Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125883
(; Gary Bailey's SlilI a= SlilI ...:I g ~ g -e- r- O"l l-o H ow to win MOTOCROSS * Part two: Your equipment il) ..!:l' o .... u o et's go o ver some basic thi ngs n o w. Cl o thin g, sa fety eq u ip men t. b ike prepa ra tion a n d things like that. I wan t to b e sure you r bi ke is se t up right , th a t you m a ke so me intelligent choices a bou t y o u r gear. a nd th at you don 't handicap yo ursel f just b y some si m p le little thi ng th a t yo u may n ot have tho ug ht ab ou t. L Boots Wit h .al l you r p ro tectiv e eq uipmen t. th ere are alwa y s two t hings to thin k ab ou t. You sho ul d ge t som e good gear to usc , an d the n yo u should alwa ys use it. I sa w a friend of m ine a t a ra ce one time, decide t o d o a wh eel ie wh ile he was weari ng t ennis sh o es. He fell a n d br oke h is an kle . Th e thing th at really bo th ered h im abo ut it was h e had just bo ugh t a hra nd ne w p air of 570 mo toc ro ss b o ots an d they we re sitting th ere in h is van while h e was o ut br ea kin g h is an kle. Your equip ment will never d o you a ny good if you don't use it. Yo u sho uld ha ve a p air of good strong boo ts t hat reach u p high eno ugh to protect the cal f of your leg from th e ed fo ot p eg. Six tee n inc h es h igh. meas"ur from the bottom o f the heel is ab ou t righ t unless you h ave a very lo ng or very short leg . Most b o ots specially mad e fo r .....ci ng are a bout tha t tall. If y o u lo o k fo r lace b o ot s, t he lin eman 's type is b est an d t hey will b e ta ll enough b u t they are very hard t o fin d . Mo st st o res only have 12-inch b oots and if y o u wear th em, the foot p eg can ge t you. Foot pe gs which ar e legal for racing ar e required to fold up wh en th ey run in t o so me th ing - th at is, they fo ld toward th e re ar an d sometim es th ey have a sp ri ng t o return th em to th e n ormal positi on. If yo u m an age t o fall with th e bi ke m oving bac kw ards o n to yo ur leg, o r so me times even s traigh t d own o nto yo ur leg, th e fol d ing p eg will not always fo ld an d it ca n really h urt yo ur leg muscl e. High b o ots give yo u at leas t so me protec t ion . Yo ur boo ts sh ould h a ve a s teel p lat e in t he so le, under th e arch of y o u r fo ot. Yo u will be standing a lot an d leath er soles don' t 'do th e jo b with o u t th e steel rei nfo rce ment . Th e y m ay be stiff enough when th ey are ne w but afte r a while th ey will st art he nding d own ov er the pe gs and won't giv e y our fo o t proper sup p o rt . All MX b o ots shou ld have a steel arch a n d most do . but it is a good idea to che c k wh en y ou buy th e m just to h e sure . Linema n's boots arc d esign ed for t elep hone lin em en to us c wh en climbi ng pol es, a n d th ey normally have a steel p late in th e so le. T he heel of yo ur hoot sho uld be wed ged , or ta p ered back . so it ca n 't ho ok o n so m e th in g wh en y o u a re slidi ng your fo ot on the gro un d. A lot of tim es th e su rface of th e trac k will wea r aw ay , particularly in the turns, a nd expose th e roots o f nearby . trees o r b ushes. If you 've ever tried t o break o n e o rp ull a root out of the ground , you k no w h ow strong they a rc . Ho ok up y ou r h eel o n something like that while ri d ing nex t to ano the r m otorcycl e an d you r an kle . m ay wind up stic kin g in to the o th er guy 's wh eel. 8 * Cop yrigh.t 19 74. Mo tocro ss b o o ts sh ould have steel arch ; hard t oes an d t aper ed heel. If yo u buy a- b o o t w ith out a wedged heel, it's easy to ta per th e h eel w it h a kni fe or a hac ksaw bl ad e. Just a ngle it bac k at a bou t 4 5 d egr ees and you have eli mi na ted one m o re possible way of ge tting hurt. A h ard to e is 3 nece ssit y. Some boots ar e m ad e wi th a steel c ap o ve r th e toe and th ese arc best if you ca n find th em . O the rw ise they should h ave a hard-fiber toe-cap , w hich is wh a t m o st people ride with . If the toe is soft, so you can feel it move when you push on it with yo ur fingers , do n 't buy t hat b o o t. If you wear y our pants inside your boo ts. th en yuu ca n we ar a n k le-h igh soc ks if yo u want to. I wear lo ng so cks tha t m a ke a fold over the top o f the boot fo r t wo reasons. T he socks give a littl e more p addin g an d p rot ec tion to my legs an d th ey fill u p th e top' o f th e bo ot whi ch kee ps de bris fro m goi ng d own inside. If y o ur b o ots ar en 't fairl y snug a t th e lop , yo u will oflen c at ch so m e t h ing in them r igh t a t th e start / wh en all the ro cks an d dirt cl ods a re flying. It usually d oesn 't ta ke long fo r th e st u ff to w ork down under yo u r fo o t an d then you m ay b e h andicapped for the rest o f a m o t o b y hav ing to sta n d a littl e bit a wk wa rd ly o n yo ur foo t a n d no t bei ng a b le to co nce n tra te ent irely o n the race. In cid entall y . a go od guess fo r your boot si ze to wear with h ea vy soc ks is half a size lon ger a nd one fu ll size wider th an wh a t yo u w ear fo r stree t shoes. Leathers I think eve ryo ne sh ould wear leather pants b ecau se th ey are go od protection . Som e people wear jeans wh en they a re j us t st a r ting o ut be cause th ey d on ' I kno w if they a re reall y go in g to li ke rac ing . Or they may h a ve spen t all th eir m o ne y on th e Like a n d have to economi ze fo r a whil e. If y ou do we ar jea ns. it 's a go o d idea to wear a p a ir of long jo hn s unde rneath them because th e comhination wiII giv e yo u a lo t m o re protection tha n just t he pants a lo n e. B U L lea th er s a re be t ter protection an d yo u sho u ld get a pa ir as soon as yo u can . Two types o f lea the r pants are co m mo n ly w orn. M o s t o f th e Eu ro p ea n- made leath ers arc go at s ki n whi ch is relatively thin. If they are soiled y o u can turn the ho se on th em and wash th em with out worrying about rotting th em out. Th ey arc stro ng and resist a b rasio n quite well but are not ver y resistan t to geu in g ripp ed because th e leather is thin. G oat sk in leath er s a rc ve ry light wei ght an d a bo ut as co o l as wearing a pair o f jeans. A lot o f the Am eri can-made lea ther pa n ts a re m ad e o ut o f co wh ide, which is very h eavy, a nd they d o ge t e x trem ely warm when the su n co m es up and you 're working h ard. You'll swe a t a lot in them. They will probably last a bou t tw o or three times as long as go at skin be cause they ar e he avier and h ard to rip. Sti tching is important. Sometimes pants come apar t a t th e scams long before th ey arc othe rwise worn o u t. Th e st itching sh ould b e nyl on o r da cron ra th er th an co tton th read. Wh atever kind yo u buy, they sho u ld hav e good p add ing ove r yo ur kn ees an d h ip s and sho u ld fit well so th e p adding stays wh er e it is su p p ose d to b e. They can b e a little tight to b egin with because th e leath er wiII s tre tc h so m e an d co n fo rm so it fits yo u better th an wh en th ey are brand new. If they a re a little loo se to b egin , it does n ' t h urt anythi ng a nd gives yo u a little m ore breathi ng roo m an d m an euvering ro om. Som e lea th er will ge t stiff after you have sweated in it a whil e. T h e co m m erci a l lea th er-care preparations sad d le soap . n ear s foo t oil, a n d things like tha t - wiII d o a pr e tt y good j o b of kee p ing th e leat he r clean a nd fle xibl e. I wash my lea thers wi th cold water fro m a hose an d a p ply lea ther softener while the lea th er is still we t. Then ru b it in th o roughl y. If y ou put it o n aft e r th e leathe r h as dried, it won ' t work as well. Kidn ey belt . T hese a re n ' t as pop u lar as they used to be a nd I d on 't th ink every rid er n eed s to w ea r o ne, I o nly use one when th e tra ck is extre m ely ro ugh a n d the bike is heing jolted aro u nd cons ta n tly. Then I ,th in k t he b el t helps give a little hac k sup port . A b elt is no su bs t it u te fo r being in good physical con di tio n . It will help yo u r muscles h o ld y our in na rds to ge th er b ut your muscl es wiII d o t ha t all b y the mse lves if you a re in good sha pe to b egin with . Arm pro tection The b est p rotec t ion fo r yo ur up per body is the sam e as th at u sed on yo ur lower b ody - leath er. But i t 's j ust too hot to wear unless you a re r acing o n a co ld d a y in th e wi n ter a nd even then yo u'll sweat a lo t inside it. Road ra ce rs we ar le ath er ja c ke ts bu t th ey a rc no t \~vo rki ng nearl y as h ard as a guy out th ere on a m oto cross track. Le ather is usually no t wo rn a bove the wai st for t hat reas o n. If i t is c o o l enough, go ahead a nd wear y our lea th er to p. If no t , then so me p eople wea r sw ea t sh irts with lo n g sleeves b eca use the material is absorbent a n d fai rly heavy. T h er e a re so m e ny lon mo tocross jerseys o n t h e mar ket w h ich are good for warm weather. They h a ve holes in th e materi al wh ich le ts th e ai r bl ow th ro ug h th em an d it keeps you a lot cooler. Th ey u suall y h ave so me padding on th e ar ms which h elp s if yo u fall o ff. O n a reall y h ot d a y, you ca n run wat er o ve r th em a n d wring th em o ut a little bit before yo u put th em o n an d go ra cing. They arc ni ce and coo l until they dry o u t agai n. If y ou fall off, yo u are go ing to h it th e gr ound with o ne o r b oth o f yo u r a nrt s. If y ou sta rt sliding al o ng on bare skin you 'll los e so me of it in a hurry. Even a th in co tto n lon g sleeve will d o a n amazi ng j ob of protectin g you, but it You go rid ing a ro u nd in a n open f ield a nd a weed-filled h o le can make you glad you a re wea ri ng y o ur he lmet . Photo is posed . sho u ld be a lo ng sleeve. M ost co urses today require long slee ves but if y o u get to o ne which will a llo w yo u to ride in a sh ort sleeved T shirt, d on 't ! Gloves You should wear glov es when you ri de . Som e pe ople hav e n o ticed th at I don't wear the m a nd wh en I m ake t h is recomm enda tion in a sch ool they say, "Well , G ary, wh y d on't y o u wear 'em ?" Th e reason is my hands are to o large . A p air of glo ves th at don't fi t w ell is wo rse than no glo ves at all, so I d on't wear any glo ves. Lots of t imes I could have used the pro tec ti on a nd if yo u ca n ge t gloves th a t fi t . th en yo u sho u ld wear th em . Helmet Th ese arc so me ti mes called "brain bu c ke ts " a nd there m igh t be less n onsens e a b o u t weari n g t he m if tha t was th eir offi cial n am e. Y ou h ave t o wear one w h en ra cing because i t 's re q uired by th e rul es an d al so b y co m m o n sense . lf yo u arc li steni ng to yo ur co m m o n sense, yo u will put on y our hel m et eve ry tim e you get on a m ot orcy cl e. I'm s ure m ost rider s h a ve gone off a m otorc y cl e hard goi ng slow as well as go in g fast, p articularl y whe n they le as t expec t it. Sometimes y ou h ave a n experien ce th at c o n vinc es yo u nev er to ri de wit hou t yo u r h elm et - o r at least' you hope it do es. I h ad an e xperi en ce down in H ousto n t ha t wa s a real con vincer . I had b een jett ing a new 125cc tha t h ad a flat spot - we'll tal k la t er ab o u t h ow t o d o th at. Anyway, I h ad been wo rk in g on it for a co u p le of da y s a n d h ad it wh ere I th ough t it was pretty good and I th ought th e last c ha nge I h ad m ad e wou ld p u t it j ust wh ere it should be. When y o u th in k yo u h a ve go t it j ust right , you are always a little an xio us t o try it out and see. I had been using th e workshop of a local d eal ersh ip wi th a big pa ved p ar king lo t , so I just p ushed the bike o ver there an d started it up . Wh a t ca n go wrong o n a b ig flat p ar king lot? M y he lmet was b ac k in the trai ler an d I got o n th e b ike w ithou t it an d st art ed to ri d e. But th en I th ought abou t it twic e, got off a n d went back for my h elmet. I gu ess I'v e told people often enough n ev er to ride without a helmet th at it had thoroughly soaked into me. ' With m y helmet on, I made three or fo ur pa sses up and down the lo t a nd th e bike fe lt like it was going p retty" good. I de cided to make one more pass and I was feeling glad a bou t finally ge tting th e b ike right. so I· put it in second and pulled a littl e wh eel ie. Just when I got it up o n th e rear wh eel, a ca r ca me through tha t p arking (Contin.ued on page 20)