When we first learned of the Progressive IMS shifting to an outdoor, demo rides format for 2021, we felt it was a grand idea whose time had fully arrived. After nearly 40 years of a winter convention center display format, the Informa Markets team (organizers of IMS) transitioned to an open-air riding experience last year, with stops in cities across America during the summer and fall, and the results were spectacular.
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There are many signs indicating the health of a national racing series, and two if which are (1) its top riders are invited to race in international series, and (2) international riders want to come race in that country’s national series. MotoAmerica has made incredible strides in both of these, with the likes of Garrett Gerloff, Cameron Beaubier, Sean Dylan Kelly, among others making the leap to the world stage in World SBK and MotoGP, and Toni Elias, Loris Baz, and now Danilo Petrucci joining the MotoAmerica paddock. American motorcycle road racing is alive and well again.
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We at Road Dirt have always been fans of Indian Motorcycle’s Scout line since they re-introduced it a few years back. Long, low and lean, we were impressed from our first sampling of one when Placa throttled a Scout Bobber around Los Angeles for a month. Approachable and affordable for a wide range of motorcycle riders, the Indian Scout line has become among the brand’s most popular sellers in recent years. My friend Mike, a veteran motorcycle rider and retired motor police officer, traded his Harley tourer for a Scout and rode it around the south central Texas hill country last fall.
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Suzuki Motor USA and Vance & Hines have a long history together of success in the world of motorcycle drag racing. Back in 1978 with the launch of Suzuki’s GS 1000, the motorcycle company partnered with Vance & Hines to manage their factory drag racing team, with racing programs in several sanctioning bodies and series. The partnership certainly seemed to have been “made in heaven”, as years of trophies and championships across the decades have attested.
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There was a time when Americans dominated the grids and the podiums of world championship motorcycle racing. “King Kenny” Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Wayne Rainey, “Fast Freddie’ Spencer, Kevin Schwantz, Scott Russell, John Kocinski, Kenny Roberts Jr., “Texas Tornado” Colin Edwards, and “Kentucky Kid” Nicky Hayden among others all found glory on the international superbike stage. One wonders how Ben Spies would have fared had he stayed healthy, or what Josh Hayes could have achieved had he made the leap. After many years of drought, with few Americans finding success (the last American to win a superbike world championship was Hayden in 2006), American motorcycle road racing is making a comeback thanks to MotoAmerica and hence, more Americans are jumping to the world championships (WSBK and MotoGP) again.
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Winter time is a great time to conduct much-needed maintenance on your motorcycle. Fluids, filters, brake pads, and tires are all worth evaluating in the months when riding is limited. For me, a new pair of shoes was due on my 2017 Triumph Bonneville Street Cup. So I looked up my friend Phil Waters of Dunlop Motorcycle Tires USA, to get his recommendations on their offerings. Phil suggested the Roadsmart III series, citing its longevity coupled with good grip in an all-weather sport touring tire. While my Bonney isn’t a sport tourer, I use it as such, so thought his recommendation a solid one.
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The 44th Dakar Rally Raid drew to a close on Friday, with England’s Sam Sunderland taking the coveted Motorbike title in dramatic fashion in one of the most hotly contested races in recent memory. Sunderland finished third last year behind (then) Honda riders Kevin Benavides and 2020 champ Ricky Brabec, but snagged the 2022 title from the jaws of defeat in the final day of the grueling cross-Arabian race. The 3 min 27 sec lead that Sunderland finished ahead of Chilean Pablo Quintanilla (Honda) at the finish back in Jeddah was the slimmest margin at the top of the leader board since the 1994 races. Sunderland finished eighth in the final stage, which was enough combined with his accrued points across the total 12-stage race take the Dakar 2022 title. It was a sweet win for the Brit biker, as his last win at Dakar was claimed in 2017, and the win was a first for his new team GASGAS and the KTM Group in the Saudi Arabia-held race.
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A Road Dirt reader messaged me over the weekend, asking, “What bikes do you guys hope to be able to ride this year?” I thought that to be a fine question, so I put it to several the Road Dirt fellas, asking them what bikes they’d really like to sample this year. I got some expected answers from a couple of them, as I know their tastes pretty well, but a few others surprised me. So I thought I’d share their faves with you. The list isn’t exhaustive, as each gave me more than one, but I decided to publish their top hopefuls for 2022, to invite discussion and dialogue among our readers. So when you hit the end of the story, drop a comment below and tell us what bike(s) you hope to throw a leg over this year for a test ride!
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I’ve long ridden with and appreciated Bell helmets. As kids, my brothers and I wore Bell lids while we tore dirt bikes through the woods behind our house in Fayetteville, Georgia and around my cousin Tommy’s house two towns over. Many racers I grew up watching on tv, whether road racing or dirt, wore Bell helmets, with that big white oval, red letter “BELL” logo emblazoned on the forehead above the visor. Bell Helmets meant racing glory to me, and turns out, for good reason.
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