MOTOCROSS ACTION MID-WEEK REPORT BY DARYL ECKLUND

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#WHIPITWEDNESDAY

Rider: Tim Ferry
Date: 2001
Bike: Factory Yamaha YZ250
Lens: 400mm
Focal length: 400mm
Exposure: 1/250th
F-stop: 6.3
ISO: 200

TWO-STROKE SPOTLIGHT: SHANE KELLY’S 1995 HONDA CR125

After the facelift on the 1995 CR125. 

“Just wanted to send a couple photos of my 1995 Honda CR125 that my dad and I restored. We tore it all the way down to the frame and started over. We powder coated everything, split the cases and put a new crank and piston in and ported the cylinder. We mounted an HGS exhaust with a Pro Circuit R-304 shorty silencer with the old stinger style end cap. Every chassis bearing and seal was replaced. Every piece of hardware was either replaced with OEM Honda parts or re-finished on a wire wheel with clear coat applied afterwards.

The before photo. Who would paint a Honda CR frame green?

Stock forks were replaced with 46mm forks off a 1996 CR250 and shock came off a 1997 CR125 to give it workable semi modern suspension. New Clarke tank and plastic. The graphics and seat cover came from Throttle Jockey. Works Connection frame guards.  She’s no garage queen and gets ridden like a modern bike, but the power is really good for a 125 and most importantly sounds awesome. Next step will be CRF twin chamber forks with CRF front brakes.”

Editors Note: Please keep those submissions coming. If you would like your bike to be featured in the “Two-Stroke Spotlight,” please email me at [email protected]. All I ask is that you give a breakdown of your bike and a detailed description of the build. Please also send a few photos of your steed. By submitting your bike for the “Two-Stroke Spotlight,” you agree to release all ownership rights to the images and copy to MXA. Please don’t email me spam or try selling me Taylor Swift concert tickets or email me spam. Happy submitting your smoker.

NEKEN AIR/SPRING TRIPLE CLAMPS

We have been testing Neken’s new air/spring triple clamp. This is different than their SFS triple clamp. The SFS is strictly air, no spring. The benefit of the spring/air combo is the price. It is almost half the price of the original SFS clamp. The downfall? We are still early in the testing phase, but so far we can’t find any other than it is hard to mount the air pump to the single air chamber as it is located underneath the clamp. This new clamp is not up on their website yet, but it will be soon enough. Check out Neken’s website at www.nk-neken.com/en.

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WHAT THE MXA WRECKING CREW IS UP TO

We had our test rider, Justin Muscutt, shake down our 2018 Yamaha YZ250F. Only updates are BNG and blue rims. The YZ250F ranked third in our 2017 MXA 250F shootout. But with the all-new CRF250 and updated KX250F engine, the blue steed could drop a few spots for 2018. 

Chief MXA test rider Dennis Stapleton has been riding a KTM 450SXF as his personal bike for over a year now. He has grown to like the orange machine, but with Dennis riding all the other 2018 450F’s he says he might have a new favorite. 

THEY SAID IT: IRONMAN NATIONAL MOTOCROSS

Cole Seely: “For how terrible today started, it ended up pretty good. I’ve been fighting a sickness for the past couple days and today it decided to kick up a notch, so I woke up feeling like I may not even be able to race. In practice I just went out and tried to lay down at least one fast lap before pulling off because I felt so weak and out of it. My time got me into ninth, which wasn’t great by any means but good enough. In the races, I just got off to two good starts, gave it my all, and tried to ignore how I was feeling. I felt pretty good once I was out there and it ended up being an awesome day with two fourths. I was really trying to hang on to top-five in points, so I’m happy with that and think it was a great way to end the season.”

Christian Craig: “Today went pretty decent. I qualified well and just went into the motos wanting to finish the season strong. I’ve had a couple weekends of mediocre results where I could’ve done so much better but just wasn’t making it happen. I really wanted to go in there and show I could be up front. In the first moto, I was dicing my way through people when I had problem with my clutch midway through and couldn’t use it for a while. It ended up coming back toward the end so I just pushed through to ninth. I got a worse start in the second moto but tried to just give it my all. It was the last one of the year so I wanted to end in a good position, and I’m happy with seventh. I don’t think 9-7 for eighth overall is where I want to be—I want to be top-five—but it is what it is and I gave it my all. I know what I need to work on in this off-season.”

Marvin Musquin: “Indiana was great. I was a little off in practice, but I made some great progress in the motos. I was closing in on Jeffrey in the first moto and it was a good feeling. It would have been tough to pass him because he was fast and had good lines. I still finished second, which is good. Then I was leading in the second moto and, unfortunately, made a mistake with two laps to go. I came up short and lost control of the bike and went down. It was a bummer because I really wanted that overall, but I still showed people that my riding was good. Second overall is still great. The goal today was to get second in the championship and that’s what I did. I won four overalls and many motos this outdoor season – so that was a big step for me this year. Thanks to the whole Red Bull KTM team for their effort. I never gave up, even with injury, so I’m proud of that.”

Eli Tomac: “That was not easy at all. I went back after the first moto and thought ‘is it really going like this?’ I think I let my ego get the best of me in the first moto and needed to take it all in before the second moto,” said Tomac. “We went out there and did what we needed to do. This [championship] has been a long time coming and it feels amazing to finally accomplish it. I’m kind of at a loss for words right now.”

Jeffrey Herlings: “I’m really happy—fastest in both practices and won both motos! The second moto was a bit unfortunate with the start, but I went from last to third then got lucky with Marvin going down. But I went 1-1 so that’s all that matters. For my first race here in America I think it’s pretty impressive and I’m happy with it. The team was amazing. To put a bike together in such a short time, and only having one day of testing – they were great. I was very thankful to work with the whole crew. They were amazing to me. It was a great weekend and I’m looking forward to the MXGP next week.”

Zach Osborne:“It was a really good day. I just wanted to make it easy on myself,” said Osborne. “I’ve fought enough this summer so I didn’t want to do that to myself again today. Everything worked out about as well as it could and it was amazing to end the year like that.”

Adam Cianciarulo: “Winning would have been nice, but it’s a good feeling to be consistently on the podium the past few races. I’m looking forward to continuing to work hard for the team next season and hopefully bring them home a championship.”

Justin Hill: “It was nice to come back and get in the top 10 after spending little time on the bike since my injury. The conditions were really nice in Indiana, but the track can be brutal. Just glad we stayed healthy and showed some progress.”

THE TOP TEN LIST: 2017 AMA OUTDOOR NATIONALS

450MX STANDINGS

1. Eli Tomac–470
2. Marvin Musquin–453
3. Blake Baggett–451
4. Dean Wilson–340
5. Cole Seely–330
6. Justin Bogle–308
7. Copper Webb–268
8. Weston Peick–268
9. Martin Davalos–263
10. Jason Anderson–216

250MX STANDINGS 

1. Zach Osborne–501
2. Jeremy Martin–420
3. Adam Cianciarulo–374
4. Aaron Plessinger–337
5. Joey Savatgy–324
6. Dylan Ferrandis–305
7. Colt Nichols–303
8. Alex Martin–296
9. Mitchell Harrison–279
10. Shane McElrath–248

TALK MOTO WITH MOTO MINDED PEOPLE. JOIN MXA’S FACEBOOK GROUP CHAT

We love everything moto and want to bring all moto junkies together into one place to share their two cents, ideas, photos, bike fixes, bike problems and much more. To check it out, first you must need to or already have a Facebook account. If you don’t, it isn’t much work and you could even have an alias so nobody knows it is you. To join click HERE. After you request to join we will accept your request shortly after. 

PHOTO OF THE PAST: 2001 ANAHEIM 125 HEAT RACE START

Taking the holeshot in this heat race is Yamaha of Troy’s Justin Buckelew (38). Also in this picture is: Jason McCormick (48), Ivan Tedesco (42), Rodrig Thain (32), Danny Smith (29), Travis Preston (40), Tony Amaradio (86).

2017-18 RACE SCHEDULES: BE THERE OR BE SQUARE

2018 MONSTER ENERGY SUPERCROSS SCHEDULE

Jan. 6…… Anaheim, CA…… Angel Stadium
Jan. 13…… Houston, TX…… NRG Stadium
Jan. 20…… Anaheim, CA…… Angel Stadium
Jan. 27…… Glendale, AZ…… U. of Phoenix Stadium
Feb. 3…… Oakland, CA…… Oakland Aameda Coliseum
Feb. 10…… San Diego, CA…… Petco Park
Feb. 17…… Arlington, TX…… AT&T Stadium
Feb. 24…… Tampa, FL…… Raymond James Stadium
Mar. 3…… Atlanta, GA…… Mercedes-Benz Stadium
Mar. 10…… Daytona, FL…… Daytona Intl. Speedway
Mar. 17…… St. Louis, MO…… Dome at America’s Center
Mar. 24…… Indianapolis, IN…… Lucas Oil Stadium
Apr. 7…… Seattle, WA…… Centurylink Field
Apr. 14…… Minneapolis, MN…… U.S. Bank Stadium
Apr. 21…… Foxborough, MA…… Gillette Stadium
Apr. 28…… Salt Lake City, UT…… Rice-Eccles Stadium
May 5…… Las Vegas, NV…… Sam Boyd Stadium

 

2017 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

February 25…Losail…Qatar
March 5…Pangkal Pinang…Indonesia
March 19…Neuquen…Argentina
April 2…Leon…Mexico
April 16…Trentino…Italy
April 23…Valkenswaard…The Netherlands
May 7…Kegums…Latvia
May 21…Teutschenthal…Germany
May 28…Ernee…France
June 11…Orlyonok…Russia
June 25…Ottobiana…Italy
July 2…Agueda…Portugal
July 23…Loket…Czech Republic
August 6…Lommel…Belgium
August 13…Frauenfeld…Switzerland
August 20…Uddevalla…Sweden
September 3…Gainesville…USA
September 10…Assen…The Netherlands
September 17…Villars sous Ecot…France

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Photos by Scott Mallonee and Daryl Ecklund

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