FEATURE
2017 PIKES PEAK INTERNATIONAL HILL CLIMB
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tremendously with the 2016 project, and fancied a
crack at the mountain himself.
This year, we had two brand new, 2017 KTM
1290 Super Duke R machines at our disposal.
The best machine you can buy for the mountain,
the Super Duke has bucket loads of torque and a
chassis that does what you want, when you want.
And when combined with the new electronics
package for 2017, I knew the only people who were
going to beat us were ourselves.
The three months prior to our first session on
the mountain had us hunting down sponsors—an
almost embarrassing yet essential task for anyone
wishing to compete. With Cycle News and KTM
North America sharing the brunt of the expense,
Pirelli Moto USA came on board as our official tire
supplier and sent their rep Oscar Solis to help us
all week. The man would be worth his weight in
gold by week's end.
WP in Murrieta, California, gave us the after-
market suspension kits that transformed the Super
Duke from a street bike to a full-blown racer;
Rottweiler Performance fitted a new intake system
and Power Commander 5; Airtech Streamlining
supplied the belly pans; Super B Batteries would
give us a lithium ion battery each; Drive Systems in
Huntington Beach supplied chains and sprockets
to lower the gearing and Arai, Alpinestars and Tag-
ger Designs all pitched in to make sure I was safe
heading up the hill.
