Hands On Skills Mean Greater Choice and Freedom to Buy Used

Get out those wrenchesGiven all of our recent talk about hands on skills and the positive reception it has among readers here, think about another real benefit the hands off crowd might not consider, the freedom to buy used. Take a minute to check out the motorcycles for sale. Look through those listings for a few minutes, how many are really out of consideration if you don't do your own work? If you need a knowledgeable mechanic you can trust to fix and maintain your bike and there's none nearby, you might as well write off almost any vintage model. Those good looking BSAs, Nortons, all vintage British bikes really, forget it. Even early models of some current brands would be questionable, along with recent models of bikes not sold anywhere near you. If all you can do is pay for service instead of doing it yourself, you eliminate many potential choices.

In a world where everyone is supposed to be able to buy whatever they want or need, many often don't consider the narrowing of choices a lack of skills creates. Even if you buy it new, if it breaks and no one is around to repair it, you replace it or do without. (Whether it's designed to be repairable is an issue for another day.)

If you want to buy a new Triumph, Moto Guzzi, Ducati or even a BMW, the dealers are spread a lot thinner than they are for Harley and Honda. If you go the distance and buy new, who does the required service if you can't? Another long trip, time and again and pretty quickly you cross those off your list. With this economy, those dealers are getting spread even thinner and the lack of DIY skills makes it tougher for those brands to hang on to territory if everyone needs dealer service for every oil change or valve adjustment.

With the impressive reliability of a lot of current new motorcycles, some non DIY owners might take a chance and buy from a distant dealer anyway, but it doesn't take overwhelming skill and years of experience to get to the level of basic maintenance and for the effort necessary to learn, the reward of so many more potential choices is a strong incentive to get familiar with a tool box.


Source: http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2012/01/10/hands-on-skills-mean-greater-choice-and-freedom-to-buy-used/

John DeSoto Tony DiStefano Jamie Dobb Gert van Doorn

Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series - 2012 Season Opening Press Conference

Angel Stadium of Anaheim

Angel Stadium, Anaheim CA hosted the opening press conference of the most prestigious off-road motorcycle series in the world: the AMA Supercross Series, officially know as the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series, an FIM World Championship.

The 17 events series travels all across the USA, with a stop in Canada as well. The three main championships include: the premiere Supercross class championship, along with the West and East Regional SX championships, which will be decided at the series finale at Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas on the first Saturday of May.

Source: http://www.supercross.com/features/monster-energy-ama-supercross-series-2012-season-opening-press-conference

Thomas Allier HÃ¥kan Andersson Victor Arbekov Les Archer

Testing WP suspension with Herlings & Van Horebeek

herlings VIDEO TAB 105x59 Testing WP suspension with Herlings & Van Horebeek

Red Bull Teka KTM riders Jeffrey Herlings and Jeremy van Horebeek went out testing with WP suspension this week. Motocrossplanet visited them on the track and made a videoclip of both riders. Both riders were enjoying themselves in the deep sand!

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Source: http://moto.mpora.com/news/testing-wp-suspension-herlings-van-horebeek.html

Eric Geboers Sylvain Geboers Broc Glover Rui Goncalves

New role for Stu Flockhart at SACU

Flockhart 105x59 New role for Stu Flockhart at SACU

It is with great pleasure that the Board of Directors, Scottish ACU announce that Stuart Flockhart (3 times Scottish Motocross Champion) has been appointed to the position of ?SACU Motocross Consultant? with immediate effect.

The SACU directors met on 6 th January 2012 to discuss issues surrounding the current state of Scottish Motocross and unanimously agreed that action needed to be taken to allay the concerns of the organisations? affiliated clubs, officials and competitors. However, it was universally acknowledged that there needed to be a fresh approach taken to ensure the ongoing success of the Motocross sporting discipline within the governing bodies remit.

SACU Chairman, Archie Shedden stated: ?We have been made aware that there was an uneasiness evident amongst our motocross clubs most recently and this was brought to a head when I regretfully had to accept the resignations from both the chairpersons of the youth and adult motocross committees, something positive had to be done and quickly. I am delighted to accept the offer of assistance from Stuart Flockhart who will be given a ?blank canvass? which will enable him to take Scottish motocross to a new level in tandem with his colleagues who form the SACU Motocross Committee. Stuart is a well known face in Scottish, British and International Motocross having competed at the highest level in his racing career. We know that he has the ear of riders and club officials and both his findings and recommendations will be taken seriously and will be actioned accordingly.?

Shedden continued: ?As far as we at the Scottish ACU are concerned, it is very much ?business as usual? with all our sporting disciplines, we already have established plans for our affiliated clubs to promote club, national and the Scottish ACU Motocross Championship events in 2012. Nothing has changed there, but over the next few weeks there will be exciting developments for Scottish Motocross to experience going forward, this is indeed a new era of change in Scottish Motocross racing.?

It is anticipated that 32 year old Flockhart will have many good ideas to bring to the Scottish ACU using his skills learned as a top flight competitor and is highly regarding in the British motocross community. This is the first time in the Union ?s 99 year history that a former Scottish Champion, who has also been a world championship points scorer, has been appointed to an individual position with the sport?s Scottish governing body.

The SACU?s counterparts south of the border, the Auto Cycle Union Chairman, Brian Higgins stated that whilst the ACU were concerned about what was happening in Scotland and had been in constant communication with officials at the SACU, he stated that they would assist the SACU any way they could if they were called upon to do so. Higgins, an accomplished former trials; enduro and motocross rider himself had this to say: ? The ACU want to assist as much as possible in resolving this , but probably more importantly a pledge to work with the various clubs and organisers north of the border to resolve the current impasse and ensure that as many of the Scottish Motocross events remain with the SACU. There are always two sides to every story and the grass is not always greener on the other side and I am willing to meet with any club or individual to discuss the problems . Having now learned that Stuart Flockhart has seen fit to offer his services to the SACU, his appointment can only help raise the profile of the Scottish motocross scene, I think valuable lessons have already been learned by our Scottish colleagues and in a short period of time too?.

Plans are already underway to arrange a meeting for SACU affiliated club personnel to express their concerns directly to the SACU and more announcements are expected next week. Stuart Flockhart will be involved in the planning and implementation process and will be present at this club representative meeting.

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Source: http://moto.mpora.com/news/role-stu-flockhart-sacu.html

Jeremy van Horebeek Kent Howerton Neil Hudson Ryan Hughes

Champion Tool Storage Sponsors JDR/ J-Star/KTM

Hood River, OR ? Champion Tool Storage is pleased to announce our partnership with the JDR / J-Star / KTM Team for 2012 as the Official Tool Box Sponsor. Under the guidance of Team Manager and former Supercross Champion Nate Ramsey, the JDR /J-Star / KTM Team will contest the 2012 AMA Supercross Lites and AMA Pro 250cc Motocross National Championship Series aboard KTM 250 SX-F motorcycles.

PJ Larsen, the 2010 Australian Lites Supercross and Australian Pro Lites Motocross Champion, returns to the team for his third season. Joining PJ is Matt Moss, the 2011 Australian Pro Lites Motocross Champion and Malcolm Stewart who will be competing in his second season in the AMA Supercross Lites class after a strong rookie year in 2011.

The JDR / J-Star / KTM Team technicians will each be using our Factory Box 9-drawer toolboxes and custom made pit carts throughout the racing season. The high quality Factory Box line of toolboxes utilize durable graphic skins to give the factory team look and the KTM themed toolbox used by the JDR / J-Star / KTM team is available to everyone. The KTM Factory Box and a wide range of other custom designs can be seen in detail online at www.factorybox.net

We at Champion Tool Storage know that the highest quality toolboxes are demanded by the professional teams and technicians in their pursuit of the AMA Supercross Lites and National Motocross championships and are proud that Team JDR / J-Star / KTM chose Factory Box.

Champion Tool Storage manufactures top quality tool boxes used worldwide by motorsports professionals. Factory Box is Champion?s first entry into the Powersports consumer market, designed to meet the needs of the motorsports enthusiast, and can be found online at (http://www.factorybox.net). Headquartered in Hood River, OR, Champion Tool Storage is a privately held company and can be found online at (http://www.championbuilt.com).

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Source: http://www.racerxonline.com/2012/01/13/champion-tool-storage-sponsors-jdr-j-starktm-

Jeremy van Horebeek Kent Howerton Neil Hudson Ryan Hughes

Monster Energy Supercross Television Package Expands Further with Coverage on FUEL TV

AURORA, Ill. (January 4, 2012) - Feld Motor Sports(r) announced today that FUEL TV, FOX Sports cable and satellite television network that features the exciting world of adrenaline and thrill-seeking sports will telecast each of the 10 SPEED broadcasts of the 2012 Monster Energy AMA Supercross, an FIM World Championship, season as well as the six one-hour Supercross Lites Class races.

During the 2012 Monster Energy Supercross season, FUEL TV will provide coverage on Sunday at 8:00 p.m. ET, Monday at 12:00 a.m. ET and Tuesday at 4:00p.m. ET. FUEL TV will re-air the 10, three-hour live SPEED broadcasts as two-hour highlights shows.

"FUEL TV is excited to partner with Feld Motor Sports this season to bring additional television coverage of Monster Energy Supercross," says George Greenberg, Executive Vice President and General Manager, FUEL TV. "With the success of the popular series 'The Moto: Inside The Outdoors' and strong ratings for the live AMA Outdoor series last summer, we know our loyal moto audience will be excited to watch these amazing races."

Source: http://www.supercross.com/news/monster-energy-supercross-television-package-expands-further-with-coverage-on-fuel-tv

Danny LaPorte Mike LaRocco Jason Lawrence Ron Lechien

Build Your Own Foundry

Cast Metal with your own charcoal foundryThose gorgeous wooden casting patterns Aniket made for the upcoming 1000cc Musket really bring back memories from the past. Way back in time, 1970 to be exact, I spent a few weeks in the summer, working in a brass foundry, that was about all of the time I was willing to devote to getting covered in black sand every day, but it was a fascinating place. You could see the entire process from molten metal to finished brass fittings and jobs like those really grow your understanding of how common objects in this world are manufactured. It's one of the most basic industrial processes.

These days, you don't have to work in a foundry to learn about the process or cast your own metal parts, and I'm not talking about making jewelry or art, either, I mean making truly functional metal castings for use in machinery. There's a fairly active group of folks casting metal as a hobby, and for those of you who truly love machinery, this might be something to add to your skill set.

Back in 1980, David Gingery wrote a now famous series of little books showing you how to build a machine shop, starting by creating a charcoal foundry in Book 1, then using the foundry to cast the pieces necessary to build a metal lathe with a 7 inch swing and 12 inches between centers, then a shaper, a milling machine, a drill press, a dividing head and finally a sheet metal brake. Hand tools and a 3/8" drill are all that's necessary to get things started, the lathe is used to machine parts once it's built, even some of the parts to complete itself. I don't know of many instances of all of the tools in the book series being built by readers, but here's one fellow's experience building the lathe.

A comment in the previous article, points to Kevin Cameron's interesting article about casting in the February Cycle World, noting numerous difficulties encountered while casting engine parts. Mentioned in the article is a book, Castings, by John Campbell, which takes an in depth look at the process, but you don't have to get into that much technical detail to learn enough to try your own hand at it.

Most of you may not have any interest in these early stages of the building process, but judging from comments, it sounds like a few of you already do a bit of metal casting. It's a skill more people should be aware of and something some young guys would probably find challenging and fun, what young boy wouldn't want to see hot molten puddles of metal? Kids really do enjoy learning if you treat then like adults and give them a chance to get involved in something substantial. If you plan to give this a try, make sure you get some young people involved and tell us how it turned out. Who knows, maybe you'll want to follow in Aniket's footsteps, designing and building your own engine, or build one like John Tangerås and his T900. If you do, be sure to write in with lots of photos.

Source: http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2012/01/04/build-your-own-foundry/

Peter Johansson Rick Johnson Gary Jones Mark Jones