FORGOTTEN MOTOCROSS TECH: LONG-LOST PROTOTYPE KTM 125SX FOUND IN GARAGE!
It disappeared into the bowels of the KTM R&D department back in 1990, but like Jonah and the whale it was spit out 30 years later
Browsing tag
It disappeared into the bowels of the KTM R&D department back in 1990, but like Jonah and the whale it was spit out 30 years later
Plaster of Paris, fiberglass, flex-hose and ingenuity allowed Dewitt Knox’s YZ250A to breathe
It vacuums excess fuel up from behind the reed cage and adds it to the next incoming charge
Air and water are the same when it comes to fluid dynamics — thus air-cooled boots could easily become water-cooled boots
The damping change when braking was 12 percent (the equivalent of six clicks out on the compression adjuster)
It was such a great idea that Honda and Yamaha copied it it, but it was doomed to extinction anyway
We sent Lars Larsson into the woods of Sweden to search through the workshops of ex-Husky engineers to find the hidden gems
The twin-carb engineering marvel that won the 250 World Championship and disappeared into the ether that is the past
Centralization of mass has been a major concern for motorcycle manufacturers over the last decade, but no one comes as close to embracing the idea as Swedish designer Jen Elmwall
A handlebar and grip system that looks like it was bent in a crash, but it wasn’t
At the beginning of the 1980s, motorcycle number plates were in a state of flux. Round was out. Rearward mounted number plates were in, front plates were getting bigger and who can forget the 1981 Honda flying wing. Enter the Mor-Fender
The best thing about air is that it is free. The worst thing about air is that it doesn’t like to be caged inside a shock
Today, big-bore, twin-cylinder, rally bikes like the MCM 948 are a hot commodity — not so 20 years ago.
NASCAR has hoods for sponsor logos — motocross doesn’t have ten-square inches of space to spare
There is an often forgotten link to Bert Greeves, Alf Hagon and Vic Eastwood in the chain of development of aluminum motocross frames
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
Frank had a deal to develop the Sachs MX250 for motocross, but Sachs/Hercules pulled the plug right after the 1977 Trans-AMA was over
Patrick Savard was an engineer on the radical ELF-3 road racer, so he and brother Franck decided to build an all-wheel-drive dirt bike
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
Bob Hannah owned Hannah Racing Products (HRP), and, as you would expect from such an eccentric person, his gear ideas were very unique
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
“The first time I grabbed the solid rotor disc brakes, I landed with 275 pounds of Rhode Island-built snow blower on top of me.”
BMW’s engineers thought they knew more than everybody else, but they designed a bike that proved how little they really knew
17 years ago, motocross racer Rich Truchinski designed the Tru Technologies Ride Control suspension triple clamp. It was ahead of its time
The inherent problem of the long-travel movement (that started in 1974 and lasted into the mid-’80s) was how to handle chain slack
Most vintage and museum-quality Montesas are missing their very rare, original Montesicle fuel petcocks
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
Tracing the history of the long forgotten forks design — from DKW to Thorks to Ribi Quadrilaterals to modern sidecars
Two-thirds of it is a basic Rickman Montesa, but the back half uses two chains and three rear sprockets