A cold and wet afternoon greeted the riders and fans alike for the second round of the Super X in Canberra. A technical, slippery track was very hard to handle for the riders in practice and timed qualifying, with some spectacular crashes, alongside some very competitive lap times. The two stroke riders of Robbie Marshall and Kim Ashkenazi did very well in timed qualifying considering the conditions, and at one stage were second and third in their group qualifying, and easily made it though to the night heat races.

Canberra Super X Track

The TM Racing Team and Jerry Kopoian continue their winning ways at the Monster Energy Sponsor Cup and AMA Gold Cup Nationals in Dade City, Florida. The team received their new machine on Wednesday, a TM 250 MX two-stroke!

The arrival schedule allowed very little time to get the machine ready for the race, but Jerry was able to get in a little testing on the TM250. After a short introduction to the bike, Jerry was piloting the bike around the track at amazing speeds. He said this when he got off the bike, “Man, this thing is fast!”

The first round of the Super X in Newcastle blasted off on Saturday night to a crowd of 12,500. The event was broadcast live on Fox in Australia.

The track was fairly tight but looked great, and attracted a big crowd. The average lap time was about 41 seconds, but Chad Reed and Justin Brayton were down running in the mid 38 second times. There was some great racing, with some different formats again this year, with the 450 class running one on one, single lap sprint races to decide qualifying position for the 8 fastest 450 riders from the afternoon heats. The Josh Hansen v Chad Reed race was amazingly tight and made for a great start to the night.

A few days ago, one of our loyal readers, mentioned in the comment section that Maico USA had not been responsive to an information request. Rich Winkler, the President of Maico USA, read the comment and responded with the following letter.

Hey I saw your comment on the Two Stroke Motocross site, and just wanted to drop you a note saying I’m sorry if I missed your previous inquiry regarding Maico and let you know the latest status…

European foothold for the American-made Cobra mini cycles is crucial, according to President Sean Hilbert

At the 34th Annual Kawasaki Race of Champions, 14 year old James Coen continued his climb to the top of the motocross heap. The program developed by James and his dad Carlo is a strong and proven one, with numerous opportunities to compete at the highest levels. Englishtown is just another step forward in that program.

For a small factory TM Racing is making big waves. They continue to push the envelope and build true race machines for the discerning racer. These motorcycles are truly the Ferrari of dirt bikes.

TM Racing builds the largest selection of two-stroke machines out of any manufacturer, with purpose built Motocross, Enduro and Supermoto machines.

Motor + Suspension

Following countless test sessions, although realistically it’s that good, only one  forty minute stint was needed to realise that this just had to be standard equipment for next year, here is the first picture of the new shock absorber designed and manufactured specifically for the 2011 M.M.X.

Weighing in at approximately one and a half kilo’s less that the previous Reiger shock; the all new unit features a wealth of adjustment, with 50 click settings on the rebound, 45 clicks on the high speed compression, and 25 on the low speed compression as standard. With the top end of the shock beautifully manufactured from Billet and a coated rod, it is expected that the production models will come with an anodised reservoir and will be manufactured to suit the weight of each individual rider when the customer orders his or her bike.

Fuel-injection is not a new idea, the first mechanical system was invented in 1925 by Swedish engineer Jonas Hesselman. The concept was adapted for use in gasoline-powered aircraft during World War II. Then in 1940 Alfa-Romeo tested the first Electronic fuel-injection systems.

Fuel Injection systems virtually replaced carburetors in the automotive field by the late 1980’s. The way fuel-injection differs from a carburetor is that fuel is atomized due to being forced through a small nozzle using high pressure in fuel-injection. While the carburetor relies on low pressure created by intake air, drawing the fuel into the air-stream.