RUMORS, GOSSIP & UNFOUNDED TRUTHS: THE CIRCUS DOESN'T COME TO TOWN UNTIL JANUARY 11

12/19/2024 09:30 PM

• TIME FOR A ROAD TRIP! ALL THE 2025 RACES & PLACES 

• MXA PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT: SCAR RACING TITANIUM GRIPPER FOOTPEGS

“Scar Racing Gripper footpegs are made with aerospace-grade titanium and strong welding. The body of the footpeg is 60mm wide, making it 10mm wider than most OEM pegs. The pegs are also ultralight at approx- imately 300 grams per pair. Each set is hand-fabricated to maintain premium quality, and the pegs have 27 teeth for extra strength and grip. They retail for $269.95.”— www.scar-racing.com or info@scar-racing.com.

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 HONDA CRF250 WORKS EDITION FIRST RIDE

• MXA PHOTO OF THE WEEK: GOOSED BY A GECKO

This has to be one of the most iconic motocross photos ever shot, except ace MXA photographer Debbi Tamietti wasn’t trying to shoot it. She just wanted to grab a shot of Fredrik Noren coming down a hill during the Glen Helen National. When she looked at the image in her camera she was surprised to see that the juxtaposition of Fredrik and the Geico Gecko balloon left little to the imagination. 

• ON THE RECORD: COMPLETE TEST OF GRANT LANGSTON’S 2004 KTM 250SX

Grant Langston’s 2004 KTM 250SX:  Was the bike to blame? Was Grant? Was it the R&D department in Mattighofen?.

In the 2003 Supercross season everyone thought Grant Langston’s KTM 250SX was the cause of his short-lived introduction of 250 Supercross. There was no doubt that Grant hit the ground with alarming regularity or that his 250 Supercross debut was over before it even got started. But, the MXA wrecking crew didn’t believe that the bike was to blame anymore.

Larry Brooks (the KTM team manager at the time) hired a full-time test rider to help put time on the race bikes. Test rider Casey Lytle turned in lap after lap on the KTM 250SX while Grant was off winning the 2003 125 National crown on his much beloved KTM 125SX. Brooks, a former AMA Pro, even took up the mantle as test rider when push came to shove. With each passing week we heard reports through the pipeline that the bike was getting better and better. 

HIS PERFORMANCE DIDN’T MAKE BELIEVERS OUT OF US. AT ANAHEIM 2 THINGS GOT BETTER AND GRANT ACTUALLY CRACKED THE TOP TEN. BY SAN FRANCISCO HE MADE IT INTO THE TOP FIVE. A PODIUM LOOKED POSSIBLE AND THEN THINGS UNRAVELED

We take that kind of rumor mongering with a grain of salt. Who wouldn’t (with the possible exception of internet mavens)? Our first view of Grant Langston’s new and improved KTM 250SX would come at the opening 2004 Supercross round in Anaheim. His performance didn’t make believers out of us. At Anaheim 2 things got better and Grant actually cracked the top ten. By San Francisco he made it into the top five. A podium looked possible and then things unraveled in Houston. People started blaming the bike again and it started looking like 2003 all over again. The MXA gang had gone to every Supercross and Grant’s rash of crashes looked more like pilot error than bike induced. We’re not knocking Grant. We just don’t want the bike to get a rap it doesn’t deserve (and honestly neither does Grant). He is the first one to admit that he loves the bike. He bugs the KTM guys all the time to go riding. That was something he never did last year.

Grant during the 2004 Supercross season.

The MXA test crew is as critical of bike performance as anyone on the earth and while gossip is the lifeblood of idle minds, the only real test of the truth would be to throw a leg over Langston’s 2004 Supercross sled for ourselves.

SOMETHING WE FOUND INTERESTING WAS THAT ONE OF GRANT’S
FOOTPEGS WAS TALLER THAN THE OTHER.

If you looked closely at Langston’s works KTM, it was a thing of beauty. Replete with all the bells and whistles that makes a bike special. The orange plastic looks amazing. The graphics were clean. The suspension was humongous (front and rear). RG3’s four-post triple clamps housed the 52mm WP forks. The engine had an electronic power valve (and the small battery that was required to operate it). Renthal FatBar’s gave Grant the bend he wanted. Tag Metals grips were mated to the FatBar. A beryllium Brembo front brake master cylinder handled the braking duties and put the whole package over the top. KTM had definitely come a long way since Mike Fisher was their lone factory Supercross racer back in 1991.

Grant’s left leg is shorter than the other.  KTM custom-made a taller footpeg to compensate. 

Something we found interesting was that one of Grant’s footpegs was taller than the other. It turned out one of Grant’s legs is a little shorter and after a hard day’s riding Grant’s back would hurt because he was always putting more weight on one foot. The tall footpeg fixed his problems.

HOW MUCH OF THE POWERBAND’S PROWESS WAS THE RESULT OF THE COBBLED TOGETHER ELECTRONIC POWER VALVE? NOT AS MUCH AS YOU’D THINK (AT LEAST NOT IN THE HORSEPOWER DEPARTMENT).

In the past we always had good luck testing Langston’s bikes. The first was his 2001 KTM 125SX. The second was his 125 National Championship winning 2003 KTM 125SX. To get our hands on his 2004 KTM 250SX all it took was one phone call. Larry Brooks and the KTM crew were pleased with the work they’ve done to the 250SX and were dying to have someone outside their camp ride it. We just so happened to be those guys.

The PDS WP shock was really stiff. 

Rather then send out every person involved with Langston’s bike, KTM sent a lone mechanic into our midst. That mechanic just happened to be Paul Delaurier, one the nicest guys on the circuit.

While we normally have to change bar and lever positions on factory guys bikes because they had one weird quirk or another, we didn’t have to touch a thing on Langston’s bike. The bars were in the perfect spot and the levers were nice and level.

The factory KTM 250SX engine had an electronic power valve (and the small battery that was required to operate it).

Before our test riders jumped aboard, Paul Delaurier had to explain the on/off switch on Grant’s bike. Almost like the key on your car you have to turn Grant’s motorcycle on before you start it. You still have to kickstart it, but before you do that you have to turn on the electronic power valve. Likewise, when you stop you have to turn it off or the little battery that powers the power valve will run out of juice. Before we could do any laps the bike had to be warmed up. Not warmed up to the boiling point like Chad Reed’s works YZ250, but warmed to operating temps.

A beryllium Brembo front brake master cylinder handled the braking duties and put the whole package over the top.

Within the first lap it was very evident that the suspension was stiff. Really stiff. Both the front and rear moved, but not very much and the rear had a slight tendency to kick under deceleration. Supercross demands this type of setup so we weren’t all that surprised, although we rode Grant’s outdoor stuff enough to know that his set-up is pretty soft for a pro racer. We could have spent some time clicking both the forks and the shock, but honestly we didn’t want to stop riding.

IS THIS BIKE TO BLAME FOR GRANT’S ERRATIC PERFORMANCES IN 2003, WHICH INCLUDED LEADING MOST OF A MAIN EVENT AND CRASHING OUT ON OCCASION? OR WAS IT BECAUSE GRANT HAD A STEEP LEARNING CURVE IN HIS MOVE TO THE BIG BOY CLASS.

Why, you ask? Grant’s engine was absolutely amazing. It picked up instantly with no noticeable hit. It just started going. It continued to pull all the way through the midrange. When it finally gave up the ghost it is way up in the upper range of rev. It only took one word to describe Langston’s powerband—“linear.” You didn’t have to worry about staying on the pipe, preparing for the hit or getting on the throttle early. The engine management system was the throttle, roll it on, roll it off. It did all the work. With Grant’s engine all you had to worry about is aiming the bike.

RG3’s four-post triple clamps housed the 52mm WP forks.

How much of the powerband’s prowess was the result of the cobbled together electronic power valve? Not as much as you’d think (at least not in the horsepower department). The electronic gizmo helped make the engine run the same every time. A standard power valve can snap open rapidly one second and slower the next. The electronic power valve kept the motion consistent.

With the engine helping us get into the corners faster, we needed to mention the front brake. The faster you can stop, the faster you can go. Grant’s brake was a nose wheelie implement. We respected it.

In the past MXA always had good luck testing Langston’s bikes. The first was his 2001 KTM 125SX. The second was his 125 National Championship winning 2003 KTM 125SX.

As for the much talked about KTM handling. It was not a problem. Langston’s RG3 triple clamps had a 16mm offset, which pulled the front wheel back, shortened the front center, increased trail and put more weight on the contact patch. This was not mumbo-jumbo geometry. It was exactly what local racers have been doing for years. We didn’t suffer from the normal push that KTM’s engineers had been unable to tame, instead, the layout of Grant’s bike, including shock length, head angle, trail and fork set-up produced a very quick turning bike.

Is this bike to blame for Grant’s erratic performances in 2003, which have included leading most of a main event and crashing out on occasion? No. Grant had a steep learning curve in his move to the big boy class. But his KTM 250SX definitely has the horsepower, handling and suspension to get the job done.

• MXA’S 2025 COLLECTION OF IN-DEPTH 2025 VIDEO TESTS

• MXA VIDEO: MOTOCROSS ACTION’S 2025 450 SHOOTOUT

• MXA VIDEO: MOTOCROSS ACTION’S 2025 250 SHOOTOUT

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 KAWASAKI KX450SR (SPECIAL RACER) FIRST RIDE)

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 HONDA CRF250 WORKS EDITION FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 TRIUMPH TF450-RC FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 YAMAHA YZ250FX FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: WE RIDE COTY SCHOCK’S PERSONAL YAMAHA YZ125

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 KAWASAKI KX250 FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 HONDA CR450 FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: WE RIDE DR.D’s PURPOSE-BUILT YAMAHA YZ85

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 YAMAHA YZ450 FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 YAMAHA YZ250F FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 YAMAHA YZ250FX CROSS-COUNTRY FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 KTM 150SX TWO-STROKE FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 KAWASAKI KX450 FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 KTM 450SXF FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: THE FASTEST KTM 350SXF VERSUS A 2025 KTM 450SXF

• MXA VIDEO: 2025 KTM 250SXF FIRST RIDE

• MXA VIDEO: HOW TO BUILD A VET RIDER’S DREAM YZ250F

• MXA VIDEO: WE RIDE THE 125 THAT 508,000 VIEWERS CAN’T BUY IN THE USA

• MXA VIDEO: WE RIDE PHIL NICOLETTI’S FINAL CLUBMX YZ250F

• THE GREATEST DEAL IN MOTOCROSS: REAL WORDS, LARGE PHOTOS, MORE TECH &  A $25 ROCKY MOUNTAIN CREDIT

This is the cover of the January 2025 issue of MXA. The cover features Aiden Zing’s Lorett a Lyn winning KTM SuperMini (Amazing how much like full-size bikes minicycles have gotten). Inside is the eight bike 2025 MXA 250 Shootout, plus full-tests of the 2025 Yamaha YZ250F, Suzuki RM-Z250 and an intriguing story about the “Worst Honda CRF450 Ever Made.” There is an indepth interviews with MX-Tech’s Jeremy Wilkey who is the reigning rocket scientist of motocross suspension design.  We even went back in time five decades to talk to Torsten Hallman about the last Husqvarna he ever raced before signing on to development the Yamaha motocross bikes .

It couldn’t be easier or cheaper to subscribe to MXA than it is right now—because when you subscribe you receive a Rocky Mountain ATV/MC credit for $25 towards anything in their massive inventory, all at no cost to you.  Are you smart enough to recognize a great deal when you see it? To subscribe call (800) 767-0345 or ClickHere

• MXA AD OF THE WEEK: SEE THE LATEST 1984 FASHION STATEMENTS

When MXA picked the Yamaha YZ125 as the “Bike of the Year,” Yamaha took out full-page ads on the award. The headline read, “The MXA Wrecking Crew Has a Reputation For Radical Statements and Lots of Finger Pointing. Gotta Admit, Sometimes They’re Right.” In the fine print, Yamaha wrote, “Thanks Ed and Don —We salute your efforts.” That was a reference to Yamaha mechanics Ed Scheidler and Don Dudek, who ran Yamaha’s USA test department.

• 2025 AMA NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP RACE SCHEDULE

2025 AMA NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE
May 24…Pala, CA
May 31…Hangtown, CA
June 7…Thunder Valley, CO
June 14…Mount Morris, PA
June 28…Southwick, MA
July 5…Red Bud, MI
July 12…Millville, MN
July 19…Washougal, WA
Aug. 9…Crawfordsville, IN
August 16…Unadilla, NY
August 23…Budds Creek, MD

• START MAKING TRAVEL PLANS NOW! THE 2025 SEASON STARTS IN 23 DAYS 

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