Gear

Gear is an important part to racing. It protects you from getting hurt. There are all kinds of big brand names for gear.

For me all I wear is Troy Lee Design. My pants, jersey, and chest protector is Troy Lee Design. My pants and jersey are camo orange. My chest protector is all orange. The chest protector has saved me many of times. I have smacked my shoulder off trees and the ground so many times; I’m lucky I haven’t broken my collar bone, but my chest protector protects my shoulder. All the gear I have is orange to match my bike since I ride a KTM.

My knee pads or a Thor brand. When I flex my knee the bend with it. They are very a comfortable fit and have protected my knee and part of my leg.

My helmet, which is has one sweet looking design on it is made by Troy Lee Design. I have had all kinds of helmets and this is the only that has fit me just right. It’s very light, so I hardly fell it on my head. The design on it is flames. It is black with some silver and orange flames.

I wear Scott goggles. I have roll offs and tear offs. I have worn Smith goggles and many other brands named goggles. They all push down on my nose and then I can’t breathe. The Scott is a comfortable fit and doesn’t push down on my nose.

•Roll offs: when you get mud on them you reach up and pull on a string and it has a film that clears the lens so you can see.

•Tear offs: when you get mud on them you reach up and pull a piece of clear plastic that clears your lens so you can see.

I wear Alpinestars boots. There are many brands and sizes for people. I wear tech 10,which has ankle braces built into them. They have protected my feet, but have failed since I lost one of my toes. Know I am sponsored by them and can get boots from them.

Tire Selection

Tire’s is an important part on a bike. You have to check track conditions to know what tire to have. If it is wet or rainy you want to have a mud tire to get better traction. If it is dry you want to have soft or intermediate tire.

For most pro racer they have a new tire on front and back for every race. I don’t know if a new tire would help out every race unless it is muddy. The pro riders have sponsors from tire companies, so they can get a new tire for every race and practicing.

Tire sponsors for bikes in GNCC:
•KTM- Michelin
•Yamaha-Dunlop
•Kawasaki-Michelin
•Honda-Bridgestone
•Suzuki-Dunlop

Most stock bikes that come from factory come with either Bridgestone tire or Dunlop.
I try to have a new tire for every race, but it gets too expensive. For a front tire on average it cost 60 dollars and for the back it’s an average of 70-80 dollars. For me I ride KTM and I am staying with Michelin, but with no sponsor so it is hard to buy a new tire every week.

When it comes to tire pressure everyone has their own way. I usually leave around 10 pounds of air in my tire to get good traction.

I can remember one race how it rained for two or three days and I had put a new front and back Michelin tires on and it help out so much. I would come to a hill and everyone would be stuck on it and I would go right up it because I had so much traction. With new tires and the tire pressure so low I had tons of traction and could anywhere.

All riders have their own tire selection and tire pressure, but it is how you ride and how it feels to you.

I have raced in the sand before and they do make sand tires for dirt bikes. They look like paddles and work really good and they get awesome traction.

They make all sorts of tires that you can choose from and it depends on the track and weather. It also depends on the rider and what tire he thinks will help him out.

Yamaha

When I was growing up all I had was a Yamaha. My dad grew up riding a Yamaha and that what he put me on starting out. I first had a pw50 Yamaha that I started riding with training wheels. I soon took them off and started riding with my own power. When I got older my dad bought me a pw80 that I got really fast on so I thought. I never had a problem with any Yamaha I have ever owned.

In the past few years in the GNCC the factory Yamaha team has been strong. In 2007 two Yamaha riders were number two and three in the top 20 overall. In 2008 there were two in the top ten overall and in 2009 there was one rider in the top ten.

“A seven time GNCC ATV champion Barry Hawk Jr. made the transition from four wheels to two and never looked back, winning the GNCC Championship on an YZ250 in 2003. Always a threat for the championship Hawk finished in the runner up spot in 2005 and 2006.” Riding on a four stroke Barry looks to win another GNCC title for Yamaha.

“A four time AMA National Hare Scrambles Champion Jason made history in 2007, by taking the 2007 WR450F to its maiden win during the final rounds of the 2007 AMA National Hare Scrambles Championships and then followed it up by winning the 2008 AMA Eastern Hare Scrambles and AMA East vs. West Hare Scrambles Shoot-out Championships. Jason has established a winning tradition on the WR450F.” In 2010 he is riding the National Enduro’s and GNCC.

These two Yamaha riders are on the Factory Yamaha team and look to compete in 2010.

Josh Hill is a factory rider for Yamaha in the supercross. He is leading the way for Yamaha this year with 2nd overall so far in the supercross series. There are 4 Factory Yamaha riders in the top ten.

Standings After Round 5 of 17

1Ryan Dungey 105
2Josh Hill - YAMAHA 101
3Ryan Villopoto 95
4David Millsaps 82
5Ivan Tedesco - YAMAHA 77
6Justin Brayton - YAMAHA 72
7Andrew Short 69
8Kevin Windham 66
9Thomas Hahn 56
10James Stewart - YAMAHA 51

KTM

KTM is probably the top bike to buy and race the next day. They are equipped with aftermarket parts that you don’t get when you buy a Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki, or Honda.

In the GNCC and Enduro’s you look at the starting line and all you see is orange. They have a bike for every class and some for make up their own class because no other bike has made one like it.

Last year Russell Bobbitt and Mike Lafferty dominated the National Enduro’s backed by Factory KTM.
• Russell- 267 points
• Mike- 266 points

In the GNCC KTM is by far the bike to have. There are 37 classes for the bikes. At the end of the year in all of those classes there were 22 KTM riders that won their class.
KTM is a bike ready to race when you buy.

They came stock with:
• Excel rims
• Pro Taper handlebars
• WP suspension
• Electric start-
• Brembo brake system

KTM is not a big name for supercross or motocross, but they will eventually be at the top. For motocross KTM just came out with a 350 bike. With a new linkage shock in the rear that will make a smoother ride. It is a bike between a 250 and a 450 that has more power than a 250, but not as much as a 450 so you can handle it better out on the track.

I bought a 450xcw KTM in 2009. I was looking between KTM, Suzuki, and Kawasaki. I asked the prices and KTM was the most expensive one, but it come stock with a lot of parts that the other bikes didn’t have. Also there was a package deal with the purchase of the 450xcw. With it coming stock with parts other bikes didn’t have and the package deal made my decision to buy it.

The package deal consisted of:
• Front and Back Michelin Tire
• FMF slip on exhaust
• KTM grips
• Oil
• Ready to race graphics
• Chain lube
• KTM 5 gal. gas can
• Bark busters

Suzuki

Suzuki is one of the top bikes out on the market for

•Supercross
•GNCC

Chad Reed won the supercross in 2008 on his Rockstar Makita Suzuki. Chad won 9 of the 14 races in the AMA supercross to give him the edge to win a championship for Suzuki. With 13 top five finishes and 16 top ten finishes helped him win his second his second AMA championship and his first win riding for Rockstar Makita Suzuki.

1.Chad Reed- 184 points
2.Kevin Windham-154 points

In 2009 Chad Reed wanted to come back and win a 2nd championship for Suzuki. James Stewart came back strong and beat Chad by 4 points to win the AMA Supercross. With only 3 wins, 16 top five finishes and 17 top ten finishes didn’t have enough to beat James Stewart.

1.James Stewart-377
2.Chad Reed-373

Suzuki had a strong year in 2009. Ryan Dungey won the Supercross West Coast Lites.

1.Ryan Dungey-178
2.Jake Weimer-173

In the Supercross East Coast Lites Austin Stroupe finished 2nd.

1.Christopher Pourcel-181
2.Austin Stroupe-148

AMA Supercross leader in 2010 is Ryan Dungey. A rookie that came from the west coast that has dominated the last two races. He has won the last two races leading the point’s standings currently and going for another championship for Rockstar Makita Suzuki.

In 2009 Suzuki dominated the track with two riders in top 3. Joshua Strang finished 2nd with five wins out of the 13 races. With 11 top five finishes and 12 top ten finishes wasn’t enough to beat the number 1 rider Pual Whibley a Kawasaki factory rider. Charles Mullins won only one race to get third place, but he never had a bad finish. With 13 top five finishes out of the 13 races Mullins held strong to get third in the GNCC.

1.Pual Whibley-312 points
2.Joshua Strang- 290 points
3.Charles Mullins- 280 points

Suzuki plans on dominating in 2010 in both Supercross and in GNCC. With Dungey already to an early lead in the AMA Supercross will help motivate the Suzuki team to go out and prove that they are the ones to beat. The GNCC starts up in February and Suzuki hopes for a title.

Danger

Motorcycle racing is a dangerous sport. You are putting your whole body out on the race track and at any time you can injure anything.

Most common injuries:

• Foot injuries
• Leg injuries
• Back injuries
• Head injuries
• Neck injuries


In 2006 I injured my foot from racing. The race was at Reno Raceway which is usually a mud hole, but it was dry and fast. I hit a stick on the last lap and it went through my boot taking my toe off. I ended up losing one of my toes and had 32 stitches. I ended up in Marietta Memorial Hospital for two days. After Marietta I had to go to an orthopedic surgeon until I recovered from the accident.

My brother has broken his ankle three from a motorcycle accident. Has had screws put into his ankle and taken back out from injuring it so many times. Also, has been taken to the orthopedic surgeon to recover. The orthopedic surgeon knows my brother and me really good since we have been there every summer since 2006.

In supercross Matt Moss a teammate to Dungey and Stroupe injured his back at Brisbane Australasian Super X Final. He cheered on his teammates in Anaheim 1. His report was a fractured T7-T8. It looks like he might be out for awhile, so his teammates will have to pick up the pace.

In the AMA Endero Mike Lafferty injured his foot. Out a race hurt him in points and could have cost him the title for the ninth time. He had pins put into his foot and had to have re-hab. When he recovered he won the next endero in Marquette, Michigan.

The two worst injuries are the head and back. They can be the most devastating accidents. With high speeds like motocross you can hurt your head and back and it could be death. Motorcycle racing is one of the most dangerous sports in the world. You are on two wheels with very few things that can protect you, but with high speeds it is highly likely that any protective gear can protect you from injury or series injury.

Motorcycle Series

Supercross series is a race held in a stadium on a dirt track having hairpin turns and high technical jumps. It consists of two classes which is 250 lites and 450 supercross. They have two heats for each class. The first race of this year was held January 9th, 2010 in Anaheim, California where the defending champ James Stewart battled with Ryan Dungey a rookie to win round one in 450 class.

Motocross is an outdoor track with high speeds and high technical jumps, which is held in the summer.

Grand National Cross Country (GNCC) series is the toughest off-road series in the world. It is held across the United States. The toughest track would be Snowshoe, West Virginia. You experience rocks, boulders, mud, and roots. The GNCC is the head series over woods racing. Both supercross and GNCC are televised.

The District 11/ama series is in the woods that is like the GNCC, but is not as big. Most local riders ride them because they are all in Ohio. It is competitive and has many race tracks to race at. There is usually a race every weekend unlike the GNCC or Extreme Dirt series.

Extreme Dirt series is an outlaw series that is off-road. The races are in West Virginia and Ohio. They have some of the toughest tracks and competitors. It is the cheapest series to race in with registration fees.

The series‘s above have classes for everyone and is broke down by the motorcycle and the age of the rider. Also, these series’ have a class for four wheelers and same everything is the same as the motorcycles as the classes go.

The Endero series is also across the United States and is different from GNCC and Extreme Dirt series. You have to have your motorcycle license and your bike has to be street legal. During a race you are timed through the woods and once you get to the road you have to follow the law. Riding in the woods is the only way to get points and be timed to compete in the Endero series.

Dual Sports is like the Endero, but you just go out and ride. It is not timed nor do you get points and is not a race. Most of the old riders ride the Dual Sport series, but some racers ride them for practice.