2013 MRAN Gamblers Hare Scramble At Crescent Peak

       Last weekend was the first race of the 2013 MRAN Desert Series. This race was put on by the Gamblers and it was held in Crescent Peak California. We had rain on Wednesday and Thursday before the race which made the ground really soft and damp. It sprinkled a little on Friday but not much so the racers were expecting almost perfect conditions for the race. 

           Saturday we loaded up the truck at the shop and rolled out to the race about 6 o’clock. The race was about an hour and a half from the shop and we like to arrive early so we can get a nice spot in the pits. We arrived at the race to find a dense fog and muddy conditions. Exact opposite of what we had expected to be racing in. We knew we were in for a long day when we showed up.

         Once we had figured out where we were going to set up our pit we started the daunting task of carrying everything from the truck to the pit spot that was about 100 yards away. By this time the temperature had drop to 40 degrees and the cold started setting in as your clothes became soaked with the dense fog. It was like a steady mist that never went away.  After we had our pit set up all we could do was wait. The start of the race was postponed for a hour to see if the fog would lift. (the race course went into some higher altitude and the visibility was almost zero.)

Here is the new 2012 YZ250F race bike David is going to be racing at multiple races this year. 

         The course was one 36 mile loop and all the classes except beginner were going to run 2 laps. The bikes were lined up 12 wide in a sand wash with their respective classes. We had 2 bikes with us one Lites Amateur and one over 40 Expert. The Over 40 expert line was the 4th line to leave at the start. The Lites Amateur line was the 11th line to start. All lines were started at 10 second intervals. 

          Here is our over 40 expert rider coming into the pits about 15 overall. We fueled up his KTM 250SX with almost 3 1/2 gallons of fuel. The deep loamy sand washes were sucking a lot of fuel from the tank of this two stroke. Once the gas was in we got him fresh goggles and fresh gloves and sent him out on his second lap. 

        Here is our Lites Amateur bike coming in for his pit stop about 20 or so bikes behind our over 40 expert bike. We fueled him up got him some water and fresh gloves and goggles. After a pretty quick pit stop we sent him out for his second lap.

Over all it was a good day for us. Both our bikes finished 2nd in their respective classes. The course was brutal and the conditions and limited visibility made it much more difficult. We our proud of our guys and are ready to go for the top spot at the next race.

Ride Engineering Triple Clamps

        Ride engineering is a small aftermarket company in California specializing in after market motorcycle parts. Ride is always out testing on the newest motorcycles trying to make them perform better. They offer a variety of parts to make any motorcycle handle better, stop better, and look better. 

          Ride Engineering offers Triple Clamps in various offsets to change the handling characteristics of your motorcycle. They offer triple clamps with a smaller offset from stock to help your bike turn better but it does not increase head shake. Ride Engineering also offers rear lowering links that improve traction and let the shock ride higher in the stroke for a more stable ride. 

Check out the Ride Engineering products we offer by following the link below. They are always adding more products so check back often.

http://www.powersportjunkie.com/Ride-Engineering-Triple-Clamps-s/1499.htm

Best In The Desert Parker 250

This weekend was the first race of the Best In The Desert racing series and it was brutal. I have never been a part of the Best in the Desert series so all of this was new to me. I drove down friday night and I must say Vegas to Parker is the LONGEST 3 hour drive I have ever made in my life. I didn’t think I was ever going to get there. Once I made it I met up with my team and we grabbed a bite to eat and went over our race strategy.

We are building a bike to race this series but we weren’t able to get it done for this race. So we used one of the teammates Honda CRF 250. So our goal was to just finish. We decided that since it has been a while since any of the three riders have raced we were going to switch off at every pit stop. That way we could keep the riders fresh. The first pit was 27 miles from the start line and the second pit was 53 miles from the first pit. The course was very high speed with a lot of whoops and rocks. After we hammered out the pit strategy we all called it an early night and got some sleep since we were going to have to get up at 3:30 the next morning. 

The next morning came and we all met at the truck to go stake out our spot at the main pit area. Once we got out there we loaded up our truck for the alternate pit and sent them on their way so they could pick out a nice spot. After our crew had left it was time to get the bike fired and off to the line. Well that is easier said then done when it is 25 degrees outside. We had jetted the bike a little fat so we could try and keep it cool during the race. Well we didn’t think it was going to be so cold so after about 15 minutes of kicking we got the bike fired and warmed up. Once it was running we all agreed that it was to fat and we went back down on the main jet. 

Once we got the bike ironed out and we were all comfortable with it we loaded it up in the truck to take it to the start line. Once at the starting line the nerves started to build. I was more nervous being on the pit crew then I was actually riding. I snapped a photo of our boy at the start line.

The first leg of the race was good for us. Our boy rode hard but ended up getting lost and losing 7 minutes to the guy behind us. He handed off the bike at the alternate pit and then we started having bike problems. The packing started coming apart and the bike was bogging down as the muffler was becoming clogged. Once the packing came out of the pipe the bike was running like a raped ape. Our second rider brought the bike to the main put where I was at. We fueled up the bike and did a once over. Everything looked good so we sent our boy on his way. He was able to get 5 minutes back on the bike in front of us. When he showed up to the alternate pit the head pipe was GONE. We had a spare but it was at my pit which was about an hour from the alternate pit. This pretty much ruined our chance for a good finishing spot. 

We just kept it steady the rest of the race and were able to bring it to the finish line. Here is a picture at the finish.

2013 Race Season Prep

We are honored to be involved in this. Tyler was a good man that was caught up in a horrible situation. If we can help just one person our mission is complete. It is what Tyler would do.

This was taken from his cousins face book page: We will keep a build progress going on here and on our blog.

Today marks the beginning of race prep for the 2013 season. In honor of Ty we have teamed up with Powersport Junkie to race the 2013 Vegas to Reno race. It is the longest point to point off road race in the US. It is also rated as one of the toughest off road races. We will post pics of the bike as it progresses. The efforts are also focused on promoting safe driving and providing information on outlets that allow you to safely exercise your desire to go fast. Drive Safe!

GoPro Hero 3 Just Dropped

             We all knew it was coming. We knew Go Pro was going to drop a new camera we just didn’t know when. Well today is the day. The new Go Pro dropped this morning and it has a few changes from the HD2. Go Pro is also offering 3 different models this year to fit everybody’s budget. 

            The first model is going to be the white camera, it is going to be the entry level model. The price on the white one is 199.00 it will be carried in the chain stores like Walmart and Target. The next model will be the Motorsport Edition camera which will be the silver color that we are all used to. The silver camera will retail for 299.00 and will include built in WIFI and a few other features that we will discuss later. The final model will be the Black model. This model retails for 399.00 and is the limited movie edition.

Here are the features of the Go Pro HD 3 Motorsports camera as listed on Go Pros Website.

Key Benefits

Wearable, mountable design

Immersive, wide angle capture of your favorite activities

Professional quality HD video & 11MP photos

Built-in Wi-Fi enables remote control via included Wi-Fi Remote or live video preview and remote control on smartphones and tablets running the free GoPro App.

Rugged housing is waterproof to 197’/60M and captures sharp images above and below water

Compatible with all GoPro mounts for attaching to gear, body, helmets, vehicles and more

Compatible with LCD Touch BacPac™ and second generation Battery BacPac™

Backwards compatible with older generation BacPacs™

New advanced camera settings: Looping video, Continuous Photo, Manual White Balance control, Protune Mode, allows to shoot photos while recording video and more.

Key Specs

Professional 4k Cinema 12 fps / 1080p 30 fps / 960p 48 fps / 720p 60 fps and more video capture

11MP photo capture with 10 fps burst

Wi-Fi Built-In

Wi-Fi Remote Compatible (sold separately)

GoPro App Compatible (FREE)

197’/ 60m Waterproof Housing*

Assorted mounts and hardware included for attaching to helmets, gear and more

As you can see in the above picture the camera is noticeably smaller than the previous HD2. The camera battery has also improved with up to 7 hours of battery life. The silver has a resolution and frame rate of 1080P and 30 FPS. Also it sports a 11 MP image sensor. 

Here you can see that the outside case has changed and the side view you can really tell it is slimmer. The new lens cover hopefully will eliminate distortion in the video. Overall I think this camera is going to be a huge improvement over an already awesome camera.

PreOrder yours here.

http://www.powersportjunkie.com/GoPro-Hero-HD3-Motorsports-Camera-p/gopro-hd-hero-3.htm

EVS REVOLUTION 4 Roost Guard

          Here is the new EVS Revolution 4 Roost Guard. This roost guard has cutouts in the front for venting. It also has hard plastic protection for the sternum area. It has foam padding on the sides for rib protection. This roost guard has an open back to keep the rider cool one down side to this roost guard is it offers little to no protection on the back. But it is good for someone that wants a little bit of protection with not a lot of bulk.

Here is the back of the Roost

Order Yours Here: http://www.shoppsj.com/EVS-EVS-REVOLUTION-4-detail.htm?productId=17882278&ez=Evs%20Chest%20Protectors&pos=20

Cactus In Finger

Went for a ride this weekend and ended up with a cactus needle stuck in my pinky finger. Here are the photos to show proof. 

New Website up and running

Check out the new website we just launched. Browse by machine, and more parts and accessories to choose from. We have been hard at work trying to make your online shopping experience the best it can be. Check it out and let us know what you think.

http://www.shoppsj.com/index.htm

KTM 300 Acerbis Gas Tank

             When we got our project bike it had a natural color tank on it, that we weren’t to fond of. So we went with this Black 3 gallon Acerbis tank for the 2011-2012 300 XC. Should hold plenty of fuel for us on our desert rides, and it will look really good with the Orange and Black color scheme. I will post more updates when the parts arrive.

2011 KTM 300XC Build Up Continued

We also sent the forks to Factory Connection to have them redone. They have a couple tricks up their sleeves for the WP forks. One is a special Low Speed Valve kit that they developed with the help of the KTM Factory offroad team. While they where in there they did a full service on the forks and replaced the springs according to our weight. Factory Connection also added their stickers on the fork that doubles as fork protectors.