Monday, August 30, 2010

ATVision - Motosode 14 Loretta Lynn's

It's the last Motosode of the season, and ATVision covered the sole pro moto at Loretta Lynn's this month. Check it out below.

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Get Sponsored! - Tires

Maxxis Accepting SPONSORSHIP APPLICATIONS Beginning Sept. 1

The wait will soon be over: Maxxis’ 2011 sponsorship application period begins September 1, 2010. From that day through November 1, riders, teams and event organizers in bicycle, motorcycle and ATV racing can apply for 2011 sponsorship.
Maxxis welcomes applications from participants at all levels, from amateur to pro. To apply, simply visit the “Get Sponsored” pages in the bicycle, motorcycle or ATV product sections of Maxxis.com. Download, print and complete the form, attach a race resume or event proposal and mail both documents to the specified address, postmarked no later than November 1. All applicants will be notified of sponsorship status via email by December 1, 2010.

Maxxis looks forward to another great year of competition, with racing’s best riders paired with the finest tires on the market. Be sure to visit Maxxis.com September 1 and submit your application ASAP. Good luck!

About Maxxis International
For over 43 years, Maxxis International has delivered high-quality tires to both original equipment and aftermarket customers. Maxxis offers products for automotive, light truck, motorcycle, ATV, bicycle, lawn & garden and industrial use. The company has operations in Asia, Europe and North America, and its products are distributed in approximately 170 countries. For more information, please visit maxxis.com.

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Editorial - Modifying Your ATV


Suspension before Engine

Today's factory ATVs are fast and agile right off the dealer floor. Most sport quads, and even some utility models, have enough speed and power to satisfy the average rider for quite a few riding seasons. However, throttle response can lag on new units because of restrictive exhaust systems, so many riders still find themselves reaching for an aftermarket exhaust and making air filter mods to boost bottom end power.

For some, these mods aren't enough. Many more quad owners still find themselves itching to unbolt their cylinder head, open up those ports and drop in cams and a piston. This is the point where some riders need to step back and ask themselves if those internal engines mods are a necessity. Unless you're competing in the pro or pro-am ranks, they aren't necessary.


Many new quad owners look to open up their top end and drop in engine performance parts as one of their first modifications before adjusting or upgrading their suspension.

I fully support the idea of bolting on an exhaust system, removing the airbox lid and re-jetting or adjusting the fuel map to improve throttle response and give a quad's bottom end a boost. My first quad, a Suzuki LT185, got a Cobra DG full exhaust before anything else. Such mods don't reduce the dependability of today's stock four-stroke engines, unless you don't know what the phrase air filter maintenance means, and these mods in most situations don't create an engine with more power than the rider knows how to handle safely.

Opening up the top end is a different story. Even if an expert engine builder handles your internals, the work immediately reduces the engine's lifespan. Aftermarket cams and pistons are designed for performance, not lifespan. And that increased performance can put a greater strain on internal parts your less likely to upgrade, such as the cam chain, valves and valve springs, timing guides, cranks and gears. These parts can fail under the added torque, heat and strain of an improperly over-juiced engine. 

Often, new quad riders don't take the time to get comfortable with, and find the limits of, their stock suspension.

The factory shocks on today's modern sport quads are very high-tech compared to models from 1980s and 1990s. Rebound, pre-load, and high and low speed compression adjustments come stock on today's high-performance ATV models. Suspension tuning can be tricky at times, but trial and error and a good notebook are much more manageable than cracking open the top end numerous times after improper tuning leads to a failure. And learning the fine art of tuning shocks is an invaluable asset that can improve any quad's handling.


Suspension mods, like the Fox/ATV Four Play front end on the TPR project YFZ450R, will do more to change the feel and performance of your quad's ride than some internal engine work.


And, if you find your shocks bottom frequently and can't handle the obstacles you're throwing at it, then upgrade them! You may not be tapping into the full potential of your stock engine if the suspension is holding your quad back. A new set of quality, tuned shocks can lower lap times and lengthen a day on the trails.

The logic is simple: It's harder for the engines in today's sport quads to out-perform their suspension and create a dangerous situation. But a 480cc big-bore kit in a stock-suspended Yamaha YFZ450 can put a novice rider in a sketchy situation, whether the situation is shooting hills in the dunes, skying on a motocross track or climbing gnarly, tree-root lined hills in the woods.

Following this idium, suspension before engine, allows you to safely find the limits of your quad's chassis. Once you do that, then you can decide if the suspension you're running can handle the kind of speeds you're capable of riding at.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

NEATV MX - Polaris ReCap

The Southside Polaris race team had quite a successful weekend at the 2010 Capeway Rovers in the NEATV-MX series. Thanks to 201 Films for the race recap.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

WORCS - Round 7 ATV

Crash at California 200

CRASH AT DESERT RACE KILLS 8

Associated Press Photo

Law enforcement officers examine the accident sceneSunday where an off-road race truck, background, went outof control and plowed into a crowd of spectators during arace in Lucerne Valley, Calif., Saturday.

By GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press Writer
LUCERNE VALLEY, Calif. — Zachary Freeman loved to fish, dirt bike and camp — but most of all, he loved towatch off-road truck racing in the vast Mojave Desertnortheast of Los Angeles.
That love would cost the 24-year-old pipe welder and seven  other off-road enthusiasts their lives when a truck competing in the annual California 200 careened off thesand track Saturday and into the crowd, instantly killing Freeman and his best friend.
On Sunday, his girlfriend and his stepfather mourned at asimple cross-and-stone memorial set in the thick sand andwaited in the blistering heat for a locksmith to arrive tochange the ignition lock in Freeman’s truck so they couldtake it home. His keys had been lost in the chaos; thecoroner found only a lighter in his pocket.
“I’m just in shock. It’s not real yet, it hasn’t soakedin,” said Randall Peterson, his grieving stepfather.
Freeman’s girlfriend, Nicky Carmikle, sobbed as she kneltdown and placed her boyfriend’s camouflage baseball hat in  the center of the stone circle surrounding the wooden cross. Carmikle recalled how she had stepped away from the race for a few minutes to use the bathroom and returned to find the truck upside down, bodies everywhere and people screaming in panic.
“His shoes are still over there. I can’t even look,” she said, gesturing to a bag full of abandoned clothing, shoes and blankets, some stained with blood.
“It just isn’t fair,it isn’t right.”
Those who witnessed the accident said the crowd pressed close to the track and could almost touch the trucks as they hurtled and bounced over the desert sand.Shortly after the race began, one driver took a jump at high speed, hit his brakes on landing and rolled his truck sideways into spectators, sending bodies flying on a section of track that had no guardrails or anything else tokeep the crowd back. Eight people were killed and 12 were injured.
“You could touch it if you wanted to. It’s part of the excitement,” Carmikle said. “There’s always that risk factor, but you just don’t expect that it will happen to you.”
Cheyenne Frantzich, 15, was watching the race with her sister, who was killed in the crash. “I just thought it would be fun to be close. And it was a big mistake,” Frantzich told CBS’ “Early Show” on Monday.
California Highway Patrol Officer Joaquin Zubieta said Brett M. Sloppy, 28, of San Marcos, was behind the wheel of the truck involved in the crash. Zubieta said alcohol was not a factor in the crash and there were no plans to arrest Sloppy, who the CHP estimates was going 45 to 50 mph at the time of the crash.
Zubieta said state vehicle codes don’t apply because the race was a sanctioned event held with the approval of the federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns the land used for the race.The BLM issued a statement saying safety was theresponsibility of the race organizer, South El Monte-basedMojave Desert Racing, and that the bureau would investigate.
MDR’s permit required racers totravel 15 mph or less when they were within 50 feet of fans, and allowed no more than 300 spectators for the event, the agency said.
BLM spokesman David Briery said the agency would cooperate with the CHP’s investigation.
“We followed all our rules,” he said by phone. “We don’t think we did anything wrong.”
Phone and e-mail messages left for MDR were not immediately returned.Tens of thousands of people were spread out along the 50-mile track, but the site of the crash, a stretch known as the “rockpile,” is one of the most popular areas to gather because the trucks become airborne, witnesses said.
Some said they got within 4 feet of the unmarked track,watching trucks fly over a series of jumps. Several jagged rocks jut from the rutted dirt track at the bottom of the hill.
The driver “hit the rock and just lost control and tumbled,” said Matt March, 24, of Wildomar, who was standing next to the jump.
“Bodies went everywhere.”Derek Cox, a friend of victim Andrew Therrien, told KABC-TVin Los Angeles that Therrien, 22, pushed children out of the way as the truck barreled toward them. He was killed in the accident.
“I owe my son’s life, as well as many others. They were inches away from him and he saved their lives,” Cox said of the Riverside resident. “He’s a hero in my book.”
March said he and other fans lifted the truck, which cameto rest with its oversized wheels pointing toward the sky, and found four people lying unconscious underneath.
It took rescue vehicles and helicopters more than half an hour to reach the remote location, accessible only by a rutted dirt road. Spectators said off-duty police and  firefighters in the crowd joined paramedics hired by  therace organizer to help the injured and place blankets over the dead.
Six people died at the scene and two others died after being taken to a hospital, authorities said. Most of the 12 injured people were airlifted to hospitals. Paramedics brought six people — five adults and a child — to Loma Linda University Medical Center, spokesman HerbertAtienza said Sunday. He had no information on theircondition.
Officials said Sloppy, the driver, wasn’t hurt. It was not clear why he lost control of the truck, a white modified Ford Ranger with “Misery Motorsports” painted on the doors.
A Facebook page that appeared to belong to Sloppy and included a picture of his truck was updated Sunday with a note: “Soo incredibly lost and devistated my thoughts andprayers go out to all the familys and friends involved..Thank you too all my friends for sticking with me even thru these tragic times I love you all.” Nearly 40 friends responded with messages of support bySunday afternoon.
The race is part of a series held in the Mojave Desert’sSoggy Dry Lake Bed, about an hour’s drive from the nearest city, Lucerne Valley.The course winds through empty desert dotted only with rocky outcroppings and desert shrubs.
Fans saidthese races rarely have any kind of safety guards.“That’s desert racing for you,” said fan John Payne, ofAnaheim. “You’re at your own risk out here. You are in themiddle off the desert. People were way too close and theyshould have known. You can’t really hold anyone at fault.It’s just a horrible, horrible accident.”
The BLM is required by Congress to make public lands accessible to reasonable requests, and the area used Saturday is one of the few available to off-road enthusiasts.The CHP does not normally investigate crashes at organized events, but took the lead on this probe because of its scope.Aside from Freeman and Therrien, those killed were BrianWolfin, 27, Anthony Sanchez, 23, and Aaron Farkas, 25, allof Escondido; Danica Frantzich, 20, of Las Vegas; andDustin Malson, 24, of Ventura.
The name of the eighthvictim, a 34-year-old man from Spring Valley, had not been released by Sunday night.
——— Associated Press Writers Andrew Dalton and ChristopherWeber reported from Los Angeles. AP Radio correspondentShirley Smith in Washington contributed to this report.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Creamer wins ATV MX title

SUZUKI'S JOSH CREAMER TAKES HIS FIRST ATV NATIONAL MX TITLE

The No. 9 Suzuki rider claimed his first ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV National Motocross Championship title Sunday at the 2010 series finale at Loretta Lynn's.



The no. 9 will be wearing the no. 1 plate in next year's AMA/ATV pro motocross class.

A line of severe thunderstorms swept through the Midwest Saturday, wreaking havoc on the track. Loretta Lynn's ranch lost power and the motocross track had become a mud pit by the time the storms cleared out late Saturday. The bad weather canceled races and pro practice Saturday and resulted in a one-moto pro format set for Sunday. As a result, the standard points format gave Rockstar Makita Yoshimura Suzuki's Josh Creamer the pro ATV motocross championship with his current points lead over teammate and second in the points chase Dustin Wimmer.

The title comes after a season of dominating racing by Creamer, who was racing a Suzuki LTR450 for the first time in his professional career.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Product Review: PCV

DynoJet Power Commander V

MSRP: $369.95 from DynoJet

WHAT IS IT?  DynoJet's PCV allows ATV, dirt bike and street bike owners whose machine has EFI to adjust and tune their electronic fuel ignition map to accomodate modifications such as an aftermarket exhaust, air intake or internal engine upgrades. The PCV is DynoJet's latest electronic fuel tuner and attaches inline to the machine's EFI system and mounts to the machine.

HITS: We tested the PCV on our project quad Yamaha 2009 YFZ450R. The PCV installed easily, and downloading a modified fuel map to the quad was as simple as downloading fuel maps from PowerCommander.com, plugging the PCV into our laptop via a USB cable and clicking send! The PCV is water resistant, and it offers the user the ability to fine-tune and adjust individual fuel map settings with a laptop. DynoJet has several ready-made fuel maps available for download for a variety of different modifications from basic to full-on race engines with different combinations of aftermarket exhaust brands.

MISSES: Many EFI quad owners, particularly YFZ450R owners, are already scrambling for the latest fuel module. The PCV is a great unit if you have "standard" aftermarket mods, such as a filter, exhaust and piston. All you have to do is download a ready-made fuel map and you're good to go. However, if you have more complex modifications done to your quad and need to fine tune your fuel map, the process is very complex and difficult to learn. If you're not electronics savvy, not just the PCV but any fuel tuner is going to make you long for the days of carburation.

THE VERDICT: DynoJet's PCV installed onto our YFZ450R quickly and easily, and downloading and trying different maps took about 60 seconds each, compared to the time involved with changing pilot jets and needle settings in the past. The PCV is easy to use, but for those who need help tech support is readily available and DynoJet approved tuning centers are located throughout the U.S. For another $259.99, you can buy DynoJet's Auto Tuner and the PCV will make automatic adjustments to your machine as you ride.

RATING: 1..2..3..4..5..6..7..8..9..10

Contact: http://www.powercommander.com/

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Video - ATV Freestyle

BShipmanFilms brings us this video of the 2010 Quatro Jam ATV Freestyle Show, hosted by Bart Engelstad.

Friday, August 6, 2010

For Sale - TPR Project YFZ450R MX Quad

FOR SALE is a 2009 Yamaha YFZ450R ATV. Fully MX race ready!

This quad has never been raced. It has about 3 hours total on the entire build, with the exception of a Power Commander V that was just installed.

This is a National Pro-Am caliber quad. You don't have to do anything to this quad but put your numbers on it! Asking $14,000 or best offer.

Transferrable, full 5-year warrantee. Serious inquiries only, please. Quad is in Ohio. Call 330-569-4324.

Parts list:

ENGINE
JE Piston Pro Series 3-ring
YFZ450 camshaft exhaust
ATP Racing Engines R&R top end including valve adjustment; Port and polish cylinder head; Competition Serdi valve job; Custom dyno map
Motoworks SR4 full exhaust system, stainless head pipe
with aluminum muffler
DynoJet Power Commander V
Hinson Racing clutch pack plate and spring kit
Hinson Racing billet aluminum clutch cover
Twin-Air PowerFlow air filter mounting kit with filter
CV4 blue silicone coolant hoses

SUSPENSION, TIRES AND WHEELS
ATV Four-Play Maximum Ground Clearance (MGC) Gen II Long Travel A-Arms (camber, caster adjustable)
ATV Four-Play Soft Bars Gen II
Fox Shox Float X Evol front shocks
Fox Shox Podium X rear shock
RPM Dominator II rear axle

Maxxis RAZR MX M931 19 x 6-10 front tires
Maxxis RAZR MX M932 18 x 10-9 soft compound rear tires
Douglas Wheel Technologies (DWT) Alumilite Ultimate Champion In A Box Kit
Featuring Rok'n Lock front wheels and G2 rear wheels

BODY PARTS
Tarantula Performance Racing (TPR) Race Safer Pro nerf bar/heel guard/foot peg combination-black powder coat
Tarantula Performance Racing (TPR) MX front bumper
Powdercoated stock rear grab bar
B-Tek Performance SKID EZ single bolt aluminum full chassis skid plate
HMF Exhausts front headlight block off plates


CONTROLS/MISC.
Spider Grips SLT ATV Grips
Cycra ATV Stealth Handshield Racer Pack hand guards
Quad Tech SCS-H1 gripper seat cover
Galfer braided stainless steel extended front brake lines
Galfer braided stainless steel rear brake line
GYTR Tether kill switch w/TPR kill switch bracket

Tons of extra parts include: oil filters, spark plugs, Twin Air Air Filter, Hinson clutch stack, stock seat cover (immaculate), Fox shocks air pumps, etc....

All powder coating (a-arms, body parts, brackets, etc.) done by Capital Powder Coating in Suffield, Oh.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Trailer - The ATV Movie

The ATV Movie is coming out this fall, and I haven't been this excited for a new quad riding video since Huevos II. Check out the trailer below and you'll see what I mean. BShipmanFilms is definitely channeling Christopher Nolan and his "Dark Knight" cinematography.