Vital MX

Oscar has worked with a ton of championship-caliber riders both here and abroad. That list includes guys like James Stewart, Chad Reed and Ken Roczen, and he's currently the crew chief for Adam Cianciarulo over at Monster Energy Kawasaki.

Be honest, is your chain squeaking? Is it loud and rattling like pennies in a tin can? Is it flapping and flopping into your swingarm like its desperately trying to get your attention? Hopefully not, because not only is this unsafe, it is not the optimal operating conditions for your dirt bike. We grab Clayton Solise of D.I.D Chains (not "Did" but Dee Eye Dee) to give us a detailed look at the drive train of your bike. Believe it or not, pro teams do test different chains often to find t...

While we’re waiting for the racing season to resume, we caught up with Forrest Butler, the owner of the Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/KTM/WPS team. He had a lot to say about being on hold...and the possible way back to action.

We pull in the left lever and don't give it another thought. But what exactly is a clutch? How does it work? What are all the parts? What are the pros and cons of switching out the OEM parts for other options? What oil is best? Hydraulic or cable? Should you mess with your actuator arm? So many questions and just one podcast to answer them. In this Tech Edition of the Inside Line Podcast, we talk with Austin Paden from Rekluse all about clutches. Other than knowing about his brand's prod...

We got a chance to chat with Dave, who has been up to his elbows in the Supercross series for the last two decades about what we can hope for in the remaining seven rounds of the 2020 season. He's seen just about every possible scenario, but the Coronavirus obviously threw everyone a curve. While this is shorter than usual, there’s some interesting info in here, both about how abruptly the season ended, and what we can look forward to in the future.

When it comes to rider safety, one of the things that we’ve enjoyed are the recent advances in helmet design, technology, and construction. 6D’s intro to the market was well-timed, with the introduction of their Omni-Directional Suspension (ODS). We checked in with Bob Weber at 6D to talk about what it took to get the company off the ground, what they’ve discovered during their time in business, and what’s in store for the future.

“Pour-in performance” is pretty much the tagline for race gas. But what is it really? How is it different than pump gas? What do octane numbers actually mean? Do you want oxygen or lead in there? Will it help a stock bike? These questions, and many more, are answered with our talk with Bruce Hendel of VP Racing Fuels, who explains all the different applications and pros and cons of running race gas. Sorry that this podcast can’t bring you smell, too. Enjoy!

Just after helmets and boots, knee braces are the most complicated and expensive pieces of motowear in our garage. But unlike helmets that have universal standards and have been around for over 100 years, knee braces started in the last 30 by a Jim Castillo who is still around to this day. We talk with Brett Guerin of CTi, the current version of one of the companies Castillo created. We cover knee brace philosophy, history, technology, and where we think braces could be going in the future.&n...

When talking about engine mods for motocross bikes, the phrase "ported and polished" gets thrown around a lot. But do we all know what that really means? Turns out, according to Andrew Flores, Engine Research and Development at Race Tech, polishing is the last thing you want to do to intake and exhaust ports. We get into all the different ways a cylinder head can be manipulated and what each modification does so that you can have a better idea of what head mods are available and if any are ri...

What’s really going on with your bike’s exhaust system? More than just a tube of metal shooting out burnt gasses, exhaust pipes are a blend of hard science and artistic metallurgy. We wanted to start with the basics of what exhaust pipes are all about and head into the weeds a bit with cone angles, gas velocities, and pressure, sound, and heat waves. With nearly 20 years at FMF, and more time working on exhaust before that, George Luttig is the R&D Director at FMF Racing the perfect ...

One of the pleasant surprises at this year’s Monster Energy Cup was Jeremy Martin’s return to racing. If you recall, Jeremy suffered a seriously broken back at Muddy Creek during the summer of 2018 after tangling with another rider in mid-air. Even worse, he later suffered a series of infections, as well as complications from the unsuccessful initial surgery. This was obviously a major hiccup in not only his career plans, but life in general. We caught up with him before he lined up at the Pa...

For Broc Tickle, the last two years have been something quite different than the rest of his career. In 2011 he won the 250 West title, and he's been a reliable top ten rider in both the 250 and 450 classes ever since. After being on the sidelines for nearly the last two years following a positive test for a banned stimulant, he's counting down the days until February tenth. That's when he'll be able to return to action. While he's been looking forward to lining up again at the races, he's be...

Just before Eli Tomac wrapped up his third-straight 450 national MX title, we sat down with his dad, John, to record this Inside Line. I've known him for quite a while, back to his early BMX days, and throughout much of his legendary mountain bike career. It's pretty easy to see how Eli would have picked up a lot of early examples of what it took to be a champ, with the training, skills, and work ethic that he was exposed to. We talked about that, plus a whole lot more. It was fun to catch up...

Normally our Inside Line podcasts are a little longer conversations, but with some of the forum chatter over the recent selection of Team USA, we wanted to drop this one in with three different voices. We've got one from the AMA side to explain a bit about the selection process, one of a rider on team U.S.A. talking about how this year's team structure and prep will be different; and finally, a story of when none of the selected riders wanted to participate for Team USA.

It's always fun chatting with Hall-of-Famers, and Jeff Ward is no exception. He's been at it forever, from effortlessly wheelying his minibike in the intro of the original On Any Sunday movie, to winning a whole bunch of National championships, Supercross, and Supermoto titles. And that was just his first chapter. He later moved to four wheels with Indycars, Off-Road Trucks, Rallycross, and has had some success in each. Now when he's not out training or racing on his mountain bike, he's out g...