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Cover Photo: Justin Bogle wins the AMA Racing Motocross Horizon Award (Credit: David Smith/RaceDayPix.com)
Insets: Dirt track (Dewanna Comer); vintage and hillclimb (Dan Focht) AMA Racer is published by the American Motorcyclist Association, Copyright (c) 2011. Printed in USA. Send story ideas and photos to submissions@ama-cycle.org. All submitted material becomes property of the AMA. Return of special items may be arranged, but call (614) 856-1900 before submitting.
Podium Finish For World Trophy Team At 2011 ISDE
After riding nearly 1,000 miles of trail over six days and competing against the best off-road motorcycle riders in the world, the U.S. World Trophy Team earned its place on the podium, finishing third at the 2011 International Six Days Enduro in Kotka-Hamina, Finland.
Led by the E2 class-winning effort of Kurt Caselli, the team overcame adverse weather conditions, extremely challenging trail sections and special tests, mechanical gremlins, and the toughest off-road competition in the world in one of the toughest Six Days in recent history.
Caselli’s teammates were Colton Udall, Russell Bobbitt, Destry Abbott, Jimmy Jarrett and Nathan Kanney.
“We came here to make the podium, and I’m real proud of my teammates because they never gave up,” Caselli said after his class-winning ride. “A few of us who have done a few of these agree that this definitely is one of the toughest Six Days we’ve ever ridden, and to be on the podium feels great. There were a few times this week that we weren’t too sure a couple of our riders were going to even make it to the next day, but they all hung in there.”
The U.S. Junior Team finished fourth, missing the ISDE podium by one position. The Junior Team has had good results over the last two years of ISDE
competition, where they’ve scored backto-back third-place finishes in Portugal in 2009 and Mexico in 2010.
This year’s Junior Team was made up of riders who are eligible for the 23-andunder division. It included Ian Blythe, Cody Schafer, Andrew DeLong and Cory Buttrick. Buttrick retired at the end of Day Five with a mechanical failure.
A Day One injury to U.S. Women’s World Cup rider Nicole Bradford, a mechanical failure by Mandi Mastin, and Kerrie Swartz houring out kept the women’s team out of contention for a return trip to the podium, where they landed with a second last year in Mexico.
The top-finishing U.S. three-rider club team was the GoFasters.com team, made up of Greg Gillian, Brent Martell and Max Gertson. The team finished 16th. All five of the U.S. club teams finished 22nd or better out of the 63 teams that started the event.
Another notable accomplishment was U.S. rider Jeff Fredette’s 31st ISDE finish, extending the 53-year-old’s perfect record.
“This was definitely one of the tougher Six Days I’ve ridden,” Fredette said. “It’s up there in the top 5 to 10 percent of those that were extremely difficult. Everyone who finished this one really accomplished something.”—Steve Berkner
Photo Steve Berkner
Pit Board
Justin Bogle: 2011 AMA Racing Motocross Horizon Award Winner
Champions crowned at 2011 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by Amsoil
Tucked away in the hills of west Tennessee is the mecca of American amateur motocross racing: the Loretta Lynn Ranch.
For three decades, the location has hosted the annual AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, and on Aug. 1-6, 35 more titles were added to the record books as racers converged from all over the country to take on the best of the best.
Justin Bogle, GEICO Honda amateur support rider, was one racer who cemented himself among the top tier of America’s motocross talent. Bogle, from Cushing, Okla., won four motos and placed second in two in the 450 A and 250 A classes, claiming the 450 A championship.
That performance earned Bogle the prestigious AMA Racing Motocross Horizon Award, presented annually to the amateur racer who demonstrates he’s best poised for success in the professional ranks.
“If a couple years ago someone told me
I was going to win the Horizon Award, I wouldn’t have believed them,” Bogle says. “Then, I wasn’t doing a whole lot, but this year has been great.”
Bogle says he credits his training program and the support of the GEICO Honda squad with his new success.
“This year I started staying at Reynard Raceway with Robbie Reynard and training there,” he says. “And the whole GEICO Honda team is awesome. Their resources are outstanding. My mechanic, Grant Hutcheson, is great. We’ve worked a lot on setup and it definitely pays off when you come prepared.”
Bogle, who scored second in the 250 A class, says that was his biggest challenge.
“The A classes were stacked this year,” Bogle says. “I struggled a bit with my 250 class starts, and the fast guys were getting great starts.”
Justin Bogle
Bogle is a veteran at Loretta Lynn’s. His first race there was in 2000.
“I think it’s awesome,” he says. “All I ever wanted to do growing up is win there, and last year I got that (in the 250 B Modified and 450 B Modified classes). It’s an amazing feeling to win there. It’s so prestigious and so important. It’s the most fun amateur race there is.”
Bogle says his next step will be the Lucas Oil AMA Pro Motocross National Championship Series.
“I’m heading back to Reynard’s and getting ready for the Nationals,” he says. “I really don’t have any expectations. I want to do well, but it’s a learning experience. I just want to get my feet wet and learn how everything works.”
Riders winning dual championships at the Ranch included Tanner, Ala.’s Clark Stiles, who won the Junior 25 Plus and Vet 35 Plus championships; Port Orange, Fla.’s Adam Cinciarulo, who won the Super Mini 1 and Super Mini 2 No. 1 plates; and San Antonio, Texas’ Gabriel Jairala, who won the 65 (10-11) Stock and 65 (7-11) Modified classes.
Stiles also took home the event’s AMA Racing Vet/Senior Rider of the Year Award, while Cinciarulo earned the AMA Racing Youth Rider of the Year Award.
For more information about the 2011 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship presented by Amsoil, including full results, see MXSports.com.
Photos Bogle: David Smith (RaceDayPix.com): Bromley: Dewana Comer
Daniel Bromley Claims 2011 AMA Racing Dirt Track Horizon Award
Short-Track, TT, Half-Mile And Mile Competition Determines Grand Champions
Success in professional racing not only requires speed and consistency on the track, but maturity and respect off it. At the 2011 AMA Racing Dirt Track Grand Championships, which took place July 25-31 in Du Quoin, Ill., KTM support rider Daniel Bromley displayed all those qualities to earn the 2011 AMA Racing Dirt Track Horizon Award.
At the AMA Racing Dirt Track Grand Championships, Bromley stood out among Horizon Award contenders with five championships in individual disciplines and two overall Grand Championships. Grand Championships reflect performance across all four types of dirt-track competition.
The 16-year-old Bromley won Grand Championships in the 250cc Modified Two-stroke class and in the 250cc DTX class. His individual discipline titles were in 250cc DTX short-track and TT, 250cc Modified Two-stroke shorttrack and TT, and 251cc-500cc DTX TT. Bromley also raced in select 450cc Modified events.
“Ever since I was little, I would watch people I knew win the Horizon Award, and I would dream of winning it myself,” Bromley says. “It is really special to get it. It feels really good to see all of our
hard work pay off.”
Bromley adds that a key to his success has been the support of his family, especially his brother, Joseph.
“Having a teammate is really important because you have someone you can always look to for help and advice,” Bromley says. “You can race together. You can workout together. You can work on the bikes together. Having the support of my family, including my mom and dad, has been so important, and without them I wouldn’t be able to do this.”
Bromley, whose 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame belies the typical dirt-tracker physique, says his initial professional plans include TT and short-track races and select other events on the pro calendar.
Although the AMA Horizon Award is the highest-profile special award at the AMA Racing Dirt Track Grand Championships, additional honors recognize other competitors for standout performances.
The AMA Racing Fast Brain Award, sponsored for the second year running by dirt-track tuning legend and Motorcycle Hall of Famer Bill Werner and AMA Board of Directors Chairman Stan Simpson, recognizes a rider whose speed on the track is matched by stellar grades
in the classroom. The 2011 Fast Brain award was presented to Hunter Goodwin from Keenesburg, Colo.
This year, the AMA Racing Youth Dirt Track Rider of the Year award was given to two riders: Kevin Stollings, who won Grand Championships in 85cc DTX (913) and 85cc Modified (7-11), and Tyler Scott, with titles in 50cc DTX PW Shaft (4-8) and 50cc DTX PW (4-8) classes.
Stollings says his favorite part of the week was “winning the short tracks and having to come back on the half-mile after I placed fourth and seventh on the TT.” Stollings sent out a big thank you to “my mom, my dad, my grandma, my little brother and my friend, Alex.”
Scott, who will be starting kindergarten this year, says he had a lot of fun racing at Du Quoin.
“My favorite thing was racing and it was very fun all week,” he says, adding that those who helped him were “just mom and dad and my dog.”
The Vet/Senior Rider of the year was awarded to Mount Pleasant, Iowa’s Tony Watkins, who won the Vet 30+ class and the Senior 40+ class.
“I came into this week wanting and hoping that I would get this award,” Watkins says. “I’m on a bike every day, and I just enjoy motorcycle racing. I rode when I was younger and turned pro back in ’78. I rode for a year to a-year-and-ahalf and then I quit racing, and didn’t pick up a motorcycle again for about 20 years. I just love this thing.”
For more information on the AMA Racing Dirt Track Grand Championships, see AMARacing.com.
Joseph and Daniel Bromley
VINTAGE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
Third Year Running, Vintage Champions Crowned At Mid-Ohio
Three riders rose to the top of the ranks, earning AMA Racing Vintage Grand Champion honors at the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships July 22-24 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
The annual amateur national championship event ran in conjunction with AMA Vintage Motorcycle Days featuring Kawasaki, Marque of the Year. The three-day event celebrated motorcycling heritage, with proceeds benefitting the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio.
Todd Narduzzi grabbed the 2011 AMA Racing Track Racing Vintage Grand Champion title, Adam Giddings won the 2011 AMA Racing Off-Road Vintage Grand Championship, and Tim Shepard took home the 2011 AMA Racing Senior Off-Road Vintage Grand Champion trophy.
“The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships are growing, and AMA Racing appreciates the increasing support of our members at this exciting event,” says AMA Director of Racing Joe Bromley. “All three of our AMA Racing Vintage Grand Champions earned the respect and recognition of both AMA Racing and their fellow racers this weekend.”
The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships include vintage and post-vintage racing in hare scrambles, motocross, trials, roadracing and dirt track in a range of classes. The AMA Racing Vintage Grand Champions are the riders who emerge with the highest combined score in vintage classes carrying the “A” designation, which represents the fastest riders on the course.
TODD NARDUZZI TAKES TRACKRACING HONOR
Todd Narduzzi, 45, of Wadsworth, Ohio, rode his 1968 Honda 450 to victory in the Grand Prix 500 and Clubman 500 roadracing classes on both Saturday and Sunday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. And in his first dirt-track race of the year, he earned points at the Ashland County Fairgrounds in the 500 Masters class, finishing 10th.
The four wins on the roadrace course combined with the points he gained flat tracking gave Narduzzi the points he needed to earn the prestigious title of AMA Racing Track Racing Vintage Grand Champion.
Todd Narduzzi
Todd Narduzzi
“This certainly means a lot to me,” Narduzzi says. “It’s a true honor. The AMA does a good job at VMD. Someone said it’s like the Superbowl of [vintage racing]. I only hope that I can live up to what this honor means.”
Narduzzi said he attended the AMA Racing Championship Awards Banquet in Las Vegas, Nev., last year and had a great time. He is already planning to attend this year.
“We’re amateurs, but for one day we get to feel like pros,” he says, referring to the awards banquet.
ADAM GIDDINGS GOES FAST ON PENTONS
Battling the teammate who he tied for the honor in 2010, Team Pentovarna rider Adam Giddings of Little Hocking, Ohio, edged out his friend and rival, Cory Buttrick, as the 2011 AMA Racing Off-Road Vintage Grand Champion.
Giddings took an early lead in the race for the Grand Champion trophy when Buttrick hit a rock and bent a shifter while running at the front of the vintage hare scrambles event. Both riders won their motocross races. In the trials competition, Buttrick outperformed Giddings, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the earlier DNF. Giddings won the title by 3 points.
“It’s great to go out there and ride with Cory,” Giddings says. “We have a great time here. Every time I come here, I just try to have fun. We’re not really thinking about the overall title so much. We just go out and try to get good results in each event and see what happens.”
Riders such as 22-year-old Giddings, 20-year-old Buttrick and 25-year-old
Josh Gaitten, who won a championship in post-vintage motocross, represent a younger generation of vintage racers that has brought a fresh interest and a new level of speed to the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships.
“It’s an adaptation to adjust to older bikes—the suspension, the brakes— but it’s not hard, especially for guys who grew up with these motorcycles,” Giddings says. “It’s a good starting point for someone looking to race.”
TIM SHEPARD CLAIMS SENIOR TITLE
The closest race for an AMA Racing Grand Champion trophy was the battle between Tim Shepard and Tim Ferguson for the AMA Racing Senior Off-Road Vintage Grand Championship, a new award started in 2011 that recognizes the fastest off-road racer in senior classes.
Behind in championship points going into the final event, the trials competition, Shepard, from Sugar Grove, Ohio, put in a strong ride to win the title by only 2 points, 46 to Ferguson’s 44.
“Trials is not my forte,” says the 52-year-old Shepard. “This was my second time riding trials, and after the first loop, I was ready to give up.”
He stuck it out, though, and came through with the championship—an honor he initially didn’t plan on chasing.
“I wasn’t even going to attempt to win this,” he says. “I was going to race the hare scrambles and be done, but my friends pushed me through. This is a real honor, and I can’t thank them enough for their help and support this weekend.”
Shepard’s biggest challenge came in
motocross during the first 40-plus moto. He had just passed for the lead on the white flag lap when his drive chain came off. He put it back on, but it immediately jumped off again. When Shepard more closely examined his bike, he noticed that the swingarm was cracked.
“I pushed it across the line for 10th place, and after the moto my mechanic was able to fix it with the swingarm off a second bike,” he says. “I won the second moto, so that helped.”
VINTAGE TITLES WON
Now in its third year, the AMA Racing Vintage Grand Championships offer national recognition for vintage competitors in numerous disciplines. Class national championships were decided in trials, vintage motocross and hare scrambles, post-vintage motocross and hare scrambles, and roadracing.
The event’s dirt-track event is a round of the AMA Racing Vintage Dirt Track National Championship Series.
Results from all classes are at AMARacing.com, while photography from the entire weekend is available at AmericanMotorcyclist.com > Gallery.
Adam Giddings
LUKE PARMETER: 2011 HILLCLIMBER OF THE YEAR
Devil’s Staircase Hosts AMA Racing Hillclimb Grand Championships
The country’s best amateur hillclimbers descended on a lush valley in southwestern Ohio this Aug. 13-14 to determine 2011 AMA Racing National Championships on Oregonia’s famed Devil’s Staircase.
“It was a great time, with more than 400 entries each day of the event,” says AMA Racing Track Racing Manager Ken Saillant. “We had great weather, lots of fun and the Dayton Motorcycle Club, as usual, did a fine job running the event. They kept the hill challenging and well maintained all day.”
In addition to the 20 class championships that were decided at the event, three special awards were presented to standout riders. Luke Cipala, from Ellsworth, Wis., was the Youth Hillclimber of the Year. Zach Diercks, from Hager City, Wis., was the ATV Hillclimber of the Year. Luke Parmeter, from Wisconsin Rapids, Wis., was the Hillclimber of the Year.
“It was an awesome weekend,” says the 22-year-old Parmeter. “It’s going to be a hard one to beat. The hill was really tough compared to last year. The jumps
were pretty big, and you had to be really smooth on the landing. I was able to keep my front end up through the jumps and landings and be smooth on all my rides. That was the key to the hill, just being smooth.”
Parmeter won the 250cc class, FourStroke class and 750cc class. He also competed in the 450cc class, where he got third. Parmeter’s fastest time of the weekend was 9.8840 seconds in the FourStroke class.
“I’ve been trying to win a National my whole life,” says Parmeter, who also competes in motocross and runs the website LPMotocross.com. “Two years ago, I lost by six-hundredth of a second, and last year it was five-hundredth of a second. To finally win it was such a good feeling. I’m looking forward to the banquet in Vegas. I’ve never been, so I think that will be a great time.”
To earn the youth award, Cipala won the 65cc and 85cc Jr. classes. Diercks was the champion in the ATV TwoStroke class.
Full event results are available at DaytonMC.com and AMARacing.com.
Champions To Vegas
Red Rock Resort Will Welcome Back AMA Racers This Nov. 20
On Nov. 20, the AMA Racing Championship Banquet returns to the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas, Nev., as part of the AMA Legends & Champions Weekend.
The weekend kicks off with the 2011 induction ceremony for the Motorcycle Hall of Fame on Friday, Nov. 18. On Saturday, Nov. 19, some of the country’s finest restored and original-condition classic motorcycles will take part in the Dave Mungenast Memorial Motorcycle Hall of Fame Concours d’Elegance.
Nov. 19 also includes the final round of the GEICO/AMA Endurocross National Championship Series, which will be held at the Orleans Arena. Info: AmericanMotorcyclist.com.
Luke Parmeter
Zach Diercks
Luke Cipala
Letter from ATV Racing Roundup
Harold Goodman Leads Extreme Dirt Track Standings
Houser Racing’s Harold Goodman is the man to beat as the AMA Racing ATV Extreme Dirt Track National Championship Series wraps up this season.
Goodman won the Pro and Pro-Am classes Aug. 6 at the Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, Pa.—a feat he accomplished at least twice before. He stands on top of the standings in both classes.
Michael Coburn and Brad Riley sit in second and third, respectively, in the Pro standings, while Chuckie Creech and Riley hold the second and third spots in the Pro-Am class.
Chris Borich Stacks Wins In GNCC,
Hare Scrambles
Rockstar Makita Suzuki’s Chris Borich earned his fifth win of the season at the Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Series event in Millfield, Ohio, July 9-10. Borich now holds a 27-point lead in the XC1 standings over Taylor Kiser, with the next event set for Sept. 10-11 in New Berlin, N.Y.
Borich, of Sunbury, Pa., also holds the top spot in the standings in the AMA Racing ATV Hare Scrambles National Championship Series, followed by Honda-mounted Nathan Thomas of Candor, N.Y., and Honda-mounted Randy Hamilton of Denville, N.J.
The Director’s Desk Finish Strong
I love a lot of things about my job as the AMA’s director of racing. One of those is the amount and variety of racing I get to experience every year.
One weekend, I might be at a local hare scrambles race, another I’m at a round of the AMA Supercross Championship. Then it’s off to an ATV hillclimb before attending the Indy MotoGP. In between, there are National Enduros, roadracing, land-speed trials, and more.
It all starts with ice racing in January and then we go full throttle through the year—right up to the AMA Championship Banquet held this year Nov. 20 at the Red Rock Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nev. From New England to Southern California, the amount of racing that this great country hosts is phenomenal, and I feel privileged to be a part of it.
And, as many of you know, I get to see at least a few of those races wearing a different hat. While the vast majority of my weekends is devoted to my role for the AMA, I’m also a racing dad. My sons—and myself before them—have been racing almost as long as they can walk. In fact, we’re probably among the best customers of some of the many dedicated AMA-chartered clubs and promoters, as we’ve crisscrossed the country, hitting dirt-track and woods races for years.
My personal investment in this sport is at least as deep and lasting as my professional one. That’s why this summer was one of my proudest moments.
As you can read on page 7, at the AMA Racing Dirt Track Grand Championships this summer in Du Quoin, Ill., my second oldest son, Daniel, and my oldest son, Joe, claimed eight AMA Racing National Championships and three AMA Racing Grand Championships between them. In addition, Daniel achieved what all amateur youth dirt trackers dream about. In 2011, Daniel joined some of the sport’s best by winning the AMA Racing Dirt Track Horizon Award.
Of course, it goes without saying, that I was completely removed from the process. In fact, no employees of AMA Racing played a role in the selection this year. As many dads before me, I stood nervously on the sidelines while the numbers were crunched. In the end, I’m told that Daniel’s five national championships and two grand championships sealed the deal. No other racer matched that tally, making Daniel a clear choice for the selection committee.
As you can imagine, we were floored. The amount of time, money, tears and effort we put into racing is enormous. On that hot, humid evening in Illinois’ heartland, AMA Racing paid me back a thousand times over. I can tell you, when Daniel’s name was announced, it was one of the greatest moments of my life.
So, when you’re driving to a motocross race a state away at 4 a.m., putting in a new top end in the pits in a downpour, spooning on tires in the mud with the sun beating down on your back, chasing jetting between heats, watching anxiously for your kid to come around that last corner and head for the checkered flag, know that I’ve been right there with you, feeling what you feel—in other words, loving every minute of it.
See you at the races.
Joe Bromley AMA Director of Racing jbromley@ama-cycle.org
CLASSES, FORMAT FINALIZED FOR AMA RACING ROADRACE GRAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
Event Will Take Over Indiana’s Putnam Park Oct. 8-9
Supplemental rules, the class structure and program format have been finalized for the AMA Racing Roadrace Grand Championships taking place Oct. 8-9 at the Putnam Park Road Course in Greencastle, Ind.
The event will see the country’s fastest amateur roadracers compete for AMA Racing National Championships in a number of skill-, age- and displacement-based classes. Online registration and event details are available now at www.usgpru.net/ama.
“We’re excited to bring AMA Racing national championship competition to the Putnam Park Road Course,” says AMA Track Racing Manager Ken Saillant. “This will be an exciting opportunity for our top racers to test their skills on a new course for this event.”
The AMA has partnered with the U.S. Grand Prix Racers Union (USGPRU) to run the event. USGPRU President Stewart Aitken-Cade said a lot of time and effort went into writing a fair supplemental rules package for the event.
“Working with many top club racers for their input, the USGPRU and AMA have worked hard to define a class structure that will allow for a level playing field conducive to fast, fun and
close racing,” Aitken-Cade says. “The combination of a new rule set and a track that not a lot of racers have run recently will hopefully create a weekend that doesn’t favor any one type of machine or local track specialist.
“Additionally, we’ll bring a little bit of the GP feel that the USGPRU is known for to the weekend with qualifying sessions for every class on Saturday and a full day of premiumlength races on Sunday,” he continues. “To make sure everyone has enough time to get up to speed, we also have arranged for a full practice day on Friday.”
Not only do riders get ample track time and an opportunity to race
against the country’s fastest amateur racers, but the best compete for the AMA Roadracing Horizon Award, which is awarded to the rider showing the most promise for success in the professional ranks. Past winners of the AMA Roadracing Horizon Award have included Hayden Gillim, Miles Thornton, Jason DiSalvo, Ben Spies and Blake Young.
Other awards at the event include the AMA Racing Top Novice Award, the AMA Racing Youth Award—presented to an outstanding racer under the age of 16—and the AMA Racing Vet/Senior Award, presented to a standout rider who’s 30 years old or older.
The Putnam Park Road Course is a 1.78-mile road course with 10 turns. It is located 35 miles west of Indianapolis, about 1.5 miles south of U.S. 40. More information about the track can be found at PutnamPark.com.
WHAT’S ON YOUR CALENDAR?
A Lot Of Racing Left In 2011
Here’s a quick look at premier AMA Racing national and regional championship events still on tap this year.
AMA RACING ATV HARE SCRAMBLES NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Round 5: Oct. 29. Mid America XC, Gosport, Ind. TheMAXC.com.
AMA RACING VINTAGE DIRT TRACK NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
Round 13: Sept. 17. Short Track, Oakland Valley Speedway, Cuddebackville, N.Y. OaklandValleySpeedway.com.
AUTOMATIC ADVANTAGE
Rekluse Core EXP Offers Edge When You Need It Most
The Rekluse Core EXP claims to take over one of the most-challenging aspects of riding a dirtbike—clutch operation— and let you focus on the fun stuff, such as twisting the throttle, railing berms and conquering monster hills.
I wanted to find out just how closely those claims matched reality, so I outfitted my KTM 450XC-W with a Core EXP for the 54th running of southern Ohio’s Little Burr Enduro and its 95.3 ground miles of rooted, rocky, treeinfested nastiness. While we had perfect weather conditions for the Little Burr this year—the Enduro Riders Association crew, which puts on the race, even ordered up the occasional rain shower to cool off the mid-day heat—the classic event still provided ample opportunity to put the Rekluse to the test.
One area where the Core EXP excels is tight trees. The Little Burr presented plenty of trail sections that included miles of bar-banging misery. Typically when I come to these conditions, I do fine—for about a minute. After that, I devolve to my worst, screwing up gear selection, wearing out my clutch hand and getting way too much use out of my handguards. But with the automatic clutch, I was able to glide through the trees for much longer, rather than bounce from trunk to trunk.
The clutch also earns its keep on long, nasty hillclimbs. While here it’s harder to detect how much the clutch is working, my success ascending a number of long, rocky, chewed-up hills leaves no question that it modulates effectively,
feeding the right amount of power to the rear wheel to maintain traction without breaking loose or stalling.
A less tangible benefit of the Core EXP is peace of mind. When running this clutch, you can lock up both brakes without killing the engine. This not only comes into play in the tight stuff, but in fast, flowing sections where you’re either hard on the brakes or hard on the gas. In an enduro, any given corner can hide the unexpected—logs, ruts, rocks, drop-offs, etc. Being able to slam on your brakes with abandon, and quickly resume forward momentum, is not just a speed advantage, but a safety one.
The technology behind the Core EXP is pleasingly elegant. The brains are a cartridge unit about the width of four regular clutch plates.
Inside this piece are several ball-bearingsupported wedges that ride on ramps. As the clutch pack spins, the centrifugal force pushes these wedges outward, spreading apart the cartridge unit. This engages the clutch. When the throttle is chopped, the clutch spins down, the wedges
retract, and the clutch disengages.
In addition to this cartridge unit, the Core EXP kit includes a special clutch hub, steel clutch plates and a pressure plate all designed to increase oil flow, durability and performance.
For purists who may decry losing control over their clutch, no worries. The Core EXP lets you maintain use of your clutch lever. You can still disengage the clutch with the lever at any time, and once the Core EXP has engaged, which is just off idle, slipping or popping the clutch manually works exactly like it does without the Core EXP installed.
If there’s a downside, it’s nothing that isn’t shared by any other bit of technology you add to your motorcycle. It is, of course, another item that can fail. That said, the clutch has been abused extensively by riders who are much more tough on their equipment than you or I in national-level off-road competition, and it has passed decisively. It’s a solid piece of engineering.
Despite the benefits, it’s important to understand that the Core EXP won’t necessarily make you a better rider— compared to when you are riding at your best. What it does is the next best thing. The Core EXP allows you to ride at your peak much longer. It delays fatigue, it masks your mistakes, and when you’ve absolutely hit the wall, it will assume all clutch operation and allow you to idle your left hand. You are free to focus on charging—and staying upright—that much longer.
At $899, the Core EXP isn’t inexpensive. However, this is one of those rare modifications that offers immediate and measurable benefit to almost any rider. Even better: The longer, the nastier the race, the faster you will be riding at the end of that race with the Core EXP than without it.—James Holter More info: Rekluse.com
