I’m getting a bit sick of events telling me I can’t come because my bike isn’t the right age, or didn’t come from the right country or this or that or the other. I don’t fit in a neat, little pigeon hole and the people I like spending time with don’t either. Dirt Quake is a race event in a big city, in the heart of the English Midlands. It’s been put together with the spirit of ’It’s not what you ride, it’s how you ride it’. :continue:
Flat track racing is awesome, affordable and accessible. But, this Saturday in Ventura, California, it’s going to be more awesome, affordable and accessible than usual. Iron and Resin is organizing a true Run Whatcha’ Brung class at Ventura Raceway, that’s literally open to any bike (or moped or scooter or whatever) and any rider, for just $45. We’ll be there and so should you. Heck, even if you don’t want to get your bike all dirty, come watch. I can personally guarantee crashing; I’ll be doing the racing. Details here.
Motorcycles are probably the most exciting consumer good in the world. But, right now, they’re a hard sell. Races take place a long way from the cities where people live. The people that race are nothing like the people with the cash to buy. The actual racing is boring to anyone without a complete grasp of the physics involved. So, how do you involve a non-endemic crowd with something as alien to their lives as dirt bike racing? Auckland’s City Scramble looks like a good start, bringing motorcycles to the people with a city-center location and the kind of track and obstacles they can comprehend and appreciate. Running last weekend, it drew 10,000 spectators.
Photos: Graeme Murray :continue:
If you’re anything like Sean, Grant or I, then you love motorcycle racing, but struggle to find ways to watch it. At least ways that fit into the rest of your busy life. You likely also heard that this year’s Daytona 200 had something of an epic finish. We’ve been trying to find a way to watch the damn thing all weekend, literally just now stumbling across this video of the final eight laps on YouTube. You’re watching this as we are. :continue:
The lunatics at French moto journal, Moto Journal, decided to make the car v bike trope interesting by doing it on ice. It’s not terribly apparent who won (we’re guessing editing was complicated by an intense odor of garlic), but we’ll go ahead and give moral victory to the bike rider for donning a cape. :continue:
How hard is Italy’s Hell’s Gate Hard Enduro? Well, the number of finishers is up this year from two to five. And the list of DNFs includes world-class trials riders like Dougie Lampkin. That’s right, only a handful of riders are even able to complete the course and, unique to this race, they’re only able to do so with the help of spectators, who must be enlisted to drag the bikes up the final incline. To do so, they employ hand-fashioned hooks and tow ropes, competing with the incredibly steep hill, snow, ice and mud to get the bikes to the top.
Photos: Olaf Pignataro :continue:
Traversing a wash, the front wheel of American Quinn Cody’s CRF450 appears to catch an obstacle, launching him into an endo at high speed. Reports from the hospital indicate a broken collar bone and some unspecified injuries to his head, but indicate that he’s “not in serious condition.” Cody is the second American to withdraw from the Dakar this year, electrical gremlins brought Jonah Street to a halt. The retirement gave Street the opportunity to announce his retirement from the sport. :continue:
Every November, hundreds of the world’s hardest men gather in Macau to risk their lives competing in a little known road race. The event is unique because, unlike the Isle of Man or North West 200, the course runs entirely through a dense urban center on track that, at times, is just 22 feet wide. This film was put together by race documentarian Sergio Perez using both race footage and original video. :continue:
Speaking at a press conference in Red Bull’s famous Hangar 7, KTM president Stefan Pierer just unveiled these renderings of KTM’s new Moto3 racer. As expected in the new prototype class, which replaces 125GP with 250 four-strokes next year, the bike is impressively exotic. A cast swingarm pivot connects to an impossibly dainty steel-trellis frame. The rear subframe and seat appear to be self-support carbon fiber. The front wheel is a novel large spoke/deep carbon rim design and the front brake is a tiny little single-pot radial affair. Tasty. :continue:
If you’ve seen The Italian Job (either one) then you’re familiar with the banked oval rooftop test track on top of Fiat’s old Lingotto factory in Turin. Last week, 150 Vespas and Lambrettas held a race up through the spiral ramps inside the abandoned building, then out onto the roof.
Photos: Damiano Levati/Olaf Pignataro/Red Bull :continue:
