Course cutting is almost a thing of the past! Over the years, one of the major problems with off-road racing is that having long courses made it less difficult for cheaters to cheat or honest riders to go the wrong way on accident.

How can this problem be coming to end, and why now?

Being around the moto-industry and race scene for quite a few seasons, I have heard rumors and stories about people course cutting. I have seen professional race teams instruct their personal to stand in front of good lines (through mud holes, rock gardens, etc.) so that competitors could not see and use the lines. Also, I have accidentally gone the wrong direction during a race and witnessed others do this. I would also like to mention the times that while navigating field sections around the corners marked with hay bales or banner that I have seen other riders cut through the middle of the field with blatant disregard to the course markers. Oh, how about the time that a no name B rider won the overall at a National Hare Scramble?

Course cutting is not a huge problem but it does happen and if you have done any amount of racing it has probably happened to you. This problem does seem to be on the down turn. The recent growth in popularity of helmet cameras is responsible for keeping riders honest and taking action (docking positions) to those that cut accidentally. Up until our present situation, if there was any foul play going on, it was simply one racers word against another’s. Let’s say that you are racing and pass someone from your class on the last lap. Your heart is thumping, your legs and arms are cramping, you can barely hold it together after 3 hours of punishment and then your feel relief as you can see the finish! Wait, hold on, the person you passed two miles ago is now in front of you again and no, they did not pass you back (at least not on the proper race course.)

You tell the promoter, but they cannot do anything because it is just your word against the other racer’s.

Here is your play, pop out the SD card from your GoPro, play the last two miles of the race for the promoter and the other racer. The video evidence will be more legitimate than story vs. story and you will probably send the cheater home with his tail between his legs.

The WMR race shop in Florida.

So you have decided you would like to make sure the motor is ready for another full season of racing. Think about how this year has gone and think about if there is anything you would like to have different…motor wise. Would you like a better jump out of the hole, do you want more rev on top, does your motor lack a little in the mid? For 2011 I raced a KTM 350 SXF. I have been generally happy with the motor and haven’t had any issues with the fuel injection or anything else for that matter. I typically do my own piston and rings but for any significant changes I would need the help of a pro, someone who has seen The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. For this I called Bob at WMR Off-Road. His shop races full time in the GNCC series with riders Nathan Kanney and Chris Douglas. They have a lot of experience with KTM as they are a KTM dealer and they sponsor a lot of other riders out of their shop. WMR has done a great deal of testing with Nathan Kanney on a 350 just like mine. After talking with Bob I had decided to ship him the motor and let him do the magic. I had decided to work on the power down low and in the mid range. He told me he would do motor work but he would also need the CDI so he could download a new map.

When they got the motor they completely disassembled, inspected and cleaned it. The cases were split and the KTM primary shaft warranty was performed. This included a new bearing, shim washer and larger oil jet. The crank shaft was checked for being true and balanced. The cylinder was honed and a new stock piston and ring were installed. A WMR manual Cam Chain Tennsioner was installed in the cylinder, this unit includes a small oil jet block off plug that allows the motor to pump more oil to the head and crank plus the manual tennsioner cannot fail and cause catastrophic damage. I’ve seen this before and it’s ugly. The head was disassembled and completely inspected for wear. The springs were checked for wear and keepers, retainers and spring seats were inspected. The intake and exhaust vales were within spec so they were cleaned of all oil and carbon. WMR found two of the guides to be out of spec so new guides were installed on the cam chain side intake and exhaust valves. The head was then glass bead blasted and flow ported to WMR specs. The valve seats received and fresh set cut to WMR specs on their new Rottler seat and guide machine for improved flow to complement the WMR porting. New valve seals were installed and the valves were shimmed to factory spec. The head was surfaced and reinstalled with new gaskets. The exhaust flange was matched to the exhaust port and sealed to eliminate any air leaks.

The first thing you want to do is get the bike clean. Don’t ever pull your motor with out getting all the dirt you can off the bike. I’ve known people to drop clumps of mud in the carburetor or worse yet when you get the motor back and your reinstalling it you drop dirt down in your “fresh” race motor.

Old parts are laid out before cleaning, Valves and springs were within spec. So they were reused. New valve seals were installed.

Bob Brewster, owner of WMR Competition Performance, flow porting the KTM 350 head working the transitions from the valve seats to throat of the ports for smooth power delivery and more over rev. After flowing hundreds of heads on the flow bench and racing at the highest levels of competition WMR knows how to get the most out of your head.

This is the head after being ported and surfaced, note the clean smooth surface on the intake and exhaust ports. Much care was taken to create smooth transition from the valves to the intake and exhaust ports this increases flow and improves performance throughout the power range. A Valve seat cut was also done to the head to proprietary WMR specifications that that have been developed to enhance the flow porting.

Cutting valve seats on the Rottler seat and guide machine

Checking valve spring pressure

Head with valves and installed. Exhaust flange was matched to the head and sealed with High Temp sealant to eliminate exhaust air leaks.

Racing the IXCR series in Indiana. Photo by Heather Bell

I got the motor back in a couple of weeks. We had talked on the phone a couple of different times while they had the motor to discuss specifics of exactly what was needed and what wasn’t. WMR would have liked to install a high compression piston but that generally makes you run race gas. It was my call to go with a stock KTM piston to keep the cost of racing with in my budget. I have always been religious about changing the oil and keeping a clean air filter in the bike. George at WMR commented on how he could tell as the motor was in remarkable shape. I installed the motor back in the bike and prepared for a weekend of breaking it in. I heated cycled it 3 times and then took to the trails. I kept the revs down for the first couple of hours. After that, it was time to see what the motor could do. It had made a real difference with the low and mid power with out sacrificing anything on top. The bike had the same light weight feel that I really like about the 350 and now it had the added power across the board. Now it was time for a weekend of racing.

There was a race happening Sunday just 40 minutes north of my house and I thought this would be a great proving ground. I would enter in the pro class in the IXCR series. At the line to my left was WMR rider Chris “Hollywood” Douglas and to my right was “Hot Rod” Charlie Mullins. The green flag flew and the 350 instantly fired. Hollywood got the holeshot and I would hit turn 1 in third, just in front of Factory KTM rider Charlie Mullins. I knew this was going to be short lived and it was. I raced my own race and would finish the day in 5th. The track had several very slow first and second gear corners and I was surprised at how much harder the motor pulled from the bottom. It would carry that hard pull all the way to the top. As the race wore on I began to really gel with the motor and I felt like it was helping me pick up speed everywhere. It was a ROCKET coming out of the slow corners. I didn’t need the clutch, just turn and pull the trigger and she went. What a blast! I am really happy with the changes that WMR was able to make and can’t wait to race it some more.

Loving the added power! Photo by Heather Bell

Parts pricing:

Cylinder Head porting $450.00
Clean and build head $75.00
Valve seat cut $110.00
Split Cases $325.00
Valve seals $ 40.00
Piston Kit $189.95
Guide installation $69.00
A typical valve job is $110.00 + $75.00 + parts and a few small shop charges of about $18.00
A typical bottom end is $325.00 labor plus parts. If a crank rebuild is required that is an additional $95.00 labor plus the parts.

Manual Cam Tennsioner $79.95
Shock Link $219.95
Rear Brake Tip $15.95

For more information about WMR Competition Performance and the services they offer check out their website.

To see if there is a winner mentality belonging to tool belt non conformers we can look at the fastest riders that we know. We need to look at the racers that consistently have the best results and see if they are wearing tool belts during the races. The answer is an overwhelming no. This visual evidence does suggest that wearing a tool belt has an effect of performance, but we should also look at why these riders do not wear tool belts.

The answers are going to be varied but the most popular would probably be:

I have a pit crew if anything needs repaired during the race.

If anything breaks that I need to stop to fix, it would be quicker to just ride it broken.

The extra parts are in the pits, why would I need the tools without the parts?

The reasons for not wearing a tool belt do make sense to most. The faster riders are skilled enough to safely ride an improperly working bike to finish the lap, finish the race, or make it back to the pit area. The problems that would make the bikes inoperable are so dramatic that the replacement parts would not easily be carried inside tool belts.

Over the past years, the bikes have become much more reliable. In recent times, the frequency of a fouled spark plug (one of the most common bike ailments and also most common reason to carry a tool kit) has become nearly non-existent in relationship to the 80’s and 90’s.

In addition to bikes that are more reliable, the race courses have become slightly easier and often times shorter. The riders chances of encountering a technical rock garden or some other feature that could possible damage the motorcycle is very much reduced from the previous eras. The shorter courses offer a better opportunity for navigating an injured bike back to the pit area. This decrease in course length means that the rider would have a shorter duration to make due with a broken bike and a better chance of repairing and re-entering the race.

Some may say that the lack of tool belts worn is evidence that our sport has been weakened. Although the courses have become slightly easier, the larger force is the improvement of dirtbikes. The reliability and performance of modern off-road motorcycles is impressive. They are the only motorized vehicle that a person can buy and race without having a need to make any improvements.

The racing has become more exciting, the racing has become more fun (if you have ever had a mechanical DNF, then you must agree that it is more fun to race a reliable bike), the whole industry has grown and this has led to outgrowing the usefulness of a tool belt in most race situations.

To answer the initial question about the correlation between tool belts and not winning, I argue that reasons for not wearing a tool belt have little to do with desire to win. In fact, I could even make a case that by wearing a tool belt the racer is insuring against a DNF and this shows they are planning for a season championship.

Photo courtesy of Kayleigh Haywood

Hey Adam! What’s been going on since the GNCC season wrapped up?
Not a whole lot, things have kind of been winding down. We got home pretty late from Loretta’s and I had Monday off work. I woke up Monday morning, washed my bike and got everything all cleaned up and my buddy wanted to go do some motos so we went riding on Monday. Since time changed when you get off of work it’s pretty dark out so I’ve been taking this week to just relax. I’m ready to start hitting it hard again cause I’m already getting the itch.

Already? It’s only been a week!
Oh yeah! [laughs]

I know the season just wrapped up but do you have any offseason plans to prepare for the 2012 season? Like staying up North again or trying to head South?
I would really like to go South but I got a really sweet job up here. I work in a warehouse at a sugar factory where I handle packaging and things like that. Originally they were a European company so they give us a lot of benefits. Like I get two weeks paid vacation and that’s just starting out. I haven’t even been there a year yet. That’s huge! That really helped out this Summer with all the traveling I had to do. Living up here in Illinois we have to do a lot of travelling for every round so I used up most of my vacation in the Summer months. But if I can get a little bit of vacation or some personal time I would really like to head South and do some more riding. I think that’s a big part of why I had such a slow start this season. If you look at the points, I had great results at the end of the year but I had a really rocky start to the year. Besides a really good ride in North Carolina there was nothing else was really impressive.

We’re going to try and do a lot more riding and hit the gym really hard. If I have time in between all that I might try to hit the slopes a little bit. A little snowboarding if I get the time. I really don’t have anything planned , it’s just going to be by the seat of my pants.

Photo Courtesy of Kayleigh Haywood

You mentioned the slow start of your season. Back in October you did an interview where you were asked you how you thought your season was going. From your response it didn’t come across like you were very happy with your results. Since that interview you’ve won the Open A championship, finished 7th overall in the OMAs, and taken home some top amateur honors. Let me ask you know, how was your 2011 season?
It didn’t start out as expected. I didn’t expect to come out and dominate but in 2010 I had a pretty solid year. I had a couple of podium finishes and even won the Snoeshow round. I didn’t really battle with Ashburn, he really dominated the Open A class, but me and Chase Bishop always seem to go back and forth and, like I said, I had a lot of podium finishes. I didn’t really hear from anyone else all year. Then this year, the first half of the season I hardly had any podiums other than 1 win. I was basing my expectations off how I ended in 2010 and it wasn’t what I expected. I kind of hit a wall there. I was doing another series with Chris Bach, the MAXC in Indiana.

Yeah, I’ve heard of that one.
It was a great series and it was something to do on the weekends other than just ride my local stuff. The local stuff back at home wasn’t…it was just the same old tracks and I was racing against the same people. So it was nice to try a different series, meeting different people and trying different things. That series helped me out a lot this year and I was racing guys I would see at the GNCC series. It was a big help and helped pull me out of the rut I was in. I also started riding a lot better and getting more aggressive at the GNCC series and was really able to pull it together for the last half of the series. I’m happy with the way things ended, a few bad lucks here and there, but I’m definitely glad I won the championship. Me and Chris Douglas had a really good battle this year but it was really a bummer for him that he didn’t get to race the last couple of races cause I think it would have made for some really good races. I’m definitely happy with how I ended up.

Do you think the Open A class was pretty stacked this year compared to previous years?
This was only my second year racing the GNCCs but the talent was deep! Corey Macdonald put in some impressive rides. Chris Douglas, he surprised me the most the year as he really put on the heat. He got a lot of really solid finishes. Chase Bishop, Cooper Bailey, Matt Crouch, those boys seem to have a lot of bad luck this year. They’re great kids and I wish them well but they seem to get terrible luck whether it was bike problems or whatever have you. But the talent was way deeper than I expected.

Photo Courtesy of Kayleigh Haywood

On the OMA weekends you were racing against a few of the top GNCC pro guys like Whibley, Bach, and Ashburn. Do you think running up front with those guys helped you improve as a rider and carry some confidence into the GNCC weekends?
I’ve raced the OMA series all my life. That’s what got me into racing and that’s just what I’ve grown up doing. It’s a great series. Jimmy pretty much brought everyone in. Everyone that’s doing them now, Jimmy brought them here. He’s kept that series alive.

I’ve had a little bit of bad luck. I was pretty disappointed with how things went in that series as far as results go. But I had a few good battles and I always felt like I rode good it was just one of them things where all my bad luck seemed to be in the OMA series this year. That’s racing though. I tried to keep my head up and keep plugging away at it. There were a couple of times where I think I could have gotten a few podiums. I’ve gotten podiums in the past but I’ve been a little off paced from Jimmy and them. I’m always right there with Scotty, I always seem to be his pace, but I make more mistakes than him. I would keep up with him until the inevitable little tip over or my front end would wash out or something and he’d get away from me and I could never reel him back in. Or I’d run out of time or whatever the case was. But I was definitely disappointed.

So, do you think lining up with those guys helped you come GNCC weekends?
Yeah, it was good for the nerves. Every weekend this year I was lining up with guys that weren’t there to mess around. They weren’t weekend warriors. It was good for the nerves to help get used to that idea.

Speaking of weekend warriors, it’s fair to say that you’re a great example of a weekend warrior. You work full time during the week, ride when you can, and then hit the races on the weekends. You’ve been racing against other guys that don’t have to worry about anything other than training and racing. Do you think you’re at a disadvantage compared to them or does it give you added motivation for race day?
It’s definitely a disadvantage. I wake up every morning at 6 o’clock and go punch in a time clock. To be honest with you I’d rather be waking up every morning and heading to the gym. But it’s not realistic for me right now. I have to support my habits [laughs] for my racing. The biggest disadvantages come in the offseason. For me that’s where I tend to unravel. I still work out but it’s nothing compared to seat time, seat time is everything.

Photo Courtesy of Kayleigh Haywood

Earlier you mentioned you were really disappointed with the slow start you had this season. What’s your game plan to avoid the same thing happening next year?
Well we used to do it a lot when I was a kid, we used to put studded tires in. A bunch of us buddies would just go out and ride in the snow and ice, frozen ground it didn’t matter. You tend to beat up some equipment when you do that but in the past 3 or 4 years I haven’t studded up. I don’t ride in the winter time very much. Every one in a while we’ll go to an indoor place but the closest indoor place is 4 or 5 hours. It’s never heated, ground is still frozen and it’s never really any fun…expensive. I think this year I’ll have a set of wheel studded up and try to ride as much as I can. Instead of going out and play riding I’m going to try to do motos, ride a turn track, or whatever the case may be I’m going to be out there trying to slay and try to get a work out out of it.

Are you currently working with any trainers or are you doing it on your own?
My brother-in-law started doing P90X and stuff like that. About a year ago he started doing P90X because it was the talk of the town. With that he got the bug, started getting the itch, and he started working out. I always have him on my case but he kind of started his own gym thing where he has his own weights. There are a couple of guys that go over to his shop everyday to workout. Nothing official or anything like that but it helps to have someone in the family that’s trying to keep you in shape. But, yeah, it’s all on my own. It’s tough, but you punch out of work, hit the gym thing, come home and get a little time to yourself. You do what you have to do.

What about your 2012? Do you have anything setup yet?
[laughs] Well, after the past couple of weekends I’ve had some really, really good finishes. I’m very happy with how my overalls have been recently. I’ve been looking for those overalls all year long. It’s got a lot of people back home excited cause they think that as soon as you start riding well everyone comes knocking at your door but that’s not the case. I wish it were that easy but I’ve been talking to a few people about some things. But it’s all been maybes and possibles. As of right now I’m still planning on doing what I’ve been doing. I have a bunch of good people on board with me. Fly Racing is back. SIDI, G2. Other than the original sponsors, the guys that help you out, there’s nothing with bikes, parts, or anything like that. I’m riding for a shop out of Iowa, they’re a Kawasaki dealership. Great Guys! They help me out quite a bit. It’s nothing too fancy.

Photo Courtesy of Kayleigh Haywood

Are you staying in the Open A class?
As of right now I’m waiting to see how the top amateur thing pans out. I know me and Grant Baylor had to be real close (Editors Note: As we were wrapping up this interview we both got the email saying Grant Baylor received the Top Amateur award). I guess, as of right now, I will probably stay in Open A. I’ve never really rode a 250f before let alone raced one. I really like 450s but I grew up on 2 strokes. I really don’t know, it’s all up in the air still. If something comes along and they want a XC2 rider, I’m more than willing to give it go. Without that kind of support, to do it on my own…

Any shout outs you want to throw out there?
You know I got to thank you boys! I’ve got to thank my girlfriend, Kayleigh Haywood. She’s been to every race with me this year, every single one. She puts up with my bitchin’. She’s always there to encourage me and help me out. She goes on track walks with us. She’s a part of it as much as I am. I’ve got to thank her. Mom and Dad, they’ve supported my dream since I was a kid, they’ve had my back since day one. All my friends and family. The guys at Fly Racing; Dale Spangler. Pro Moto Billet, G2, SIDI Boots, Scott Googles, RaceTech Suspension, K&N Filters, Nate with Dirt tricks, and everybody!

Thanks Adam! Good luck in 2012!

Attempting to rail...

Fly Racing’s Kinetic line is their mid-level set of gear. This line shares some of the same features that you will find their high-end line, Evolution. A big thing with these lines are the little things. What do I mean? Well for one, you won’t find a tag inside the collar of the jersey. All the information is printed right inside. It’s incredible how much of a comfort difference something small like that will make.

I made my first outing in the gear at my house. I have a little grass track and short woods loop littered with single track. It’s a lot like something you would find in an enduro. This gives a good chance to get in some riding, do some set up testing and of course, see what things are really made of. I spent a couple of hours out in the woods and on the grass track in the Kinetic gear.

Right away I noticed that the fit of the gear was great. The pants have the adjustable strap, so even if they fit a hair loose, you can easily fix that. The jersey felt great as all. Previously I reviewed Fly’s F-16 line and one thing I noticed was that the sleeves seemed to be a bit short. Not so on the Kinetic jersey. The sleeves fit right in line with how you would expect.

That's some serious single track

The durability of gear has been awesome so far. I put in a few pretty hard laps in the woods. So naturally, when you’re riding pretty tight single track it’s common to snag limbs and brush up against a few trees. I actually even scrubbed my shoulder and side arm completely against a large tree through one of the tighest sections. In the end, there wasn’t a single hole in the jersey, not even one loose thread. The pants have held up great as well and the leather knees grip perfectly.

Overall, the the gear fits great, feels great, holds up great and is priced pretty good as well at $29.95 for the jersey and $89.95 for the pants.

I give the Fly Kinetic gear 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Hey Paul, how are things going today?
Good, Sun’s out and the weather is warming up.

Whibley tearing it up at last year's Georgia GNCC.

Great. So first off, congrats on your first win of 2011 at The General. Tell us about that race.
Thanks, it was a pretty fun race. To swap positions so many times with so many different riders and have a bunch of us up front makes for an enjoyable race and an exciting one for the fans. To come out on top and the end probably makes it a little more enjoyable for me.

It was definitely exciting! In Florida you broke your radiator on the first lap, what exactly happened?
I got the holeshot, then I think it was Mike Brown passed me before we got into the woods. It was a bit dusty and I hit something unseen, like a root that shot me off toward the side off the track. I regained control to avoid a head on with a tree but as I swerved to miss the tree the radiator clipped it and pretty much destroyed it. So I came back into the pits before I had even done a mile for a new radiator.

That’s a tough way to start the 2011 season. At the end of 2010 you were on a roll, did you feel any pressure to continue that momentum coming into 2011?
I wouldn’t say pressure to continue the momentum, I would call it desire and determination.

What did you do through the winter to prepare for the 2011 season?
Well I try to avoid winter and head back to New Zealand for summer there. I took November off and had some fun. December and January was back into training working with my trainer back in NZ to inject some fresh training sessions into my workouts to improve on some weakness and prevent a plateau in my fitness. Also raced most weekends.

Well, it seems that hard work payed off in Georgia, what are your hopes for Steele Creek?
I plan to get back on the podium at Steele Creek. Consistency is what championships are built on.

Looking forward to the rest of 2011, how do you see the season playing out for you?
I have a good team behind me with some great sponsors backing us all the way. Katherine (my wife) is huge help and Scotty (my Mechanic) is doing everything to make sure the bike is what it needs to be. Randy Hawkins is also doing a great job with the whole AmPro team.

What do you think you need to do to lock down championship number two?
Like I said, I need to be consistently on the podium, take the wins when the opportunity presents itself and remain healthy. Championships are won on your worst days so we can’t have any more days like we had in Florida.

The Axeman won't settle for anything less than the #1 plate in 2011.

Last year you wrapped up another OMA championship, how are your chances looking for 2011?
As good as any other year, it is what you make it. There are always new guys coming into the series and adding to the depth of talent. It looks like Russell Bobbitt will be running the series this year as well so it will be good racing with him.

Speaking of OMA, when transitioning to GNCC, what are the biggest differences between the two series?
The OMAs are more fresh tracks and they dont generally lay out the tracks to accommodate the quads so you get more single track. The GNCCs get a lot rougher and are more open courses to allow for quads and the higher number of entrys.

Both of the series have their signature “tough” event. Which do you feel is more difficult, The Snowshoe GNCC or The Moose Run OMA?
That’s a tough question. I personally struggle more at Snowshoe just because I don’t particularly like that track. The Moose Run is tough though but it’s a race that I really enjoy. Mud holes get big and deep, some tight woods and big logs to cross.

Alright Paul, that’s about it. Who would you like to send to thanks out to?
All the sponsors who are backing me to win this again. AmPro Yamaha, Monster Energy, Shoei, Smith, Sidi, MSR, Vortex Ignitions, G2, Tireballs, CTi, Factory Connection, Kenda, FMF, CV4, Works Connection, GYTR, Yamalube, EBC, Cycra, Pro Taper. Thanks.

Thanks Paul!