Vital MX Pit Bits: High Point 22

GuyB

6/20/2017 7:44am

We're trying a very different format for Pit Bits this week. Let us know what you think!

The revised High Point layout got generally positive reviews from the riders we talked to.

There were lots of state and local dignitaries on hand for Thursday's grand reopening ribbon-cutting ceremonies.

Marvin Musquin's knee injury was a surprise...and not in a good way. The 450 points leader coming into High Point made it through the weekend, but lost the points lead to Blake Baggett. One thing is for sure, he was not up to his usual pace. We'll have to see if he can rebound in future weeks.

Cooper Webb's regular mechanic, Eric Gass, broke his collarbone on a mountain bike a few weeks back. Shane Drew filled in for him in Lakewood, and Mike Gosselaar took over the wrenching duties at High Point.

Yamaha had one of the 2018 YZ450Fs filling up the portion of their pit area where Chad Reed's pit was earlier this year. When will Cooper Webb be on one of the new bikes? As soon as they can get an adequate number of the bikes into warehouses here, and the bike is homologated.

Dean said he was on exactly the same bike he rides in Australia, and there were a few cool bits on it.

That's some sweet carbon goodness. Dean's subframe was also lowered a bit by simply ovalizing the mounting holes.

We've previously seen the plate added to the swingarm here in U.S., and Dean's still running that setup, while the U.S. guys have gone back to a more standard configuration.

We caught this gorgeous sunrise on Thursday morning before press day, when the Monster Energy Kawasaki rig was looking pretty glorious.

Rob Fox brought his KX250 for Ryan Villopoto to ride, and they swapped out Rob'x plastic with Ryan's. If you want to check out a full build on this bike, copy/paste this link. http://www.vitalmx.com/forums/Moto-Related,20/2005-KX250-2-Stroke-Build,1301898

Unfortunately, between rain before he was supposed to ride on Friday, and heavy equipment on the track when he rode it during Saturday's pre-race action, Ryan didn't really get to ride in anger. Still it was fun to see him at the track.

See the second hose? Monster Energy Pro Circuit Kawasaki has stepped up their cooling game by integrating an oil cooler element into their radiator.

There was something different with the Trader's bikes this week, with a Bundy Built Motorsports sticker on the cylinder, rather than JGR. What's going on here? Well, JGR has decided to step out of the engine hop-up side of the business, and John "Bundy" Mitchell, who had been doing it at JGR, now has his own business.

JGR is still doing hard parts for all brands, and had a new chain guide on Justin Barcia's Suzuki this weekend. Unfortunately, Justin had a crash in practice that kept him out of the motos.

There were a few riders back in action for a bit, including Jordon Smith...but he opted to sit out another week after the first practice.

Chase Sexton made his first National start here, and GEICO Honda was back at full strength...for exactly one practice. Cameron McAdoo's shoulder wasn't quite ready for two motos, and he also sat out.

It was good to see RJ Hampshire back in action.

We generally don't think of Cole Seely as a tattoo guy, but there's a story behind this one. It's a portrait of his grandfather on a '71 Yamaha. Cole's mom shot the photo, which was from the first day that they took Cole riding.

Brandon Scharer had a scary moment on the way to High Point, when his family's motorhome caught fire. The good news? He got the trailer unhitched and away from the fire before it got involved.

Brandon made it to the race using a U-Haul truck to tow his race trailer, and will work on sorting out what's next this week. He was 19th in moto two.

How does Monster Energy Kawasaki handle clutch plate management? They break in a set of plates in the first practice, which are then used for the second moto. That way they're less grabby on the starts. Second practice clutch plates are used for the first moto.