BMS (Bianchi Motor Sports) has released the production (non-prototype) version of their fully adjustable top mount no-leak billet steering damper to the public. The prototype versions were tested by the BMS Factory team in France and a few lucky customers.

We got lucky and used one of the first production versions of the damper last month during our trip to the Benidorm, Spain event. The damper installed with no hassle in only two minutes. Dampening force is easly adjusted with a thumbscrew.

Due to his light weight (54 lbs.) BMS and MiniGPX sponsored rider Peter Lenz got tank slappers anytime he would hit ripples in the track surface. With the damper installed the slappers were gone. His lap times dropped half a second by just installing the fully adjustable damper.

Unlike other dampers on the market, BMS’s damper leaves no oil residue on the dampening shaft. This no-leak/no-loss system prevents oil and dirt build up. Because it doesn’t loose oil, the damper’s life is significantly longer than other dampers.

Also of note is the fact that it is a top mount damper. This top mount system is unique to BMS. After testing several different mounting postions the final location was selected for its crash worthiness and its ability to securely hold the fork tube to the frame without flex. The entire damper is made by BMS in their French factory.

The top-mount bracket fits both BMS and GRC pocketbikes. Mounting brackets for other brand bikes will be made based on customer requests.

The damper retails for $130 and is available from all BMS resellers.

~http://www.bms-pocketbike.com~ France

~http://www.bmspocketbikes.com~ USA

The Board of Supervisors in Riverside County, California, has approved drastic restrictions on the use of off-road vehicles on private land, ignoring pleas from families who ride and setting aside compromise legislation recommended by the Board’s own planning commission.

The Board also approved new sound ordinances that are so strict a homeowner could be in violation if he operated an electric toothbrush at his property line, in some locations.

Under the new laws approved by the Board on March 28, off-highway riders can only ride from noon to 5 p.m. on their own property in the unincorporated parts of Riverside County.

Landowners can only allow one off-highway vehicle to be in use for every 10 acres of land, with a maximum of four vehicles allowed. Landowners could use a vehicle on smaller parcels only with written permission of their neighbors. To have more than four OHVs using a property, a landowner must get a conditional use permit that could easily cost more than $10,000.

Plus, under the new law, riders must stay 100 feet from property lines and 250 feet from neighboring homes.

The Board of Supervisors also gave final approval to a new sound law that sets maximum allowable sound levels at the property line at 50, 55 or 75 decibels, depending on the zoning of the parcel.

According to the League for the Hard of Hearing, rainfall generates 50 decibels of sound, a normal conversation is 60 decibels, an electric toothbrush is 50 to 60 decibels, and an air conditioner measures at 50 to 75 decibels.

While the sound law doesn’t specifically target off-highway motorcycles and ATVs, it was written in part as a result of noise complaints about off-highway vehicle riders, and also to address loud music at private parties.

Riverside County is the home and practice ground of racing heroes like Jeremy McGrath, Rick Johnson and Jeff Emig. Also, Honda, Yamaha, KTM, Suzuki and Kawasaki have test facilities there. And the county is home to almost 30 OHV-related businesses, plus 48,000 registered OHVs.

OHV enthusiasts in neighboring counties should be concerned because officials in those counties have been closely following the developments in Riverside County. If those counties impose similar restrictions on OHVs it could have enormous implications, since there are more than 150,000 registered OHVs in the neighboring counties of San Bernardino, Orange and San Diego.

Plus, the U.S. Forest Service is proposing new restrictions in San Bernardino County related to OHVs riding on private property, emitting fumes, and noise, which could result in fines of up to $1,000 and 90 days in jail.

The Board of Supervisors approved the new restrictions and ignored carefully crafted compromise legislation hammered out over a period of months by the AMA and other off-road groups working with the county’s Planning Commission.

Club: TPBRA

Date: March 12, 2006

Location: Iron Rock Raceway, Austin, TX

Website: Club Website

Senior Budget Class

1st 47 Todd Gavin

2nd 841 Roger Albert

3rd 748 Peter Murray

DNF 25 Dan Skemp

Senior Super Production Class

1st 48 Jimmer Adams

2nd 18 Choon Gan

3rd 22 Mike Griffin

4th 31 Stuart Siroky

5th 47 Todd Gavin

DNF 11 Jonathan Cuero

Senior 40cc Open Class

1st 48 Jimmer Adams

2nd 6 Mike Kielbasa

3rd 9 Jerry Pierce

4th 31 Stuart Siroky

5th 47 Todd Gavin

DNF 18 Choon Gan

DNF 22 Mike Griffin

DNF 11 Jonathan Cuero

Senior 50cc Open Class

1st 48 Jimmer Adams

2nd 31 Stuart Siroky

3rd 9 Jerry Pierce

4th 6 Mike Kielbasa

5th 18 Choon Gan

6th 47 Todd Gavin

DNF 22 Mike Griffin

DNF 3 Max Kutscher

DNF 11 Jonathan Cuero

Senior Thumper Class

1st 841 Roger Albert

2nd 748 Peter Murray

3rd 31 Stuart Siroky

DNF 48 Jimmer Adams

Junior Budget Class

1st 14 Canyin Gan

2nd – —

3rd – —

Junior Super Production Class

1st 14 Canyin Gan

2nd – —

3rd – —

Junior Super Production Class

1st 14 Canyin Gan

2nd – —

3rd – —

While in France a few weeks ago MiniGPX sponsored rider Peter Lenz attended the 2006 Salon de la Moto in France, with fellow American racer Bennie Taylor. Leaving Montpellier, they traveled the three hours up into the French Mountains. When they arrived, they were greeted by the local BMS reseller Sami and his girlfriend, Katy who arranged the local riders to be present for the event. They were surprised to see they were mentioned as ‘USA Riders’ in the publicity informaton for the event. The Salon de la Moto is a regional motorcycle show that had a hall where they did hourly pocketbike races for the public.

The two boys were the stars of the show because in France junior riders do not begin riding until the age of 14. So two 8 year olds from the States were quite a sight. The crowd went crazy every time the boys hit the track. Off the track, the boys were asked to sign autographs and even appeared in the local paper. The locals made them feel at home, even if they didn’t speak the same language – other than sharing the love to ride. All the adult riders taught the boys how to put on a good show for the crowd.

As you will see in the beginning of the video, dancing is part of the post race activities, as are burnouts and wheelies. The riding went on for hours despite the snow falling outside the unheated hall.

In this particular race Peter gets the holeshot, pulls away and then is caught by John. Peter is running second when he comes together with a lapper and crashes out (off camera). John ends up willing the race with Sami second. Watch the Salon de la Moto 2006 Video – WMV 21MB

It was a great experience, one that won’t be soon forgotten.

According to several sources, promoter Thomas Branson has added a practice session the evening before the AMA Minimoto Spring Championship to be held May 21st. The four hour practice will be held on Saturday May 20th from 4-8 pm and cost $50 per rider.

Several out area riders and teams were interested in attending the first AMA minimoto event but had decided not to attend the one day event due to a lack of practice time. These teams contacted Branson with their concerns and he made the arrangements for the extra session.

This additional practice session is an attempt to help give the riders who haven’t seen the track some sort of equal footing to the AMRA (AZ) riders who call Bob Bondurant Kart School’s track home. AMA national events typically make arrangements to give riders a practice day to determine gearing, jetting and learn a new track. Even with the extra four hours the night before it remains to be seen how many riders will attend given the difference in environmental conditions between the extra session and race day.

More information on the first AMA minimoto event can be found on the event’s website at ~http://www.amaminimoto.com~

SEPRA Race #1 at SCRAJax was a GREAT event. It was of the best times yet. It was like the days of old when we started when everyone just hung out and had fun! We did things a little different this time because we ran with the SCRA karts, motards, and Metra Kits but all went smooth and no one seemed to mind. We all went out to dinner at a great little pizza joint on Saturday night and had a blast. Great racing as always. We lucked out too. It didn’t rain.

Race 1 Results

Next race is March 19th with Practice on the 18th. See

website for details.

Club: SMRRC

Date: March 12, 2006

Location: Stockton Motorplex

Club Website

4.2 Pocket Bike

1st…..Alan Recania

2nd…..Jordan DeLeon

3rd…..Jennifer Beckman

4th…..Robert Basil

5th…..James Deleon

6th…..Sonny Viray

7th…..Anthony Alonso

8th…..Malcolm Black

9th…..Vision Hayes

DNS…..Brandon Wolford

80 GP

1st…..Bryan Edginton

2nd…..Jordan Edginton

3rd…..Paul Johnson

4th…..Jeff Fluent

5th…..Elias Banuelos

DNS…..Tim Hackmann

Beginner

1st…..Chris Benson

2nd…..Antonio Ceccato

3rd…..Erik Halseth

4th…..Ben Salvador

DNS…..Vandor Alde

Expert Trophy Dash

1st…..Bryan Edginton

2nd…..Jordan Edginton

3rd…..Jo Rhett

4th…..Tom Lory

5th…..Ernest Castro

DNS…..Sean McKay

DNS…..Ryan Corey

Formula 4 Stroke

1st…..Craig Harper

2nd…..Vision Hayes

3rd…..Sean McKay

Formula 50

1st…..Tom Lory

2nd…..Sean McKay

3rd…..Minoru Cha

4th…..Mario Pinto

5th…..Vision Hayes

6th…..Daren Rimando

7th…..Michael Sweeney

8th…..Russell Aldinger

9th…..Mark Santos

10th….Elias Banuelos

DNS…..Gabriel de la Torre

Formula Extreme

1st…..Bryan Edginton

2nd…..Jo Rhett

3rd…..Jordan Edginton

4th…..Chris Benson

Junior Stars

1st…..Vision Hayes

2nd…..Sara Myers

Mod Thunder

1st…..Bryan Edginton

2nd…..Devin Wu

3rd…..Val Alparaque

4th…..Jo Rhett

5th…..Dan Caldwell

6th…..Ernest Castro

7th…..Jordan Edginton

8th…..Linda Chen

9th…..Antonio Ceccato

10th….Sean McKay

Novice Trophy Dash

1st…..Dan Caldwell

2nd…..Antonio Ceccato

3rd…..Mario Pinto

4th…..Michael Sweeney

5th…..Erik Halseth

6th…..Stephanie Kubik

DNS…..Elias Banuelos

Open Pocket Bike

1st…..Jess Ganuelas

2nd…..Richard Santos

3rd…..Ted Simpson

4th…..Steve Bosworth

5th…..Jennifer Beckman

6th…..Sonny Mendoza

DNS…..Sean Sundita

Stock YSR

1st…..Edmund Leung

2nd…..Minoru Cha

3rd…..Russell Aldinger

4th…..Brian Ash

5th…..Daniel Pacifico

6th…..Erik Halseth

7th…..Stephanie Kubik

8th…..John Manalo

Super 50

1st…..Tom Lory

2nd…..Jonathon Apostol

3rd…..Joseph Reyes

4th…..Mario Pinto

5th…..Daren Rimando

6th…..Mark Santos

DNS…..Elias Banuelos

DNS…..Marcus Henderson

Super Prod PB Light

1st…..Richard Santos

2nd…..Vandor Alde

3rd…..Jess Ganuelas

4th…..Sonny Mendoza

5th…..Alan Recania

6th…..Vision Hayes

7th…..Melvin Patterson

8th…..Jennifer Beckman

9th…..Jordan DeLeon

10th….Marccus Wilkinson

DNS…..Sean Sundita

Super Prod PB Sumo

1st…..Ted Simpson

2nd…..Steve Bosworth

3rd…..David Doan

4th…..Mike Viray

5th…..Spencer Acosta

6th…..Francis Tiu

7th…..Sonny Viray

8th…..Martin Santiago

9th…..Stephen Wolford

10th….Gary Kuhn

Unlimited Cag

1st…..Sonny Viray

2nd…..Brandon Wolford

3rd…..Stephen Wolford

4th…..James Deleon

DNS…..Spencer Acosta Jr

Women’s

1st…..Linda Chen

2nd…..Sara Myers

3rd…..Stephanie Kubik

For 2006 BMS will begin to reward the fastest BMS-mounted racers across the United States. Based on the success in select classes, a racer can take home as much as $75 per win on any given weekend.

BMS USA will offer BMS dollars for BMS riders who finish on the podium in designated adult classes, and designated junior classes. The payout is $75 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd place, and $25 for 3rd place. In order to qualify for the BMS dollars, the rider must be riding a BMS, display BMS stickers on the bike, and submit a brief race report with the contingency claim. The BMS dollars are redeemable through BMS’s premium reseller Smokin’ Pocketbikes.

BMS USA has also come to agreement with Smokin’ Pocketbikes to offer 10% of all parts upon verification of membership to sponsored club members regardless of brand ridden.

It appears there are only two clubs currently participating in the contingency program to date: SEPRA and RMMMC. If you are interesting in participating in the program you should contact BMS USA via their website at ~http://www.bmspocketbikes.com~

On a recent pocketbike trip to Europe, we learned a few things. The most financially insightful was those bits of information related to airline baggage.

Most US carriers allow each passenger two pieces of checked luggage. Each one of these pieces can weigh up to 50 lbs. For a total passenger allowance of 100 lbs (45 kg). Most Europeans carriers don’t come close to this limit. As an example RyanAir only has a total passenger allowance of 15 kg (33 lbs). That is only a third of the allowance of a typical US carrier like United Airlines.

Ready for the real kicker? RyanAir charges eight Euros for each kg over the weight limit. Eight Euros multiplied by the 30 kg difference in checked luggage allowance equalsa a heck of a lot of money to be surprised with at check in… 240 Euros to be exact. Multiply that by four passengers and you have a 960 Euro ($1,165) bill handed to you at check in. Keep in mind RyanAir is a jumper airline. This bill we were handed was for a 2 hour flight from France to the UK. We were lucky enough that we were able to hand off some of our baggage to a local contact that agreed to ship it for us. Unfortunately even after handing some of the baggage off we were still stuck with a 400 Euro ($485) overweight luggage bill. It was a costly education on airline baggage policies, now we know.

It doesn’t stop therea the baggage adventure continued.

We checked five bags between the four of us. Two of the bags contained riding gear, one of them had our spares which included a few motors and carbs, among other things. In Chicago we had to claim bags to go through US Customs or we would have never known that our two gear bags didn’t make it onto our United Airlines Boeing 777 when it left London.

During the 2 hour layover the bags were unaccounted for. We did some quick math and determined that one of the bags had over $4,000 worth of gear in it. We were informed that United’s total liability was $900 for international flights and $2,800 for domestic. If the value is higher it has to be declared prior to departure and additional costs are incurred, which is the liability insurance offered on the luggage. If those bags didn’t turn up we were seriously screwed.

After a bit of he said, she said, they finally determined that the bags were only delayed and would arrive an hour after us on a separate flight follwing us back home in Portland. To say we were relieved would be a huge understatement.

When we arrived in Portland we discovered that the spare parts bag we checked in Chicago didn’t make its way onto the domestic flight to Portland, this was missing bag number three. When it did arrive it was missing a few things; most notably a 4.2 Polini with a BZM clutch upgrade, and 2 14mm Dell’Orto SHA carburetors. Also, the two gear bags were not packed the same way as when we checked them. Apparently the XXS Arai, size 2 boots and the size II suit didn’t fit the baggage handler.

As with every adventure there are lessons to take from it all. No matter what don’t exceed 15 kg of checked baggage if you are going to use a secondary carrier. Be aware that most airline’s liability limit is a joke and won’t even pay for a good riding suit. Consider spreading the gear across passengers to minimize value of a single passenger’s bags. Lastly, those European pocketbikers are fast!

AMRA Canada Announces its 2006 Race Schedule.

Get the official race dates from the AMRA MiniGPX Calendar or visit the AMRA website to see additional test and tune dates as well.