Dirt Rider / MXracer East Coast Ride Day

The Dirt Rider and MXracer staffs recognize that a significant part of the motorcycle industry is NOT based in California. Since Dirt Rider and MXracer (as well as most of the product testing magazines) are based in California, this geographic limitation makes it difficult for those companies to show us the great products produced on the right side of the country. Therefore, for the second year now, we headed to one of the finest tracks on the east coast, Raceway Park in Englishtown New Jersey and invited all the industry within reasonable driving range. We got to ride with some really great people and try some great products, which we will include in some upcoming issues of Dirt Rider and MXracer.

Once again plenty of industry regulars and racers turned out for a great day of riding. Helping show Dirt Rider Editor Corey Neuer, and MX Racer partners in crime Andy Taylor and Jason Webb the fast way around the track were Denny Stephenson, NJ native and Travis Prestons Mechanic; Shawn Ulikowski, AMA Grand National flat track Star Jake Johnson, East Coast Locals Chris Hunter and Charles Ellis. On hand just to poke fun was RED BULL KTM's Ryan Hughes who spent most of the day on his stationary bike recovering from the torturous day before in the deep sand at the Southwick National.

Husqvarna USA brought with them a new 125 and their Electric Start TC250 4-stroke bike for us to ride, and as lazy as Jason Webb is, that little button really helped!!

Fox Racing's Jim Anfuso and John Kline were also on hand and invited Todd Romano from SMA Hummer. They brought out a FOX Logo'd H2. Not quite sure what they are up to, but Todd has been spending some quality time with RC, Bubba and FOX Racing's own Scott Taylor at most of the Supercross races this past year.

We were lucky enough to get to commandeer the ACTIVE 8 privateer support rig and use it as base camp for our lunch and beverage station, and the fine folks from RED BULL made sure everyone had enough energy to get back out on the track.

We want to thank all the great companies that came out to join in the fun: Arai, Boyesen, Cycra Racing, FMF, Foley Caterpillar, FUSE Sports Marketing, Parts Unlimited, Pro Pilot Suspension, Racetools, Regina Chain, Smith Sport Optics, Spectro Oils, Thor, Ti-Force/Orient Express, Twin-Air, Works Enduro Rider, Zoo York all had New products and gear for us to try out.

It was really good to see the hard working tire guys like Randy Richardson of Michelin, Aaron Brumbaugh from Pirelli and Doug Schopinsky from Bridgestone on hand and actually getting a chance to ride instead of changing tires all day.

We were also treated to a few surprises as Downhill MTB madmen, Brothers Lars and Nils Tribus crushed it on the track with their BBR dialed 150's, these two are also known to throw a few back flips when the pressure is on.

As another great day in the park concluded and we definitely have to thank Mike Napp and his crew at Raceway Park for everything. Since we were close to NYC, what better way to end the trip than a night out in Manhattan with Parts Unlimited's Lou Lopez and Smith's Denny Stevenson under the "watchful" eye of two NYPD motocross fanatics Russ Meyers and Jimmy O'Donnell? They never let us down when it comes to extending their hospitality East Coast style and this year was no exception. Good Food - Good times, and no one was arrested.