My 2017 Alta Redshift MX - For The Win!

ben990
Posts
394
Joined
10/20/2011
Location
Honeoye Falls, NY US
5/12/2018 2:05pm Edited Date/Time 5/14/2018 5:06am
Last Sunday was my first motocross race of the year. and the weather was perfect. 419 other riders thought the same and decided to join me at Hogback Hill in Palmyra NY. It was in the 60's, and partly cloudy, and the crew did a fantastic job of preparing the track and keeping the day moving fast.

It was the type of day where you didn't have to pressure wash your bike at all between motos, and the track got rough and rutted as the day progressed. They smoothed out some of the track during intermission, but a lot of the ruts and braking bumps were untouched, which I like. The rougher the better, is my motto..

I raced the 2 most competitive classes ever, +30 B and + 50 B.

+30 B went, well, OK. I went 10-10 for 10th out of 15 riders or so. Those young kids that are 20+ years younger than me just seem to be getting faster and not afraid to send it, while I seem to have more and more self preservation kicking in. There was a big step-up that I wasn't doing, and it killed my lap times. I would get a good start, and it seemed like every lap a rider or two would get me at this jump when I rolled it and they hucked it.

I did try it twice in my second +30B moto, and while the first time I did it successfully, the second time I was a tad short, and 220 pounds of me and 265 pounds of Alta hit the ground hard! I apologize in advance if I have knocked the earth off of its orbit, and we are now slowly drifting towards or away from the sun. Time will tell. After coming up short, I told myself, self, you got to make up for it in the corners. Jump for show, corner for dough... or a tacky plastic trophy. I refused to do it again.

+50B went way better! In the first moto, I got pinched off on the start, and was running mid-pack. I made quick work out of a couple riders, and found myself in 4th. I passed the guy in 3rd, and then he would pass me back over the big step up. WTF?! 50+ year olds are not supposed to "send it"! We repeated this for a couple laps; I dug deep on the last lap, passed him, and I ended up in 2nd place! I was psyched!

The second moto was one of the best I have ever had. I got a better start, and I went back and forth with 2 other riders the whole moto, and I got them both at the end. I got 2nd again, and the moto math worked in my favor; the 2-2 gave me 1st overall out of 16 riders.

My Alta is the funnest bike I have ever ridden, and I felt like it was cornering on rails... now I just need to head over to RockyMountainATV to get some "send it". I am coming up on 100 hours on my Alta, and it still rips like it did when it was brand new. It is an awesome machine.


Charging up between motos


This was what the battery looked like after 1 moto


I could actually hear the announcer talking about me when I went by







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Bauer
Posts
1601
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
Corona, CA US
5/12/2018 2:27pm
Awesome story! Congratulations on your win. Don't kid yourself, 2-2 was the winning score for a reason. That Alta seems like a good bike, I can't wait to try one.
Flip109
Posts
3460
Joined
6/15/2007
Location
TX US
5/12/2018 2:41pm
Nice man! Sounded like a blast Cool
matze
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1172
Joined
3/1/2014
Location
Stuttgart DE
Fantasy
3072nd
5/12/2018 2:51pm
Good job! Congrats
Johnny Depp
Posts
6438
Joined
10/16/2014
Location
Buda, TX US
5/12/2018 4:10pm
Great job Ben, and a good write up as always. All that seat time that the Alta allows at you home seems to be paying dividends in getting faster!

Your crash story is probably going to be in the back of my mind now, and I'll never send it Smile

The Shop

rockyuno
Posts
360
Joined
8/9/2012
Location
AR
5/12/2018 4:35pm
Cool story! thanks for sharing
Nice to read from someone who is racing on new technologies Woohoo
make1go
Posts
905
Joined
2/3/2018
Location
BF
5/12/2018 5:01pm
nice one! stay outta the 30s class, get 1-1s in the 50s class..fck sending it, wake up to ride another day..imo/ime......
jchek779
Posts
480
Joined
3/19/2009
Location
San Juan Capistrano, CA US
5/12/2018 5:01pm
I used to love riding there when I was living in NY. Great story.
ben990
Posts
394
Joined
10/20/2011
Location
Honeoye Falls, NY US
5/12/2018 5:44pm
Do you charge it after every moto?
Yes, I did charge it after every moto, but I could probably go two motos without charging it if I wanted to.

Ramrod
Posts
4728
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Ontario CA
Fantasy
1880th
5/12/2018 5:48pm
I’ve enjoyed reading your many write ups. You sir are living the life and enjoying riding. Gotta love that!

Would love to try this bike sometime.
Zacka 161
Posts
1049
Joined
7/30/2009
Location
Mount Waverley, VIC AU
Fantasy
1856th
5/12/2018 6:54pm
How much generator fuel did you use for a day of racing? How does that compare to racing a gas bike?
reded
Posts
3685
Joined
3/26/2011
Location
KS US
5/12/2018 7:42pm
What's your start gate procedure? I assume with no clutch, you're just sitting at zero throttle until the gate drops or can you powerbrake it?
burn1986
Posts
9740
Joined
4/16/2010
Location
bossier city, LA US
Fantasy
3280th
5/12/2018 8:36pm
Congrats man!
snydes
Posts
52
Joined
3/16/2018
Location
Pine Grove, PA US
5/13/2018 8:06am
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
ben990
Posts
394
Joined
10/20/2011
Location
Honeoye Falls, NY US
5/14/2018 5:06am
reded wrote:
What's your start gate procedure? I assume with no clutch, you're just sitting at zero throttle until the gate drops or can you powerbrake it?
I put the Alta in map 4, and once the starting board goes sideways, I slowly start creeping forward, with a little bit of throttle and a finger on the front brake. I don't look at my gate, but the gate mechanism a spot or two to the left of me. This starting secret will give you a 0.00990 of a second advantage, as the mechanism moves before the gate drops. You're welcome. When the gate drops, I twist the loud handle, I mean quiet handle, as far as it will go. After the first corner I will change into map 3 for the rest of the moto.

I usually like to start on the inside, because on the Alta it is so easy to grab the inside line and squirt ahead of clumps of riders if I am not up at the front.

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