FORGOTTEN MOTOCROSS TECH: THE MOST CREATIVE SHIFT LEVER EVER MADE
The most creative shift lever in motocross history was just like the bike it came on — prone to failure
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The most creative shift lever in motocross history was just like the bike it came on — prone to failure
When Doug Dubach raced the 1989 NMA Ponca City Grand Nationals he was told his linkage shifter was legal in the Stock class—After the race, the NMA disqualified him
We liked them. We were impressed that a small, family-run company (the family built the goggles in their basement) could develop a more innovative goggle than the big brands
BMW’s engineers thought they knew more than everybody else, but they designed a bike that proved how little they really knew
The inherent problem of the long-travel movement (that started in 1974 and lasted into the mid-’80s) was how to handle chain slack
Almost 20 years ago, motocross racer Rich Truchinski designed the Tru Technologies Ride Control suspension triple clamp. It was ahead of its time
If only they had put the 501 engine it it, they would have had an immediate success with the gearheads
Before there were Sidi CrossFires, Gaerne SG10s, Tech 10s, Fox Instincts or TCX Comp Evos, the first-ever plastic hinged boot was the 1974 Heckel
A handlebar and grip system that looks like it was bent in a crash, but it wasn’t
Preston Petty wanted to control the big swings in motion that make a bike dive under hard braking with his No-Dive invention
Two-thirds of it is a basic Rickman Montesa, but the back half uses two chains and four rear sprockets
Would you believe that aluminum motocross frames did not start with Honda in 1997? You’d have to go back 69 years for the first one
Someone had to turn motocross fork on their heads and make them upside-down—it was the same guy who helped bring suspension forks to mountain bikes
Forks may go up and down, but, in reality, they harness of lot energy from the spectrum of science
Think of your bike’s steering stem as a swizzle stick
The designer and bike that broke all the rules, but had a loyal following of rebels
Motocross bikes are almost the last motorcycles to use wire-spoked wheels, as street bikes have gone to cast aluminum wheels, which are the modern version of wooden wagon wheels
First of all these, Kayaba forks were 40 years ahead of their time, which means they failed four decades before the latest Kayaba air forks failed
There was some convoluted logic being used in Italy when this idea was concocted in 1975 — but don’t think Harley was the only one
If you are the type of guy who files the teeth on his footpegs, you wouldn’t like footpegs from 1972
When the idea of a two-piece rear sprocket returns in 2030, it will still be considered an oddity
The bike that never was, was at the very least a clay mock-up and there was a working mule that Kyle Lewis tested in secret
How much thought have you put into your bikes polar moment of inertia and chain torque? It makes a big difference
Think of this oddly-shaped exhaust pipe as the 1983 version of a radiator wing—only without the water
n 1979, the FIM passed a rule stating that rear number plates had to be moved rearwards so that the riders’ legs would not cover up the numbers and this is what happened
Designed by Anders Persson, who also designed the popular Hallman Flip-Up visor, but you couldn’t actually see through it
With the EFS System just the wave of a hand would activate your Roll-Offs, but then so would a passing cloud or throwing them in your gearbag
Motocross has seen barrel grips, hex grips, fin grips, curved grips and octopus grips, but none as unusual as the Jones ball grip
The Swiss-made Heckel plastic boot got there first, but was too new and too radical, but there was a second wave of plastic boots five years alter
The Horst Leitner-designed PBH, Scott, ADB four-stroke that refused to die