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10/21/2011
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Colorado springs, CO
US
Old-Man
9/9/2017 10:50pm
9/9/2017 10:50pm
Edited Date/Time
9/22/2017 7:02pm
This still is one of the better battles between Steve Wise And Danny Magoo Chandler.
I remember watching this like it was yesterday. No idea why the sport dropped off. Used to watch it regularly with Wardy and Henry going at it.
Enjoy
I remember watching this like it was yesterday. No idea why the sport dropped off. Used to watch it regularly with Wardy and Henry going at it.
Enjoy
The Shop
There's a cool tribute page on Facebook. You can easily navigate even if you don't have an account.
https://m.facebook.com/AbcSuperbikersTributePage/
The first AMA at Laguna was a decent track, in the space they had, off road was a two line turn, a bit of a stepped tabletop, and a wave section, followed by two flat turns, and back onto the asphalt, turn 1 was a turn onto dirt , but it was pretty grippy, i broke my foot the week before, but seeing as the flights were paid for and people were putting themselves out, i came over, qualified easily for the open main, and missed the 450 by 1 in the LCQ, on a Cycle News supplied CRF450 , there were 10 factory KTM riders some doing both classes , Doug Chandler Kurt Nicoll, Benny Carlson, Chris Carr, Chris Filmore , and a bunch of other guys, plus Wardy and Mcgrath on the TLD Honda's .. i was the only person there i never heard of, the racing was great, i made the mistake of moving over for Nicoll on the last lap, as i got blue flagged, and Carlson and Chandler passed me, i though it was a 3 way battle for the lead, cost me a top 10.
When they bought supermoto to X games, the guys who helped me out in the US were involved in sorting riders, most of the AMA guys were asked, and i was sounded out as an alternate, my guy said there was a bike available, and if there was a no-show or bail out in quali, i would be good to go, but it was a lot of money, the start was on an MX style gate , and it was going to be on TV, and i didnt want to be 'that guy' who everyone wonders why the hell he is out there... it was a good call. I think they got Kenny Bartram in for the spot.
For a regular Joe like me, i got to race bar to bar with Scott Russell, I passed Ryan Hughes ,straight up, and raced Ward. Mcgrath, Langston, Everts, Schwantz, Chandler, and the like , because thats what the sport was supposed to be about , and if you were fast enough , you got the chance.
This is the biggest race of the year , run at Mettet in Belgium , each october. this is from last year's 30th anniversary event, i rode it for the 15th time, and did the 8 hour Live Freecaster feed commentary for the main race day .
Supermoto is alive and well in mainland europe.
If you want to talk about electric or 2t 4t not safe on the track with each other, you don't even want to think about how different it was with Steve on a modified MX bike against twin cylinder pigs from Harley, Triumph, Yamaha and more. Those were the days!
Chandler was awesome, but Steve was probably the king of Superbiker's. Kent Howerton is right in there.
Pit Row
One of my buddy's did the whole 2004 season and he was a top top roadracer (like show up on a club bike and top 10 a National) and a very good mx guy. No pro fast but like local track 'hey that guy goes pretty good' fast. He stopped doing supermoto because the jump sections were insane and dangerous.
I still watch European supermoto, which is going strong, and they haven't deviated from the base idea. Dirt sections that pretty much anyone can do! This allows for the cross-discipline guys to all be on more even footing and more importantly, allows weekend warrior racers to fill up the grid.
I'd be one of those weekend warrior guys. I could podium on my motard roadracing in Expert/Pro and in local MX get top 10 in C Vet. At first I was pumped when the Supermoto Nationals came to the area as I'd enter and 'give it a go'. Went to the track, saw the supercross sections that would be tricky on a damn MX bike and said 'yeah no'. And I was one of the better dirt guys within our roadracing supermoto club where we had 40 guys roadracing supermotos! I think out of our 40 or so motard guys only a couple entered the Supermoto National due to the crazy dirt sections.
Too bad. Still a good little scene in Socal for Supermoto (where I live now) but not like it was.
Mcgrath and Ward at Fontana, last but one turn, Pro Main, March 2003, with me behind , lap down after a crash with Scott Russell and Jimmy Lewis. was about a 40 second lap, so i wasnt far off, think i was 9th when we went down.
10 minutes after this pic was taken , we were on the freeway to LAX to catch a 3.30 flight, the Main started at 1pm
I do wish, somehow, Supermoto could have retained the 19inch Flat Track wheels, instead of the 17s.
When I ride my mates Short Circuit set up bikes, with, generally, 19s, they seem so much better than Supermotos I've ridden with 17s. On the dirt, especially so, and when it gets rough / there's any jumping to be done. I've (fairly happily) ridden them on MX tracks, wheras you could not pay me enough to use 17s on them.
Yes - it's entirely logical for 17s to have become, long, long ago for Supermoto the standard. 'Superbikers' morphed into Supermoto through the Europeans / Brits really taking it on / re-birthing it. Plenty of 17" wheels / rims tyres available.
Yes, I know I'm being an old curmudgeon ......
The Euros kept Superbikers going, with the yearly Guidon D' Or (I know I mis- spelt it) where riders / champions of all types would have at it, and it spread from the success of it. First, they had the Flat Track sized wheels, but rapidly went to 17s for the 'logical' reasons I put above.
philG : I assume you've ridden at that Bulgarian / Romanian / Wherever it bloody is, Supermoto track that had the tar whoops, jumps and berms? The place looked incredible, but hell, the carnage when a few pranged on it was full on.
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