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/128237
PRf)jf~T liJik( BBR Motorsports Honda CRF170 Hot Looker, High Flyer: BBR MolDrsports can transform a Honda CRF150F into a full -blown, adult-sized mini terrorizer. The BBR parts are expensive but w orth every penny. me in a second and out of vie w in about five more. Embarrassed? Hell , no. Anyone who grew up when I d id remembers what we had to work with when we were kids. We us ually started on a trail bik e, like a Honda Z50, Trail 70 or 90 , a nd then moved up to more serious equipment. For the record , I di d own a 1981 YZ80 fro m the ti me I was 13 'til the time I wa s I S, bu t even th at w as a p ri miti ve p iec e of eq uip ment compar ed to even the Pee Wee 50 rock ets that kids are st arting o ut on to day. Lo ng, low broad j um ps and a rea r -wh ee l -first T T -st yl e la n din g te chni que were th e rul e of law. Dou bl e s and tr i pl e s on o ne of o ur minibi k es? Not a cha nce. But nowadays, than ks to the same tec h nological boom that mini kids have enj oyed , adults wanting to enjoy STOR Y BY SCOTT ROUSSEAU P HOTOS BY K IT PALMER AN D TED S CRUGGS t happens every single tim e I go to on e of the many m otocros s track s in So uth ern Ca li f o rn ia fo r a day of ri ding. J ust li ke clock work, I'll be out o n the trac k, fe el ing like I' m going prett y fast and enjoying a good d ic e with m y buddies wh en, sudden ly , the attack comes. B eeee yyyaaa aa , beeeey yy aa aa , beeey aaaahaa ah arup ! Som e 9 - to 14year-ol d mini ace , probab ly the next Jerem y , Ric ky ' o r B ub ba, b lows by m e o n some sc reaming , hypertrick , h i g h -t ech inc arn at io n o f t h e latest 85 c c motoc ross m ach ine. T h ro tt le w ide o pen a n d shi f ti ng like a ban shee, the ki d usu all y m ak es all the doubl es and trip le s in the park and rails every berm with ease . He' s by 40 O CTO BER 22 , 2 0 0 3 ' cue I e n e vw s real minibikes c an do so . T h e r e are a myriad of trick part s, hop -up kits an d ou t rig ht p a cka g e racers aimed sq u are l y at th e ad ult mi ni mar ke t. T he lat est ra ge is the so uped -up XR5 0 , bu t that bi ke lacks th e ph ys ical size to be prac tica l for use on a st andard -sized MX track. T ed Scruggs i s a 40 -some th ing general contractor fro m Northern Ca lifornia who wanted to ex p e rie nc e the t h ri ll s of a m odern m in i. An orig in al c ofo under of Fast Fridays Sp eed w ay , a forme r spee dwa y rac er and '70s-era motocros ser, Scrug gs was looki ng fo r a tr ic k b ike We w ere most Im pressed by the BBR c ha ssis and BBR suspe nsi on mods. eN's Dana Legere was ab le t o la nd multiple skyshots at Pe rris Ra ceway with nary a whimper from the bike.