Indholdsfortegnelse for December 2015 i Dirt Action

“ANYONE NEEDS ME I’LL BE PUTTING MY NEWLY PURCHASED SHOE RACK TOGETHER. IF YOU DON’T HEAR FROM ME IN THE NEXT 48HRS PLS SEND HELP.” — ADAM CIANCIARULO “TELL ME WHY U NEED PINNED 4TH-GEAR JUMPS ON A 450? WATERED TAKEOFFS AND LANDINGS? NO NEED FOR GOOD RACING. ONLY HOSPITALS FILL THEIR WALLETS!” — MARC DE REUVER “30 years around moto and I had to make my first 911 call on Tuesday. So glad my best mate is OK after a nasty crash. Heal up @byrner26.” — Chad Reed “I LIKE THE START! HOW ABOUT HANDING OVER A MILLION TO THE ACTUAL WINNER? NOT SOME LAME ‘MUST WIN ALL 3’” — CHAD REED ON THE MONSTER ENERGY CUP “Tony Abbott to appeal his disqualification from Prime Minister to the FIM.”…

AJP Motorcycles are now in Australia, ADR compliant and learner approved. Manufactured since 1987, these European bikes are available here for the first time. Standard features include Polisport plastics, Michelin tyres, Sachs and Marzocchi fully adjustable suspension and a low centre of gravity with an underseat fuel cell. The ADR-compliant PR5 Enduro features Delphi EFI, six-speed and thermo fan kit as standard and retails for $7795 plus on-roads. The air/oil-cooled PR4 240 Extreme has been competing successfully in various extreme enduro events in Europe, most recently finishing Romaniacs in the Silver class. For the shorter riders out there, the PR3 240 Enduro Pro, featuring fully adjustable suspension, disc brakes all round, low seat height and electric and kickstarter as standard, ensures confidence and easy riding. Soon to be announced is…

It’s hard to believe that 2015 was only Beau Ralston’s second year racing the Australian Off Road Championship and first year on a team. Coming from a motocross background, Ralston burst onto the off-road scene at the beginning of 2014 and raced to a fourth-place finish at the Sydney round of the now-defunct Australian Enduro-X Championship. With another strong result, finishing second at the final round of the Enduro-X Championship in Queensland just a couple of weeks later, Ralston picked up a little support to contest the entire 2014 AORC championship as a privateer. After Ralston again showed promising results in the AORC ranks — including class and outright podium finishes by the end of last year — Active8 Yamaha team manager AJ Roberts offered him a full-time ride for…

You can judge a motorcycle in a thousand different ways. You might be turned off by the shape of the plastics or, conversely, the sound of the exhaust might make you drool. I know a bloke who’ll never ride a Kawasaki because he hates the colour green. There are some bikes that make you want to ride. And I mean they call from the garage or shed in some sort of subliminal metal-to-human telepathy urging you to find a reason to leave the house and go for a ride. I’ve felt that strongly with a few bikes. I’d push my first bike, a YZ80, to the top of our steep driveway and just roll it down with the engine off after dark so the neighbours wouldn’t complain. I did that…

SHOP LOCALLY NSW CITY COAST MOTORCYCLES 262-264 Keira Street Wollongong, NSW 2500 02 4228 7392 sales@citycoastmotorcycles.com.au www.citycoastmotorcyclesyamaha.com.au COL’S MOTORCYCLES 76 Smith Street Kempsey, NSW 2440 02 6562 7089 sales@colsmotorcycles.com.au www.colsmotorcycles.com.au RIC ANDREWS MOTORCYCLES 169 Manns Road West Gosford, NSW 2250 02 4324 1800 www.ricandrewsmotorcycles.com.au VIC FIRST CLASS MOTORCYCLES 26 John Street, Lilydale, VIC 3140 03 9739 7277 sales@firstclassmotorcycles.com.au www.firstclassmotorcycles.com.au PETER STEVENS MOTORCYCLES DANDENONG 105 Lonsdale Street, Dandenong, VIC 3175 03 9791 7722 infodandenong@peterstevens.com.au www.peterstevens.com.au PETER STEVENS MOTORCYCLES GEELONG 21 & 36 Mercer Street, Geelong, VIC 3220 03 5221 0400 infogeelong@peterstevens.com.au www.peterstevens.com.au PETER STEVENS MOTORCYCLES MELBOURNE 339 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, VIC 3000 03 9602 5833 infomelbourne@peterstevens.com.au www.peterstevens.com.au PETER STEVENS MOTORCYCLES RINGWOOD 507 Maroondah Highway, Ringwood, VIC 3134 03 8870 1322 inforingwood@peterstevens.com.au www.peterstevens.com.au STUART SIMMONS MOTORCYCLES, MOWERS & MARINE 105 Benalla-Yarrawonga Road,…

As many of you have now heard, the 2015 ISDE held in Kosice, Slovakia, was nothing short of controversial. As Australia prepared to lift its first senior World Trophy in 92 years, drama exploded, lawyers took the place of mechanics and the FIM became the main attraction. Riders were disqualified, protests were made, times were hidden and corruption bled. In an absolute mess, the FIM named France the 2015 World Trophy provisional winners. Looking from the outside in, things did not seem right. How have these decisions been made and what was the reaction to the rulings? For a greater understanding on the matter I caught up with Active8 Yamalube Yamaha team manager and Australian team assistant manager AJ Roberts. On making the call, it soon became evident that in…

YCF AUSTRALIA LIMITED-EDITION NITRO CIRCUS! Everyone loves Travis Pastrana and now you can have a Nitro Circus-kitted bike built just for groms! YCF 50A PASTRANA LIMITED Key Features of the 50A: * 50cc 4-stroke electric start * Fully automatic, 10in front wheel/10in rear wheel * Low 550mm seat height & adjustable throttle for kids * Lightest in class at 42kg * UPSD front forks and disc brakes front and rear Limited model features: * Yellow frame * Yellow plastics kit * N-style Pastrana Nitro Circus graphics kit * Yellow handgrips * Yellow bar pad * Red fuel line * Special Nitro chain guard stickers Ride away price: $1690 with free training wheel promo pack until Dec 25, 2015 KING COBRAS Cobra bikes are well established in the USA and working…

Next year will see the homecoming of Australian Dean Ferris, following three years competing on the World MXGP circuit. Ferris made the announcement as he competed for Australia at the MXoN in France in late September. The 24-year-old had a strong season in Europe, finishing 11th in the MXGP and challenging some of the best riders in the world. Ferris will join the CDR Yamaha team contracted to compete in the 2016 MX Nationals, the NZ MX Championships and the Australian Supercross Championship. “I’m really looking forward to getting back home and racing in Australia again,” he said. “I’ve done three years in Europe and a season in the US and, while I’ve enjoyed every moment of it, there’s nothing like racing in Australia and living back at home in…

After nearly 20 years in the business, Team Motul Suzuki will close its doors at the end of the 2015 season. Rumours had been swirling around the motocross pits for some time about some teams closing down and others downsizing, but when the official statement from Suzuki went out on September 25 it was a huge body blow to racing in Australia. Regardless of whom you’re aligned with, this is bad news. It takes away another two factory-supported rides, it costs five people their jobs and for team manager Jay Foreman it’s 20 years of work written off with the stroke of a pen. There are no winners and we hope Suzuki can find a way to get back in action and roll out a professional team in the coming…

This bike is a little different from your average championship-winning machine. It isn’t from a factory race team, which is more often than not the case for a bike like this. This bike is the result of a bunch of motivated and passionate people who saw something in a young rider and pulled together to go racing for 2015. It all came together relatively late but as it turns out it was well worth it. But don’t be fooled — although these guys aren’t parked under a huge truck and awning at the races, this isn’t just a backyard effort. Those involved know very well where to focus effort to get the job done. Former world number two and motocross legend Josh Coppins is the driving force behind the program,…

When you see the trail heading downhill and it looks like it will continue for some time, there are a few things you need to consider. Does it get steeper and does it offer up enough traction to control your speed? The other factor is fatigue, which can zap energy when you’re riding downhill for long periods. It’s important to keep your vision up and scanning the terrain ahead so you can maintain the correct speed. It’s very easy to carry too much speed into a long descent only to have the hill begin to fall away and get steeper. When this happens you can find yourself trying to slow the bike down, but that can be difficult when the hill is steep and generally traction is low. Keep your…

Part 1 showed you the preparation and checks leading up to a top-end rebuild. Now let’s look at how it all comes apart. Follow the workshop manual and in no time you’ll have your engine apart ready for a more thorough inspection. SHIMMY SHIMMY The inlet valves have the shims sitting on top, held in position by the valve spring retainer. A bucket is over the top of the shim/valve assembly and the camshaft lobe presses onto the bucket. The exhaust valve doesn’t use a bucket but does have a rocker arm that transfers the cam lobe pressure to the top of the shim/valve. Use a magnet to draw the shim out of the spring retainer and make sure you have all four. A shim that falls into an engine…

In 2013, Yamaha gave its tired WR450F a huge makeover and sales figures showed that the redesign was a success. Though an excellent trail bike, it was hampered by weight from ever becoming a popular race bike. Last year saw an impressive rethink of the somewhat clapped-out WR250F, taking a bike on the verge of irrelevancy back to the top in terms of capability and sales. And now, after much anticipation and the prayers of fans to the Blue Gods, a new WR450F has been unveiled and what we see is a development arc much the same as the WR250F. Based on and developed alongside the 2016 YZ450F, the new WR-F has a solid base to work from and has benefitted from the touch of the great Josh Coppins. Beau…

KTM returned its racing program in house for 2013 after several years partnering with the JDR Motorsports outfit. Since the move they’d managed strong results but the championship has eluded them. For 2015, KTM has returned to the top and it’s a credit to the program how quickly it’s managed to do so. There’s a very experienced crew of staff behind the scenes, including technical-guru-turned-team-manager Rob Twyerould. They downsized in some ways while going to a more concentrated effort in the MX1 class with a smaller truck and a two-rider lineup. The effort has paid off and they can now lay claim to the number-one plate for the 2015 MX1 MX Nationals Championship. THERE ARE SPRINKLES OF CARBON FIBRE PAIRED UP WITH A FULL CHASSIS AND ENGINE TITANIUM BOLT KIT,…

Since the last major update for the 2012 season, the Kawasaki KX450F has been a favourite here at DIRT ACTION and always did well when it came to our annual shootout. It has traditionally combined a big, ballsy bottom and midrange motor with workmanlike handling and suspension that suits a wide variety of riders. As a result, the KX450F was extremely likeable. From 2012, each model has been a refinement and a host of fine tuning has come its way in successive years. Some weight has been trimmed, some power added and there are upgrades to the suspension, including the introduction of the Separate Function Fork (SFF). Like most of the major manufacturers, Kawasaki is on a four-year cycle when it comes to major updates to its motocross models and…

Remember the days when you’d come home after school, grab the minibike and head out with your mates riding around for hours? Just the thought brings back great memories and plenty of smiles, right? Now think about how much you learned practising turns, wheelies, jumps and so on. Well, the past has returned and I had a taste of it the other day onboard a couple of YCF minicross bikes. The mini/fun bike category accounts for five of the top 10 best-selling motorcycles in Australia. Yes, you read it right. In 2014, 11,774 fun-category bikes were sold in Australia — so little bikes are big business. The brand YCF was founded in France in 2004 by partners Yannick Coquard and Dimitri Bera who still run the business to this day.…

ADJUST YOUR HANDLEBAR POSITION Most bikes now have several handlebar clamp positions available to the rider. Be sure to try some of the different positions; this may require you to flip the handlebar clamps around if they are offset — some bikes will have two separate mounting positions in the top triple clamp. Either way, you won’t know if there’s a better position for you unless you try it. SET YOUR TYRE PRESSURES Check what the manufacturer recommends in the manual but it will usually be somewhere around 13–15psi. With standard tubes, 14psi or 15psi will help avoid pinch flats. The correct tyre pressure can make a huge difference to the way your bike feels on the track. ADD TEFLON TAPE UNDER YOUR PERCHES This is a cheap insurance policy…

The YZ125 enduro is coming together nicely and I have to say it’s a pretty bloody easy bike to work on and find parts for — an advantage that comes from the longevity of the model, I guess. This month I had something done that I knew was always going to need to happen and turned to the best in the biz for the work. I rolled the YZ into Axis Motorsports with stock suspension and rolled it out with a tuned front and rear, ready for the bush and happier to accommodate my weight. The guys fitted new springs, better-quality oil and sorted the sag so all I had to do was ride. But then the temperature hit 38 degrees and I couldn’t find anyone to ride with me.…