Ask Ping!
Friday, February 3, 2012 | 10:00 AM
ODI dates back to the 1980’s as the leader in grip manufacturing. Focusing primarily on the bmx and mountain bike industries through the 90’s and early 2000’s, ODI re-entered the motocross scene when they developed the patented lock-on grip system that eliminates wire and glue. Continuing to advance the way riders hold on to their bikes, ODI has worked closely with the teams they support such as Troy Lee Designs to create the product that is now being used by some of the top teams in the industry.
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PrintLast night I had a nightmare and you were in it with me. We were at a track hiding in the back woods waiting for a 2-stroke to come by so we could smell the exhaust. We got busted and the cops arrested us for smelling 2 stroke exhaust because the Government said it causes cancer.
I woke up and laughing and wrote it down so I wouldn’t forget to write you today. What do you think it means? Am I suffering withdraws from Bean Oil? Or do you think I am suffering from all of the hard hits I have taken over 35 years of riding?
I also want to let Trey and Ryan and the other injured riders know our thoughts are with you as you recover.
Dave Dayley
Mmmmm, that is delicious. Can you smell it?
That smell is so awesome that I almost think that could happen. Of course being hunkered down in a back wood with someone I don’t know seems really inappropriate no matter what the circumstance. I’m sure you’re a great guy and all but let’s do our two-stroke exhaust huffing out in a public place to keep things on the level. I guess I’m just a little gun-shy after all the drama in the news lately. The scale of how much you like young people is now being measured from Casey Anthony to Joe Paterno and I’m just not comfortable with either end of that spectrum. That said, I’m a Maxima 927 kind of guy so hopefully that brand and model suits your palette. See you on the business end of a silencer in an open pit area soon.
PING
Dear Ping,
I think the notion that motocross will ever be “mainstream” is stupid. Of course it won’t be. But that’s okay. While I love to see MX/SX gain ground and get better TV packages, more and better sponsors and some mainstream media coverage – my hometown media still treats our annual Supercross like a variety act on the Johnny Carson show. But it does get coverage and that’s okay. Any publicity is good, right?
Anyhoo, I have this uncanny ability to spot a dirt bike in a pickup truck driving the opposite way on the freeway in six lanes of traffic. I can usually tell the make, model and year of the bike within a jiffy too. My eyes are also drawn like magnets to dirt bikes on TV, in advertisements or anywhere else.
Recently, I came across an item at the grocery store that made me do a double take as I walked past. My moto-hunting eagle eyes saw a picture of this bike (attached) on a box of MaxxDry Shoe and Boot Dryers. Fine I thought – that bike is only a few decades old. At least we’ve got some mainstream acknowledgement, yeah! Well, upon closer inspection, this bike looks like it had one inverted fork and one conventional fork. That can’t be right, can it? It’s just that one of the lower fork guards was ripped off and there’s a shiny reflection on the other upper fork leg, right? I can’t tell! I couldn’t find a bigger picture than this one online but I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind taking a gander and telling me what exactly this thing that caught my eye at the grocery store is. Is it some crazy works bike from the days when men were men and MXA editors weren’t AARP members? Is it just a reflection? A bad photoshop job maybe? What is it?!
Thank you for your help, best wishes,
Paul Nash
Jody's first race?
Good eye, Paul. Way to spot the obscure motorcycle ad sitting in isle nine above the Mop-N-Glo. This image is about as grainy as anything ever shot of the Loch Ness Monster so trying to identify exactly what we have here is difficult. Judging by the shape of the front fender I would guess it is a Yamaha from the early nineties. The fork could be conventional with those accordion rubber boots that used to cover the slider. Maybe the left one is missing and the right lower leg is still clean. More likely it is an upside down and he is missing a fork guard on the right. The left upper fork could be wiped clean from the fork guard housing. Much like spotting a penis on those Big Foot photos to determine the beast’s gender, I don’t really have a solid answer for you on this one. Two things I can tell you for certain:
One-Nobody cares. You need to let this go.
Two-After looking at this guys handlebars and muddy eyeballs I think wet boots are the least of his problems.
Thanks for the letter.
PING
Dear Ping,
I live here in the overcrowded ashtray that is the San Fernando Valley. And, no, I don’t direct, produce or act in pornographic films. My question is why does James Stewart, and at times Chad Reed, get booed by so many fans during opening ceremonies? I went to A1 and the LA round and I was literally embarrassed by all the boo-birds in the stands. Maybe this is just normal fan behavior but it seems like everyone could at least respect his talent and sit quietly instead of booing. What’s your take?
Scott Sidders
No media allowed
Motocross fans are a fickle bunch. I don’t care how much I dislike a rider I would never boo him during an opening ceremony. What I would do is scream like a little girl putting on her first bra when I see him get knocked over a berm by another rider. That can be written off as enthusiasm for good racing. I think the issue with James stems more from his off-track antics than his riding or results. He quit racing the nationals for the past several years, a move seen by many as the easy way out. Though I don’t see Kevin Windham losing any fans over skipping the summer races. James was arrested for impersonating an officer. This is awesome at a Halloween party but inexcusable when pulling people over on a highway. His Bubba’s World show portrayed him in a pretty ugly light, in my opinion. Between the Lamborghini, Sorby and all the time off he took due to injuries and not racing the nationals it was off-putting for fans. On top of all that he has been distant with the media over the years. He is reclusive and difficult to reach for the most part and that doesn’t help with fans. The funny thing is if he starts winning and races all the nationals this summer people will be back onboard the Bubba train. What will all the beer-soaked idiots in the stands do when they don’t have him to crap on anymore? I don’t know but if I were Chad Reed I’d be very careful.
PING
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One of the most successful—and controversial—team managers of all time, Larry Brooks is looking to return to the races. Page 146.
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Impulse Studios
Mmmmmm......race gas and caster oil in the moring.
Nice caption. That set up is certainly consistant with the technical advice his magazine gives.
In a couple more years Reed and JS7 will have ridden off into the sunset and who to boo then? Trey and RD are too nice to bag on and RV is too much of bad A. Maybe CP will come back or Roczen will miff the fans somehow and keep the boobirds going.....haters gonna hate.
Yea I remember when Reed used to get all the boos, how soon those "fans" jump on your bandwagon... I was always a Reed fan, even when it seemed like I was the only one in the stands....
No one is immune to boos. When Reed and Stewart are gone, I think RV will be next in line. I remember the boos loud and clear when Ricky was on the Honda (I was one of them lol) and you don't get any more BA than him!
Put me down for two shots of Caster!
Bigfoot is carrying a man bat? Why do you knw that Ping?
I was hoping for someone to ask Ping to look into his crystal ball and see who is gonna win this weekend? So Anyhooo we will have to wait to see what Ping saw in the Chrystal Ball? Now I do miss the smell of Castor oil in the mornings of early motocross it was a good luricant but mixing it 20 to 1 ratio caused some real jetting problems wonder what hose nefangled EFI's would do with that stuff. Oh but it smelled great!
I hate Boobirds anywhere any sport nuff said???!!
Now Poor Paul has to much time on his hands to be wondering about that poster at the store? Now Im gonna go find that poster and get an answer.
Castrol R, no smell like it IMO. Remember when my brothers & I could pick out a dirtbike AnyWhere. Drove my Mom NUTS.
RC was booed for jumping after the big money that is Honda, combined with dressing in Kings garb at the USOpen, and we all know the KIng is Mcgrath. And RC was kinda distant to the press and fans too. Once the fans saw his dedication toward the sport, and his engagement with the fans they all came over to him. He became the GOAT. Stewie went the way of Larry Brooks, who along with Big Stewie told him he was a God, a Rock Star, and bigger than the sport and kept him hidden in his rv and had him convinced he was bigger than the sport, and Stewie went for it. He changed ans he won a title or two. That and basically not racing in a few years due to injuries and being a tv star, he became disconnected to fans. That and his HUGE EGO.. If he gets humble, quit saying he "threw the title away" instead of just saying "I got beat" He will win some fans back.
By the way. I have NEVER and will never boo a rider, it is childish and ignorant. Leave that redneck crap for the NASCAR fans..
The bike is an 88 yz250. You can tell its that year due to the conventional forks. The 89 had the same frame and plastic (look at left side radiator shroud it was three times bigger than the right, ugly) as the 88 but had inverted forks. Ping it is easy to tell they are both conventional due to the bottom of the fork being below center of wheel. This was one of the main reason for going to an inverted fork as you no longer had to worry about fork under-hang catching on ruts.
James has a knack for throwing fuel on the fire. He seems to be maturing a bit but the Weimer incident didn't help his cause. Why did they cancel his show?.....money, ratings, did he quit it?
The bottom of the forks catching on a rut. That's probably something no one under 30 has had to deal with, unless they race vintage.
Havoc7 needs to flip the cornholing boo birds (mostly non middle school grad wanna be thug drunks) the finger then go win one ....that would be er ah topic for conversation...lol . 927 (great oil) for some reason makes me physically ill when I use it ...Blendzall or the original Castrol R 747 has the fragrance i require. @BD200 have you ever actually spent time with JS or is this just based on a few minutes of TV. I doubt if even a few people know what its like to wear those shoes.....GO RV1.....
Allright, allright! Time to give you kids a turn-on. Go to an RC race, (not THAT RC), I'm talking about remote control cars, dune buggies, etc, the ones that run on nitro! If you get hooked, I will NOT support your habit though!
I don't know if I think the booing is the worst thing in the world. I know in James' case people think it's a personal attack (and it probably is in some cases), but when we go to any team sports at the pro level don't we cheer our team and boo the other team? I know I do, although I'm from the Buffalo area and my teams don't give me much to cheer about, I still boo the Toronto Maple Leafs. It's not personal, it's about the home field advantage. SX is different and I don't boo any racers because I respect them all, but I should be able to boo if I don't like a guy or his antics. As fans sometimes cheering or booing is our only avenue to say how we feel. All that being said, most of the people I have seen boo at an MX or SX are uneducated about the sport and probably think a powerband is an actual physical part of a motorcycle.
mmmmmmmmmm... Maxama 927. I run it in my sons little LT50 with av gas then make him ride around in front of me just so i can smell it! lol
Some of the best races I have EVER seen have been in RadioControlled
On another note I really think stewrts color has something to do with it. I remember at southwick one year meand my girl (at the time) drove over and it got real bad towards him up there...and that is a supposedly liberal state.
I wouldn't want to come out of my motorhome either when people get nasty like that...from some of the posts I have read on this site there are definately racial underpinnings to comments SOME people make towards the guy...
I really don't get why fans croon so much over any one rider...its like they are living vicariously through them or something...reminder people...these guys really don't care what you think. They have an agenda - win races. Not worrying about what you say about them on racerx
As far as booing a racers that's just lame, most of us can only imagine what it's like to spend a day in these guys' shoes.
We should all cheer for them just because the simple fact that in the USA we have the greatest racers on this mudball and we are blessed for that!!
Booing riders is so disrepectful.
@Ping, wow someone has some real man love for you! I never knew you had that kind of effect on people! Well I guess there coming out of the closet for you now! lol
I would stop in the garage every morning before school and sit on my Yamaha GT 80 just to allow the senses to drink it in. Run home after school and do laps in the small yard till mom said the neighbors have had enough. Weekends we would hit the trails.
I sold the PW80 I got for my young son because he showed no interest. Told the wife we need to get a DNA test. Ha Ha
RM 250 and Golden Spectro
@welker 20 to 1 ratio wow dude, what did you run at 20 to 1? Thats alot of fowled plug I'd bet.
@blackjack I'm in the same boat, my son now 10 has no interest at all either. My daughter has more interest then him, guess thats just more for me then I guess
BobTheBuilder
the Weimer incident?! Hahaha! You only noticed b/c it was towards the front of the pack and not a race for 17th place; there was hardly even any contact. Moss taking out Sipes (was it?) in this years PHX LCQ and Reed smashing Stewart last year in ATL were incidents!
2stroke oil:
Blendzall was quality! I'm still a fan of running HP2
@MF637- Back in the day, like early 1970's, 20 to 1 was the recommended ratio. Even the shop manual i have for my CZ recommends 20 to 1. Yes, fouled plugs were a commom occurrence. Welker remembers all to well! Also no reed valves either and bikes would load badly. Thankful for modern day technology!
gbs417 I only mentioned it because the crowd booed him. Whether it meets everyones definition of a racing "incident" is subjective. Just saying he gives the haters plenty of ammunition, on and off the track.
My wife says I need to spray when I leave the bathroom...... I'm thinking of an air freshener the scent of Klotz octane booster mixed with Bel-Ray, of course coming out the silencer of a '79 RM250. Dang, I miss that smell....
I don't "boo" riders, and there was no "Weimer incident". I can't imagine being a true fan and boo'ing any rider who makes it to that level. But I do know a lot of casual "fans" who only know what someone told them. They're usually the ones. Lastly, James' so-called off-track antics amount to one misdemeanor offense that was just a case of bad judgment. No wonder he avoids certain media types. If I were him, I wouldn't give you the time of day. James has never been treated the same as other riders. He'll always be picked on an scrutinized and judged harshly, and we all know why. Sad but true.
Gotta say Bubba doesnt exactly endear himself to fans. As alot have said he needs to humble himself, maybe win back some hearts and minds.
JArbuckle, that cracked me up. My wife says the same thing!!
And, as I use a chainsaw alot, I run her on the same mix as my trusty '82 restored RM250......Maxima!!! so get my fix often!!
Running bean oil 20-1 would work as a pesticide AND leave a shiny waterproof coating on everything in site.
Hahah I am booing Ping. For a guy who likes to dis us homeys about bad grammar you sure cased it on 'Isle nine'. It used to be spelled 'Aisle nine'. Maybe a little less huffing the blue smoke as you grow older. Shizzl this is fun!
@vintage If I remember correctly, that 82 zook was a phenomenal bike for that year.
maxima castor - the smell of victory - for sure - no doubt - gnarly
nice whip ping
Case in point: James comes out during A2 opening ceremonies and throws out a wild boys wheelie with arm swing. The JS7 haters are going to jump all over that. Why even go there?