Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2016 i Transworld Motocross

“HUH HUH….COOL! F IRE! F IRE! F IRE! F IRE! ” —BEAV IS AND BUT T-HEAD As the deadline for this issue approached, my staff and I decided to see what unfolded at the Glendale, Arizona, round of the Monster Energy Supercross Series to choose a rider to grace the cover. Sure, Ryan Dungey was the obvious choice having won three 450 main events in a row, but we wanted to see if anything extra cool happened in University of Phoenix Stadium. After Christian Craig earned his first-career 250 Supercross win aboard his GEICO Honda, there was little debate about putting Craig on this month’s cover. Shortly after the checkered flag flew, I sent my friend Christian a text: “Congrats on the win! Let’s shoot a cover next week.” Later…

It’s not every day that you receive an invitation to hop on a full-blown flat track bike to spin laps around a short track, so when the opportunity presented itself to motocross specialists Nick Wey, Ryan Villopoto, and Jeremy McGrath, they opted in without hesitation. Kawasaki’s flat track expert Bryan Smith— a champion in his own right—grew up around everything two wheels and looked up to MC as a kid, even though he wasn’t a motocross racer. To be able to spin laps with “The King” one day seemed almost out of reach, even for a flat track star. That all changed, though, when McGrath began working with Kawasaki as brand ambassador. Smith lined up a ride day of sorts at Perris Raceway’s short track facility and invited out a…

“Slow down to speed up!” “Patience is a virtue!” “Jump for show, corner for dough!” All of these common phrases apply when you find yourself in a race setting, and they couldn’t be any truer than when approaching hard-packed, slick corners. In a sport where loamy soil and perfect ruts are ideal, the reality is that flat and slick corners do exist, and they may be the toughest piece of the puzzle to tackle for even the most talented riders. While attending the Supercross race in San Diego, California, the corner and traction conditions were certainly less than perfect, and the traction-less layout left many on the dirt quicker than they could account for. Just like long, deep ruts, these slick corners can be the Achilles’ heel of any racer…

Rider: Colt Nichols Hometown: Lake Alfred, Florida Years Wrenching: 17 Past Riders: James Stewart, Malcolm Stewart, Kyle Chisholm, Ben Lamay, Alex Martin Scott Rabon is one of the many talented people you can find while walking through the paddock of a Supercross or National race, and the friendly Floridian can typically be spotted under the CycleTrader.com/Rock River Yamaha canopy quietly working away on Colt Nichols’ race machine. Growing up in Lake Alfred, Florida, Scott spent his high school days hanging out with James Stewart Sr., forming a bond through common interests in BMX, motocross, and car audio. Their friendship continued on throughout the years, and Scott eventually found himself working on James Stewart’s practice bikes during the young racer’s KX80 days, officially kicking off his career as a motocross mechanic.…

There aren’t many hills in North Carolina to speak of, but when Justin Brayton rode for the JGR Yamaha squad in 2011, it was then that he got his first taste of mountain biking, and he’s been hooked ever since. With support from Specialized, Brayton has relied heavily on the cardiovascular workouts he gets while pedaling. “There are many different ways to train on a mountain bike,” he says. “From climbing long, steady hills to doing intervals at a high intensity, it can all be accomplished on a mountain bike. Even when I’m home in North Carolina, there are lots of technical trails that you can get a workout on despite the fact that there are no huge mountains.” Through the years, Brayton has competed in all types of MTB…

Price: RT Spring Conversion System $499.99, Fork Gold Valve Kit $169.99, Labor Fork Revalve $100.00, RT Ultra Slick Fork Fluid $19.99, RT Hi-Performance Fork Spring $94.99, Shock Gold Valve Kit $159.99, Labor Shock Revalve $100.00, RT Ultra Slick Shock Fluid $24.99, RT Hi-Performance Shock Spring 6.0 $119.99 On paper, the Showa TAC fork—which comes stock on the current Suzuki RM-Z450, Kawasaki KX450F, and Honda CRF250R—should be a home run. Cheaper to manufacture, significantly lighter, and boasting almost infinite adjustability options without having to pay hundreds of dollars for spring and revalve work, the potential is extensive. However, the fork’s harsh feel, intricate setup requirements, and lackluster performance have left customers confused, discouraged, and unsatisfied. What was considered to be an overwhelmingly favorable design has been polarizing in the industry and…

Determination is one of the most important factors in every racer’s career. You can have nothing, but with all the grit in the world, achieve anything; or you can have everything at your fingertips, but with a lack of resolve, find yourself with nothing. Colt Nichols approached the 2016 season with no ride, but possessed an unwavering determination to go racing. He knew he was fast and he knew he could compete, but who else did? Some of us sure as hell didn’t. In 2015, Nichols’ rookie Supercross season lasted a mere seven rounds before a torn ACL parked the freshman on the sidelines for the remainder of the year. Injuries had haunted the then-20-yearold from the get-go, though, as a preseason setback stole the wind from his sails before…

Enzo Temmerman Age: 9 Hometown: Visalia, CA Sponsors: Mika Metals, DT1 Air Filters, Cheaptearoffs.com, Knobby Shop, Fox Racing, 6D, Dunlop, Sidi, Ohlins, PR2, CTO Goggles Classes Raced: 50cc 7-8, 65cc 7-9 We first saw Enzo Temmerman in action at the 2015 TransWorld Trans-Am National where he absolutely dominated every 50cc moto he lined up for. Enzo rides with an aggressive, smooth style that left quite an impression on us, and it was no surprise to see him easily race to the win at this year’s San Diego KTM Junior SX Challenge. The Temmerman family owns and operates DT1 Air Filters, Mika Metals, and DT1 MX Park in Tulare, one of the nicest facilities in Central California, but Enzo doesn’t spend as much time ripping laps on his home track as…

Success hasn’t come easy for Christian Craig, and it’s the injuries, hardships, and struggle that make his current breakthroughs all the more sweet. Craig’s ascension to the highest level of the sport was delayed by one of the worst injuries every motocross racer fears—a broken back—and the countless nagging injuries that followed caused him to step back and take a very mature and realistic look at his career, as well as his life in general. The son of a factory rider, Craig announced on September 5, 2013, that he was retiring from racing after five seasons as a pro with this Instagram post... “Since my last wrist injury in May, I’ve been contemplating whether or not this is worth it. Motocross is all I’ve known; all I’ve wanted to do…

Hand-built in the Pesaro industrial zone of Italy, TM motorcycles are a rarity in the United States. Hell, realistically they’re a rarity everywhere, as the small factory pumps out only around 1,000 motorcycles per year, a fraction of the numbers produced by the “big five.” Ironically, while the TM factory’s overall number of units produced is low, they offer a crazy range of off-road motorcycles that spans 34 different machines in every discipline from moto to enduro to supermoto to flat track. It’s been a few years since the exotic Italian bikes have even been imported into the States, but Ralf Schmidt and Gravity TM Racing have recently secured rights as the exclusive North American importer, and they hope to make the powder-blue dirt bikes a more common sight in…