One leisurely Sunday afternoon as a kid in the
late 1970's I was flipping through the few channels that were
available at the time when a segment titled Superbikers showed up
on Wide World of Sports. Fascinated by these funky dirtbikes
without knobbie tires I was glued to the 15 box. Yep, back in those
days a 15 TV was considered big screen! Before I digress- The
concept of the show was to pit the best riders from each motorcycle
discipline against one another without an advantage for any
individual style racer. Twisty pavement turns, dirt sections with
jumps and dirt tracker style sliding turns made sure no one had an
advantage with the best all-around rider winning. 
Gary Trachy backin’ it in with Micky Dymond
working on a pass. |
In the early 1980's ABC abandoned the show that
insiders called 'Super Motard' racing. Without TV coverage Motard
racing was no longer in the culture of the U.S. but Europe did
embrace this style of competition and continued competing under the
marquee of Super Moto, a simple translation of Super bikes.
Recently, Super Moto racing re-appeared in the U.S. with the
resurgence of this lost art of motorcycle racing attributed to: Don
Canet (Cycle World Magazine). With growing
interest from the public the American Motorcycle Association (AMA)
threw there hat into the Super Moto ring with a pro AMA sectioned
series. This new series brought out the best of the best to at
least give it a try. Check out this who's who of motorcycle racers
that have raced Super Moto (List courtesy of members from:
supermotojunkie.com) Jeff Ward, Doug Henry, Travis Pastrana, Ben
Bostrom, Nicky Hayden, Kevin Schwantz, Valentino Rossi,
Boris
Gary Trachy in the dirt section at Grange in So
Cal. Trachy offers the “Silent H’ Super Moto school and
can be contacted at: supermotoschool@yahoo.com from what I
hear this is an outstanding school but as of yet I’ve not had
a chance to attend. |
Chambon, Kevin Windham, Jeremy McGrath, Scott
Russell, Kurt Nichol, Thierry van den Bosch, Eddie Lawson, Wayne
Rainey, Steve Wise, Jay Springsteen, Kenny Roberts, David Aldana,
Marty Moates, Chuck Sun, Danny LaPorte, Jason Pridmore, Chad Reed,
Mike Metzger, Max Biaggi, Randy DePuniet, Carlos Checa, Anthony
Gobert, Dewayne Jones and even Baja racing champion Steve Hengeveld
has given it a shot.
In 2004 ABC Sports
stepped up to the plate once again by adding Super Moto racing to
the popular X games TV show. With a cult like following and fair
ratings ABC has said they'll add Super Moto to the 2005 X Games. X
Games exposure has added legitimacy to main stream the sport but
only time will tell if this lift will out live its predecessor. For
me, watching the X games stirred up memories from days long ago and
that inspired me to give this style of racing a try, well, that and
constant heckling from friends that told me I was missing out on
some very fun and competitive racing.
Almost a year later with more then a handful of
races and gobs of research under my belt here are the basics I've
learned: A true Super Moto track will be 70
percent pavement and 30 percent dirt. For the most part Kart tracks
are used for Super Moto with some exceptions of parking lots being
turned into race tracks. Without specific Super Moto tracks around
you race on what's there. Although, having raced the inaugural 2005
Nevada Stateline race in the parking lot of Wild Bills, I can tell
you this… Most off road races don't have jumps as big as
what was offered in that race! For the most
part longer dirt sections at all of the other amateur events would
be nice since that's my background but like I said, you race on
what's there. With popularity of the sport
growing steadily the legendary Glen Helen Raceway in Southern
California has said they are in the process of getting permits to
build a Super Moto track with a completion date of 2006. If they
can get it done I'm sure it will have a competitive dirt section
with all of the fixings for fun!
Your author trying to look like a pro. Just
seconds after this photo was taken… lets just say those MX
riding pants were unusable in more ways then one. |
If you're reading this you probably already have a
dirt bike and that's a good thing if you want to give this up and
coming sport a try. To just try it and see if you like it there's
not much that needs to be done to a MX/off road bike:Sportsman Class: Open displacement Single" Must
have 21-inch front wheel and full (stock) suspension travel. Brake
rotors, pads and lines may be upgraded, but stock brake calipers
must be retained. "Open traction" tire choice. DOT tires are
recommended but knobbies are allowed. A catch can with all of the
carburetor vent tubes run inside to prevent spillage on the race
track. Red Bull cans seem to be the popular choice for this. (Check
with your local track - they might have different rules but this is
a start.)
Now that the above requirements have been met you
need somewhere to race and or practice. Here's a list in the U.S to
get you started: Southern California:
http://www.supertt.com/
Arizona: http://www.azmotard.com/
East Coast: http://www.supermotard-usa.com/
Northern California: http://www.supermotousa.com/
Oregon and Washington: http://www.supermotousa.net/ronwest99/supermotousa/html/home.htm
To get somewhat serious in the sport open your
wallet and start forking out greenbacks. Although in some cases you
can make the parts yourself and save a few bucks. At the very least
this is what you'll need to compete in the Beginner - Novice Ranks:
17" front and rear wheels, larger front brake rotor and race
(slick) tires. You can buy a kit with these items for around
$1,500.00. In addition to these modifications it's a good idea to
use sliders on the front and rear axle with handguards. Why you
ask? When you slide out the motorcycle will glide on these three
points to help prevent damage to the rest of the bike. Trust me on
this, it works!
To save time and money I went the used route for
some of my parts. This sort of racing is pretty new so there are
only a few aftermarket companies' out there and they are busy! Most
of the time you'll have to wait up to a few months to get wheels
made, if they even answer the phone or call you back at all. Once
you know what you want e-bay is a good place to find what you're
looking for. In my case I found a set of used wheels and tires with
universal mounting for the rear sprocket and brake disk that
luckily had the 320mm front rotor included for $800.00. If you find
a deal like this you'll scratch your head trying to mount the huge
front rotor to your OEM brake setup. A $90.00 relocation bracket is
required to make it fit unless you have a friend that's a mechanist
make it for you. Sliders can be bought for
around $60.00 or you can make them yourself. Some folks use all
thread and skateboard wheels but in my experience skateboard wheels
only last one slide out before needing to be replaced. I'm
currently working on a better way to construct sliders and
depending on the feedback from this article I might share this idea
with you folks after testing it. Now that
you have the basics out of the way you'll want to 'juice' your
motor to be more competitive. Raw power is a huge part of winning
on the Super Moto track. We had the good folks at the Big Gun
exhaust motor division work some magic on our 2003 WR450F. After
lengthily talks with Mike Young (owner of Big Gun exhaust) we came
to a compromise between a full on race motor and stock. After
telling Mike I didn't want to rebuild the motor every 10 races but
wanted performance with reliability that ran on pump gas he came up
with this combination.
- YZ cam
- Titanium spring top kit
- Port Head
- Radius Seats and Back cut
valves
- Squish Head Chamber
- Set Up
- Wiseco Piston
- Thermal Dynamic Head Dissipating Coating for
head
- YZ/WR EVO 450 Low Boy exhaust
System
ORC Super Moto bike |
After a nice break-in ride it was time to see if
this 'juice' indeed brought the blue WR to life. Most of the Super
Moto bikes you'll see on the track are Honda CRF 450's. With the
Big Gun modifications the WR 450 will out pull a Honda CRF 450 in
the straight-a-ways. Another advantage is the massive mid range
punch now keeps the WR ahead of faster riders in the turns. As they
creep up on the rear wheel just wick the throttle out of the
corners and leave them to play catch up. As for the reliability,
after 5 full track days and 5 races the Big Gun mods are still
problem free. In my opinion one of reasons
Super Moto is gaining such popularity is due to camaraderie. Years
ago Honda had an ad campaign "You meet the nicest people on a
Honda." This statement sums up the folks you'll meet at the Super
Moto track. See ya' at the races,
Mike Hobbs
|
