Heed 505 - January 2012

This weekend I ventured off to Santa Barbara, California to do a Chad Reed-style training camp which basically entailed riding the heck out of dirt and push bikes at and around Zaca Station. To my surprise, Sunday, off-road racing ace and Baja 1000 champ Kendall Norman showed up to put in some saddle time. Afterwards he invited me to do “Moto 2” at his friend’s nearby ranch.
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Kawasaki’s new Ninja ZX-14R as tested in the 2012 Kawasaki ZX-14R First Ride is now the undisputed leader in terms of outright horsepower and torque on our in-house Dynojet dyno, pumping out 186 horsepower and 110 lb-ft of twisting force at 190-series rear tire. Stay tuned for the full performance review coming soon.
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Motorcycle-USA is reporting live from the Big Apple, site of the annual New York International Motorcycle Show. While tour has already visited other parts of the U.S. this is the first chance many “east coasters” have to see, smell and touch the latest powersports equipment for ’12. Last night both Honda and Ducati hosted parties in Manhattan.
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Yesterday I visited Racetown 395 to spin some laps aboard our long-term Kawasaki KX250F as tested in the 2012 250 Motocross Shootout. Considering the loamy consistency of the dirt plus the fact that staff routinely modifies the layout make this high-desert track one of my favorites. Scott and the rest of the crew have again tweaked the layout and have done a fine job offering a variety of different jumps, turns and a few wide-open straightaways.
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We’ve still got a ways to go until we’re able to enjoy the long sun-soaked days of summer. Until then Perris Raceway offers dirt bike riders the opportunity to ride their motorcycles after the sunsets courtesy of overhead track lighting system. Overall the set-up does an adequate job of illuminating the track but some caution needs to be exercised as there are shadows that hide some ruts and bumps. Still, it’s way better than playing Playstation at home.
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