THE WEEKLY FEED: BOB HANNAH GAME CHANGER, COOL VIDS, TESTING WP PRO COMPONENTS CONE VALVE

BLAST FROM THE PAST: Bob Hannah 1976

In 1976 Bob Hannah exploded onto the National motocross scene racing a very ‘works’ water-cooled Yamaha OW27. Hannah was little known, unless you were a So Cal racer, He had dominated the Indian Dunes, Valley Cycle Park and Saddleback circuit racing for Suzuki on stone stock RMs. Yamaha signed Bob and Danny Turner and the duo sets sails for the nationals and the waiting caress of the Team Honda sledgehammer in Marty Smith. Marty was dominant in ’75 losing only once race (to Tim Hart at Hangtown) and came into the opening round looking to go unchallenged on his new Honda ‘Works’ 125. Marty holeshot the first moto, and Hannah got caught up in the pileup on lap one. But a little over the half way point Hannah had carved through the pack and blistered past a stunned Marty Smith. This was the Big Bang of American Motocross and Bob Hannah was the catalyst.

The liquid-cooled Yamaha 0W27 shocked the world in 1976 with Bob “Hurricane” Hannah at the controls and changed the landscape of racing forever in the 125cc class. Terry Good acquired this bike around 2008, which had been sitting since the conclusion of the 1976 racing season. The 0W27 was the first water-cooled YZ125 engine seen by the public, and the first production water-cooled YZ125 wouldn’t hit dealer floors until the 1981 models were released. This was a true “Works Bike” in every way. The radiator is located behind the front numberplate and this machine still has the hand-painted numbers from 1976.

MINUTIAE

VIDEO JUKEBOX

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SOCIAL DISTORTION

This ad was ‘Seismic’ in the motorcycle movement.

Jimmy Weinert’s Factory Yamaha plopped on a milk crate borrowed from the milkman.

RD getting the best of Joel on Twin pipe CZ’s. Having two Alpha dogs in the same camp is always a tough environment- just look at Prost/Senna; Rossi/Lorenzo; Kiedrowski/LaRocco and Rosberg/Hamilton.

Oh boy! Jeffrey is back on the bike. Can’t wait for the next MXGP!

Husky’s newest pilot is Trevor Bollinger, who has definitely thrown his name in the hat to challenge for the GNCC title.

Ben Kelley is flat annihilating the XC 250 Pro class in the GNCC’s.

GEAR BAG

Boyesen WORKS BILLET Factory Racing Clutch Covers

THE BOYESEN ADVANTAGE » Gives your bike the modern Factory Racing Works look. » Precision machined from billet T-6 aircraft quality aluminum to aerospace tolerances. » Super-tough, proprietary hard coat for extreme boot-wear resistance and scratch proof surface durability. » Seals perfectly to keep out dirt and moisture. $189.95

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Moose Racing Clutch Kit

TESTING TESTING: WP PRO COMPONENTS

CONE VALVE FORK-TRAX SHOCK

Last week we had the chance to test the WP USA Cone Valve fork and Trax shock. They are high end suspension systems that are used by some of the best riders on the planet. In our environment (off-road) Cody Webb, Colton Haaker, Jonny Walker, Graham Jarvis, Thad Duvall, Kailub Russell are a few of the names that race with WP Pro Components. We wanted to see if they would make a difference for the average off-road rider and got to spend the day with the WP team as they set up our KTM 300 TPi for a test day. We tested 3 Cone Valve Forks, and 3 Trax shocks at Cahuilla Creek. There is much more to come but the first words out of my lips was “Instant Gratification”. We’ll report more as we test, and you’ll see a full feature in Dirt Bike down the road. It doesn’t suck having to test $6000.00 worth of suspension and working with their techs was a learning experience.

The WP XPLOR Pro Cone Valve fork targets off-road. The damping system is unique as there are no shims and the action remains consistent, the bottoming resistance mates to comfort and the materials and coatings make for outstanding damping.

Fitting the Trax shock onto the 300 is quite easy, since there is no linkage.

The Trax shock (the XACT Pro 7750) really changes the feel of the back end. It increases traction, the bike rides high in the stroke and does not pack or wallow.

The XACT Pro 7746 Trax shock has a screw-type preload adjuster, we ran the sag at 112mm with the rider. It feels tense (virtually no free sag) but gobbles on terrain with a big appetite.

WOLF: BACK IN THE DAY

One of my favorite races every year was the Best in the Desert Laughlin Hare Scrambles. Casey Folks laid out a tight, very tough event that fit into terrain that I enjoyed. I was never that into fast desert races and this one was much more enduro-like than a fast point-to-point event. For many years Dick Wilk would bring up a machine that he built and I would race test it at Laughlin. This was in 1994 and it was a heavily modified KTM 440. Dick turned the well behaved bottom to mid powerband into something that would holeshot a National 500cc motocross. Once I got used to the quick hitting band of power (and my arms unpumped!) I had a modicum of fun on it. I remember coming into the pits and Dick asking me how the bike was- my response was something like “Can you take a sledge hammer to the pipe? I need to slow this thing down!”.