You've been waiting for the announcement of the winner in our Project Mini Moto bike build-off and the wait is now over!

For those new to MCUSA's Project Mini Moto, we suggest checking out the individual links to the right for a quick guide to one of our most ambitious projects ever. Sure, it seems like an easy thing to do: Give four teams a Honda XR50 and $2K to hop up it as they see fit. But like most things in life there are complications, complications, and more complications.

Somehow we made it through some major problems and logistical road blocks, and it was finally time to enjoy the fruits of our labor. We headed out to John Lawton's mini track for a day of rumbling, stumblin', crash-infested fun in the foothills of Southern Oregon. There's only one way to declare a winner; line them up and ride the snot out of them! We took all aspects of the bike into consideration. Our main categories were ridability, workmanship, and aesthetic appeal. Based on those three main categories we chose a winner and crowned the MCUSA Project Mini Moto winners.

Three of the bikes were relatively similar in terms of general build as three of the four teams (Content/Editorial; Graphics/Tech; Superstore) decided to put 88cc big-bore kits into their 50s with various suspension upgrades.

The crew representing the warehouse put the majority of their money into the motor, building a 110cc mini-monster, and it showed from the shoddy graphics to the "custom" subframe. Franken-50 looked a little scary to ride, especially since its short suspension made it look like a midget on his knees.

The three 88cc bikes were quickly fired up and maneuvered around the track. At first, it seemed like it would be a wash; all the bikes had virtually the same amount of power available and all handled relatively well. However, the more laps we took, the more noticeable the individual characteristics were.

The Graphics/Tech bike is a solid machine, and around the track there is no question it is a contender. The majority of money went into Sano P1 chromoly frame from Sano Systems, which they hoped would strengthen the bike and allow for bigger jumps and longer bike life. The benefits of the chassis upgrades were obvious from the first time we took a lap around Lawton's track.

The Sano frame helped the bike track well through corners and it holds its line well. It feels pretty decent going over the modest tabletop on the back straight, however, the lack of an aftermarket shock hurts the bike's seating position and mid-air stability. Money spent on the motor meant some had to be saved elsewhere, so the team went with a stiffer spring in the rear in lieu of a full aftermarket shock. It was better than stock, but ultimately isn't the equal of a purpose-built 50s-specific shock. The seat was a little low and subsequently left the rider down in the bike as opposed to sitting on top.

Up front the team opted for a BBR SP-5 fork kit, which was awesome. It was worth every penny and did a great job of soaking up hits and the more bumpy sections of the track. Most importantly, the bike went where it was pointed and exhibited excellent handling characteristic up front. The suspension's biggest deficiency revealed itself when jumping over the tabletop. The rear end had a tendency to be a little unpredictable, which made for some nice black and blue flesh marks the day after testing.

By contrast the Content machine was a straight as an arrow over the tabletop. Our writers came up with a combination of an upgraded engine with mild suspension tuning for a balanced machine. We tried to take the high road by purchasing a good shock and a mediocre fork, reasoning that we weren't going to do any huge airs and therefore figured the rear suspension should get the most significant upgrade.

The result was a bike that tracked well over the rough stuff and in the air. The Sik50s aftermarket fork did a pretty good job, but our desire to save money cost us as the day went on. It proved to be structurally unable to hold up to the rigors of hard riding. There was audible clunking at the end of the day and made us yearn for beefy fork like the BBR and Sano versions on the other bikes.

The iShock out back brought the rear end up and made it easy to maneuver around the track. Even over the tabletop it stayed straight and the back end didn't exhibit any of the characteristics that turned us off to the other machines.

The Superstore machine was easily the best looking bike of the bunch. Of course, it should have, as Simon and Don blew their budget like their middle initial was W. Their original plan of purchasing parts cut-rate on Ebay proved to be a nightmare. Opting to forgo the rules, they tricked out their bike and damn near created a 50s masterpiece.

They almost pulled it off too, were it not for a little incongruency in the rear end. The bike was plenty powerful and handled really well in the corners, but going over the tabletop was taking a chance with the laws of self preservation. The rear end of the bike would kick wildly to one side or the other. Subsequently, I received a contusion on my tibia. The first time I tried to match the newly built 50 with my less-than-impressive skills, the bike's backend went right while I stayed straight. By the time we came back down I met terra firm with the same force of a parachute-less skydiver. Not pretty.

Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that the aftermarket swingarm the team chose required an aftermarket shock to compliment the extra length.

The Warehouse machine, in short, was a mess. It did have the biggest engine of the bunch, boasting 110cc of pure adrenaline, but that's about all it was boasting. Besides the BBR bombshell fork up front, the rest was custom-built in-house and these guys aren't exactly master fabricators.

At full-tilt boogie, the rear end would swap back and forth on the straights. Navigating corners was, well…just plain stupid at any speed other than slow. Needless to say it was a mess, so it basically boiled down to a three-horse race. However, the Superstore's machine had too many problems going over the tabletop to be considered a front-runner. This left the Graphics/Tech machine and the Content/Editorial machine as possible winners.

We hate to say it, but we have to hand the overall title to the Graphics/Tech bike, despite the low seating position. It wins by virtue of its ability, component choices, and aesthetic appeal. Our beloved Content bike was a close second, but ultimately it didn't look as good and the fork issues reduced it to the runner-up position.

Three-Bike Shootout

Of course, once we rode all the bikes, the teams wanted to do more upgrades. But instead of continuing to nickel and dime our way on these bikes, we wondered which manufacturer would have the best machine if we used just all of their parts to upgrade the machines….Ah, an idea is born.

The next chapter of MotorcycleUSA's project mini moto is a three-way shootout with the industry's top parts manufacturers. MCUSA put together bikes utilizing the parts of Sano, BBR, and Sik50s to see which is the leader of the off-road industry's hottest trend. We'll keep you posted on the initial results and look for the full shootout in the next two months. Check back to see which one of our hopped-up 50s will win during the next installment of MCUSA's Project Mini Moto.