Transworld Motocross January 2018

“I’M GOING TO LIVE AND PLAN FOR TOMORROW, YET I AM GOING TO LIVE EVERY DAY LIKE IT IS MY LAST.” —TOM WHITE The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of activity for me. As if putting together the magazine you now hold in your hands and helping our online editor, Michael Antonovich, maintain the website weren’t enough, the end of the calendar year always means one thing for me: our annual feature film. Along with our new video editor, Casey Davis, and our contributing editor, Chase Curtis, I began to collect footage for our 2017 movie—Premix 2—way back in June, but the majority of filming and all of the editing has taken place while we put this issue together. When I started TransWorld Motocross back in 2000, I…

TIM GAJSER Hailing from Ptuj, Slovenia, Tim Gajser is a 21-year-old from a south Central European nation of a mere 2.1 million inhabitants. Although coming from an unlikely home for a Motocross World Champion, the sincere, animated, and totally genuine young man has risen to the top of the sport twice. This month, Gajser traveled to the United States to compete in his first American Supercross event, the Monster Energy Cup in Las Vegas. Unfortunately, his race came to a halt just a few laps into the first of three main events, but Gajser was impressive nonetheless and has his sights set on eventually crossing the Atlantic to race in the States full-time. What do you make of this whole American Supercross spectacle at the Monster Energy Cup? It’s nice.…

One of our favorite things about a day at the races is getting to watch the mini-class racers take to the track. There’s something about the PeeWee divisions that we especially enjoy. Perhaps it’s the innocence of the entry-level classes and the pure interaction between the parents and kids that hasn’t yet been affected by sponsorships, homeschooling, or National Championships. Since retiring from professional racing last year, Nick Wey and his boys have become regular fixtures at the TWMX Race Series. This season, five-year-old Donovan Wey entered his first race and has become hooked. “I started racing because my dad and brother do,” Donovan said. “I love to win and I really like the whoops at Pala Raceway.” “Racing isn’t something that I necessarily wanted the boys to do,” Nick…

THE BIKE Two-stroke fever has swept through the sport in recent years, and our publisher, Don Wilson, knew of an old 2003 Kawasaki KX250 that a friend had stored in the deepest, darkest corner of his garage. A few thousand dollars and some coaxing is all it took to obtain the gem—which came with a paddle tire and a mildly seized engine—and we wasted little time before sending it off to see our friend Jay Clark (Dirt Bike TV on YouTube) for a complete overhaul. Using parts from Wrench Rabbit, Vertex Pistons, Dunlop, Supersprox, and FMF Racing, Clark restored the 15-year-old machine to like-new condition. In fact, the bike enjoys a starring role in Premix 2 in the very capable hands of Axell Hodges! THE MODEL Janey B is a…

In the ’80s and ’90s, it was common for an American rider or two to contest the All Japan National MX Championship full-time. Brought in as “ringers” of sorts, riders such as Steve Martin, Eddie Warren, Ron Tichenor, and Jeff Matiasevich racked up championships in Japan in the twilight of their careers. Not since Kyle Lewis’ title for Suzuki in ’99, however, has a US rider been solicited to spend a season abroad, but it is still fairly common for racers from the AMA or FIM championships to be invited to compete in a single race here and there. This is most often for the debut a new production machine, or to bring some added excitement to the MFJ season finale, which traditionally goes down well after the conclusion of…

Over the last few months, the popularity of the Alta Motors Redshift MX has grown quite a bit. This is especially the case if you spend some time on Instagram, as the potential of the Alta in urban environments has been realized by freeriding specialists. Among them is former factory racer Josh Hill. After retiring from professional racing full-time, Hill has used his natural talents on a dirt bike everywhere from the sand dunes of Glamis to the streets of Los Angeles. When the electric motorcycle first became popular, Hill immediately took notice. In fact, he actually approached the company about riding their motorcycle and help in the development of it. “I just like to go riding where you’re not supposed to. I like to do stuff that could piss…