Briarcliff Minimoto Mayhem II-- ride report.

LuckyStar64

PR Addict
Well-- we came, we raced, we had a ball! If ya snoozed on this event, ya missed out. The track is fun, and super well prepped, the racing is competitive- and not very serious. The awards are sweet! We got a choice of Fly/Scott goggles or MX socks. Did I mention the classes were only $5?

You DON'T need an expensive bike, or built motor to have a good time at this pit bike party. It's grass roots all the way-- just like the early TV Land races. Just dig what ya got outta the garage, and lets have another party on Oct. 15th. Hope to see ya there. --Tony C.
 
Yep, thanks Briarcliff !!! Like everyone there, I had a great time on what I think is an ideal pit bike track (love the bank around the pond). Stiffened up the stock suspension on my 100 and was able to give it a go at the second of those two doubles. I'm glad I didn't try it with the stock suspension as I landed on top of it the first time around yesterday and there's no doubt it wouldnt have felt too good with the "plush" stock springs! Now I need to come up with a quick fix for 2 front wheel spoke nipples that tore through the rim (rim holes are now pucker out)...that's what I get for getting into someone a little to hard :)
 
Had an absolute BLAST!!! I have first hand experience on how excellent the dirt is at BC.... I spent most of my time laying on it! lol. But seriously, if there was a dustbuster award for most dirt eaten.... I win!!! Perfect night! Perfect racing! Perfect track! Perfect company!

PERFECT!

I can't wait for the next round!
 
YEP , me too had a blast , got to bang some bars with some dude on a xr100 in the 14in and open class, good time .


factory113, were you by any chance on a KLX and with the woman who won the jewelry for the women's class or were you riding a TTR? I ask because if you were on a TTR that may been me on the hunnert that was bouncing around with you in a few corners.
 
Factory113-- HaHa! Look one post down-- lol! That was Mooch givin' ya "Thee Olde Stiff Shoulder" in 14 inch Open. I had my hands full with 'em in +40. The XR is just about stock with just a pipe. That was the best I've seen Moocher ride. Good goin' bro, and sorry about the spokes. I think my side stand got into them. Who'd have known it could be such a weapon? I wish I'd have ran 14 Open with you guys. I didn't realize until later that we somehow took the guy out that we were lapping right at the finish of +40. Anybody know who it was?

The scene has changed a bit this year. It seems like full mod (costly) is kinda fading. Stock mod 110's, stock 50's, and close to stock TTR's, DRZ's, CRF's, XR100's (cheap) have been catching fire. I dunno if it's due to the economy, or if we're getting back to where we began. Either way-- it's been fun. --L*64
 
More and more places that have pitbike races now have a class for the TTR's and CRF's and usually have us older guys on them. The big reason is because they aren't really pitbikes and they are easier to ride than a pitbike. 14" front and 12" rear max for pitbikes. I totally understand the niche that those bikes fit into...but they are far from a pitbike. Maybe I will add such a class at the Summit Indoor races in Jan/Feb. If enough interest is shown leading up to it, it could happen.
 
Had an absolute BLAST!!! I have first hand experience on how excellent the dirt is at BC.... I spent most of my time laying on it! lol. But seriously, if there was a dustbuster award for most dirt eaten.... I win!!! Perfect night! Perfect racing! Perfect track! Perfect company!

PERFECT!

I can't wait for the next round!

Sorry, could not resist! We had a good time. I was a bit stiff the next day, Jeremy seemed to take great pleasure in the longer motos. Matt.
 

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mooch i was on the stock ttr125 in the 14 in open class , u deff gave me a run for the money but i didnt give up ,thank god for my bark busters , i think i used them to get thruogh u
 
yep, it was fun...not easy to pass on a tight track when little bikes have similar horsepower (or lack of).

The last bump we had ended up pushing my brake lever down pretty far and had trouble pullling it back up. Of course, if that hadn't of happened I would've gone for a retaliation bump :) Seriously though, nice job gettin around me.

That's the good thing about little bikes...easier to bump around in corners without somebody gettin hurt.
 
dirty dirty dirty........

Aaron, I think Jeremy was refering to your racing gear after the mayhem. LOL. I admit I have to take cheap shots when I can, you smoked me plain and simple. I have no excuses other than I am old and outa shape. I will give you a run in about 14 years when you are my age, I wonder what will be considered a pitbike then? 450s? Maybe by then all bikes will be electric and we will be racing the gasoline powered class?
 
Jay-- Vegas has the bigger bike class. Duane Brown seems to enjoy that race... haha! IMO-- the reason for the popularity of the bigger bikes is that you really don't have to do too much to the thing to be able to ride or race it comfortably, and it costs just a couple hundred more than a bone stock 110. The way the races have been-- you can ride the bigger bikes on big track pit bike tracks as well as small tracks. For the money-- the bigger pit bikes work well, they're cheap, reliable, readily available used, and fun. I like simply going to the dealer and ordering the OEM part my bike needs, rather than monkeying with an assortment of aftermarket vendors.

I hope we're turning the page with pit bike racing. IMO- the 200cc Pitster grenades, full mod-ster arms wars, and the cash payouts are what damaged the scene the past few years. Nobody wants to have to line up against local experts for money... we just wanna have a good 'ol time ridin' an' racin' each other on cheapos for fun. I think the scene is waking back up to stocker 50's, 110's, and Uprights w/heavier springs and nothing else. At the big bike MX races-- it seems like alot of kids are opting out of the highly competitive, and expensive KTM owned mini races. They're coming up in the Jr/Sr. Trail bike classes often enough lately. --T
 
yes, Vegas has the "bigger bike" class. you know what other type of bike is in that class? the electric bikes! yep, battery powered bikes racing against big wheeled TRAIL bikes. that class is a joke. my point is that those couches, called trail bikes, are NOT pitbikes. You can simply order your OEM parts for your stock 110 with a 12" front wheel too! Thats a real pitbike.

How could cash payouts and modded pitbikes damage the pitbike scene? lol. You don't have to line up next to local experts for money. I've never seen a pitbike race that didn't offer stocker classes.

You can have a cheap, reliable, readily available used pitbike....a Kawi 110cc stocker! The unreliable bikes are the chinese brand pitbikes. Not sure what your point is there. You can still race a japanese manufactured pitbike...kawi 110.

But racing a TRAIL bike with a 19" front wheel is NOT pitbike racing IMO. Do you remember the origins of pitbike racing? i do. 10" wheels on Honda Z 50's! Thats a challenge! 12" wheels...thats the challenge of a pitbike. Some folks just don't like that challenge and opt for racing a trailbike with a front wheel that is 2 inches smaller than a 450! Thats not pitbike racing. IMO.
 
To each his own regarding smaller pit bikes vs crf/ttr trailbikes...as long as a person is having fun.

There are quite a few guys I know who've switched over to a larger pit bikes because they got tired of being all scrunched up on 110s and banging their knees on the bars with the smaller bikes. Hopefully, I won't upset anyone if I continue to refer to my 100 as a "pit bike".

If guys on 50's had the same viewpoint as hersh552, everyone on 110s are not riding "real" pitbikes either.

Keep an open mind and have fun.
 
Mooch, I was just saying that pitbike racing started out on 10" wheeled 50cc machines. I do believe that racing a 110 is a "real" pitbike too. The wheels are only 2 inches bigger on a 110cc. ....."being all scrunched up on 110's and banging their knees on the bars with the smaller bikes".....well said! it's a challenge to ride those things! Thats the niche of pitbike racing to me. Big people on little bikes. Not big people on big trail bikes. Thats all I was trying to say....I think lol.
 
Jay-- This is all just my opinion. So it's not the holy grail by any stretch. But it's the "arms" race that hurt the scene alot more than the cash payouts. The cash payouts always seemed to revolve around the 12 inch mod class. Now I've been in the scene since the end of 2002. When I've asked guys that used to ride why I haven't seen them in awhile-- the answer is almost always the same. "I don't see any reason to race-- my bike is stock", "The stockers are nowhere near stock", or "Damn! I went last time, and the guys were racing like it was for money!!" HaHaHa.

As far as the unreliable chinese bikes go-- they tend to grenede when built. Then they sit in the back of the garage waiting for a rebuild, rather than going to the track and adding entries to the events. You know what I mean. Every entry is needed to make the events worth having to those who put them on. Trevor pulled the plug because he was getting 12 riders rather than the 40 he had in the glory days. Same with the Sharon Lube.

If you raced a stock 110 with bars, tires and pipe in most stocker classes the past few years-- you'd get eaten up. The couple races that BC has had so far-- has had truly stock 50's, and 110's racing, (even our couches were stock). That's what pit bikes has to get back to in order to get the good turnouts again.

Couches... trail bikes... whatever we call 'em-- have really been fun to race with. Maybe they aren't pit bikes as we knew them to be- but they are getting popular. I have three stock 110's here that I wouldn't mind racing with. If they called for Vets to race mid-size production bikes again-- I'd be there just the same as now. I just love riding mini bikes is all. --T
 
The pitbike fad is just about over as far as racing goes, in these parts anyway. Jeremy is well known and can pull in the riders, nowhere else can do it anymore except a few fairs. I don't think it has to do with mod, non-mod chinese or any such. Yes pitbike racing is about fun but when you line up the racers, they will race. CRA used to draw a good crowd plus they pay out, no more. All we can do is keep riding and RACING. Ya gotta show up to keep it alive. 50 cc is the only real pitbike IMO. Yes, I ride a cheater mod but hey the 6 year old took my 50! Anyone got a stocker for sale? I need one by Saturday. The new fad is 2 strokes! :)
 
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