super fun.

Will take trades plus cash. Interested in

Fords/Mustangs primarily but will look atall trades.

HOND CRF 250R 2007$3,200.00Honda Crf 250r 2007

Pro taper bars, asv, clark desert tank.great condition never been riden in

sand or raced. Desert only.

selling to buy a newer bike$3200 or obo

2011 kx250f

$5,200.002011 kx250f very low hours sup

clean need it to go asap. i am ask5200 will go a little bit lower no l

ball offers please.it only has 8hrs it i know this cause when the bike w

bought new i am the original owne

installed and hour meter.

Read more...

Read more...

Read more.

Read more...

2006 CBR 1000RR$5,000.00this is a very clean bike with 9000 miles on it.has afterma

exhaust,rear fender delete,turn sidelete, tinted windsheild and lice

plate relocator.looking to sell but m

trade. Read more.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10



KENDON STAND-UP SINGLEMOTORCYCLE TRAILER$2,350.00

The price above is for California and

Florida factory pick up only. Dont

want to drive to California or Florida? Want the convenience of picking up

your trailer near you? Have us deliver your trailer to a location close to you,

your home, work, anywhere with our

wholesale shipping or dive a little save alot, meet us half way and cut the cost of

freight in half.

2004 CRF100$1,200.002004 crf100 with very few hours boughtor my kids (girls) to learn to ride, well

hey have and now have out grown

nd worse do not ride any longer. my aughter dropped in turning in a park-

ng lot so it does have scratches, it’s all

tock and read to go.

2010 KX250F

$3,800.00Gary Semics’ 2010 KX250F for sale.

- Factory Connection Suspension withFC Needle Bearing Spring Ring. Set up

for 150 LBS Vet Pro Level.- Leo Vince Exhaust with about 25 Hrs.

- SDG Seat.

- Renthal Chain and Sprocket withabout 7 Hrs.

- Works Connection Clutch Perch and

Hot Start. WC Engine Guards and Skid

AULT & JAMES SPEED SHOP/OLEYNIK HAULER$10,000.00

Ault & James Speed shop C65 Olyenik

enclosed hauler.

Owned and cared for since 1984 by JimDeFrank (DeFrank & Sons racing, Cali-

fornia Car Cover, Beverly Hill Motoring Accessories) Jim has saved a number

of vehicles that were special to him andis now “letting go” of some of his life’s

favorite racing related vehicles.

(we bought,refurbished then sold theSam Gianinno GMC/Oleynik hauler

from Jims collection in 2009, as well as

the “TONY” SS/D 1968 SS396 Cama-ro 2 short years ago, which was stored

inside this truck for many years, as well

as a very nice El Camino SS).Based on a 1977 C65 Chevrolet me-

dium duty truck chassis with the “truck”366 ci engine with a 5 speed manual

trans and electric 2 speed rear axle.

This truck appears to have been or-dered through Tom Myl at Batey Chev-

rolet in Carnegie, Pa. in the fall of 1977.

GVW is 22,000 lbs and while licensedcommercial in California, it could easily

be converted to motorhome classifica-

tion.

Read more...

Read more...

Read more...

Plate and new Titanium Throttle Tube.

- New Carburetor 2 hours. Had a prob-

lem with the original carb that I couldn’tfigure out so I replaced it with a new one

and now it’s fine.

Hauler body by Lou Olyenik, completedon March 1st of 1977. 26 ft long Brown

van body with Oak strip floor, beaver-

tail and risers, winch built into the floorat the front of the right side riser. (See

photos) Thirty inch sleeper bunk with

vertical hanger closet and upper cabi-nets at the front of the garage compart-

ment with a lower storage compart-

ment as well. Custom aluminum fuel

tank covers and seat cover, odometershowing 24,523 (actual 124,523-verifi-

able through California smog program)

Read more...

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


Solstice celebrations are

mercifully over in bothhemispheres, but it’s still a

couple of weeks before the gladi-

ators of MotoGP are released

from their winter quarters and

given the keys to their new mo-

torcycles. That means it’s time to

marry the reflection of the past

down time with the prospects of

the racing season to come. What

can we expect of Grand Prix rac-

ing in 2012?

We already know it is a year of

transition. A first season for the

new long-stroke 1000s (that’s a

nice way of saying “small-bore”),

and for the new-generation prod-

die-based Claiming Rule Teams

(CRT) privateer bikes. And per-

haps the last for full factory pro-totypes. Dorna’s proposed rev

limit and control ECU are a clear

threat to their dominance, and

if circumstances don’t improve

soon the remaining three facto-

ries may be happy to have the

excuse to follow Suzuki out of the

park.

What came before 2012 was

an already dumbed-down versionof purebred Grand Prix racing.

What will come after will be very

different.

For some, this transitory time

has already started badly.

Nicky Hayden faces the new

season as he finishes the old

one: hurt. A training crash and

shoulder fracture compounds

the problems for a man with a

Ducati to ride, and a long interval

since his World Championship in

2006. We’ll come back to Ducati.

The other bad news, so far,

is from Yamaha. Having already lost main title sponsor Fiat along

with Valentino Rossi at the end

of 2010, now Malaysian oil gi-

ant Petronas, the biggest name

on the fairing last year, has also

departed, taking with them an

estimated sum well in excess of

5 million Euros. This is a major

blow to any budget.

One can only imagine howracing team chief Lin Jarvis might

have tried to sex this up for the

Yamaha factory board (“Great

news, bosses. We can run an-

other year with our corporate

colors on the fairing!”). But this

sequence of events is ominous.

Yamaha’s plight is an indicator

of what will happen when Rossi

retires. Jorge Lorenzo may have

won the championship in 201

but the number-one plate com

bined with his personality (he

intelligent and enigmatic, b

entirely lacking in Rossi’s natral magnetism) were not enoug

to keep Fiat on board. Or, as

turned out, Petronas.

Happily for Lorenzo and team

mate Ben Spies – and for satellit

team new boy Andrea Dovizioso

freshly dumped by Honda an

on a vengeance mission (thoug

also suffering a shoulder inju

in a motocross training acciden– the development work on th

new 2012 1000 has already bee

done. The signs are not good fo

2013.

Over at Ducati the problem

are very different, after last year

dreams turned to a handful

dust.

The Italians and the mai

Australian Rossi crew led

BY MICHAEL SCOTT

CN III IN THE PADDOCK

WHAT’S NEXT?

P8

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


Jerry Burgess combined forces under the flag of

Valentino, only to get thoroughly lost in a world of

engineering confusion. They ended the year with

a crescendo of discontented rumblings from the

ground staff after a series of second-guess design

changes had led precisely nowhere.

They can turn it round, of course, given time. But

an over-winter answer would be a miracle; it’s going

to take a lot longer firstly to regain direction and then

to recapture lost ground.

If Ducati is to fulfill the dream with Rossi they will

need to commit to 2013. But can the smallest factory

afford it? And just who will they be racing against?

In the Kingdom of Casey, Honda’s castle seems

secure enough. Their ultimate 800 was a superlativeracing prototype in the old-fashioned mode... cost-

no-object. We can be confident that their initial 1000

will be the same.

The Repsol team’s riding strength is enviable. Dani

Pedrosa is worriedly fragile, but formidable as long

as he stays in one piece. Stoner seems impregna-

ble. He’s riding superbly, within himself and powered

by pure natural talent. He’s gained maturity to boot: a

couple of years ago he seemed to be still somewhaterratic, but nobody could think that now. Especially

since Rossi has proven just how difficult it is to win

on a Duke.

But there are rumblings of discontent here as well,

and they come from the very top rather than the

shop floor. HRC vice-president Shuhei Nakamoto

has made known his displeasure at Dorna’s propos-

als, and suggested that Honda might also decide to

walk.

If this is a gloomy prospect to take into a new sea-

son, there is another way of looking at it.

Times are tough and getting tougher, in every

sphere. Motorcycle racing needs to roll with the

punches. Like it or not (and I for one don’t like it

much), the factories are not what make racing. They

make motorcycles. The rest is up to the racers,

whether they are at the drawing board, wielding the

spanners or twisting the throttle.

We’ll have to trust them to carry us through. CN


LOOKING BACK

40 Years Ago

January 18, 1972

Whitey Martino got 1972 start-

ed with a win at the Vikings MC

Smokeless Hare Scrambles in

California. A young Larry Ro-

eseler was second 100cc rid-

ing a Harley Baja… We reported

that Bob Bates, founder of Bates Industries, wa

killed in an auto accident driving home from a de

ert race in December… Scott Harris was quicke

to the top at the Pikes Peak Snow Run.

30 Years AgoJanuary 20, 1982

Johnny O’Mara, Bob Han-

nah and Brad Lackey were

the stars at the CMC/Preston

Petty Golden State MX Series

at Madera, California. In Trials

action, Derreck Bernard won

the Schreiber Cup, and Dwaine

Walters topped the El Trial de Espana at Saddl

back Park.

20 Years Ago

January 15, 1992

Brian Swink and Tim Ferry

stole the show at the open-

ing round of the Florida Winter

AMA MX Series at Gatorback…

Damon Bradshaw earned

$5000 for winning 250cc Pro

Invitational Supercross at Perris

Raceway.

10 Years Ago

January 9 2002

We previewed the 2002 Super-

cross season. Team Shark/Pla-

no-Honda, Amsoil/Dr. Martens-

Honda, Bud Light-Yamaha, Team

SoBe/Blimpe-Suzuki, Motoworl-

dracing.com-Suzuki, Blackfoot

Racing, Team ECC and Fast By Ferracci Husqva

na were some of the top talked-about teams.

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


C A L E N D A R O F E V E N T SSupercrossChase FieldPhoenix, Arizona

January 14, 2012

Round two of the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads to the Arizona desert

and Chase Field, where the battle for the 2012title resumes. The jitters of the opening round is

behind the riders and some say the real racing

starts here.

For more information, visit: www.supercrossonline.com

Hare Scrambles Arizona Cycle Park Buckeye, Arizona

January 15, 2012

The 2012 off-road season gets underway with

the opening round of the AMA Racing WestHare Scrambles Championship Series at

Arizona Cycle Park in Buckeye, Arizona. Many of the West’s top off-road racers will be getting

back to business.

For more information, visit: arizonacyclepark.com

EnduroJohnson Valley OHVA Johnson Valley, California

January 14- 15, 2012

One of California’s premier enduros takesplace at the Johnson Valley OHVA at Anderson

Dry Lake. The AMA/D-37 Not-So-Tuff-E-NuffEnduro is the first round of the AMA Western

Checkpoint Enduro Championship, andfeatures a family enduro on Saturday and the

big one Sunday.

For more information, visit: district37ama.org.

WHAT’S NEXT

For a comprehensive schedule of events, visit www.cyclenews.com/calendar

P9

8/2/2019 cycle news 2012-01-10


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cycle news 2012-01-10