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/1392185
FEATURE I AMERICAN FLAT TRACK RULE CHANGES P84 B y any number of mea- sures, Progressive American Flat Track has been basking in a new golden age as major initiatives to increase the series' profile and raise its overall level of professionalism have paid off handsomely. 2021 has furthered that trend in large part. The latest chapters of the rivalry be- tween Grand National Cham- pion friends-turned-foes Briar Bauman and Jared Mees are being written as the season evolves. And all the while, the ascension of Brandon Robinson has made for a captivating, three-way Mission SuperTwins heavyweight title fight. And yet, some critical foun- dational issues are glaring enough that it was deemed necessary to address them mid-season. It became impos- sible to ignore the fact that, in the fifth year of Indian Motor- cycle's overwhelming domina- tion of the premier class, all but three bikes in a numbers- depleted field are repre- sented by the all-conquering FTR750. In an attempt to directly ad- dress the issue, Progressive AFT announced the following three integrated steps starting with the Port Royal Half-Mile at the end of this month: 1) The minimum weight for Mis- sion SuperTwins bikes based around a "race-only engine" will increase from 310 to 330 pounds, while production- based machines will remain at 310 pounds, 2) the base flywheel for race-only-engined bikes must be fitted and can- not be modified in any way, conforming to the approved weight and dimensions with no mass added or removed, and 3) the maximum wheel assembly for bikes with race- only engines has been limited to 35 pounds compared to a 43 pounds maximum for production-based bikes. Despite the news of restric- tions being imposed upon the bulk of the Mission SuperT- wins teams, the need to do something—anything—was ob- vious enough that the immedi- There's no question that the AFT Championship has turned into a one-horse race when it comes to brands, and AFT wants to change that. Like, now. PHOTO: CHRIS HULTNER ate reaction was relatively muted. 2016 Grand National Champion Bryan Smith brings a unique perspec- tive. He's been around long enough to have raced through numerous rule adjustments and balancing attempts. He's also has been on all sides of the Indian war, going from a works Indian to a Howerton-framed Kawasaki to AFT ANNOUNCES A MID-SEASON ADDRESS THE OVERWHELMING PLATFORM—THE INDIAN BY CHRIS MARTIN PHOTOGRAPHY BY KRISTEN LASSEN