MXA’S WEEKEND NEWS ROUND-UP: ALL THE NEWS THAT FITS FROM THE MOTO WORLD (12/17/13)

TEAM WHEATIES DEAL


Ryan Dungey is part of Team Wheaties and got his face on a billboard in Times Square, but there are no plans for Ryan to make it to the Wheaties cereal box.

AUSTIN DOWN AND OUT FOR SUPERCROSS OPENER

Austin Howell.

AMA Pro Austin Howell crashed and suffered a collapsed lung, broken thumb and concussion last week. The thumb may force Howell to miss the complete Supercross season. Howell joins Davi Millsap, Justin Bogle, Joey Savatgy and Trey Canard on the sidelines for the start of the 2014 season.

2014 SUPERCROSS FORMAT CHANGE

Good news for fans.

In case you haven’t heard, the semis are back in the program for the 2014 AMA Supercross. Previously dropped amid howls of protest, they will return starting at A1.

ROSSI TO KTM..SORT OF

The Rossi-sponsored KTM.

Yamaha MotoGP road racer Valentino Rossi has started his own race team, Team Sky VR46, with high-profile sponsorship from Britain’s Sky TV. Now you might think that Rossi wouldl have a Yamaha team, but instead he is fielding two riders in the Moto3 (250cc) series on KTMs. The riders are Romano Fenati and Pecco Bagnaia.

TROY LEE DESIGNS TO FMF

TLD + FMF =TLDFMF2014.

Troy Lee Designs Honda and FMF will join forces for the 2014 season. The TLD team for 2014 is Cole Seely, Malcolm Stewart, Jessy Nelson and Shane McElrath.

LOCAL SUPERCROSS DRAWS SMALL FIELD OF STARS

Dean Wilson.

Jake Weimer (450) and Dean Wilson (250) won the Monarch Moto Pro Super-X Invitational at Milestone Raceway on Saturday. The five-man main events were runaways with Weimer, Wil Hahn. Matt Goerke, Nick Schmidt and Jason Lawrence filling out the 450 class and Wilson, Cooper Webb, Shane McElrath, Jake Canada and Dakota Tedder making the top five in the 250 final. Ryan Surratt won the Amateur invitational.

JGR’S UNIQUE TAKE ON FILL-IN RIDERS

Phil Nicoletti.

Joe Gibbs signed Phil Nicoletti to a “designated hitter” deal. Nicoletti is only guaranteed six starts, but he will be waiting in the wings should JGR riders Josh Grant or Justin Brayton get hurt. It is a unique approach to the fill-in rider scenario where teams have to scrounge up a rider to fill a vacant spot. At Joe Gibbs, they will have Nicoletti waiting in the wings.

BEL-RAY SOLD

Bel-Ray has been sold to Calumet Specialty Products Partners. Calumet is the parent of Royal Purple oil. Calumet is based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and has eleven facilities located in Louisiana, Wisconsin, Montana, Pennsylvania, Texas and Missouri. They will use Bel-Ray’s New Jersey facility.

COLTON FACCIOTTI TO HONDA

Colton on his new Honda.

Canadian Colton Facciotti has signed to race the Canadian Nationals for the Honda of Canada, Gopher Dunes, TLD team. Former Troy Lee Designs mechanic Matt Jory will reportedly do the engines through his Proven Moto shop (www.provenmoto.com). It is rumored that Colton might race a couple AMA Supercrosses to get tuned up and the team is supposedly looking for a 250 class rider also.

STOLEN BIKE FACTS

Donald DeVault had his 1953 Triumph T100 stolen in 1963. Amazingly, the police recovered it last week and gave it back to DeVault, seen riding it here after it was returned to him. He was 27 when it was stolen and is 73 now.  Photo: L.A Times

California leads the nation in bike thefts…and only 39% of stolen bike are recovered (54 percent of stolen autos are recovered). Hondas (20%), Yamahas (16%), Suzukis (15%), Kawasakis (11%) and Harley-Davidsons (8%) are the most stolen bikes. High-end bikes like BMW and Ducati are rarely stolen because their owners lock them up better, according to the insurance industry.

HUSQVARNA TO GO TO INDIA

No word on what models will be sold or made in India.

KTM has an aggressive marketing program in India, including a partnership with Indian manufacturer Bajaj to produce and sell Duke 390, Duke 200 and Duke 125 models in India. So, it should come as no surprise that KTM might start selling and producing some Husqvarna models at the Bajaj plant near Pune, India. The Bajaj plant has the ability to produce many more motorcycles than it currently pumps out. Stefan Pierer, CEO of KTM said, “Our current focus is the KTM bikes (in India), but in the next two years you will see Husqvarna bikes coming from the Chakan plant.”

CHAD’S BACK AND HE’S GONE FLAT BLACK

Chad’s Kwacker.

Chad Reed sent out this photo of his 2014 Kawasaki KX450F. The frame and swingarm are painted black. Sponsor decals are fairly sparse, with his own TwoTwo Motorsports getting the prime location and Discount Tire getting the front fender.

2014 PROVISIONAL CMRC CANADIAN NATIONAL SERIES

June 1…………Nanaimo
June 8…………Kamloops
June 15……….Calgary
June 22……….Edmonton
July 13………..Gopher Dunes
July 20………..Sand Del Lee
July 27………..Deschambault
August 3……..Moncton
August 10……Ulverton
August 17……Walton

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