Monogp

MONOGP

SO, YOU WANT TO SCRATCH THAT ITCHY knee-puck, huh, but you're not too crazy about converting your GSX-R1000 or YZF-R6 into a racebike and losing it as a streetbike?

We've got solution. One of these lightweight, purpose-built, single cylinder racebike's can be constructed from any cur rent 450 cc four-stroke motorists. Something like 25,000 of the MAX quadrant-Thumpers were sold last year in the U.S. alone-approximately 1 million are in existence worldwide. You probably have a buddy with one sitting in his garage right now. Just a few weekends of wrench-spinning, grafting modified

suspension, fiberglass bodywork, rearsets, a big front brake, clip-ons and 17-inch wheels onto the basic motocross chassis is all that stands between you and a knee-draggin' ?~time.

New, most 450 MXers go for $7000; used, one can be found for as little as $3K. Realistically, a competitive roadrace bike could be built for less than 10 grand. Okay, not exactly dirt-cheap, but running costs (tires, chains, sprockets, general maintenance, etc.) should be easy on the wallet, certainly lower than with a heavier, street-based four-cylinder.

`The Concept is for a new AMA class that ser vices the gap below 600cc Supersport" says Gavin Trippe, head cheerleader for the proposed Super Single series (www.450moto.com). An AMA Hall of Famer, Trippe was co-creator of ABC-TV's top-rated "Superbikers" series, forerunner of today's super moto racing. When the AMA axed the 250GP class some years back, he saw the need for an entry-level series based on relatively inexpensive genuine race bikes, not converted roadsters. Sixty horsepower in a 250-pound package is a lot more forgiving than the 120 hp and 400 pounds of a 600 Supersport.

For add itional MOIIOGP Photography log on to www.cycleworld.com

If a BMW can go flat-tracking, what's wrong with roadracing MX Thumpers

Trippe talked the concept up for a while, then took action, commissioning the construction of these three examples as visual aids for any naysayers. In stepped the perfect man for the job, 1998 AMA 250GP Champion turned custom-bike builder and aftermarket entrepreneur Roland Sands.

First of the three to be built by the RSD crew was the CRF45OX Honda donated to the cause by Troy Lee, another big "MonoGP" supporter. Also bang ing the drum was Stig Pettersson of PPS Suspension, who provided an Ohlins fork and shock for the X. Kawasaki stepped up with a KX45OF concept can didate, which was soon adorned with gold-ano RSD Assault wheels, same as the Honda. Suspension was kept simple and cheap-the idea of the class-by

using an off-the-shelf ZX-6R front end. Yamaha fol lowed with a YZ45OF fitted with Marchesjni wheels and modified R6 suspension off of Eric Bostrom's Formula Xtreme bike.

Hot Bodies provided the Honda NSR25O fiber glass for the CRF-X and Kawi; an Airtech fairing meant for a TZ250 was made to fit the YZ-E

Per Trippe's proposed class rules, stock frames and swingarms are fully intact on these triplets; so too original displacement, ignitions and gearboxes.

Sands won his national title on Dunlops, so he stuck with "Flying Ds" on all the bikes. A big backer of stateside racing, Dunlop has already shown inter est in participating as the spec tire supplier for the fledgling series.

In 2008, the Super Singles will run in WERA, with an eye to becoming an AMA national support class in `09. Racing could do worse than offer youn~ riders lightweight, affordable, entry-level machines on which to learn their craft. Lower terminal speeds would induce close racing, good for fans, as is the noise from a howling pack of 12,000-rpm Singles hard on the gas. Seems like a win-win all around.

Mark Cernicky