Friday, February 27, 2009

More Action is Needed!

CLICK HERE to send a letter urging your state officials to approve the petition submitted by the Motorcycle Industry Council and Specialty Vehicle Institute of America to exclude youth OHVs from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) lead content requirements.

Links like this make it quick and easy for you to take action. Huge props to all those out there, trying their best to get this debacle sorted out.

Please! even if your just stopping by, or if you've filled out similar letters, every single bit helps.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Hit the SNOOZE button


The 450 class has officially hit the SNOOZE button. James Stewart, #7, has won 7 of the last 7 rounds. Sounds pretty lucky right? Not so lucky for the fans, who can pretty much expect to see a James Stewart win, no not just a win, a runaway. It's good for James, and he is riding absolutely amazing, so I'm not going to bag on him for riding like the fastest man on the planet. I just wish he would start a lap down or something.


Reed was poised and ready to take it from Stewie in Hot-lanta, but a bad start hindered his run at the #1 spot. He's still winless this season, but he's riding better than ever, and still seems very confident. If it weren't for JBS, he would be the one I'd be complaing about for making the series kind of boring. I do think it would have been a good race, if it weren't for the gate. They had problems with the gate twice saturday night, and I was somewhat expecting them to red-flag the fo fiddy main. Josh Hill jumped the gate, which caused it to flinch, which in turn, caused Reedy and a few others to be quite a bit slower off the line.


Lucky for us fans, there's another class that races on saturday night! The 250 class is all but boring so far, on both coasts. I'll try to recap the race as much as I can:

Stroupe gets the holeshot, Pourcel is second.

Stroupe stalls bike, Poucel takes over lead.

Lemoine goes for 4th, get's a charlie horse or some shit and drops back to 7th.

Wharton slowly creeps up from the back, and gets 4th

Lemoine drops back even more, after Stroupe passes him


You get the picture. A lot happened. But the biggest hightlight, or lowlight depending on how you look at it, was Stroupe stalling after the finish line. I was very excited to see that he had nailed a solid holeshot, and I was equally bummed to see him kicking his Kawi over. That race was his for the taking.


Hopefully everyone watched the race LIVE on SPEED, and I'm just telling you what you already know.


Have you contaced your local senators and representatives about the CPSIA act yet? If you haven't, you should asap. I was at my local race saturday night, and I couldn't help but notice all the little tykes having the time of their lives. Half of the racing consisted of mini classes. Robbing those kids of their right to ride is ridiculous, and un-just.
Thanks for reading folks, and keep it on 2-wheels!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Take Action! It's easy!

Filling out these 2 online letters takes 5 minutes at max, if you type with 2 fingers. Anything that is done to help, will help.

Click Here! ARRA-Access

Click Here when your done! Tom Self

We, as the moto-lovers of America who bleed premix (for those of you out there still rocking some braap braaap) and get a little horny at the sight of a freshly tilled motocross track in the early morning sunrise, with just a hint of mist rising off the top, must do everything we can to combat this bullshit. How are we supposed to have future stars of the sport, if kids like Eli Tomac, Adam Cinciarulo, and local boy Austin Black don't have bikes to ride?!

Even if you got redirected here by accident, because you spelled your favorite pr0n site wrong, fill out the 2 letters. If you don't I will personally see to it that you ride a 1997 CR250 for the rest of your life...

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Headin East

The West is done until Seattle starts up 8 weeks from now. Weimer's gotta be kicking himself a little, but he can still win it no doubt. I don't have a clear favorite as I like both Dungey and Jake a lot. But Weimer has come on so strong this winter, I gotta secretly root for him a little. Not that Mitch Payton needs another number 1 plate... Then again neither does Roger DeCoster!

The one East round in Houston was pretty amazing, as Pourcel rode an unbelievable 20 laps, to let everyone in the U.S. know that he is back, and better than ever. But you can bet that Stroupe, Izzi, and maybe even some surprise winners like Matt Lemoine will stand atop that middle step of the podium during the east stretch. No matter what, we're going to have new champs on each coast when the Vegas shootout rolls around.



Sunday, February 15, 2009

Good News?

Wow. Talk about a week full of bad news. First, the tragic news about Jeremy Lusk that I have already covered. Then the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) that was put forth this week, banning the sale of all ATV's and OHV's to kid's under the age of 13 with a lead content above 600ppm.

This is a true story: I had just been reading about this, and I got a hold of my dad and told him the bad news, and his exact response was "what are they going to be doing, eating them?" I thought wow, what a perfect response. I can understand some concern about matchbox cars that are glowing with radiation, but Motorcycles??? I fail to see how high lead content in brake cables is going to poison the youth riders. If someone has a good explanation for all this, I would love to hear it.

In the process of this stupid "Act" it has all but completely crippled the youth motocross market, and with LL qualifiers fast approaching, now is not the time for politics. Considering Barack Obama keeps telling me that we're in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, how does putting an entire industry out of business, virtually over night, help in any way? I'm not blaming Obama, I'm just saying, he's so sure that this is the next Depression, so why are these goons in DC robbing us like this?

Not to mention after a long week, I'm flat out broke! I'm sure I'm the only one that cares about that though.

The bad news continued in my eyes Saturday night in the marvelous city of San Diego (which, of course in German means a whale's vagina) when James led another Supercross wire to wire. This may be good news to James, his dad, and all the people that are fans of just James Stewart. To the other racers, and the fans of the sport in general, not such good news...
The track was miserably short, and one-lined. I think I could have finished a long movie in the same amount of time from opening ceremonies to the time the checkers waved in the big bike main. And I would have spent less money, and depending on what movie I watched, I probably would have seen more action.

I'm not turning my back on Reed overnight because of one race. Everyone has an off-weekend. I'm hoping that this trend doesn't continue at hot-lanta, especially because the race is live on SPEED, and we don't want to see a snoozer.

There's alot that could go on to make SX better, that wouldn't require much of anything really. Either bring back Semi's or add some type of Consolation race to the night show. That way we would get to see the guys who aren't mentioned as often, and they would get to go out there and show their skills and plug their sponsors. It would help out the guys that keep this sport going, all the while adding much needed RACE time to the night show.

Do I think any of this is going to happen? No.

If anyone has some good news out there, please, fill me in.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

RIP Jeremy Lusk


Most of you know that Jeremy Lusk passed away by now. This is truly horrible news in every single way. I did not know a lot about Jeremy, until the past couple of days, but it sounds like he was a one of a kind guy. One thing about Lusk that was undeniable, were his skills.


I took a letter from Eric Apple that was posted on TWMX.com about Jeremy's final hours. I don't want to contribute to anymore rumors or false stories out there, so here it is right from the source:


"There are so many rumors and questions going around, I think it is time that everyone know the truth. By now the entire action sports community, especially the motocross world, has been hit with the news,that X Games Gold Medalist , Jeremy Lusk, 24, has passed away from traumatic brain injuries incurred while competing in the sport of freestyle motocross that he loved so much. Perhaps the hardest hit, were Jeremy’s families. I say that in the plural sense. Not only is Jeremy survived by his parents and wife, he is survived by another family, that being the Metal Mulisha.
This passed Saturday night, most of our close friends began calling each other, asking if the other had heard about Jeremy’s crash, and if he was OK. Within an hour, I had spoken to some other riders and their wives who were here in San Jose , Costa Rica, where I write this now. Jeremy knocked himself unconscious, and had to be rushed to Calderon Hospital. He underwent emergency brain surgery to relieve massive inter-cranial pressure that had built up from the crash. They were able to remedy the situation for the time being, but apparently, the damage had been done.
Within hours of Jeremy’s emergency surgery, his wife ,Lauren, was by his side. Lauren flew down with her father late Saturday night. Some of us knew that we had to get down here, because Jeremy and Laurenneeded us; they were in trouble. Cameron Steele, Brian Deegan, Ryan Hagy, and myself were on the way Sunday morning. We had no idea what we were getting into, we just knew that our brother was hurt, and it was important for us to be there with him.
Upon landing we went straight to Calderon Hospital. The scene was hard to swallow. It’s tough to see someone you love in that condition. Lauren was waiting for us, ever so strong, next to the love of her life. The wheels in our heads starting turning immediately; we had to make sure Jeremy got the best care possible, or get him back to the U.S. where he could get the best care possible. With the help of countless friends and industry members at home, and especially La Jolla Group CEO Toby Bost, we explored every possibility, including flying in a neurosurgeon to Costa Rica, and transporting Jeremy via a flying intensivecare unit. Jeremy was in a coma, and wasn’t improving at all. We knew we had to act fast.
Jeremy’s parents, were on a plane Monday as we continued frantically to find a solution to the situation Jeremy was in. We met with the head doctor of the Intensive Care Unit, the neurosurgeon , and the director of the entire hospital several times trying to understand the situation and what the best course of action would be.
By Monday afternoon, Jeremy was beginning to deteriorate. His left lung wasn’t working very well, and his blood pressure was falling. These complications were starving his brain of the valuable blood and oxygenit needed to recover from the massive hit he took. The doctors told us there was little hope and that they would be surprised if Jeremy made it through the night. We stayed by Jeremy’s side all evening and afternoon, praying over him, and waiting for any sign of hope.
Jeremy’s parents, along with Lauren’s mother and sister, arrived at the hospital at approximately 11pm. Within seconds of his parents walking into the ICU, alarms were going off on Jeremy’s monitors. His blood pressure was dropping fast , and his body temperature was at 105 degrees and rising. It was the beginning of the end. All of us stood by for the next hour, praying, hugging, crying, and watching as Jeremy Lusk slowly slipped away to Heaven. Being the hard ass that Jeremy is, even in a coma, he had something to prove. And that was that he could hold on, just long enough, for his parents to see him one last time.
This was one of the hardest things I have ever been through in my life. But I hope each of us takes something away from this. For myself, I realized that although Jeremy was very young, he went out on top. He steadily rose through the ranks of the FMX world for the last several years, and achieved some amazing goals in his life that most people could never dream of. He also went out on top in his personal life; he enjoyed an amazing life as a born again Christian with his beautiful wife Lauren.
I also realized that I am part of something that is so special and different. That is the Metal Mulisha. The effort that was put forth by everyone here blew me away. All of us dropped our lives in a heartbeat and gave everything we had over the last 72 hours. I am so proud of the action and work that my friends and colleagues put in. I am truly honored to be considered part of this brotherhood and to be backed up byfriends like this.
I’m honored to have known Jeremy. When I first met him, I knew there was something special about him. I knew he would fit into the Mulisha way before Deegan actually got to know him. Jeremy proved me right. There was something special, he was a champion on and off the bike.
Eric Apple"


RIP JEREMY

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

A sound of Bee's

After watching Houston, it started to seem like James was back, and had the blue bike dialed. After watching SF, I'm sure of it now. Even though the track was pretty ridiculous and one-lined, James was on a tear. MC's track is this weekend, and it should be pretty exciting, considering both A1 and A2 were thrillers.

What the hell is up with J-Law? I'm not gonna be like the rest of the goons on the internet and sit here and act like I know him or anything. I just want to see the kid ride! He's fast and he can make the races interesting. I really don't care what he does with his rental cars, or who he fights when he's plastered, as long as he shows up on Saturday's. I just heard he had got in a fight during the week. If that's the case, then whatever. But since he missed the race on Saturday, it raises some concerns for me...

Let's talk 2-strokes. What better way to help the average joe rider keep riding during slow economic times, than to bring back smokers? And no I'm not talking about your grandpa who has been smoking since the depression, I'm talking about the bikes that go "Braap." They are cheaper to buy, and maintain, and if you blow the top end, you don't have to give up racing for a month to recover from the empty pockets.

To push the idea even further, I've heard a few suggestions that SX should be all 2-strokes, and Outdoors can be all 4-strokes. I see plenty of advantages to this, the first being, who the hell needs a 450 thumper indoors? A 250 smoker would do just fine, and maybe even make the racing a little more exciting, since the track builders would have to switch things up a little to accomodate for the different bikes.

A 450 is more than suitable outdoors on the big hills of glen helen, or the massive step up that is Larocco's leap. Then the factories could market 2 bikes. A motocross bike and a supercross bike. We all know from going to the local tracks that there will be plenty of rich guys out there with both models.

If that idea is too drastic to ever actually become reality, how about just a 125 Junior division? That way young kids who can't afford to pump thousands of dollars into a 250f monster can somehow try to make a career by starting off in the Junior division. Just simply have one moto at each national. The only downside I see to that is that they already do WMA moto's at a lot of the rounds. But I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say we miss that "sound of bees" at the nats.

Either way, something needs to be done to keep the 2-stroke from dying off all together. KTM has gained a lot of respect in my book for keeping a full lineup of 2-smokers going, and even producing a fully electric bike in 2010. That should be interesting.