November 2019
Racer X Illustrated
November 2019
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Davey Coombs
Reason For Being
By Davey Coombs
Davey Coombs
Reason For Being
By Davey Coombs
E

ight years ago at Loretta Lynn’s I was standing in the grass near the impound area, just off the far outside of the start stretch. I was giving a tour of the event and the race to KTM North America’s Jon-Erik Burleson and John Hinz along with some of the KTM brass who had flown over from Europe to check out the world’s biggest amateur race. They wanted to see for themselves what they were up against as they prepared to retool their amateur support program—at the time, they weren’t in a good place as far as U.S. market share went.

RacerX November 2019 Racers coming around corner
Their motto was “Ready to Race,” and they knew they needed to invest in younger amateur prospects.
KTM had already begun upping the ante at the professional level, first hiring Roger De Coster and Ian Harrison away from Suzuki. Superstar rider Ryan Dungey would follow one year later, soon to be joined by foreign imports Ken Roczen and Marvin Musquin.
David Pingree
Electronic Ping
By David Pingree   Racer X Instagram   @DAVIDPINGREE101
David Pingree
Electronic Ping
By David Pingree   Racer X Instagram   @DAVIDPINGREE101
A

dam Cianciarulo just wrapped up his first professional title, and I haven’t met one person who isn’t happy for him. He’s been nicknamed “Baby Jesus” by those who worked with him as an amateur, to give you some idea of how good he’s always been and the pressure that has been on his shoulders to succeed. Sacrilege aside, Adam was poised to win as he moved up to big bikes and went straight to Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki—the most successful team in the business.

RacerX Adam Cianciarulo
Want to know how to speak with the media? Watch that interview. Or any of his interviews.
Jason Weigandt
Voice Box

By JASON WEIGANDT   Racer X Twitter  @JASONWEIGANDT

Jason Weigandt
Voice Box

By JASON WEIGANDT   Racer X Twitter  @JASONWEIGANDT

W

ith Adam Cianciarulo securing the 250 Class Pro Motocross Championship, it not only puts Mitch Payton’s Monster Energy/Pro Circuit Kawasaki team back on top, but also Kawasaki’s bottom-up system of talent development with Team Green.

The squad is undoubtedly the most consistently successful amateur team in the business, but things have gotten tougher lately. Following the world economic crash, Kawasaki kept the budget flowing at the top end, paying Ryan Villopoto handsomely—and RV, a Team Green product, kept winning Monster Energy Supercross 450SX Championships. But when Villopoto retired, Kawasaki, for the first time, didn’t have a ready replacement in the pipeline. Teams like GEICO Honda and Star Racing Yamaha had made a stronger push for amateurs, signing many of the top prospects. By 2015, Villopoto was off to an unsuccessful foray into MXGP racing, and Kawasaki tried a Davi Millsaps-Wil Hahn team that barely got going. Reid Nordin, the longtime Team Green head who had moved into a senior role with Kawasaki Racing, moved on.

Five days, 36 classes, 108 motos, and all the laps that counted in the 2019 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch
WORDS: DAVEY COOMBS
PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN MUNOZ

AT PRECISELY 7:00 A.M. ON TUESDAY, July 30, 2019, country music icon Loretta Lynn’s autobiographical ballad “Coal Miner’s Daughter” blared across the loudspeakers of her central Tennessee ranch and campground. Below the speakers, people were beginning to gather around the motocross track that sits in the middle of the property, waiting for the first of 108 motos that would make up the 2019 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship.

After some drive-time banter between the announcers, the staging area behind the starting gate began to fill up with the 42 riders who made up the Vet 30+ Sportsman class. They would draw chips from a bucket for gate picks, line up accordingly, and then take their sighting lap. Once they were all back on the starting gate, the motors were shut down, Kevin Cozadd of MXers for Jesus gave a morning prayer, our national anthem was sung, and then the 42 bikes fired back up. At 7:30 a.m. sharp, the starting gate dropped and the races were underway. Two minutes later, #2 Taylor Painter, a Kawasaki KX450 rider from Cleburne, Texas, crossed the finish line to record the first competitive lap of 2019. Over the course of the next five days, 47,047 more laps would follow.

47,048 Laps
Five days, 36 classes, 108 motos, and all the laps that counted in the 2019 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship at Loretta Lynn Ranch
WORDS: DAVEY COOMBS
PHOTOS: CHRISTIAN MUNOZ
AT PRECISELY 7:00 A.M. ON TUESDAY, July 30, 2019, country music icon Loretta Lynn’s autobiographical ballad “Coal Miner’s Daughter” blared across the loudspeakers of her central Tennessee ranch and campground. Below the speakers, people were beginning to gather around the motocross track that sits in the middle of the property, waiting for the first of 108 motos that would make up the 2019 Rocky Mountain ATV/MC AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship.

After some drive-time banter between the announcers, the staging area behind the starting gate began to fill up with the 42 riders who made up the Vet 30+ Sportsman class. They would draw chips from a bucket for gate picks, line up accordingly, and then take their sighting lap. Once they were all back on the starting gate, the motors were shut down, Kevin Cozadd of MXers for Jesus gave a morning prayer, our national anthem was sung, and then the 42 bikes fired back up. At 7:30 a.m. sharp, the starting gate dropped and the races were underway. Two minutes later, #2 Taylor Painter, a Kawasaki KX450 rider from Cleburne, Texas, crossed the finish line to record the first competitive lap of 2019. Over the course of the next five days, 47,047 more laps would follow.

New rules and a loaded lineup made for three simultaneous pro debuts for Factory Connection Honda
WORDS: JASON WEIGANDT
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD & JEFF KARDAS
IT’S SATURDAY MORNING AT THE GEICO Budds Creek National, and the riders are working on punchlines. Team co-owner Jeff Majkrzak comes in to join the fun. With six riders racing for the team, everyone scrambles for jokes about a lack of hiring standards. “Jason, I think we need a few more riders on this team, eh?” Majkrzak says.

“Yeah, we had a contest, and anyone who wins gets to race one of the bikes,” Hunter Lawrence quips.

“Pull a fan out of the ticket line and gave him a bike,” Chase Sexton adds.

Seriously, this team has a lot of riders right now.

Connected Circuit
New rules and a loaded lineup made for three simultaneous pro debuts for Factory Connection Honda
WORDS: JASON WEIGANDT
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD & JEFF KARDAS
IT’S SATURDAY MORNING AT THE GEICO Budds Creek National, and the riders are working on punchlines. Team co-owner Jeff Majkrzak comes in to join the fun. With six riders racing for the team, everyone scrambles for jokes about a lack of hiring standards. “Jason, I think we need a few more riders on this team, eh?” Majkrzak says.

“Yeah, we had a contest, and anyone who wins gets to race one of the bikes,” Hunter Lawrence quips.

“Pull a fan out of the ticket line and gave him a bike,” Chase Sexton adds.

Seriously, this team has a lot of riders right now.

Connected Circuit
Longtime factory rider Michael Byrne is managing his way up in the sport
WORDS: STEVE MATTHES
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD, JEFF KARDAS, & SIMON CUDBY
IT’S NOT EASY BEING A TEAM MANAGER in supercross and motocross. You have to deal with all the logistics of moving semi trucks full of motorcycles and racing equipment all around the country with a dozen or so people all looking to you for leadership. There’s also a rider or three on the team who need to focus on trying to do the best they can on the racetrack, and they’re looking at the manager to help them fulfill their potential.
Bonus Time
Longtime factory rider Michael Byrne is managing his way up in the sport
WORDS: STEVE MATTHES
PHOTOS: RICH SHEPHERD, JEFF KARDAS, & SIMON CUDBY
IT’S NOT EASY BEING A TEAM MANAGER in supercross and motocross. You have to deal with all the logistics of moving semi trucks full of motorcycles and racing equipment all around the country with a dozen or so people all looking to you for leadership. There’s also a rider or three on the team who need to focus on trying to do the best they can on the racetrack, and they’re looking at the manager to help them fulfill their potential.
In 1986, the AMA’s Production Rule brought an end to the era of works bikes in America—custom-made, hand-built machines on which no expense was spared. This is the story of the death of the works bike, in the words of the last men to ride them
WORDS: ERIC JOHNSON
PHOTOS: DAVID DEWHURST
IN 1984, THE AMERICAN Motorcyclist Association dictated that, beginning in 1986, all participants in AMA Pro Motocross and Supercross must compete aboard production-based motorcycles. The shock announcement—maybe the most radical in American motocross history—signaled the end of the works-bike era on the AMA circuit. However, the production rule left a brief window open for the Japanese OEMs to continue to develop their race bikes as much as possible before it went into effect. Some, like Team Honda, took full advantage of the grace period; others had already ceased developing works bikes. This led to an epic battle of the haves and the have-nots. We spoke about this period with some of the top contenders of that time: David Bailey, Broc Glover, Bob Hannah, Rick Johnson, Ron Lechien, Johnny O’Mara, and Jeff Ward.
Bonus Time
In 1986, the AMA’s Production Rule brought an end to the era of works bikes in America—custom-made, hand-built machines on which no expense was spared. This is the story of the death of the works bike, in the words of the last men to ride them
WORDS: ERIC JOHNSON
PHOTOS: DAVID DEWHURST
IN 1984, THE AMERICAN Motorcyclist Association dictated that, beginning in 1986, all participants in AMA Pro Motocross and Supercross must compete aboard production-based motorcycles. The shock announcement—maybe the most radical in American motocross history—signaled the end of the works-bike era on the AMA circuit. However, the production rule left a brief window open for the Japanese OEMs to continue to develop their race bikes as much as possible before it went into effect. Some, like Team Honda, took full advantage of the grace period; others had already ceased developing works bikes. This led to an epic battle of the haves and the have-nots. We spoke about this period with some of the top contenders of that time: David Bailey, Broc Glover, Bob Hannah, Rick Johnson, Ron Lechien, Johnny O’Mara, and Jeff Ward.
Bonus Time
In 1986, the AMA’s Production Rule brought an end to the era of works bikes in America—custom-made, hand-built machines on which no expense was spared. This is the story of the death of the works bike, in the words of the last men to ride them
WORDS: ERIC JOHNSON
PHOTOS: DAVID DEWHURST
IN 1984, THE AMERICAN Motorcyclist Association dictated that, beginning in 1986, all participants in AMA Pro Motocross and Supercross must compete aboard production-based motorcycles. The shock announcement—maybe the most radical in American motocross history—signaled the end of the works-bike era on the AMA circuit. However, the production rule left a brief window open for the Japanese OEMs to continue to develop their race bikes as much as possible before it went into effect. Some, like Team Honda, took full advantage of the grace period; others had already ceased developing works bikes. This led to an epic battle of the haves and the have-nots. We spoke about this period with some of the top contenders of that time: David Bailey, Broc Glover, Bob Hannah, Rick Johnson, Ron Lechien, Johnny O’Mara, and Jeff Ward.
Garage Build 2003 SUZUKIRM125
Garage Build 2003 SUZUKIRM125
Garage Build
2003 SUZUKIRM125
BIKE BUILD BY PRO SX MX TECH // www.prosxmxtech.com
WORDS & PHOTOS: ANDREW FREDRICKSON
An ode to retro nineties moto, this RM125 was set to turn heads wherever we went
PRO SX MX TECH
Bike Build, Cerakote Coatings, Powder Coatings
prosxmxtech.com
PROGEARZ
Transmission Finishing
progearz.com
TAG METALS
T1 Handlebars, Half-Waffle Slim Grips, Grip Accessory Kit
tagmetalsracing.com
PIRELLI
MX 32 Mid-Hard, Front 80/100-21, Rear 110/90-19
pirelli.com
RIDE ENGINEERING
22mm Clamp Set, Rubber Mounted with One-Piece Oversized Bar Mount and Poly Cones, Direct Route Front Brake Line with Mounting Bracket, Perch Mounted Kill Button, Billet Front Brake Caliper
ride-engineering.com
POLISPORT
Suzuki RM Restyle Kit
polisport.com
DECAL WORKS
Full Custom Graphics Kit
decalmx.com
ARC LEVERS
Clutch Perch Assembly, Clutch Lever, Brake Lever
arclevers.com
EBC BRAKES
Brake Pads, Brake Rotors
ebcbrakes.com
TWIN AIR
Air Filter
twinair.com
MOTION PRO
Throttle Tube, Throttle Cable
motionpro.com
BOLT MOTORCYCLE HARDWARE
Suzuki RM Pro Bolt Kit
boltmotorcyclehardware.com
FASTWAY
Evolution Air Footpegs, Fit Kit, Replacement Springs
promotobillet.com
CV4
Carb Vent Hoses, Radiator Hoses, Radiator Cap
cycra.com
WRENCH RABBIT
Full Top and Bottom End Rebuild Kit
wrenchrabbit.com
PIVOT WORKS
Bearing Kits for Wheels, Linkage, Swingarm, Lower and Upper Shock, Steering Stem
www.pivotworks.com
ALL BALLS
Master Cylinder and Brake Caliper Rebuild Kits for Front and Rear, Chain Rollers Upper and Lower, Steering Bearing Kit, Carb Rebuild Kit, Clutch Cable
allballsracing.com
FUEL STAR
Petcock
fuel-star.com
BOYESEN
Rad Valve, Rad Valve Replacement Gaskets, Power Wing, Black Ignition Cover, Ignition Gaskets, Clutch Cover
boyesen.com
FASST COMPANY
Brake Clevis and Spring Kit with Custom Racer X Shield
fasstco.com
HINSON
Clutch Basket, Plates, Springs
hinsonracing.com
D.I.D
520DZ2 Chain, DirtStar STX Rims
didchain.com
JT SPROCKETS
12 Tooth Front, 49 Tooth Rear
jtsprockets.com
PSYCHIC MX
Spoke Kit
psychicmx.com
TM DESIGNWORKS
Slide N Glide Kit
tmdesignworks.com
SCALVINI
Works Exhaust Pipe, Carbon Silencer
motomandistributing.com
SGB RACING
Stage III Anodized Upper Forks, Titanium Nitride Lower Forks, Hard Coated Lugs, Stage III Anodized Shock Body, Titanium Nitride Shock Shaft
sgb-racing.com
RACE TECH
Gold Valves Re-valve and Setup
racetech.com
TUSK OFF-ROAD
Axle Blocks, Rear Brake Line
tuskoffroad.com
ETS RACING FUELS
Racing Fuel Extrablaze 100
ets-racing.com
MATRIX CONCEPTS
A2 Aluminum Stand
matrixracingproducts.com
An ode to retro nineties moto, this RM125 was set to turn heads wherever we went
PRO SX MX TECH
Bike Build, Cerakote Coatings, Powder Coatings
prosxmxtech.com
PROGEARZ
Transmission Finishing
progearz.com
TAG METALS
T1 Handlebars, Half-Waffle Slim Grips, Grip Accessory Kit
tagmetalsracing.com
PIRELLI
MX 32 Mid-Hard, Front 80/100-21, Rear 110/90-19
pirelli.com
RIDE ENGINEERING
22mm Clamp Set, Rubber Mounted with One-Piece Oversized Bar Mount and Poly Cones, Direct Route Front Brake Line with Mounting Bracket, Perch Mounted Kill Button, Billet Front Brake Caliper
ride-engineering.com
POLISPORT
Suzuki RM Restyle Kit
polisport.com
DECAL WORKS
Full Custom Graphics Kit
decalmx.com
ARC LEVERS
Clutch Perch Assembly, Clutch Lever, Brake Lever
arclevers.com
EBC BRAKES
Brake Pads, Brake Rotors
ebcbrakes.com
TWIN AIR
Air Filter
twinair.com
MOTION PRO
Throttle Tube, Throttle Cable
motionpro.com
BOLT MOTORCYCLE HARDWARE
Suzuki RM Pro Bolt Kit
boltmotorcyclehardware.com
FASTWAY
Evolution Air Footpegs, Fit Kit, Replacement Springs
promotobillet.com
CV4
Carb Vent Hoses, Radiator Hoses, Radiator Cap
cycra.com
WRENCH RABBIT
Full Top and Bottom End Rebuild Kit
wrenchrabbit.com
PIVOT WORKS
Bearing Kits for Wheels, Linkage, Swingarm, Lower and Upper Shock, Steering Stem
www.pivotworks.com
TEN MINUTES WITH
BY AARON HANSEL
TEN MINUTES WITH
BY AARON HANSEL
TYLER
BEREMAN
If you haven’t heard the name Tyler Bereman lately, you’re either not into motorcycles or you’ve been trapped under a stack of old carburetors. He recently had a new Red Bull video drop, won silver and gold medals in the QuarterPipe High Air and Best Whip competitions at X Games Minneapolis, and has been competing in plenty of flat track races. This is all even more impressive considering he’s only recently gotten back on the bike following serious foot and knee injuries.
Racer X Illustrated
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