MOTOCROSS ACTION’S WEEKEND NEWS ROUND-UP: PLEASE TELL US THAT YOU DIDN’T HAVE TIME TO READ THIS BECAUSE YOU WERE OUT RIDING


HONDA RELEASES A NEW ENTRY-LEVEL TRAIL BIKE: THE 2014 CRF125F & CRF125FB

The 2014 CRF125F replaces the 2013 CRF80F, while the CRF125F Big Wheel replaces the 2013 CRF100F.


The CRF125F features an all-new, electric-start, 125cc, single-cylinder, OHC four-stroke engine.

The 2014 CRF125F not only features a larger engine capacity, but its air-cooled four-speed engine has been tuned specifically to give plenty of novice-friendly bottom-end torque. The addition of electric start also makes life easier for young riders.

                                       
LATVIAN 250 GP RESULTS
1. Jeffrey Herlings…….1-1
2. Jose Butron………….2-3
3. Jordi Tixier……………4-2
4. Petar Petrov…………8-4
5. Romain Febvre…….7-5
6. Dylan Ferrandis……12-6
7. Glenn Coldenhoff….3-19
8. Jake Nicholls………..5-17
9. Harri Kullas………….13-11
10. Jason Clermont…..10-14

                                       
LATVIAN 450 GP RESULTS
1. Tony Cairoli…………………2-1
2. Ken DeDycker……………..1-2
3. Clement Desalle…………..3-3
4. Gautier Paulin……………..5-4
5. Jeremy Van Horebeek…..4-5
6. Tommy Searle……………..7-6
7. Kevin Strijbos………………6-7
8. Rui Goncalves…………….11-8
9. Max Nagl…………………….9-14
10. Joel Roelants……………..5-9

                                       
RED BUD 250 RESULTS
1. Ken Roczen……………….2-1
2. Eli Tomac………………….1-2
3. Jeremy Martin……………4-3
4. Marvin Musquin………….3-4
5. Zach Osborne…………..10-5
6. Kyle Cunningham……….7-8
7. Cooper Webb…………….6-9
8. Cole Seely…………………5-11
9. Blake Baggett…………….8-10
10. Justin Bogle…………….12-7

                                       
RED BUD 450 RESULTS
1. Ryan Villopoto…….1-1
2. James Stewart…….2-2
3. Josh Grant………….3-5
4. Trey Canard………..5-6
5. Justin Barcia………..9-4
6. Justin Brayton……..6-8
7. Malcolm Stewart….8-7
8. Andrew Short………4-12
9. Jake Weimer……….7-13
10. Broc Tickle……….11-11

                                       
WORLD SIDECAR RESULTS: IFFENDIC, FRANCE
1. Etienne Bax / Kaspars Stupelis………………1-1
2. Jan Hendrickx / Elvijs Mucenieks……………3-2
3. Janis Daiders / Lauris Daiders………………..4-4
4. Ben Adriaenssen / Ben van den Bogaart…2-7
5. Vaclav Rozehnal / Marek Rozehnal…………6-3
6. Jason van Daele / Tim Smeuninx……………5-6
7. Henrik Soderqvist / Tim Gustavsson………..7-8
8. Philip Stenborg / Christian Nilsson………….10-9
9. Andy Burgler / Martin Betschart………………9-10
10. Stuart Brown / Josh Chamberlain…………..8-11

                                       
AMA 450 NATIONAL POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RED BUD

(after 7 of 12 races)
1. Ryan Villopoto……333
2. Ryan Dungey……..291
3. Justin Barcia………249
4. Trey Canard……….200
5. James Stewart……184
6. Mike Alessi………..170
7. Andrew Short……..137
8. Broc Tickle………….135
9. Josh Grant………….131
10. Jake Weimer……..131

                                       
AMA 250 NATIONAL POINTS STANDINGS AFTER RED BUD

(after 7 of 12 races)
1. Ken Roczen…………312
2. Eli Tomac…………….305
3. Marvin Musquin…….260
4. Blake Baggett……….247
5. Zach Osborne……….212
6. Jason Anderson……176
7. Jeremy Martin……….162
8. Kyle Cunningham…..158
9. Justin Bogle………….145
10. Cooper Webb……..140

                                       
WE MISSED IT! AND WE LIKE A SPANISH DISCO FUNK PARTY AS MUCH AS THE NEXT GUY


Spanish motocross racer Xavi Costa, make that Xavi “Fever” Costa, held a disco funk party at the Astoria in Barcelona on Friday night (and that is not a photo of DJ Xavi Costa in the poster above).Sadly, we missed rocking out to DJ Xavi’s ’70s beat because we were 6000 miles away working on our bikes. Odds are Xavi raced his KX450F this weekend without working on it.

THE GRAND PRIX OF LATVIA WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE IN THE USA ON BeIN SPORT

You might be able to watch the Latvian Grand Prix live, if you get up early enough. Given that the1:00 p.m. start time of the GP is 3:00 a.m. in Los Angeles it is very unlikely that many people will be watching in live. Plus, your your cable provider has to offer the BeIn Sports 2 channel. BeIN Sport is  an affiliate of Al Jazeera. It currently operates three channels in France ? BeIN Sport 1, beIN Sport 2 and BeIN Sport Max ? and launched two channels in the United States (English and Spanish) in August 2012. It specializes in showing soccer games, but is expanding into World Superbike, European Rallycross, FIA GT auto Championship and MXGP motocross.

BeIN would not give Adweek its viewership and is not Nielsen rated, but in American sports programming, ESPN is in 98 million homes, the Golf Channel is in 84 million homes and NBCSN is in 78 million homes (it is assumed that when Fox Sport 1 launches in August, it will surpass everyone but ESPN). Educated guesses put BeIN about 10 million American homes. Not watched by 10,000,000 people, just available. Check you cable company for BeIN..

                                       
HAVE YOU NOTICED THE SUDDEN RASH OF SHIP JUMPERS?

Europe is atwitter (and not just on Twitter) about the sudden influx of riders jumping teams in the last few weeks. The three biggest moves involved experienced Grand Prix riders.


Shaun Simpson.

Shaun Simpson had signed-on to be the TM factory’s major star. It was always going to be an uphill battle for Simpson to switch to a new bike, from the smallest factory, and adapt to the machine in one season. The best he could hope for was to suffer through 2013 while developing the bike to his liking and then come out swinging in 2014. It isn’t going to happen. The way the story reads to an outsider is that TM let Simpson go (as opposed to Simpson leaving of his own accord). However, Simpson probably was just as unhappy at TM was TM was with Simpson. Shaun rebounded immediately and signed with the JK SRS Yamaha team ?and will be more comfortable on a bike he is familiar with.


Tanel Leok.

When Simpson left TM, that opened up a slot at the TM team for someone else. Tanel Leok had been at Team Suzuki last year and at TM before that, but had signed to race the British Nationals in 2013 for the MVRD Route77 Energy Honda team. Surprise! With TM looking for a GP rider, and Leok having a relationship with them from the past, Simpson’s spot was filled instantly by Tanel. For Leok it was a chance to get back on the GP circuit with someone else paying the bills. No word on what this means for the MVRD Honda team.


Harri Kullas.

Harri Kullas complained that his Gariboldi Honda CRF250 wasn’t fast enough…and to prove his point, Harri quit Gariboldi last week and moved to the Sahkar KTM team.

Jumping around is a dangerous move for a rider. He has to be very upset with the bikes, team personnel or interpersonal relationships at the team to quit in midseason. Switching to a new bike means a whole new setup to adjust to and no time to do it. But, most seriously, it gives the rider the reputation for being hard to work with or worse a quitter. In the cases of Simpson, Leok and Kullas, they found new homes (and we wish them well) ? but even their new teams have to be concerned that if things don’t go right, they will quit again. Each situation is different, but no one comes out ahead. The rider may want out of a bad situation. The team may want rid of a rider that isn’t working out. But, all of them get a black eye and the collateral damage spreads out beyond the immediate parties.

                                       
WHO HAS LED THE MOST LAPS?

Justin Barcia.

450 Class:
1. Ryan Villopoto….129
2. Ryan Dungey……..28
3. Justin Barcia………23
4. James Stewart……20
5. Andrew Short………6


Cooper Webb.

250 Class:
1. Ken Roczen……….96
2. Eli Tomac…………..57
3. Marvin Musquin….34
4. Darryn Durham…..10
5. Blake Baggett………4
6. Cooper Webb………1

                                       
OUR FAVORITE RUSSIAN GETS AS CLOSE TO THE OLD USSR AS THE GP CIRCUIT WILL GET IN 2013

                                       
HONDA TO HONOR UNCLE SAM AT RED BUD

At Red Bud, Team Honda Muscle Milk will race patriotic-themed red, white and blue CRF450s to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday weekend. In addition, Justin Barcia and Trey Canard will both don patriotic-themed riding gear for the holiday weekend.
 

                                       
USED IT, ABUSED IT & TESTED IT: PIRELLI EXTRA X TIRES

Pirelli’s idea with the original Extra tire from a few years ago was to sacrifice a degree of pure performance in specific conditions to gain consistency of performance across the board. And, most importantly, build a durable tire. The Extra X is a newly updated version.

VERDICT: MXA test riders put many hours on the new Extra X and were impressed with the durable rubber compound and added knob supports on the rear. Most long-lasting tires take a big step down in performance in the name of durability, but the MXA test rider felt that the Extra X was only a small step down in performance and definitely at the top of its class in durability. We tested a 120/90 rear, but would have preferred a 120/80 rear or 110. The bigger 120 volume allowed the sidewalls to wallow when off-axis forces pushed the tire sideways. $105.95 to $132.95 (depending on size) ? www.us.pirelli.com

                                       
CONGRESSMAN MAKES WAVES FOR MOTORCYCLES ON CAPITOL HILL

Congressman Tim Griffin.

Remember Arkansas Congressman Tim Griffin. He is a dedicated motocrosser and has been pushing hard to help the motorcycle industry and offroad riders in the halls of Congress. Last month Congressman Griffin held his own ride day in conjunction with the city of Little Rock. Griffin said. “I’ve held tele-town halls, ‘Sweet Tea with Tim’ listening events, and I even have a Pinterest account. So when a constituent suggested holding a motorcycle event, I thought it was a great idea.We called it “Ridin’ with Your Rep,” and the first one we held was for motocross and offroad riders.” Griffin plans to host additional “Ridin’ with Your Rep” events in the future. But meanwhile on “The Hill,” Griffin has become the co-chairman of the Congressional Motorcycle Caucus and has engaged in a fight to stop E15 fuel, limits on offroad riding areas and federal spending on roadside checkpoints that target motorcyclists. Perhaps your Congressman should do as much.

                                       
USED IT, ABUSED IT, TESTED IT: CV4 HIGH-PRESSURE RADIATOR CAP

Since the boiling point of water increases when the water is placed under pressure, a radiator cap has a coil spring situated between two rubber seals. The stiffness of the spring determines how much pressure the water is under. As the water heats up, it expands. This expansion puts pressure on the radiator cap’s spring. When the radiators internal pressure exceeds the spring rate of the radiator cap, the hot coolant escapes and overflows between the two rubber seals

VERDICT: The MXA wrecking crew always changes the stock 1.1 radiator caps on Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki motocross bikes. With CV4 offering a 2.0 kg/cm2 cap we can easily stop our test bikes from puking out water on the starting line or steaming like Turkish sauna after a mud race. $21.95 (Japanese brands), $28.95 (KTM and Husaberg) ? www.cvproducts.com or your local dealer.

                                       
MAHINDRA TRIES TO BREAK THE STREET BIKE PRICE BARRIER WITH THE CENTURO…PLUS, BUELL NEWS

Mahindra Centuro is for the Indian market only.

In the USA Mahindra is best know for its garden tractors, but in India they make motorcycles also. The all-new Mahindra Centuro is a 110cc, 8.5 horsepower, four-speed, 60 mph, 200 mpg street bike that has made news because of its price. At under $750 the Centuro comes with a 5-year manufacturer’s warranty. Although American consumers have no real need for a 110cc street bike, they do need effective, reliable and attractive low-cost motorcycles, dirt and street, to jump start the business.

In more Indian motorcycle news, the Hero MotoCorp bought a 49.2 percent stake in Erik Buell racing for $25,000,000. Buell Motorcycles had been controlled by Harley-Davidson, but they dropped the brand last year. Without Harley’s support Buell sales dropped to a reported 65 units in 2012. With Hero backing and manufacturing, Buell hopes to sell 20,000 machines a year by 2017.

                                       
AUSSIE JOSH CACHIA RE-SIGNS WITH CARLTON DRY HONDA RACING FOR 2014

Josh Cachia.                                         Photo: Jeff Crow/Sport The Library

Josh Cachia, who has race in both the AMA Superceross and Nationals series, signed a contract to stay with the Australia-based Carlton Dry Honda team in 2014. The 21-year-old Cachia is currently third in the Australian 250 National Championship. Cachia’s will be join at Carlton Dry by Ford Dale (who is undergoing rehab after knee surgery).

                                       
ASK THE MXPERTS: KTM WATER PUMP LEAK

Dear MXA,
The water pump cover on my 2013 KTM 450SXF leaks. I have tightened the bolts, replaced the O-ring and surfaced the cover, but after a little while it starts dripping water again. It is not a deal breaker of a leak, but irritating. My dealer had no answer, so I am turning to MXA. What can I do?

In the past we have had issues with the KTM water pump seal leaking. The best solution is to order a 2014 KTM 450SXF water pump cover. For 2014 KTM has redesigned the cover with a deeper O-ring groove and a thicker O-ring. The 2014 water pump cover will retrofit on your KTM, but you must use the new O-ring to get a leak-proof seal.

                                       
USED IT, ABUSED IT, TESTED IT: MOTION PRO TITAN THROTTLE TUBE    

Motion Pro tested many different materials by hitting them with hammers and dropping weights on them before a deciding on the exact recipe for the Titan’s plastic. The secret formula had the right combination of strength and flexibility, plus low-friction properties for easy twisting.

VERDICT: Motion Pro didn’t want to settle for a better-than-stock throttle tube, they wanted to build the most crash resistant throttle tube on the market. How can a piece of plastic be more durable than a CNC’ed piece of aluminum? If aluminum is bent or dented in a crash it will deform and not return to it’s original shape. The Titan Tube is more rigid than OEM plastic throttle tubes, but more flexible than aluminum. That flexibility may make a material seem weak, but it adds resilience. The result is an amazingly durable throttle tube. $24.99 ? www.motionpro.com or (650) 594-9600.

                                       
USED IT, ABUSED IT, TESTED IT: VP RACING VPR OXYGENATED/LEADED RACE FUEL

VPR is designed as a stable, consistent and less expensive leaded and oxygenated two-stroke fuel that bridges the gap between pump gas and race gas. It is fuel that a racer can depend on. Pump gas varies from summer blend to city blend to winter blend  (and contains ethynol). With VPR you are assured that your bike has the same formula every time. This makes it the perfect fuel for racers on the national amateur circuit who might be in Nevada one week and Tennessee the next week.

VERDICT: Thanks to its higher oxygen and octane content, VPR produced more power than pump gas. During testing the MXA wrecking crew ran both dyno and race tests. VPR showed horsepower increases at every rpm. It made anywhere from a quarter of a horse more to a full horse at peak. Test riders reported a noticeable improvement in throttle response and a more stable feel at overrev. VPR is the leaded version of VP T4 four-stroke fuel and because of the lead is better for two-strokes. Four-stroke owners should use unleaded T4. $65.00 (average price for five gallons) ? www.vpracingfuels.com or (210) 635-7744.

You might also like

Comments are closed.