MXA WEEKEND NEWS ROUND-UP: THE UNSILLY SEASON ARRIVES


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THE SILLY SEASON TAKES A BIG BREATHER

DSC_9827 Ken ROczenKenny will be on a Honda eventually, but would he be willing to race a Suzuki at the MXDN? Would Suzuki release him to race a Honda? Would he ride a Honda with little or no testing? Will the Kunamoto Honda factory be repaired in time to actually get Kenny a CRF450 to ride before October?

The silly season isn’t worth worrying about in 2016. All the players, those who really are players, have been spoken for. Honda will be Ken Roczen and Cole Seely. Yamaha will be Chad Reed and Cooper Webb. Justin Barcia will still be at Joe Gibbs—with whoever they can get for a song to be his teammate. Eli Tomac is golden at Kawasaki and Josh Grant was told to get his ankles fixed so that he’d be ready for next season—on a Kawasaki. KTM is no mystery. The orangemen will field Ryan Dungey, in what many seem to think will be his last full season, Marvin Musquin and one rider to be named later (perhaps Trey Canard).

The real guessing game of the silly season is what will happen at Suzuki. There are two Suzuki teams: (1) The James Stewart/Blake Baggett team and (2) the soon to be Ken Roczen-less RCH squad (with Broc Tickle). Word on the street is that Baggett is going to BTO KTM for 2017, while Stewart appears to have no options at any of the big teams for next year. It is unlikely that he will stay on a Suzuki, but that just leads to the joke about him having trouble staying on a Suzuki normally.

As for the other potential rumor bait—if you don’t have any hot rumors circulating about you, then you aren’t interesting enough for the internet to make up stories about. In truth, there is little reason to worry about who’s going where for 2017…because 2017 is a long way away. Take Ken Roczen for example. After he leaves Suzuki at the end of the AMA Nationals the next big race that he would really want to do is the MXDN, but what are the odds of that happening in the middle of a bike switch.

It’s fun to play the guessing game, and there is no harm done, because if you are wrong about your guess, you can just cover it up with a new guess. The silly season is silly, but not for the rider’s who must wait and see what happens to their careers. It doesn’t matter where we think they are going, because when they sign a contract, and not until they sign a contract, will it be noteworthy—and then not until they actually race the bike.

WHAT ABOUT JEFFREY HERLINGS’ NEW CONTRACT?

Jeffrey-HerlingsJeffrey had his collarbone plated and was lucky enough to have a three-week break in the GPs to let it heal. He plans to miss three GPs before coming back for the final three. He should still have an approximate 35- to 45-point lead when he returns.

The big news coming out of Europe this week was that Jeffrey Herlings signed to stay at KTM until 2020. But there is more to it than that.

(1) The Honda deal. Honda wanted Herlings, even though they would have to wait until the 2018 season for his current KTM contract to expire, and they reportedly began throwing big numbers at him for a long-term deal. These were big enough to impress Herlings—and would most likely have carried him through the rest of his Pro racing career.

(2) The KTM deal. Herlings likes it at KTM (especially now that Stefan Everts has left the team to run the Suzuki GP effort). Herlings might have accepted the Honda offer if his newly sworn enemy Everts was still at KTM, but, with Everts gone, Jeffrey is happy in orange. There is no doubt that Honda cost KTM a lot more money than they wanted to pay. They not only had to match the Honda offer, but had to make it a long-term deal (5 years, if you count what’s left on his current contract).

(3) The DeCarli factor. Tony Cairoli doesn’t ride out of the KTM factory rig. He is part of the DeCarli team—which has the deal to run the 450 effort. With Jeffrey Herlings forced to move to the 450 class for 2017, because of being double-crossed by Giuseppe Luongo on a rule change that had allowed Jeffrey to stay in the 250 class until he was 23 years old (he will be 22 on September 12, 2016), Herlings didn’t want to be on the Italian team. He wanted to stay with the Austrian team that ran his 250 GP effort. In order to get Jeffrey on board with the new contract they will have to restructure their current 250 effort to house Jeffrey Herlings’ 450SXF. As for hard feelings from Claudio DeCarli, he will be okay because Tony Cairoli has two years left on his recent three-year deal. Tony has been with Claudio DeCarli since 2004.

(4) The record book. It’s no secret that Jeffrey Herlings has the same “big fish in the little pond mentality” that guided Stefan Everts to avoid racing in the USA. It worked for Everts. He won 10 World Championships by not racing Supercrosss or the AMA Nationals. And Herlings has said that his goal is to beat Everts’ 10-title record. That is the real reason that he wanted to stay in the 250 GP class year after year. It was easy pickings (and even though he has only won 2 titles in the last four years—because of injury), it could easily have been 5 World Championship by the end of the 2016 season. There were FIM rules that would have forced him out of the 250 class after his second 250 World Championship in 2013, but Youthstream’s Giuseppe Luongo came to his rescue and changed the rule so that two-time 250 World Championship winner could stay in the class until he was 23. Then this year, Luongo, perceiving that Herlings’ dominance in the class was hurting the 250’s prestige, rescinded his Herlings gift rule, and reinstated the old rule—forcing Herlings out of the 250 class for 2017. This means that Herlings will hit the 450 GPs with two World Championships (or three if his broken collarbone heals before the final three 2016 GP race are over). That means he would need to win at least 8 World Championships in the 450 class to best Stefan Everts record…that would mean winning every title starting in 2017 through the 2025 season.

(5) KTM’s 250 effort. Even though KTM has taken a lot of flak for keeping Herlings in the 250 class—it has really been their best hope of winning the class. They have Pauls Jonass, Davey Pootjes and Jorge Prado waiting in the wings—but none of them are the sure things that Jeffrey Herlings was. Herlings was a sure thing, but he has only won the 250 World Championship in 2012 and 2013 (he lost in 2014 to a badly broken femur and 2015 to a fractured hip). He still has a big points lead in the 2016 250 World Championship and plans to sit out this week’s race in Switzerland to let his collarbone heal fully so that he can come back strong for final three races at Assen, Charlotte and Glen Helen. But, in 2017 KTM will have to find a new Wonder Boy.

MAX NAGL SIGNS NEW HUSKY GP CONTRACT FOR 2017

Nagl_Antti PyrhönenHusky team manager Antti Pyrhonen and Max Nagl after the signing.

Max Nagl renewed his Rockstar Husqvarna contract for 2017 this past week. Nagl is currently third in 450 GP points, only 14 points behind Tony Cairoli with four races to go. Max won the  the Czech Grand Prix two weeks ago and finished second last week in Belgium. Max said, “I’ve enjoyed some of the most successful times of my career as an MXGP rider with the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team so to be staying with Husqvarna, Antti and the guys is something I’m really very pleased about. I think that we’ve showed what we’re capable of as a team and enjoyed lots of very positive GPs during both this year and in 2015. Although I’m now one of the most experienced riders in the MXGP class I truly believe that I can be every bit as competitive next year as I am right now. Continuing to be a part of the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factory Racing team is something I’m very excited about.”

300’S CANCELED, BUT NOW THEY ARE BACK

MIKEKRAS300EMXMike Kras was almost the last-ever 300 Two-Stroke Champion, but the series got a reprieve.

The European 300 Championship will be back at the MXGP races in 2017. Following the release of the provisional calendar for the 2017 FIM Motocross World Championship, which did not include the 300 two-stroke support class (EMX300), there were complaints from “a large number of manufacturers, teams, riders, partners and fans” that were unhappy that the EMX300 Championship had been axed. Because of the complaints, most likely from small European two-strokes brands and older riders that aren’t well suited to EMX 250 or EMX125, Youthstream says that it will add the European Championship EMX300 class to the 2017 MXGP calendar. FIM President Wolfgang Srb said, “I am very happy about this solution. The EMX300 class has developed very well and it is good for all of the parties involved that this European class remains within the FIM Motocross World Championship.” Of course, he thought just the opposite a few weeks earlier.

The Grand Prix series holds support class races for 125 two-strokes, 250 four-strokes and 300 two-strokes. Here are the championships of 2016 in each class

FINAL 2016 EMX 300 POINTS STANDINGS
(After 6 of 6 events)
1. Mike Kras (Hol)…264
2. Yentel Martens (Bel)…257
3. Brad Anderson (Eng)…203
4. Matt Moffat (Eng)…150
5. Dietger Damiaens (Bel)…135
6. Patrick Vos (Hol)…113
7. Antonio Utrilla (Spa)…110
8. Mathias Plessers (Bel)…107
9. Lewis Gregory (Eng)…104
10. Josh van der Linden (Hol)…101

FINAL 2016 EMX 250 POINTS STANDINGS
(After 10 of 10 events)
1. Thomas Kjer Olsen (Hol)…404
2. Darian Sanayei (USA)…323
3. Bas Vaessen (Hol)…286
4. Anton Gole (Swe)…236
5. Kevin Wouts (Bel)…217
6. Jorge Prado (Spa)…210
7. Miro Sihvonen (Fin)…201
8. Nicolas Dercourt (Fra)…197
9. Hunter Lawrence (Aus)…167
10. Mike Stender (Ger)…130

FINAL 2016 EMX 125 POINTS STANDINGS
(After 8 of 8 events)
1. Jago Geerts (Bel)…307
2. Stephen Rubini (Fra)…248
3. Pierre Goupillon (Fra)…207
4. Gianluca Facchetti (Ita)…186
5. Roan Van De Moosdijk (Hol)…183
6. Mikkel Haarup (Den)…171
7. Zachary Pichon (Fra)…149
8. Kim Savaste (Fin)…144
9. Brian Moreau (Fra)…144
10. Szymon Staszkiewicz (Pol)…116

SUZUKI GOES RETRO—BACK TO WHEN BAD TASTE REIGNED SUPREME

retrosuzukilommelaa1fc“I have an idea, let’s choose the ugliest bike we ever made and use those graphics on our GP bike.”

At the Belgian Grand Prix last week, Team Suzuki outfitted the bikes of Kevin Strijbos, Arminas Jasikonis, Jeremy Seewer, Brian Hsu and Bas Vaessen in Suzuki’s controversial 1992 graphics. Best known as the ugliest OEM graphics to ever grace a production motorcycle, team owner Stefan Everts thought they were cool. Stefan said, “We wanted to create something that people would like and talk about. I’m honored in a way that we made a group decision to pick that memorable 1992 design from my riding days.”

Memorable is right, but attractive? No. Kevin Strijbos, who won the Belgian Grand Prix, also brought his aesthetic tastes into question when he said,  “It’s pretty cool and something different, which is the important thing.”

SPEAKING OF KEVIN STRIJBOS

strijboslommel2016AAAIf Kevin Strijbos can keep up his current pace, he will win again in 2025.

Kevin Strijbos won last week’s Belgian Grand Prix in the sand at Lommel with a 3-3 score. It was the first time he won a race in 9 years (Lierop 2007). Strijbos raced his first Grand Prix in 2001 (15 years ago) and will be 31 on August 13. Kevin has a Suzuki contract for the 2017 season and says that if he finishes outside of the top ten he will retire, but if he is competitive he would like to race again in 2018.

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THE FRENCH ARE FIRST…TO NAME THEIR 2016 MXDN TEAM

mxdnfrance2016
The French Motorcycle Federation announced its 2016 Motocross des Nations (MXoN) in Maggiora, Italy, on September 25. The team will consist of Romain Febvre, Dylan Ferrandis and Gautier Paulin with Benoit Paturel as the alternate. The French team are the defending MXDN Champions. Marvin Musquin, who was on last year’s winning French team, was dropped from the team, but only because he is now a 450 rider (for which they have Paulin and Febvre). They needed a 250 rider to fill out the requirements and selected Kawasaki’s Dylan Ferrandis.

THIS WEEK’S BIRTHDAY BOYS: THE JUNKYARD DOG IS 51

MIKEGOSSELAARAug. 4…Mike Gosselaar
Aug. 4…Jay Marmont 1983
Aug. 4…Julien Cerny 1972

ANDYJEFFERSON2Aug. 5…Andy Jefferson 1961
Aug. 5…Eric Geboers 1962
Aug. 7…Todd Jendro
Aug. 7…Scott Myers 1968

Nagl_MXGP_13_CZ_2016Aug. 7…Max Nagl 1987
Aug. 7…Jeff Willoh
Aug. 8…Kyle Bentley 1981

mikebellAug. 8…Mike Bell 1957
Aug. 9…Aigar Leok 1985
Aug. 10…John Dowd 1965
Aug. 10…Jack Phinn

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2016 GRAND PRIX WINNERS AT A GLANCE

MXGPstart_MXGP_13_CZ_2016The Grand Prix circuit moves to Switzerland this coming Sunday.

Date           Venue                                450                                250
Feb. 27…. Qatar…………………..Tim Gajser………….Jeffrey Herlings
Mar. 6…..Thailand……………….Romain Febvre…….Jeffrey Herlings
Mar. 28…Holland………………..Romain Febvre…….Jeffrey Herlings
April 10….Argentina…………….Tim Gajser…………..Jeffrey Herlings
April 17….Mexico………………..Tim Gajser……………Jeffrey Herlings
May 1…… Latvia………………….Tim Gajser……………Jeffrey Herlings
May 8……Germany………………Tony Cairoli………….Jeffrey Herlings
May 15….Italy……………………..Tony Cairoli………….Jeffrey Herlings
May 29….Spain……………………Tim Gajser……………Jeffrey Herlings
June 5……France…………………Romain Febvre……..Jeffrey Herlings
June 19….Great Britain…………Tim Gajser…………..Jeffrey Herlings
June 26….Italy…………………….Tim Gajser……………Jeffrey Herlings
July 24…….Czech Republic…….Max Nagl……………..Dylan Ferrandis
July 31…….Belgium………………Kevin Strijbos……….Max Anstie
Aug. 7……..Switzerland………………
Aug. 28…..Holland………………
Sept. 3…..Charlotte, USA………………
Sept. 11….Glen Helen, USA………………
450 Points leader…Tim Gajser (Hon)
250 West points leader…Jeffrey Herlings (KTM)

CURRENT FIM GRAND PRIX POINTS HEADING TO SWITZERLAND

Gajser_MXGP_14_B_2016Tim Gajser is 103 points ahead of second place with four races to go, but if he maintains this lead he can take the last two races off.

450 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
(After 14 of 18 races)
1. Tim Gajser…607
2. Antonio Cairoli…504
3. Maximilian Nagl…490
4. Romain Febvre …464
5. Evgeny Bobryshev…445
6. Jeremy Van Horebeek…417
7. Valentin Guillod…292
8. Glenn Coldenhoff…277
9. Clement Desalle…273
10. Kevin Strijbos…264
11. Shaun Simpson…256
12. Tommy Searle…225
13. Christophe Charlier…198
14. Gautier Paulin…193
15. Jose Butron…178

PaulsJonassVKPauls Jonas had to sit out last week’s race, but managed to hang on to third in 250 points (although 107 points out of second place).

250 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
(After 14 of 18 races)
1. Jeffrey Herlings…597
2. Jeremy Seewer…510
3. Pauls Jonass…403
4. Benoit Paturel…393
5. Dylan Ferrandis…378
6. Max Anstie…366
7. Aleksandr Tonkov…320
8. Petar Petrov…319
9. Samuele Bernardini…294
10. Brian Bogers…280
11. Vsevolod Brylyakov…219
12. Alvin Ostlund…185
13. Thomas Covington…171
14. Brent Van Doninck…145
15. Michele Cervellin…140

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AT A GLANCE: 2016 AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS

DSC_3344Jeremy Martin won in Millville, but suffered a blown engine at Mt. Morris and was cleaned out by the Webb/Savatgy hijinks at Washougal. He’s got to win from here on out to even have a slim chance of defending his number one plate.

Date             Venue                                        450                                      250
May 21…Hangtown, CA………..Ken Roczen……………Joey Savatgy
May 28…Glen Helen, CA………Ryan Dungey………….Alex Martin
June 4…Thunder Valley, CO….Ken Roczen……………Joey Savatgy
June 18..…Mt Morris, PA………Ken Roczen……………Joey Savatgy
June 25..…Muddy Creek, TN….Ken Roczen……………Cooper Webb
July 2.…….Red Bud, MI…………Ken Roczen……………Cooper Webb
July 9..…….Southwick, MA​……Eli Tomac……………….Cooper Webb
July 16….…Millville, MN​………..Ken Roczen……………Jeremy Martin
July 23.…..Washougal, WA…….Eli Tomac………………Alex Martin
Aug. 13..….Unadilla, NY…………​
Aug. 20..…Budds Creek, MD….​
Aug. 27.….Crawfordsville, IN…
450 Points Leader…Ken Roczen (Suz)
250 Points Leaders…Cooper Webb (Yam)

THE TOP 15 IN AMA NATIONAL POINTS

_SOU5428_John Basher_James Stewart bubba_Washougal_2016James Stewart is 29th in the 450 standings and has scored points in only two motos so far this season. Even if he swept the next three 450 Nationals he wouldn’t make the top five in points (and probably could not get into the top ten).

The AMA Nationals are in the middle of a three-week break because MX Sports doesn’t have enough manpower to run both the AMA Nationals and Loretta Lynn’s at the same time. This is a chance for riders racing with a nagging injuries to heal up and for returning riders, like Trey Canard, Dean Wilson and James Stewart, to settle in for the final three rounds. Currently there are 150 points left to win (50 points per race). Ken Roczen has a 55-point lead over Eli Tomac, which means that he can throw away one round and still lead Tomac by 5 points. Already mathematically eliminated from the title are every 450 riders save for Eli Tomac. That means that Marvin Musquin, Justin Brayton, Christophe Pourcel Broc Tickle, Cole Seely, Justin Brayton, Justin Bogle, Ryan Dungey, Trey Canard, Andrew Short, Jason Anderson and James Stewart are locked out of the title. Here are the current points standings with three races to go. 

AMA 250 NATIONAL POINTS STANDINGS
(After 9 of 12 rounds)
1. Cooper Webb…372
2. Jeremy Martin…321
3. Joey Savatgy…319
4. Alex Martin…317
5. Austin Forkner…257
6. Zach Osborne…253
7. Aaron Plessinger…245
8. Arnaud Tonus…190
9. Adam Cianciarulo…179
10. Mitchell Oldenburg…169
11. RJ Hampshire…163
12. Martin Davalos…144
13. Shane McElrath…132
14. Mitchell Harrison…121
15. Jordan Smith…100

AMA 450 NATIONAL POINTS STANDINGS
(After 9 of 12 rounds)
1. Ken Roczen…434
2. Eli Tomac…379
3. Marvin Musquin…283
4. Justin Barcia…244
5. Christophe Pourcel …217
6. Broc Tickle…171
7. Andrew Short…155
8. Justin Brayton…152
9. Cole Seely…151
10. Benny Bloss…151
11. Phil Nicoletti…142
12. Justin Bogle…136
13.  Ryan Dungey…131
14. Weston Peick…129
15. Trey Canard…127

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THE CURRENT 2016 RACE CALENDAR

USGP Poster-6

2016 AMA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Aug. 13..………………….….Unadilla, NY​
Aug. 20..………………….….Budds Creek, MD​
Aug. 27.………………………Crawfordsville, IN (Final)

2016 FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Aug. 7……………………..…..Frauenfeld, Switzerland
Aug. 28………………………..Assen, Holland
Sept. 3…………………………Charlotte, USA (Saturday)
Sept.11…………………………Glen Helen, USA (Final)

2016 REM MOTOCROSS
Aug. 6………………………….Glen Helen, CA
Aug. 27………………………..Glen Helen, CA
Sept. 3………………………….Glen Helen, CA

2016 CANADIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Aug. 7………………………….Deschambault, QC
Aug. 14………………………..Barrie, ON (Final)

2016 AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Aug. 21………………………..Toowoomba, QLD
Aug. 28………………………..Coolum, QLD (Final)

2016 BRITISH MAXXIS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Aug. 21…………………………Preston Docks
Sept. 18………………………..Foxhill (Final)

2016 SPANISH NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
Oct. 2…………………………..Calataya, Zaragoza (Final)

UNITED STATES GRANDS PRIX
Sept. 3……………………………Charlotte, USA (Saturday)
Sept. 11……………….………….Glen Helen, USA

2016 MOTOCROSS DES NATIONS
Sept. 25…………………………Maggiora, Italy

2016 SUPER MOTOCROSS CUP
Oct. 8……………………….Gelsenkirchen, Germany

2016 MONSTER CUP
Oct. 15…………………………..Las Vegas, NV

2016 REM OCTOBERCROSS
Oct. 29…………………………..Glen Helen, CA

2016 DUBYA WORLD VET CHAMPIONSHIP
Nov. 5-6…………………………Glen Helen, CA

REM IS AT GLEN HELEN THIS SATURDAY, AUGUST 6

remPOSTERYELLOWFor more info go to www.remsatmx.com.

OVER-THE-HILL-GANG 9-11 MEMORIAL MOTOCROSS (ON SEPTEMBER 18 AT LACR)

OTHGMemorialPOSTERFor more info go to www.othgmx.org

CENTRAL VALLEY MX SERIES STARTS SEPTEMBER 11, 2016

CCMXCentralValleySeriesFor more info go to www.taftracing.com.

GRAN FONDO SANTA CLARITA: 20, 60 & 100 MILE LOOPS

grandfondaroadbikeactionThis October 22, 2016, ride will be big. For more info go to www.granfondosantaclarita.com

ROUTE 66 VINTAGE SCRAMBLES AT ROY ROGERS RANCH

Route66OldSchoolVintageScramblesThe race will be held on November 19-20, 2016 at the Roy Roger’s Double R Bar Ranch. For more info click here.

 

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MOTORCYCLE AD OF THE WEEK: 80cc HODAKA ENGINES FOR SALE

hodakaenginesIf you blew up your Hodaka 80cc two-stroke engine in your Steens, you could fix it or just replace it for $121.34.

MXA MOTO-CHALLENGE: CAN YOU NAME THIS RACER?

MOTOCHALLEGEAUGThis rider won the 2008 250 World Championships. He started his career in Europe and ended it there.  Can you name him?. Answer at the bottom of the page.

HOW TO SUBSCRIBE TO MXA AND MAKE MONEY

MXASEPT2016COVER003Interested in two-strokes? The September 2016 issue of MXA will be on the news stands soon, but if you subscribed you would get a $25 gift certificate from Rocky Mountain ATV/MC.

Do you subscribe to MXA? You should. We know that you think that print magazines are dead and that the internet will fill the void, but most of the stuff in the current issue of MXA won’t appear on the web for several months, if at all. Luckily, you can get all of MXA on your iPhone, iPad, Kindle or Android by going to the Apple Store, Amazon or Google Play. Better yet get the Digital desktop version at https://hi-torque.com/product/motocross-action-digital-edition/ for $9.99 a year. The MXA test riders prefer the print version and not just because it is delivered by a uniformed employee of the U.S. Government, but because for only $19.99 you get 12 issues and a free $25 Gift Card from Rocky Mountain ATV/MC. That means that there is a profit to be made in this deal for you. For the Print magazine go to: http://hi-torque.com/product/subscribe-to-motocross-action-magazine/

MXA PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: CANOPY COOL PORTABLE MISTER SYSTEM

livecanopy
WHAT IS IT? A portable misting system that runs off your truck’s cigarette lighter and makes the hottest day feel cool. If you race where it is hot, you need this.

WHAT’S IT COST?
$219.95 (10-nozzle system-as tested), $279.95 (10-nozzle system with 11-hour battery power), $299.95 (10-nozzle system with 20-hour battery power).

CONTACT? www.canopycool.com or (503) 983-4351.

canopycool4

WHAT STANDS OUT? Here’s a list of things that stand out with the Canopy Cool BL-1 portable misting system.

(1) Models. There are four different versions available. They all use the same 45 psi pulse pump, but they differ in the number of nozzles and length of the tubing. All four can be plugged into a 12-volt cigarette lighter for power, but there are two battery-powered models (11-hour and 20-hour) that will work with no external power source (for really roughing it in the wild).

(2) Function. Canopy Cool is a portable misting system that gets its power from your truck’s cigarette lighter (via a 14-foot power cord). The pump draws water from a five-gallon bucket (which MXA fills up from the track’s watering system). The misting hose has clips that make it easy to attach under your EZ-Up awning.

(3) Temperature. The hotter the day, the better the Canopy Cool works. On a 100-degree day, the temperature under MXA‘s canopy measures a balmy 80 degrees.

canopycoolkit

(4) Ease of use. Our BL-1 model (BL stands for Bucket Lid) includes 40 feet of tubing, a 14-foot power cord, 10 brass misters, six Velcro mounting straps, six metal hanging clips and a submersible pump. The first time you use the Canopy Cooler mister system, you have to put the pieces together in the arrangement that best suits your canopy. After that, everything can be stored inside the supplied bucket.

(5) Pumping station. MXA was able to get over an hour of mist out of the five gallons of water in the bucket. Since the pump is a pulse pump, it doesn’t drain your truck’s battery.

(6) Tips. When you hook the nozzles up to your canopy, read the wind properly so that the mist is blown towards the people under the awning. Be forewarned that sitting under a mister system will make you wet—no problem for a sweaty motorcycle racer, but not nice for a girlfriend or wife trying to read a book. You need at least 10 nozzles to cover a 10-by-10 EZ-Up (the 45 psi pump can handle up to 20 nozzles).

WHAT’S THE SQUAWK? The brass nozzles can get clogged up with dirt or hard water (we tried to talk our local track into buying a water softener for their watering system, but they declined). We clean the nozzles at regular intervals with CLR Remover to dissolve calcium, lime and rust.

CANOPY COOL VIDEO

MEMORIES OF THE WAY WE WERE: THE BOMBER & THE RISING SUN

barnettSUN013At the time this photo was shot no one knew that these two riders would go on to win AMA National titles and Motocross des Nations crowns. Mark Barnett (left) and Chuck Sun (righty).

2017 AMA SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE

supercroslslide

2017 AMA SUPERCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 7…………………………Anaheim, CA
Jan. 14………………………San Diego, CA
Jan. 21………………………Anaheim, CA
Jan. 28………………………Glendale, AZ
Feb. 4……………………….Oakland, CA
Feb. 11………………………Arlington, TX
Feb. 18………………………Minneapolis, MN
Feb. 25………………………Atlanta, GA
Mar. 4………………………Toronto, ON
Mar. 11………………………Daytona, FL
Mar. 18………………………Indianapolis, IN
Mar. 25………………………Detroit, MI
Apr. 1…………………………St. Louis, MO
Apr. 8………………………..Seattle, WA
Apr 22……………………….Salt Lake City, UT
Apr. 28………………………East Rutherford, NJ
May. 6………………………..Las Vegas, NV

MXA MOTO-CHALLENGE ANSWER

rattray008Tyla Rattray won the 2008 125/250F World Championship before moving to America. Then, he returned to the GP series as Ryan Villopoto’s Kawasaki teammate in 2015. Today he is Davi Millsaps’ trainer.

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Photos: Suzuzki, Brian Converse, Daryl Ecklund, Massimo Zanzani, Scott Mallonee, Kyoshi Becker, Ray Archer,  Jody Weisel, Debbi Tamietti, Dan Alamangos, John Basher, Yamaha, MXGP, MXA

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