Motorcycle

Pramac confirms Miller for 2018 MotoGP season

Motorsport.com revealed that Miller, who currently races for Marc VDS Honda, reached an agreement to move across to Pramac during the last round before the summer break at the Sachsenring.

However, the Australian's Suzuka 8 Hours commitments with the works Honda HARC-Pro team made an announcement impossible before the Japanese enduro took place at the end of last month.

Further negotiations then took place last weekend at Brno, where the final details of a direct one-year agreement with Ducati were firmed up.

Miller replaces Scott Redding aboard Pramac's year-old Desmosedici machine, while teammate Danilo Petrucci will ride a latest-spec GP18.

Having lost his seat to Miller, Redding now faces an uncertain MotoGP future, with a move back to Marc VDS thought to be his best option of staying in the grand prix paddock.

He is also believed to have an option join World Superbikes with the privateer Barni Ducati squad, but said last weekend that this was not his preferred option and that staying in MotoGP remains his priority.

Meanwhile, Honda World Superbike rider Stefan Bradl has been linked with a move back to MotoGP with Marc VDS in recent weeks.

2018 MotoGP rider line-up so far: Team Riders Repsol Honda

 Marc Marquez

 Dani Pedrosa

Movistar Yamaha

 Valentino Rossi

 Maverick Vinales

Ducati

 Andrea Dovizioso

 Jorge Lorenzo

Suzuki

 Andrea Iannone

 Alex Rins

Aprilia

 Aleix Espargaro

 Sam Lowes*

KTM

 Pol Espargaro

 Bradley Smith

LCR Honda

 Cal Crutchlow

 Takaaki Nakagami

Marc VDS Honda

 Franco Morbidelli

TBA

Tech 3 Yamaha

 Johann Zarco

 Jonas Folger

Pramac Ducati

 Danilo Petrucci

 Jack Miller

Aspar Ducati

 Alvaro Bautista

TBA

Avintia Ducati

 Tito Rabat

TBA

Sports Car

9 Best Sports Car Leases This August

 By Cherise Threewitt of U.S. News & World Report - Cars | 

If you’ve been thinking about trying out a sports car, but you’re not quite ready to make a long-term commitment, you’re exactly the kind of customer who should consider leasing. A lease lets you drive a new car for a few years and then, when the term is up, you get to decide if you want to keep it.

Sports cars are a particularly popular vehicle to lease because those customers tend to want the latest and greatest. You can find some great sports car leases this August on popular models like the Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang, and BMW 2 Series. Check out the best sports car lease deals we’ve found this month on the following slides.

Manufacturers’ lease specials may vary by region, so check with your local dealership to confirm availability. If you’re interested in purchasing a sports car instead of leasing one, and you’d like to see financing and cash back deals, check out our sports car purchase deals article here.

© Mazda North American Operations

Bike

Bike sharing battles: Startups pioneering a new breed of bike borrowing fight for market share

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — Adding a two-wheeled spin to Silicon Valley’s ongoing ride-sharing wars, competition is heating up between rival startups racing to cash in on the area’s newest transportation trend — stationless bike sharing.

Unlike Ford GoBike, which is installing dozens of bike parking kiosks throughout San Francisco and the South and East Bay, these new programs are untethered to parking stations — just leave the GPS-tracked bike anywhere after your ride, and the next cyclist uses a smartphone app to find it. Proponents say the convenience will transform biking the way Uber and Lyft have transformed driving. But the business model is controversial — some city leaders worry abandoned bikes will block sidewalks and create a nuisance, a concern that’s prompted San Francisco to enact strict new rules and a hefty fee schedule for bike sharing startups.

Two companies, Spin and LimeBike, simultaneously launched dueling fleets of bikes in South San Francisco on Tuesday. Already Mountain View, San Mateo, San Francisco and San Ramon have similar programs, and fleets are rolling out soon in Sacramento and Santa Cruz. Two stationless bike sharing startups also say they’re considering setting up programs in San Jose and Palo Alto.

“We’re at this inflection point,” said Shiloh Ballard, executive director of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, “where there’s a lot of disruption and there’s a lot of actors in the market coming in and saying ‘we want to be first, we want to the be the best product,’ and they’re all fighting. And that’s really exciting to see.”

Bicycles operated by bike sharing startup LimeBike are displayed during a press event to celebrate the company’s launch in South San Francisco on Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017. (Marisa Kendall/Bay Area News Group) (Marisa Kendall/Bay Area News Group)

LimeBike on Tuesday launched a six-month pilot program in South San Francisco, planning to deploy 300 bikes this week. The San Mateo-based startup demonstrated several of its lime-green and yellow bikes for the media and curious passersby Tuesday morning, showing them how to unlock the back wheel by using their smartphone to scan a QR code attached to the bike’s seat. Rides cost $1 for 30 minutes.

Though they tend to charge low user fees, stationless bike sharing startups also keep their own costs down because they don’t have to pay to build docking stations. Social Bicycles, for example, which launched its first pilot programs in 2013, already is making a profit.

As for safety, despite the rear wheel locks, there’s not much to stop a thief from picking up the bikes and walking away with them. Locked LimeBike bicycles sound an alarm when you try to move them, and they use custom parts, giving thieves less of an incentive to steal them and strip them down.

So far it hasn’t been an issue for Spin. The company has counted a few “isolated incidents” of bikes being vandalized in Seattle — where the company has 500 bikes — and no thefts, founder Euwyn Poon said.

Bo Bixler, who lives on a boat in South San Francisco’s Oyster Point Marina, happened to be walking by during the LimeBike demo Tuesday, and said he loves the idea.

“I’m so tired of watching bicycle riders go faster than traffic,” the 61-year-old said. “I want to be one of the bicyclists.”

The stationless bike sharing trend started in China, where bike fleets operated by unicorn companies like Mobike and Ofo have become immensely popular. Ridership in the country more than doubled from February to March of this year, skyrocketing from 10 million users to more than 20 million, according to Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers partner Mary Meeker’s annual Internet Trends report. But the bikes also became an eyesore in some areas — in Shenzhen, users took to dumping discarded bicycles in massive piles, The Guardian reported.

Those images of unseemly heaps of bicycles looming over sidewalks and public squares prompted San Francisco officials to fight back in January when Chinese bike sharing startup Bluegogo attempted to roll out a fleet of stationless bikes without the city’s permission. Bluegogo ultimately pulled the bikes, and now the city requires stationless bike sharing startups to go through a permitting process and pay tens of thousands of dollars in fees before launching. So far Spin, LimeBike and Social Bicycles have submitted applications, but no one has yet been granted a permit, said Ben Jose, spokesman for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.

Bikes from the bikesharing company Spin, wait for customers outside the Chamber of Commerce building in Mountain View, California, on Monday, Aug. 7, 2017. (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group) (Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group)

Also on Tuesday, San Francisco-based Spin deployed 125 bikes in South San Francisco, and plans to scale up to at least 500 after that. The startup has a pilot program in Mountain View, with a fleet of 10 bikes parked in bike racks outside the Chamber of Commerce on Castro Street.

Social Bicycles, which has offices in San Francisco and New York, rolled out a fleet of 50 bikes in San Mateo last year, which it expects to expand to 100 by the end of this year. The startup also operates 100 bikes in the Bishop Ranch office park in San Ramon, and in June rolled out a few dozen electric bikes in San Francisco to test a new program called “Jump” while it waits for official approval from the city to launch on a larger scale.

Massachusetts-based Zagster operates around two-dozen bike sharing programs around the Bay Area at corporate offices, including Salesforce, and college campuses including Santa Clara University. While the startup provides docking stations to its clients, the bikes also have smart locks that let riders lock them to other public bike racks when they’re done.

But a stand-off could be brewing between these startups and competitor Ford GoBike, as the startups try to expand into San Francisco, San Jose, Oakland and other areas where Ford GoBike has contracts with city officials. Ford GoBike, which is currently expanding from 700 bikes to 7,000, has exclusive rights to operate bike sharing programs in public right-of-ways in those cities, said Dani Simons, spokeswoman for Motivate, the company that runs the program.

Jose says the SFMTA, which doles out bike sharing permits in San Francisco, is still working with the City Attorney’s Office to determine what that exclusivity provision means for competing startups.

But that contract is a concern, said LimeBike founder and CEO Toby Sun, and his company is looking for ways to tweak its program so it won’t butt heads with Ford GoBike.

“There’s a certain level of monopoly there,” he said, “driving the innovation away from providing better service to the city.”

Stationless bike sharing in the Bay Area

Spin

Headquarters: San Francisco

Operates in: South San Francisco, Mountain View

Learn more: spin.pm

Social Bicycles

Headquarters: New York

Operates in: San Mateo, San Ramon, San Francisco

Learn more: socialbicycles.com

LimeBike

Headquarters: San Mateo

Operates in: South San Francisco

Learn more: limebike.com

Bike Share Takes a Beating

The Bay Area’s bike share system, which expanded in San Francisco and launched less than a month ago in the East Bay, seems to be off to a rocky start, with many reports on social and traditional media of slashed tires, stolen bikes, and even one bike dumped into Lake Merritt.

It’s important to note that, as much as it’s interesting to see a picture of a stripped-down Ford GoBike hung from a tree, it doesn’t say much about whether the system is working or not–the roll out numbers are still not crunched. No matter what, a certain number of bikes were bound to get stolen and/or damaged.

“The data I have seen is … showing usage at each pod,” wrote Dave Campbell, Advocacy Director of Bike East Bay, in an email to Streetsblog. “I intend to take a closer look at this data, but it is still early.” The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition expressed similar sentiment, that it was just too early to say anything about whether the system is taking off or not.

People familiar with bike-share systems in other cities say it’s not that unusual for vandals to go after the bikes initially–after all, it’s a new target and it can even get your handiwork on TV. “… vandalism and theft of private vehicles and bikes is also a common occurrence around here, sadly, so it should also be no surprise when this extends to the bike share bikes as well,” wrote Robert Prinz, Education Director for Bike East Bay.

The bike vandalism may also be part of a general blow-back effect other cities have seen after launching bike-share systems. Remember the Wall Street Journal‘s Dorothy Rabinowitz’s comment about New York neighborhoods getting “begrimed” by bike shares? If you’re not familiar with that, and some of the other ‘bikelash’ that took place when New York launched its system, check out this hilarious video of unintentional self-parody embedded in a post by Streetsblog NYC.

Meanwhile, bike-share operators are doing their best to clean up the messes and get the bikes back into circulation. “Our team operates 24-hours a day and we are rapidly responding to any reports of vandalism, and making any necessary repairs,” said Dani Simons, a spokesperson for Motivate.

“It’s all speculation at this point, but I see everyday in Oakland, bus shelters smashed, BART cars trashed, litter all over the freeways and car windows broken into. I guess someone hates transportation in general,” wrote Campbell.

Still, the pictures of the abused bikes are oddly amusing. One has to wonder if Bluegogo, the renegade bike share company that was essentially chased out of San Francisco by regulations, is laughing at it all. In addition to the bike hung from a tree and the submarine bike in Lake Merritt, Hoodline has a shot and video of a row of Ford GoBikes with slashed tires. And, in case you think this is particular to the Bay Area’s official bike share system, Streetsblog found this Jump electric bike with both tires popped, on Valencia.

This Jump electric bike also suffered some wrath. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

The reasons for the bike-share vandalism are unclear. Is it an anti-gentrification protest statement? Or generalized bike-lash as they saw in New York City? Or all-too-common vandalism of objects in the public realm? Or multiple reasons?

Is all this abuse beating up bike-share, making it difficult to use? Do you ride Ford GoBikes? Do you find the recent expansions useful? Tell us what you think.

Motorcycle

Cooper Podiums On New GSX-R1000 At Thruxton BSB

Team Suzuki Press Office – August 5.

Richard Cooper took another podium finish for the Bennetts Suzuki team and the new GSX-R1000 at Thruxton, finishing in second place in today’s National Superstock 1000 race at the seventh round of the MCE British Superbike Championship. Cooper qualified on the front row, and led for periods of the race. Sat in third towards the closing stages, he made a move for second, as Danny Buchan began to pull away at the front. He bridged the gap, but towards the end of the race, tyre wear became an issue and he was unable to mount an attack, instead taking second place.

Cooper also made a wildcard appearance in the British Supersport class onboard the team’s GSX-R600. He qualified in ninth place, but a problem on the warm-up lap meant he had to start from pitlane. He recovered to 11th.

In qualifying for tomorrow’s opening British Superbike race, Sylvain Guintoli posted the 14th quickest time on his first ever visit to the super-fast circuit, while Taylor Mackenzie will start from 18th on the grid.

Michael Dunlop, who is racing in the British Superbike Championship for the first time since his Senior TT, Southern 100, and Armoy road race wins, will start from 25th, as he continues preparations for the forthcoming Ulster Grand Prix.

Richard Cooper:

“I’m disappointed really, in the end we ran out of tyre – it’s worn down to the canvas. We all had a few turns at leading, then Danny [Buchan] started to edge away. I passed [Michael] Rutter and caught him back up, but with about five laps to go, every time I shut the throttle, the rear kept coming round on me and I struggled to get into corners. It’s frustrating because I feel we could have won the race, and should have won. The bike’s been working well all weekend, the speed’s been good and I’ve been comfortable. We’ll make some setup changes tomorrow to try and help with tyre life, and hopefully go one better.

“I had good fun on the little 600, too. We qualified well, but had to repair the gear linkage after the warm up lap and start from pitlane. But I enjoyed it.”

Sylvain Guintoli:

“This is my first visit to Thruxton and it’s a very unique track. It’s very fast and you can pick different lines to do the lap times. We are improving all the time and have made steps forward; and I’m learning the track more and more. We have two races tomorrow and tyre life is important here, so hopefully we can have two good races and make more progress.”

Taylor Mackenzie:

“I was a bit annoyed with qualifying; for one reason or another we didn’t get the one lap in we needed in Q2. But I’m feeling good. We’ve made some progress with the electronics and the engine braking. And the bike’s a rocket ship. It’s so fast, and I’m topping the speed traps more often than not. I think our race pace is quite good. We’re going to make a couple more changes for warm-up, do some work on the front to help with corner entry. The rear’s good; we’ve been working on tyres. The plan is to try and be smooth, be patient, save the tyre, and try and make some progress as the race goes on and hopefully come through.”

Steve Hicken – Team Manager:

“It’s been a solid day today. We’re disappointed with the Superstock result as believe we could have won the race and it was important for our championship to try and get the 25 points. We just ran out of tyre in the end, without that I think we could have had a go. But it’s another podium and shows how well the bike is working. In Superbike, we’ve made progress. Sylvain’s seeing the place for the first time, and we’ve taken some steps with Taylor’s electronics and setup. He didn’t get the lap in in qualifying but I think, come the race, we’ll have good pace and can do the full distance. With Michael, this weekend is just more bike time for him and a chance to try some different things before the Ulster Grand Prix.”

Superstock 1000 race result: 1. Danny Buchan, 2. Richard Cooper (Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000), 3. Michael Rutter.

Supersport 600 race result: 1. Keith Farmer, 2. Jack Kennedy, 3. Alastair Seeley, 11. Richard Cooper (Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R600).

Superbike qualifying result: 1. Jake Dixon, 2. Josh Brookes, 3. Peter Hickman, 14. Sylvain Guintoli (Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000), 18. Taylor Mackenzie (Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000), 25. Michael Dunlop (Bennetts Suzuki GSX-R1000).

Yamaha YZF-R1 vs. Aprilia RSV4 RR vs. Suzuki GSX-R1000 vs. Honda CBR1000RR On The Street Review

Cycle World 2017 Superbike Shootout Part 2: Street

Rain is the only thing that could put a damper on a 350-mile day aboard the latest crop of literbikes. And it’s raining. Not hard. But strong enough to have us second-guessing our ride plan. “Maybe if we ignore it and just keep riding, it’ll go away,” I think. It works. Or at least the sky starts to play nice during our run down the 5 freeway then completely clears by the time we finish our (late) breakfast and prepare to head inland. A little suffering for a full afternoon of fun. We can live with that.

Keys get tossed around quickly as we regroup. A few wide-open back roads cutting through Santa Ysabel are all that separate us from the tighter sections of asphalt crisscrossing their way up Palomar Mountain, and already, it’s clear that the winner in this final stretch of straight road will be anyone on the Suzuki GSX-R1000 or Honda CBR1000RR—the two most forgiving bikes of the group.

Cycle World 2017 Superbike Shootout Part 1: Track

The GSX-R is the more accommodating motorcycle—ergonomics-wise. With a neutral seating position and relatively plush seat, it offers some reprieve to wrists and bottom ends, especially when compared to the R1 (which puts more weight on your wrists) and RSV4 (which has a more firm, sharp-edged seat). The problem? Suzuki has ditched the balancer shaft on this latest engine, and as a result, the bike has a propensity to vibrate your extremities at anything higher than 6,000 rpm. This was more noticeable on the track, where you sustain higher revs for longer, but still a frustrating point on the street—a blemish in an otherwise very street-friendly package.

Honda’s CBR1000RR is velvety smooth by comparison. Most of the aggressive on/off throttle transition that we felt at the track is gone due to the less-aggressive nature of our riding here, and while the clip-on angle feels a little more assertive, the seat is plush enough to be considered comfortable. The only real downside is a lack of bottom-end grunt that’s felt when ridden alongside the throaty RSV4 or R1, with Mark Hoyer going on to add that: “The riding position, seat comfort, and engine smoothness made a two-hour freeway drone perfectly tolerable. My all-day sportbike for sure.”

Sean would argue that the RSV4 fits well, while Hoyer countered that the ergonomics are too compact. One thing everyone could agree on is that the Aprilia has the most seamless fueling of the group and is the most emotionally stirring motorcycle here. Similarly, everyone agreed the RSV4’s new dash and switches were a nice touch but took a bit longer to work around. “I could figure the Honda display out on my own, right away, whereas the Aprilia I still can’t quite figure out how to change settings,” Aaron Colton says. We should add that standard cruise control is more of a benefit than you realize, and that suspension is supple enough to make racetrack performance seem manageable on the street.

Rider-aid adjustments on the rest of the bikes—Suzuki and Yamaha—are done easily, with the difference being the Suzuki’s dash appears a touch less glamorous. It fits the bike but not the group. A common theme: You’re almost always wishing for a touch more nicety from the Suzuki.

The CBR’s lightweight handling sets the bike apart when a road turns tight, making it one of the easiest bikes to hustle up a hill. The RSV4 feels heaviest in any part of the corner, while the Suzuki and Yamaha feel slightly heavier through a transition (the Suzuki more so here) and at corner entry (the Yamaha more so there). Fortunately for these two bikes, the chassis are so sure-footed that you can get more aggressive and close the gap to the Honda rather quickly. You will miss having a quickshifter on this Suzuki and be wishing for an auto-blip downshifter on the Yamaha as well. Things to come?

Parked at the top of the hill, attention turns toward the Honda and Yamaha. The R1 is, without doubt, the most capable motorcycle of the group. You simply have to sacrifice a little comfort. The CBR is a gentler animal. It feels and looks more refined than the GSX-R yet tackles public roads with a sense of user-friendliness that the more potent RSV4 and R1 can’t match.

If you’re of the opinion that a little suffering is worth the added fun you'll experience in return, then the Yamaha is absolutely the bike for you. And if not, consider that the Honda is the most polished and formidable streetbike of the group.

More photos from the Superbike Shootout on the Road:

Related:

Smooth street missile

Its headlamp is slightly larger than a man's palm. Its mirrors lack coverage, just like its pillion seat. As for its boxy titanium end can, you will either love it or loathe it.

Given its aggressive riding posture, your lower limbs will ache even if your journey is a short scoot to a nearby cafe.

Despite these flaws, the 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000 ABS could strike a chord with track-day junkies and riders who yearn to reconnect with their youth.

Typically, before any GSX- R1000, often referred to as a Gixxer, goes on a circuit, its standard-issue pipe would be replaced by a sleeker, free-flowing one.

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The mirrors and headlight would be removed before a fibreglass fairing is installed.

Without its number plate holder, the short-tail Grand Prix look is complete.

The new GSX-R1000 retains much of its DNA, having evolved from a long line of superbike inspired machines.

SPECS / SUZUKI GSX-R1000

Price: Around $42,000 with COE

Engine: 999.8cc water-cooled, inline-4

Transmission: Six-speed manual, chain-driven

Power: 199bhp at 13,200rpm

Torque: 117Nm at 10,800rpm

0-100kmh: 3 seconds (estimated)

Top speed: Over 295kmh (estimated)

Fuel consumption: 7 litres/100km (tested)

Agent: Guan Hoe Co

The latest 999.8cc inline-four cylinder Suzuki is more refined with improvements made to its performance, handling and user- friendliness. It also has a new chassis and a new engine that has the most horsepower - about 200bhp - in the Gixxer family.

Worldwide, there are three versions of the six-speed GSX-R1000 - a base model, a circuit-ready version with better suspension and more electronic wizardry (read: more expensive), and a version with anti-lock braking system (ABS), which The Straits Times tested for this review.

The on-the-road price tag for the 203kg GSX-R1000 ABS is about $42,000.

If I have to use one word to describe the Gixxer, it would be smooth. This does not suggest weakness or a lack of excitement.

The fuel-injected GSX-R1000 is powerful. It performs the 0-100kmh dash in about three seconds - quicker than you can say "Is that the Traffic Police I see in the rear view mirror?"

Its smoothness manifests in its predictable and linear power delivery. The bike offers a wide spread of power from low in the rev range to about 14,000rpm, especially in ride Mode A, where throttle response is the most instant compared with its other two modes.

As you accelerate from 4,000rpm, there is a strong surge to its 14,500rpm redline. Its speedometer reads 90kmh when cruising in sixth gear at about 4,000rpm.

The current model is compact. It has a lower fuel tank height and a smaller and lighter engine with a higher compression ratio.

On our street test, the Suzuki's size made it easy to squeeze past stalled traffic. Like most litre-bikes, the Gixxer gets hot when caught in start-stop traffic.

Without making adjustments to its Showa Big Piston Forks and Showa rear shock, the agile Gixxer takes to bends like an eagle swooping down on its prey. The fluid transition from an upright stance to a lean is also stable.

While braking duties are handled by radial-mounted Brembo monobloc callipers up front, front-end braking is less polished than on some of the Suzuki's rivals. More input is required at the lever to stop instantly.

Its selectable traction control processes data from a three-axis Inertial Measurement Unit. It is a mouthful, but the system works, kicking in when I gave the Gixxer too much throttle during two corner exits.

Luckily, my test bike's rear wheel did not protest by spinning out of control. All I noticed was a blinking "TC" light on the LCD instrument panel.

The bike's large dashboard displays traction control settings, gear and shift indicators, and even an average distance per litre of fuel.

At best, I achieved about 14km to the litre. The Gixxer can theoretically cover around 220km between fuel stops with its 16-litre fuel tank.

Road review of the agile 2017 Suzuki GSX-R1000. Go to str.sg/4zDc

Sport

Q&A with Joel Ard - A Pro Level Mechanic

Joel Ard recently returned "home" to MotoSport where he spent several years working in the call center and then on the content side posting videos and lending his expertise to articles related to riding and tech tips. His job this time?

The Ultimate Motocross Bike.

Ard is the featured mechanic upgrading a 2017 Honda CRF450R with all the best parts and accessories MotoSport offers that we're going to give away. He spent nearly a month on the bike while filming in the MotoSport garage. Check it out here.

But we didn't grab Ard simply because he used to work here. This guy is a seasoned mechanic and his resume proves it. At 16, he began work at a local Honda dealer then moved on to other local dirt bike shops before landing at MotoSport Hillsboro then finally MotoSport.com. Ard wrenched for Weston Peick a few years ago before heading to the TLD/GoPro/Red Bull KTM team wrenching for Shane McElrath.

He's a lifelong industry veteran and since we hadn't seen him in a while we caught up with Ard to find out about life on the road and what he's up to now that he's fine-tuned the Ultimate Motocross Bike for one lucky winner. This is what he said:

Age: 32

Years Riding: 27

Age started riding and on what bike: 3 years old on ATC70, 5 years old Suzuki JR50 (first bike)

Racing experience: Raced locally in the Pacific Northwest, Did NMA World Mini Grand Prix once and some west coast Arenacross races. Raced the 125 Dream Race at Thunder Valley in 2017.

Pro mechanic experience: 2014 450 class Supercross season with Weston Peick; 2015-2016 250 class Motocross and Supercross seasons for Shane McElrath on the TLD/GoPro/Red Bull KTM team.

Favorite Track: To ride - Thunder Valley. To visit as a mechanic - Red Buuuuuud!

1. How did you get started riding a dirt bike?

My parents took me to see a monster truck show and at halftime they had a dirt bike race and my dad said I was way more pumped on the dirt bikes than the monster trucks! My dad had ridden his whole life, was a local road racer and just did some woods riding on the dirt side. He had already given me rides on the streetbikes but I was so young obviously I don't remember. When I was 3 he got me an ATC70 to start on my 5th birthday then I got my first bike, a Suzuki JR50, and have been hooked ever since.

2. So you've been in the industry seemingly your whole life. Is it just what you know or have you figured out what you love to do and learned to make a living off it?

It is pretty much all I know, but that is because I do love it and it does allow me to make a living doing what I love. I enjoy all aspects of it, riding, working on bikes, meeting people and the whole vibe that the industry has. It's a pretty small community and honestly where I have met all of my friends, including my girlfriend Jenn.

3. You're a pro level rider but it never materialized into a career. Is it something that didn't work out or was pursuing that life not something on your radar?

Becoming a pro rider on a national level requires a lot of things to click into place. For me everything just didn't. It requires a lot of money and a ton of dedication from many aspects. When you're young, parents need to devote a large amount of time and money and as you get older the amount only grows.

My parents were great and devoted a ton of time to me and my brother but I truthfully had a more diverse childhood where I played basketball, we took the boat to the river, went hiking and camping, I raced BMX and didn't focus on Moto solely. I wasn't the fastest guy out there but on a local level I could hold my own and was pretty good. After getting hurt a couple times and getting a little older I just kind of missed the boat, which was completely fine as it has sent me on a pretty awesome journey in itself.

Ard's riding got him featured in Cycle News

4. You worked for MotoSport for a few years then got a dream job. Tell us how this came about?

While I was working at MotoSport.com there was talk of sponsoring Weston Peick going into the 2014 season. While we were talking to him, he was coming up to ride the Washougal National and the Thursday Night Motocross pro race in 2013. Unfortunately his dad Lou broke his leg really badly not long before that and asked us at MotoSport if there would be anyone who could help them out while they were in town.

One thing led to another and I ended up helping them out for that week. They were happy with the bike work and we got along good even though I was still a little intimidated by Weston at the time (laughs). Later in the year we put together a deal where I became his mechanic and drove his truck along with my girlfriend for the 2014 Supercross season. That's how I got my first pro mechanic gig.

5. The forgotten man. People forget it's hard to go pro but also hard to be a mechanic at the pro level. What does it take to get there?

Being a mechanic at the highest level requires dedication just like riding. You have to be willing to put in long hours, maybe longer than what the riders do or you did as a rider. To be honest I got pretty lucky getting into the sport, I didn't have to work my way up with a lot of privateer efforts or go to school. If you are trying to get in though, working with some local guys that race the Nationals and meeting people in the pits is the easiest way to get in with the big teams.

Every year jobs will come up and if you are a good guy with a good looking bike and communicate well with everyone, there's a much better chance your name will get brought up when the crews are talking about hiring new mechanics to their team.

6. So, you've been at ground level. What stresses you out as a mechanic?

Number one is making sure the bike is 100 percent. As a mechanic you are the last person in line to verify that everything is correct before your rider gets on the bike. You have someone else's life in your hands essentially and that can be stressful. You go over the bike 10 times in your mind while sitting on the gate just because you can't have anything go wrong. Not only can you hurt your rider, but you don't want to let down your team or all the sponsors over something you didn't make sure was correct on the bike.

7. You want your rider to win. But is there a "win" for the mechanic?

Absolutely every mechanic wants their rider to win, but we're in the same boat, there can only be one winner and that's truthfully an exclusive class to get into. As for mechanic wins, if the bike stays together and you gave 100 percent and everything was great on your side, then it's still a win personally because you did the best you can do!

8. What was the most complex issue you resolved?

Fortunately, I never had to deal with a lot of big problems. Tracing electrical bugs was usually about the biggest thing we had to do on the team bikes.

9. You served as a mechanic for several seasons. When the new bike models come out is it your job to more or less strip it down and figure out what's new and different or they pretty much the same with few exceptions?

With Weston, he had been riding Suzuki's previous to me getting there, so his program was in place and they had a pretty dialed in setup. A few small changes and cleaning some things up with wiring and whatnot were about all I did on his bikes.

As for TLD, they had already received the latest generation bike before I got there and with factory support they already had a really good direction so we as the mechanics had input on development of the bike to be race ready.

10. Will you tell us what bugs you as a mechanic?

Sometimes the team headset, when things are not going well, that thing is blowing up and sometimes you just need to turn it down. Sometimes you wish you had a bigger pit board too - still love ya TK!

11. Do you provide advice and/or encouragement or do you get the bike ready and step aside?

If the mechanic and rider don't get along to the point where you can't provide criticism and encouragement, then it's bound to fail. You spend so much time with your rider that you do become close, know when something is bugging them or they are off. You are the last guy at the gate with them helping to get them in the mood they need to be in to succeed.

12. What's life like on the road?

Life on the road for me was probably the worst part. You are gone at least three to four days a week during the season, staying in hotels and eating at restaurants. It's actually a great life for a single, younger guy but it was the toughest part for me.

13. You've now stepped away from life as a pro mechanic. Why is that?

On August 10th 2016 our son Jayden was born. For the time being I wanted to spend as much time with him as I could and being on the road would take me away for quite a few days a week. I didn't want to miss out on a lot of those firsts that he will have over the next couple years. There's no reason I can't go back and I tried to make sure I worked my butt off and left on good terms so I could get back in in the mix in the future.

14. What are you doing now?

Currently, I am starting my own business working on race bikes at the local level called Advanced Racing Development. It is in its infant stages currently but will hopefully grow over the next year and I can become one of the players on the performance side of the industry. I also helped out at Motosport.com with the 2017 Ultimate Motocross Bike build. At this time I am also working For Blowsion helping build and work on some of the nicest high-end jet skis out there!

Written By: AndrewT

Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals at RJ Motosport Park

Friday, August 4, 2017 Deschambault, Quebec | by Fred Wallace  

Interview with Marc Travers

The 2017 Rockstar Energy Drink Motocross Nationals will be staged at RJ Motosport Park in Midhurst August 12th & 13th.

This event will be the series finale for the 25th Anniversary season.

The gates open at 6:30am both days on the weekend, with the action commencing around 9:00am both days.

Saturday ( Aug 12th ) features a full day of amateur racing, while Sunday ( Aug 13th ) belongs to the Pros, with practice and qualifying taking place in the morning, and the first moto beginning shortly after 12:00 noon.

Marc Travers who is a series producer spoke to Fred Wallace from Quebec regarding the upcoming Nationals August 12th & 13th. 

Pourcel vs. Goerke? War on Track, and at Airport?

Photo by: CMRCRacing.com

The 2017 Rockstar Energy Canadian MX National series is heating up in the MX1 class with just one round left to go, and Rockstar Energy / OTSFF / Yamaha�™s Matt Goerke leading Rockstar Energy / Husqvarna’s Christophe Pourcel by 15-points. At Deschambault this last weekend, Honda Canada / GDR / Fox Racing�™s Colton Facciotti dominated the MX1 class with a 1-1, but the on track—and later off track—war between Pourcel and Goerke is making the headlines with the finale a week away.

At Deschambault, Pourcel put a very aggressive last lap pass on Goerke that sent Goerke over the berm and gave Pourcel second overall on the day. We heard yesterday that the two championship combatants had words on the podium, but Pourcel posted on Instagram that it went much further. “What a weekend, went 2-2 for 2 in the mud,” Pourcel said from his @CP_377 Instagram account. “Made a pass on the last lap so we gain 4 points back, 15 points down going into the last race. What do you guys think, worth saying your going to kill (threaten me physically and take me out next weekend) me at the podium and trying to fight me in the airport (in the train in front of tons of people ) or a good clean pass? As a rider, I’ve never ridden with the intention of physically hurting someone else, it’s racing and I needed to make the pass to gain some points back. I was surprised at @mattgoerke reaction because I didn’t feel I did anything wrong, I hope we can have a good fair battle for the last round and let the best man win. He is leading the championship because he has been riding well and it’s respectable.”

Video of the pass in question:Your browser does not support the video tag.

Matt Goerke was obviously alerted to Christophe’s Instagram post, and he dropped a couple comments of his own. “Nice exaggerated story Pinocchio,” commented Matt from his @MattGoerke account. “If I was mad enough to fight you, I would of just punched you in the face. How do you “try” to fight someone? It’s not this serious, we’ve had some good battles. See you this weekend!”

This is getting good. Do not miss the finale this weekend from RJ Motosport Park in Barrie, Ontario, Canada to find out how this story and the MX1 Championship concludes. With a 15-point lead, Goerke should probably avoid the “Crafty Frenchman” at all costs.