Innehållsförteckning för May 2017 från Dirt Action

CODY DYCE Yamalube Yamaha Racing’s Cody Dyce nailed his first proper photo shoot like a total pro. The photo says everything it needs to say, really: he came into this sweeping berm on the corner and destroyed it! LUKE STYKE Styke is back. After a rough 2016 that saw him grounded through injury, the former MX2 champ and MXGP rider will be looking to make up for lost time in 2017. Styke at his best is a determined and fearsome rider. He can win in sand or on hard pack and if he gets a sniff of the podium it’ll be tough for anyone to stop him taking it. ELI TOMAC In our pre-season predictions we named Tomac as the man to beat if he just found that first win.…

“ONE THING THAT’S CONSISTENT ACROSS THE FACTORY BIKES I’VE RIDDEN IS THAT THEY CONTINUE TO PRODUCE POWER AT HIGH RPM” “FOR A 12-YEAR-OLD ENGINE I COULDN’T BELIEVE HOW TIGHT AND FRESH IT STILL FELT AND SOUNDED” “IT’S ONE THING TO RIDE A CURRENT FACTORY RACE BIKE, BUT TO RIDE ONE THAT’S LITERALLY A PIECE OF SUPERCROSS HISTORY — 12 YEARS AFTER IT WAS RIDDEN TO A CHAMPIONSHIP BY THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME, NO LESS — WELL, YOU HAVE TO PINCH YOURSELF” I’ve been lucky enough to ride more than my fair share of factory race bikes over the years but as far as special bikes go, this one’s at the top of the list hands down. It’s one thing to ride a current factory race bike,…

“THE ADDITION OF THE WP 48MM AER FORKS HAS DONE WONDERS FOR THE HUSKY RANGE OF MOTOCROSS BIKES” The Husqvarna TC 125 and its orange cousin are the only two 125cc motocross bikes to have had any updates in recent times. Only last year did the both of them receive a complete overhaul, something relatively unheard of for two-strokes these days. So, for 2017 the Husky still benefits from some Austrian updates, the most valuable being the addition of the all-new WP 48mm AER fork. There are several other new bits but I’ll get to those later. The game changer here is the fork and with that you have yourself a 125cc two-stroke that’s pretty tough to fault. WHAT’S NEW? As I mentioned, the WP air fork is a welcome…

“EVERYTHING WE ENJOY IN DIRTBIKES TODAY CAN BE TRACED TO THE DT-1, THE DADDY OF ’EM ALL” Geoffrey Udy is farting about. Not seriously, like cataloguing or anything — more like ferreting through the tangled mess that not even he calls a motorcycle collection, though that’s what it is. Every now and then he sips from a pint mug of Louise’s coffee and mumbles a memory. In the crazy old shed, bikes, trikes and spikes are everywhere. Old road and dirtbikes share space with a Can-Am Spyder, which Geoff sold to someone then bought back “because I like it”. There are Yamaha jetskis, the remains of several boats, powered and unpowered, and out in the yard a scraggly bunch of farming utensils I can’t put a name to, all lying…

In 2016, David Ellis brought Enduro-X to the masses with the first-ever dirtbike event held alongside the opening round of the V8 Supercar Championship. It showcased off-road racing to more than 200,000 spectators who walked through the gates for the New Holland Enduro-X presented by Monster Energy. Never one to rest on his laurels, Ellis had even bigger plans for 2017, deciding to combine all the action of a supercross track with the technical nature of an Enduro-X course to bring to life one of the most unique races ever seen on Australian soil: the first-ever SuperEnduro-X. As if that wasn’t exciting enough in itself, Ellis was able to entice leading US endurocross riders Cody Webb and Kyle Redmond, along with former American supercross, motocross and Enduro-X legend Mike Brown…

“THAT MORNING I HAD MY DOUBTS AS TO WHETHER THIS WAS SOMETHING WORTH DOING. IT WAS A MASSIVE TURNAROUND TO WONDERING IF MY SISTER WOULD ALLOW ME TO CUT IN A TRACK ON HER PROPERTY” So we get an invite to a launch, which is usually a happy occasion: a chance to catch up with industry folk, ride a bike in the dirt and maybe, just maybe, have a beer somewhere among the proceedings. But this invitation was different — there was no bike in the picture. It was ... a quad? No, not a quad or an ATV as such. It’s got four wheels as well as a steering wheel and this caused me to pause. I put my excitement on hold. I have something with four wheels and…

The Clipsal 500 plays host to the opening round of Australia’s number-one car-racing championship, making it one of the biggest rounds of the V8 Supercars Championship. Over recent years, the addition of the TrAction Zone has offered race fans a host of off-track entertainment between the main V8 Supercar action and provides companies outside of the car-racing world with a great chance to introduce themselves to a large number of general motorsport enthusiasts. One company with deep roots in the motorcycle world has taken full advantage of the wide cross-section of sports fans that pass through the gates every year. Honda Motorcycles Australia hosts a massive display of its current road and off-road bikes in a safe environment for youngsters to try their hand at riding, for the first time,…

Yamaha Australia has arguably the strongest and longest-running junior development program in Australian motocross. With dedicated junior teams in each state led by experienced coaches and past champions of the sport, selection as part of a state-based Yamaha junior squad is highly sought after and certainly gives young riders a big leg up in the world of motocross and supercross. With the concept originally starting with Glenn Macdonald back in 2000–2001, the program has morphed into a national success story, paving the way for riders to develop from the state-based teams into a potential ride with the national Yamalube Yamaha Racing Under 19s team and onwards to Yamaha’s senior national-backed teams with Serco Yamaha, DPH Motosports and the highly accomplished CDR Yamaha team. We caught up with Yamaha’s national Under…

Rain, rain, go away! It’s been a frustrating month to have a KTM 500 EXC sitting in the garage — it’s non-stop bloody rain in Sydney of late. Luckily, the trails I frequent have a nice sandy base so, when the sun did come out for a weekend, it was straight out and into the bush. It was all smiles on the 500 EXC for that sunny Saturday. Smashing sandy trails and attacking erosion mounds, the 500 just eats it up. I’ve definitely decided there’s a few things I’d like to change to try to make it a little more comfortable. As mentioned last month, I’m booked in to visit the guys at MCD Racing in Penrith to get the suspension firmed up a little and I’m overdue for that…

The Patriot Edition plastic kit for the Honda CRF450R started as a simple idea. Off Road Imports managing director Toby Andrews was sitting in a meeting at Acerbis HQ in Italy. The idea of a Patriot Plastics kit was floated across the table but, with the in-house marketing team charging forward with the new 2017 range, the project was released to the Australian team to execute. A quick text message back home had the Australian marketing team working on renderings to expand on the idea. Between the Australian and Italian offices, the Patriot idea blossomed and grew into a feasible and polished product through the Aussie designs and renderings. It’s a streamlined conversation between Acerbis and Italy so, after emails, Skype meetings and phone conferences, it was only a matter…

“STEP ONE IS AN EASY DAY’S RIDE OF 635KM NORTHEAST OUT OF VEGAS ON HIGHWAY 15” It’s not often I find myself in Las Vegas. This time it’s the day after the Supercross final. Clubby and all our American friends are heading back to LA after our dual-sport desert ride from LA to Las Vegas and the missus and I have a few days to kill. EagleRider Motorcycle Rentals (eaglerider.com) solves our problem. Three days of adventure coming up: we’re headed for the Arizona-Utah border to Monument Valley. Step one is an easy day’s ride of 635km northeast out of Vegas on Highway 15. The ride takes nearly all day with fuel and refreshment breaks and several photo opportunities and stops at Kanab, Big Water Visitor Center, Lake Powell and…

THE RUNDOWN This trip came together following the involvement Chris Urquhart and I had with the Ricky Carmichael University trip to Australia about 18 months ago. We offered up an opportunity to Aussie riders and had Bayley Clancy and Mason Rowe commit to the trip. It involved spending a week at the GOAT Farm, which is Ricky Carmichael’s personal riding facility, followed by spectating at Daytona Supercross and then racing the Ricky Carmichael amateur supercross at the famous location. Here is the trip played out in pics.…

HONDA CRF50F • Inverted telescopic fork offers a plush 89mm of suspension travel • Dependable 49cc SOHC four-stroke engine develops smooth, easy-to-use power • Maintenance-free CD ignition & automatic cam-chain tensioner • CRF®-R-inspired bodywork • Narrow 109mm wide CR®-type seat, slim fuel tank & extra-low 548mm seat height provide excellent comfort & mobility for a broad range of young riders • $2199 OAKLEY XS O-FRAME HERITAGE RACER ORANGE KIDS GOGGLES • Flexibility even in extreme cold via urethane frame construction • Glare reduction & tuned light transmission of Iridium® lens coating (optional) • Comfortable & secure fit of wide, adjustable elastic strap • Minimised reflective glare via interior surface texturing • Convenience of 2-pin attachment system for tear-offs • Comfort & fit of triple-layer face foam • Scratch resistance &…

KADE MOSIG Kade is one of those riders you’d like to be just for a day on the track. His aggression, style and all-round skill set are enviable and to top it off he’s not a complete knob jockey — he’s a good dude. Now that he’s with the DPH Yamaha team this could be the truly big year he’s been waiting for. Kade has every tool he needs to win and the team has shown it can produce the goods on race day. Nothing’s easy at that end of the motocross track and there will be no letting up in 2017, but a heap of fans will be stoked to see this guy take the top step throughout the series.…