Throttle Blog

Just wanted to pass this along. It’s an article I wrote for ATV Source Magazine that talks about a battle between a motocross track and the home owners in San Diego. To summarize, the race track has been there for over 3 decades, and now people that live next to it, (and I mean RIGHT next to it) are starting to complain.

In the article I took a very un-biased approach in the interest of fair journalism, but it is my strong opinion that a) the homeowners were told about the racetrack when they bought the house, and b) they need to shut the hell up about it already.

Tired of driving for an hour (or 2) to ride your quad? Have you considered how much it costs to get there and back? Interested in riding on a closed track in East San Diego County on Wednesdays for $25.00??

Barona Oaks Raceway has your back! (If you’re using Firefox, you may have to enable your IE extension to get the page to load right, damn that Microsoft and their failure to adhere to WWW standards :sigh: )

They’ve go a big track and a kiddy track for motorcycles, and they also let ATVs on there on Wed for practice. It costs 25 bucks per rider with no membership fees.

If you want to race, you can race on weekends, and they have 10$ unimproved camping with a snack bar.

Have you or someone you know been in a serious ATV accident? If so, I’d really like to talk with you about your views of ATVs now. I’m working with a couple of news outlets for stories and need first hand interviews (phone, face to face etc or compelling stories in which I can quote you (anonymous is ok) about your experience, and your views now.

Thanks!

 451Press is having another contest. A comment contest.

If I had $300 dollars I would buy________.

What would you buy with $300? Or even $200 or $100? Now is your chance to find out! Comment on any 451 Press site during the month of August and you could win! Three comments will be chosen at random to win a cash prize of $300, $200 or $100. The more you comment the more chances you have to win. So start reading and let those fingers fly

Suzuki has made the leap. The 2008 RM-Z450 is the first motocross bike that is fuel injected. And it’s probably just in time, considering how often some of these guys spend upside down while in the air.

After some testing, they found that there is much better roll on power and delivery. They also tuned the ports, adjusted the cam timing, increased flywheel inertia, redesigned the combustion chamber and a host of other improvements that should create a new standard for motocross.

I pilfered some specs for you:

• Overall length: 2185mm (86.0 in.)
• Overall width: 830mm (32.7 in.)
• Overall height: 1260mm (50.0 in.)
• Wheelbase: 1480mm (58.3 in.)
• Ground clearance: 350mm (13.8 in.)
• Seat height: 955mm (37.6 in.)
• Dry weight: 101.5kg (224 lbs.)
• Engine type: 4-stroke, liquid-cooled, DOHC
• Bore: 96.0 mm
• Stroke: 62.1 mm
• Displacement: 449 cm3 (cc)
• Compression ratio: 12.8:1
• Fuel system: KEIHIN FI 43mm
• Lubrication system: Suzuki Advanced Sump System
• Clutch: Wet multi-plate type
• Transmission: 5-speed constant mesh
• Primary reduction ratio: 2.625 (63/24)
• Gear ratio Low: 1.800 (27/15), 2nd: 1.471 (25/17), 3rd:
  1.235 (21/17), 4th: 1.050 (21/20), 5th: 0.909 (20/22)
• Final reduction ratio: 3.846 (50/13)
• Front suspension: SHOWA 47mm telescopic forks,
  pneumatic/coil spring, oil damped.
• Rear suspension: Swingarm, link type, SHOWA
  piggyback-reservoir shock
• Caster: 25｡30′
• Trail: 111 mm (4.4 in.)
• Front brake: Disc
• Rear brake: Disc
• Front tire size: 90/ 100-21
• Rear tire size: 120/ 80-19
• Fuel tank capacity: 6.2 L (1.6 US gal.)
• Body color: Champion Yellow No.2 (YU1)

motocross, motorcycle, off road, suzuki, RM-Z450, fuel injection

I was writing a couple of ATV recall notices for Under My Helmet this morning. One for Kawasaki’s KFX450R, the other for the Polaris Outlaw 525. When I was reading about the second one, it struck me as odd that 2 different manufacturers would have basically the same recall on two different quads. At almost the same time. The recalls involved a “loose valve mounted inside the fuel tank” and a “faulty bracket holding the fuel pump to the inside of the fuel tank”. What a co-inkidink.

Are they getting their parts from the same manufacturer? Or is it chance?

Just reposting this from Under My Helmet to try to get some more turnout for this important event to help support our sport. Bring your ATVs, motorcyckes, quads, side by sides, rhinos etc.

The event is being sponsored by The Dirty Girls (I love that name) and Scandalous to try to curb the ongoing battle against OHVs by several loud and well funded groups.

Stand up and be counted.

Don’t let this happen to you

atv, ohv, off road, rally, motorcycle, Florida, dirty girls, under my helmet

Thanks to Bryan at 451 Press for providing the code for us to use our own banners here at the network.

This is my first meeger attempt at a banner for Throttle Blog. I will likely be changing it in the next few weeks, so if you’ve got ideas or submissions, feel free!