Racing

Never Do This | PHOTOS

Off-road tips and tricks from the Pros

July 18, 2017

We have a cool story coming up in the September issue called “Never Do This”, featuring former champions like Mike Brown, Damon Bradshaw, Fred Andrews, Ryan Sipes and Rodney Smith, who are all riders that made the successful transition from motocross to off-road. We had a few bonus photos left over, so here’s a sneak peek at the story.

Since he retired from motocross, Brownie has been involved in a lot of different types of off-road racing, including GNCC, National Enduro, WORCS, EnduroCross and even ISDE.Photos By Shan Moore

Mike Brown told us he was surprised at how physical racing an EnduroCross race can be when he first started the series.Photos By Shan Moore

Mike Brown transfer along a scenic route on the beautiful island of Sardinia off the coast of Italy during the 2013 ISDE, where the KTM factory rider helped anchor the US squad to a Silver Medal finish.Photos By Shan Moore

Brownie, shown here at the Daytona EnduroCross in 2015, says that staying light and steady on the throttle in the rocks is the best bet for success.Photos By Shan Moore

After spending the late ‘80’s and early ‘90’s as a factory Yamaha supercross racer, Damon Bradshaw got into Arenacross for short a period of time, before moving on to Monster Trucks. These days, he’s racing off-road and doing promotions for Gas Gas.Photos By Shan Moore

Damon says looking ahead is important in motocross, be even more so in off-road, just because of all the options you have in off-road events when it comes to alternate lines.Photos By Shan Moore

Damon says he stands more then the typical off-road racer, but notes that it probably comes from his supercross background.Photos By Shan Moore

Ryan Sipes was a three-time 250SX Supercross race winner in 2011 and 2012, but most recently he is known for winning the individual overall award at the 2016 ISDE in Slovakia.Photos By Shan Moore

For Sipes, the toughest part of transitioning from motocross to off-road was realizing that there are a lot more lines available in off-road and the courses are not as well defined as they are at a motocross.Photos By Shan Moore

Sipes is also a big advocate for finding the shallowest line when it comes to creek or mud crossings.Photos By Shan Moore

Some of our younger readers may not be aware that Rodney Smith, in addition to his five Grand National Cross Country titles, was first a MX GP star and also won the Brazilian National MX Championship.Photo By DR Archives

Rodney says that off-road racing takes a different type of conditioning than motocross, including more physical strength for when it comes to picking your bike up out of mud holes.Photos By DR Archives

A lot of off-road riders today specialize in GNCC, national enduro, WORCS, etc., but Rodney says it’s important to ride all types of events to keep your skill level at its peak.Photos By DR Archives

Fred Andrews was a motocross racer long before he ever won a GNCC race.Photos By D Archives

Freddie told us that some times he would get off his bike and look at a hill on foot rather than risk getting stuck halfway up and loosing a lot more time.Photos By DR Archives