#flattrack

For 20 years, American Supercamp has been on a mission to teach the riding techniques flat-track racers use. In the process, they’ve been showing motorcyclists how challenging and fun flat-track racing is. Flat track is much more than just motocross without the jumps. Riders must constantly manage speed through sliding on corner entry and tire grip with throttle control on the exit to get a clean lap.

Sometimes it seems as if the term “history was made” is overused to the point of cliché, but it’s about the only way to describe the competitive rollout of the all-new, purpose-built Indian Scout FTR750 flat-tracker at the series finale of the 2016 AMA Pro Flat Track Championship on September 25, 2016.

Strange how some people who call themselves motorcyclists like some forms of racing and not others. When I was a kid dreaming of my first motorcycle, it was a KX125 or a Hodaka Combat Wombat or something like that, and my heroes were the exotic characters in the magazines who raced them. This was before pavement racing had been invented I think. Now, I have to admit that while I think outdoor MX is pretty entertaining, given my choice between attending a Supercross or roller derby, I’d probably go with the skaters.

It’s always exciting when a new racebike makes its debut, and that’s what’s in the cards this weekend during the Santa Rosa Mile, part of AMA Pro Flat Track Pro GNC championship. More details on Indian’s new machine and the race can be found in the link directly below.

If you’re a motorcyclist, you’ve heard of the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. With Sturgis being one of the largest motorcycle gatherings in the world, people think they know what there is to do when attending the event. However, when questioned, they mostly mention shenanigans that take place on Main Street – activities that are so numerous that they’ve long since spilled onto and taken over nearby Lazelle Street. Or perhaps newbies express their desire to attend the events at the famous campground, concert venue, and all around party central, the Buffalo Chip. While these two locations are essential to the Sturgis experience, so much more is available to riders who attend the rally.

Dubbed The Greatest of All Time, or simply, the GOAT, Valentino Rossi is a living legend in the world of MotoGP. Fans can’t get enough of him, and frankly, neither can we. Thankfully, Rossi is also sponsored by Monster Energy drinks, who have funded the making of a five-part series entitled: Valentino Rossi: The Doctor. In this, the third of five episodes (you can catch episode 1 here, and episode 2 here), the series follows Valentino to his famed training ground: The Ranch. A throwback to the racers of the past, Rossi likes to keep his skills sharp by practicing in the dirt. But he also likes staying close to home when possible. Luckily, Valentino’s father, Graziano Rossi, purchased some land for his son long ago that Valentino turned into his personal playground for he and his friends to practice on. Check out Monster’s description of the video below, then keep scrolling to view the episode.

The AMA Pro Flat Track final was already scheduled for November 20 in Las Vegas, so veteran race promoter Steve McLaughlin had the brilliant idea – as he is wont to do – of promoting the first Superprestigio of the Americas the night after it. The SP’s been a big hit in Spain, so why not? None of your big MotoGP stars could be persuaded, but they did lure Tony Elias and Ant West to the boat, both of whom found themselves hard-pressed up against some surprising home-grown talent. The roadracers actually had their own “All-Stars” races, and the top three were then thrown in against the Flat Track professionals for the Superprestigio Main. Then there was the Hooligan race, sponsored and populated by Roland Sands and associates riding barely modified streetbikes. It was almost more thrilling than the Professionals. Okay not thrilling, more interesting maybe…

You’re all familiar with the limbo, right? You probably know the popular party game where you continuously bend over backwards while walking underneath a bar until the bar becomes so low you can’t do it anymore. Well, it was only a matter of time before the game was attempted on a motorcycle. In fact, we’re a little surprised it has taken this long…

This week’s Church feature centers around two people dear to MO: Pete Brissette and Erik Buell. Long time readers will remember Pete for his various escapades under the MO umbrella and his clever approach to jotting them down with (virtual) pen and paper. Buell, of course, needs no introduction, the American motorcycling pioneer staying steadfast in his quest to deliver an American sportbike. In 2007, however, he introduced what some, including myself, thought would be a fun take on his venerable XB line of Buell motorcycles. With the Buell Lightning Super TT XB12STT, Buell drew inspiration from supermoto and flat track bikes to create what was supposed to be a wicked urban assault vehicle and canyon carver. The bike didn’t quite catch on as well as Buell hoped and only survived for a couple years. Still, Pete was a big fan, and here he reflects on how cool a bike he thought the STT to be.

I find myself sitting up at 2:30 in the morning sipping a cup a coffee and just letting my mind wander. This has become a pretty common occurrence here lately. I lost somebody I was very close to over the holidays, and it really put a damper on the, “Ho, ho, ho” aspect of the holiday season. And so I sip coffee at o’dark-thirty in a quiet house, on a quiet bay, and let my mind wander, looking for good and some sense of order in the dark.

It seems like motorcycle events do best when they climb onto the back of equestrian ones. The horsey set has a lot of nice facilities that don’t require you to drive beyond the Pyramids. Bing Crosby and his buddies started racing ponies at Del Mar, California, in 1937, when Pasadena and Santa Anita grew too hot for their liking. Twenty miles north of San Diego, Del Mar was where the surf really did meet the turf.

It’s Sunday, January 11, and I’m killing time browsing through my social media feeds. For as much grief as social media gets for destroying a person’s ability to be productive, sometimes there are occasions where scrolling through your feed is actually beneficial. This is one of those times.

They’ve been racing motorcycles at the LA County Fairgrounds in Pomona since 1947, but they’d been racing horses even longer; the first county fair, in 1922, included harness racing and even chariot races. With the decision to move the ponies to Los Alamitos this year, it looks as if the 2014 Pomona Half-Mile might be the last one, but for now things are still up in the air. In any event, word got out, and this year’s Grand National Championship season-ender was even more of an event than usual. Relatively anyway. The beauty of flat-track racing is the up-close and personal perspective it allows; this year’s event was a veritable Who’s Who of American motorcycle racing.

By the time you read this, the 2014 Summer X-Games will have been well underway. The Olympics of extreme sports, the X-Games is where you go to see what the young crowd is paying attention to. It’s fitting, then, that Harley-Davidson held its press introduction of the new Street 750 platform in conjunction with the X-Games, as the first all-new platform for The Motor Company in 13 years is aimed directly at the youngsters who might be interested in trading their skateboards for a motorcycle. This is relevant because Harley has initiated a movement to gauge whether there is interest in making flat track racing the next X-Games sport. If so, the Street 750 could be the bike of choice.

The AMA roadracing series has been receiving endless amounts of criticism since the DMG takeover. From poor management, to a drastically reduced 2014 calendar, a giant blemish for the series has been the unsuccessful attempts to secure a television package; first for the combined AMA/World Superbike round at Laguna Seca last year, and now for the entire 2014 season.