Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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VOL. 52 ISSUE 28 JULY 14, 2015 P117 tive race bike for their son and head straight to the track and line up on the starting gate. With few notable exceptions (like the Bultaco Astro and Ossa Stiletto) it was a lot more complicated to go flat track racing. You had to buy an engine and then a Redline or Champion frame, a set of wheels, gas tank, etc. So motocross participa- tion grew and flat track dwindled. So it's with that historical background you can understand why watching 450 motocross bikes go around a TT or short track isn't many flat track fans' cup of tea. And then there's the sound. Motocross bikes sound cool on motocross or Supercross tracks where riders throttle up for short bursts and then are rapidly again off the throttle. If there is anything more irritating in motorsports than the sound of 450cc motocross machines droning around a Half-Mile or Mile, or even a short track at full throttle I'm not sure what it is. Put that ear- piercing, unpleasant tone indoors and people are running for the exits. The history of one and done or short-lived short tracks and TTs are long. The Du Quoin Indoor, the Salinas (California) Short Track and TT, the Gas City (Indiana) Short Track, the Tunica (Mississippi) Indoor, the list goes on. The Mecca of flat track racing, Springfield, Illinois, couldn't even support doubleheader weekends with a short track or TT combined with the legendary Mile, and the fabled Castle Rock TT was recently canceled. The question is could you get the current crop of riders, none of whom have ridden the big Twins on short tracks or TTs behind the idea? Several riders I talked to dismiss the idea of racing Twins on small tracks out of hand, citing the possibility of broken frames, the inability to change your line as quickly and so on. One rider who at least thinks racing the Twins on some of the bigger short tracks and TTs would be possible is Bryan Smith, but even someone as open to the idea as Smith has a lot of concerns. "I've seen the tapes of the old Peoria and that jump was not nearly as big then as it is now," Smith says. "Peoria is a big enough track to maybe run the big bikes, but they would have to do a lot of work to the track. The same thing for Daytona. Could we have a decent short track race at Daytona the way the track is set up now? No. But I'm not saying it would be impossible. If it was worked on and prepared a certain way there might be a possibility." The one thing that bothers Smith is, to this point he's hearing that "this is just the way it's go- ing to be, we're going to race Twins." He says if they do plan on making that change they cer- tainly need to get rider and team input. "Do some testing at Peoria," he says. "Put Henry Wiles on a Harley and have him go around the place. He's the best rider there and if anyone could figure out if it could be done, it would be him. "I think with TTs you're going to have to make the jumps more mild. You're going to have to make the landings on a downslope, not like Castle Rock where you're essentially landing on flat ground." Smith concluded by saying that he thinks the biggest reason people haven't come out to watch short track and TT races is because of the speed. "People like to see the speed of the big tracks, especially the miles," he explains. "I don't think just going out and throwing us on Twins at a bunch of little short tracks is going to be the answer. Is anyone going to watch us race Twins on some bullring track where you never get any speed? I doubt it." Whatever the case, it seems the days of 450 motocross bikes in Grand National racing could be numbered. I for one don't think flat track fans will miss them in the least. CN NATIONAL SINGLES? Subscribe to nearly 50 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives