Cross country dirt. What it’s like out there, now.

[motogrady]

Kalib Russel is an old guy.
By National Championship criteria anyway.
Retired, he came back this year, well, because he felt like it.

He struggled the first half of the season, getting so so results, with a factory 450 Yamaha gave him. Well, after a bit of soul searching, like what am I doing here, he decided to drop a 250 in a 450 frame.

This is what it takes to win an AMA Grand National Cross Country event, this one in Ohio.

The John Penton round.

And what it looks like to run a guy down, pressuring the leader into a mistake.  

https://youtu.be/QCLY4V4Pge8

[hacksaw]

hey thats pretty cool. at first i was disappointed beck i thought it was about actually going across the country, but i am glad i clicked on and watched a bit.

why would somebody put a smaller motor in a 450 frame? that defies my sense of logic.

[motogrady]

There was a pretty good interview with him with that link.

As far as dropping to the quarter liter, something about the 450 had a much bigger crank, and kind of messed with engine breaking when in the tight, especially downhill sections.  He wanted something more responsive.  More nimble. If you notice, there wernt a lot of big, open, fast sections at that event.  
Sections were a guy could really let a 450 eat.
There was a lot of tight stuff.

 Heck, that place a real light 175cc 2 stroke would probably do real good.

You know, back in the day, the 40s, the 50s, the big 650 Triumphs ruled those kind of events.
It was John Penton, the guy that this event is named after,
that was racing these types of events over in Europe and noticed a few small Spanish and Italian bikes going pretty good.

So good he built his own in his garage back in Ohio and threw a 175cc 2 stroke in it.
Which did so well guys started asking him to build one for themselves. He got so busy making 175cc dirt bikes he looked around and found a small moped manufacturer that was really struggling, financially.
KTM.

I saw somewhere he ordered 200 bikes to be built, to his specs, which sold out immediately.

And Penton was born.

Some go as far to say John Penton was really the father of the type of motorcycle specifically designed for off road riding.

The dirt bike.

[motogrady]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Penton_(motorcyclist)

[hacksaw]

Ok. I can understand the idea . But why not use an actual 250?
Most triumph race bikes were 500’s not 650 . And they were more desert sled than woods bikes.
Ossa and Bultaco , maybe even maico , and of course Penton . KTM was pretty cool long time ago .
Ducati singles were very hep and I have heard of guys putting bsa 250’s in victor frames.
Oh Husky! Real svedish bikes!