My 2017 Alta Redshift MX - Palmyra, NY motocross race

HEY! This is ben990! What's up guys? ... Sorry, GuyB, and others, I will never do that again.

Last Sunday it was time to race the Alta Redshift MX again at Hogback Hill, in Palmyra, New York.

On the way out there, my son and I got dumped on with a huge rain storm, and then to top it off, Dunkin Donuts forgot to put sausage on my sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwich. WTF?! I did not like the way this day was starting.

The rain let up just as we got to the track, but it was really wet and muddy. I kept on telling my son, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad attitudes, but I wasn't sure I believed it.

I signed up for +50, +40B, and +30B, the three fastest and most competitive classes offered (except for a bunch of other classes). Here is how my day went:

Practice - I did one lap of practice, on my 2016 Yamaha YZ450, because it was really muddy and slick, and I wanted to preserve my new plastic and graphics on my Alta, that have only been on for a week now. I pulled off after one lap, because the track was so muddy and it was not productive.

+30B - I did this on my 2016 Yamaha YZ450, as the track was still soft and muddy. Geez, these 4-stroke things are loud. Nice suspension, though! I slithered through 4 laps.

+50 - I did this on the Alta. I put it in Map 4, and the gate dropped, I twisted the loud (I mean quiet) handle on the right, and BAM! Holeshot! I led for about half a lap, and then got passed. I wasn't doing two big jumps that a couple of other riders were, but I keep telling myself, slow and steady wins the race... except in motocross. Sigh.

+40B - I also did this on the Alta. I put it in Map 4, and the gate dropped, I twisted the loud (I mean quiet) handle on the right, and BAM! Holeshot! Or almost. A CR450 edged me oput going into the first turn, and I had to settle for second in the holeshot.

+30B - On the Alta. I got a good start, but those young 30 year olds send it over some of the jumps. I keep on telling myself, wait until you are +50, and see how you send it then! Sometimes I wish it was like REM in California, where you can drop down a ranking if you race a class 10 years younger than your age - I could do +50B, +40C, and +30D... I think I could mop up that +30D class!

+50 - On the Alta again, and I pulled a nice holeshot again, thank you Alta map 4!

+40B - I bagged this, because I was tired and cranky,

My best class results of the day were in +50 - I ended up getting 2nd overall, good enough for a sweet plaque, that will help collect dust in my house for the next several years. And the best part of the day was that I got a $50 Hoselton Holeshot Award for my +50 holeshot in the first moto! Sweet! My first big check ever! I wanted to keep the $50 big check and put it in my office on display, but they insisted that I take $50 cash instead. I offered them $50 to let me take the check, but they refused.


Only 299 more holeshot awards and the bike will be paid for!

The Alta worked perfectly for the four motos I did on it. Each of my motos on the Alta use a little more than a 1/3 of the battery, and I have this charging thing down pat with my relatively quiet 220v generator. I just need to see if there is some sort of software upgrade to the Alta that has a map setting that will lower my sense of self-preservation so that I will "send it" more.

I am now at 714 miles and 56.8 hours on this thing, with no top-end job in sight!


Should I change the oil when I get to 3000 miles, like my truck?


This is usually when I sell my 4-stroke...