Video killed the magazine star?

Action sports videos are all the rage these days (specifically in our sport). It seems that the segment of the video market has boomed in just the last 5 or 10 years. I attributed it to the drastically lower prices on consumer based video production equipment compared to years ago. DV, MiniDV, hard drive, flash media versus 8mm and 16mm Cellulose acetate film or Polyester Film, gone are the days of film splicers, Moviola’s, and dark rooms. Now all you need is a inexpensive DV camera and PC with the correct hardware to produce a DVD worthy video. Oh and not to mention some sort of creative talents.

With the drastic cut in start up and post production costs for an aspiring action sports film maker, the industry is literally flooded with video releases (all at $15-$30 retail I might add) how does the armchair ATV or motorcycle junkie pick a video from the sea of videos in Motorcycle parts catalogs, on-line stores, and dealership shelves?

First it might be informative to introduce some of the pioneers in what is now the action sports genre.  The two most prominent names that come to my mind are, Warren Miller and Bruce Brown. Warren Miller known for Ski Films releasing one feature length documentary style ski film a year since 1949, and has developed an intense following among the winter action sports segment. Bruce Brown first claim to fame with feature length surfing films starting in 1958 with “Slippery when wet” and his most popular break out film “Endless Summer”. But the film most of us offroaders identify him with is 1971’s “On Any Sunday”. More on this later.

With video entertainment media such as this, everything is very subjective and everybody has their preferred style and or wants from an action sports video. I will break them down into 3 categories of (self described) genres. Keep in mind I personally lean toward documentary, lifestyle or educational videos of these type.

Action/Freestyle

This genre is basically wild stunts, some racing footage, and epic locations with professional riders set to popular heavy metal or alternative music of the day. The videography is usually very stunning and some are almost like a travelogue of popular destinations around the world. The downside of this genre is the whole movie is just a bunch of short segments (about the length of the song used in the back round) filled with jump cuts and fast edits. There is usually no cohesive “plot” or storyline to keep the viewer engaged. These types of movies appeal best to the enthusiast and are best watched in a group in the garage bench racing with your buddies and some cold ones. Non riders or casual viewers will find these movies boring after probably the first 5 minutes. Typically these movies are not feature length lasting only around 40-50 minutes (with some exceptions). Biggest take away is these types of movies are not very timeless and are not generally that memorable. I love the Crusty Demons and H-Bomb series but I cannot say there is one memorable movie or segment that stands out from all the rest.

Best picks from this genre

Fleshwound Films (Dana Nicholson and Cami Freeman) Crusty Demons of Dirt series (currently 14 films to choose from)

H-Bomb Films (Wes Miller) Huevos series (currently 12 films to choose from)

 

 

Race Documentary

These movies narrowly focus on either one race or series of races. Typically these movies mix a small amount of “back story” on the riders or race and lead into the current race or series they are documenting. Filmed somewhat in a reality show style, they follow the top riders in the race or series highlighting the ups and downs and any other drama to build the characters and storyline to culminate to the finish of the race or finally of the series. These films are fairly niche based requiring a bit of knowledge of the race, racers, or series history to fully appreciate the videography and drama of the characters. These films will mildly appeal to the casual viewer as most do a good job of bringing the viewer into the drama and suspense of “whats going to happen next” although to fully appreciate the movie some riding experience is necessary. These movies do stand the times a bit better as they are more like a time capsule and are fun to watch from a historical aspect years later.  Typically these films are feature length.

Best picks from this genre

The Great Outdoors video series (2002-present), documenting the National motocross circuit

Enduro at Erzberg (2005-present) documenting the Erzberg Enduro

Motorsports Documentary

There are very few  films in this category.  These films take a general overall look at motorsports as a whole and condense it down to a feature length film.  The good ones that stand out do a good job of explaining each motorsport discipline in layman’s terms while highlighting the achievements to the exceptional riders from each sport.  These movies tend to be more palatable to non riders and casual viewers as they teach as well as entertain, trying to answer the universal question of why. An example of this is with the movie On And Sunday I can show this movie to nearly any non rider or casual viewer and they stay almost glued to the tv and come away with a sense of “wow, I understand why you love the sport so much”. Its a film that has aged gracefully and I consider it required viewing before even buying a machine.

Best picks from this genre

On Any Sunday (1971, Bruce Brown) updates: OAS Revisited, OAS Motocross, Malcom, and More

Dust to Glory (2005 Dana Brown)

Honorable mention:

Dirt (1979 Eric Karson) A rare gem not seen by most motorsport fans, features lots of 4 wheel racing.

Well there you have it!  My take on the whole action sports video genre as it applies to my favorite sports.  Every body has an opinion on their favorite film or film series, so let us hear about yours! Leave a comment below or visit the ATV Magazine forum. Also to watch some of my own videos follow the link to my Youtube page.

New Hampshire Trip, Ride Report and Video

This entry I am posting on behalf of two of our faithful ATV Magazine forum members.  After they bragged about getting this trip together I asked them to write up a full report with pictures and video, send it to me and I would post it here for the world to see, and maybe even get a blurb in the magazine itself.  This trip just shows how something like the ATV Magazine forum can bring two members together for an epic ride.  With out further delay I give you forum members warrior~kid and CChagros (aka. CC) with their ride report of the some of the terrain available in New Hampshire. [Read more]

Back to the old stomping grounds

As this holiday weekend approaches a lot of us will be celebrating our freedom to vacation when and where we choose by traveling to that hallowed riding spot that we have some eternal connection with.  For many the reason may be because it is with in a 5 minute drive from the house, a scenic place with good camping or in my case its the place where I grew up riding that WAS less than a 5 minute drive from my house, now that has stretched out to a 6 hour drive.

The place I am talking about is in Harlan County Nebraska at a little place developed by the US Army Corp. of Engineers in the early 80’s.  My memories of this place start back when my dad raced a few hare scrambles put on by a local racer that organizes motocross races in the same area.  The place had nearly perfect terrain for a hare scramble.  The terrain had hills, trees, and mud.  The hare scrambles were always fun to watch, and maybe that was mostly because my dad was in it.  As a matter of fact my dad was always racing on the oldest bike there a 1974 Yamaha SC500. Remember this was in the 80’s!  After a few years of hare scrambles the place would be nearly defunct as in it would be only ridden by locals such as us.  Even big holiday weekends would turn out less than 10 or so riders for the entire weekend.  The trail was never maintained at all during the entire time period that we rode it. 

[Read more]

Take us back to where it all began…

There comes a time to look back on just how far we have come.  Humanity, evolution, creation, industrialism.  You have heard it before to move ahead we have to know where we have been.  Relating this to the ATV world I want to take you back to the very beginning.  I mean the very beginning when ATVs were unheard of and the ATCs (3 wheelers) just hit the market.  For those too young to remember 3 wheelers let this be a history lesson to you.  Be thankful of the technology and development you have today.  Believe it or not but I started out on my off road journey on one of these exact same machines, the 1970 ATC90.

These photos are scans of Cycle World December 1970 by Parkhurst Publishing Co. all copy writes are held by them.

The title in the contents page reads “Come crash and burn with CYCLE WORLD, as we try a new concept in craziness.”

2009 ITP/Moose Racing AMA ATV MX Championship at Glen Helen

We’ve created these action photo galleries that recap Moto 1 and Moto 2 at Glen Helen. Twenty pro riders competed in SoCal.

Moto1_GlenHelen2009

Moto2_GlenHelen2009

Final Results
Rank, rider, brand, moto 1-2, pro points
1. Dustin Wimmer, Suz, 2-1, 47
2. Josh Creamer, Kaw, 1-3, 45
3. Joe Byrd, Hon, 3-2, 44
4. Thomas Brown, Yam, 9-4, 30
5. Clay Holmes, Hon, 8-5, 29
6. John Natalie, Can, 5-10, 27
7. Jeremy Lawson, Can, 10-7, 25
8. Doug Gust, Suz, 13-6, 23
9. Josh Upperman, Hon, 6-14, 22
10. Greg Gee, Hon, 14-9, 19
11. Keith Little, Kaw, 7-16, 19
12. Chad Wienen, Kaw, 4-19, 20
13. Pat Brown, Yam, 11-13, 18
14. Brandon Smith, Can, 15-11, 16
15. Harold Goodman, Hon, 19-8, 15
16. Russell Shumaker, Kaw, 12-15, 15
17. Nick Denoble, Hon, 16-12, 14
18. Richard Pelchat, Can, 17-17, 8
19. Cody Miller, Yam, 18-18, 6
20. Mitch Reynolds, Pol, 20-20, 2

Looking back, my 1973 Kawasaki F11

For most of us the winter weather interrupts our riding adventures and forces us to burrow ourselves into our garages and ultimately onto our computers. It also allows us to have more time to think about past events, rides, and even machines. I spoke briefly about this in an earlier post http://www.atvmagblog.com/2008/12/02/reflections-of-machines-gone-past/ As I was writing I thought to myself, everyone has some stories about their machines, past and present. Well this is my story about one of those bikes in the collection.

The bike I chose for this blast from the past for this week is the 1973 Kawasaki F11 (250cc).  First off just a little bit of history on the bike when it was new.  The bike itself was not really a revolution in motorcycling.  Loosely based on the frame and engine of the KX250 works bikes released the same year, the F11 was the “enduro” or dual purpose version of the KX.  For those too young or ignorant to read up on the evolution of offroad motorcycling, motorcycles in general sold in the US had to have some street legal prowess to even be considered by most potential buyers, partially because of the oil embargo of the 70’s.  At the time public perception was that if the bike was “offroad only” it was not a good value because you had to have a means of transportation to the track or trail, at a time when pickups were strictly for work or utility and the sport ute was 20 years away.  The F11 was a bargain with a MSRP of $495 compared to say a (superior) European offroad only race bike had MSRP’s of $1,000 or more and were not street legal.  This was also at a time when the term big bore machine meant 250 and 350cc machines.  Designed to compete head to head with Yamahas DT1 it fared well with the “green streak” modifications (similar to Yamaha’s GYT-kits, pronounced “git-kit”).  The F11 was a departure from Kawasaki’s traditional rotary valve 2 strokes being a more typical piston port machine.  The F11 only had a production run of 2 years before it was dropped and the KX250 was the only bike that filled the 250cc single cylinder spot.

Ok with a little background on the bike out of the way here is my experience with the bike.  I didn’t acquire the bike new of course, and I was not necessarily looking for that particular bike, lets just say it found me.  Back in the 90’s my family always took vacations around the country, with regular trips back and forth to Denver from our home in south central Nebraska.  One trip back from a vacation we stopped by an old Kawasaki dealership in a town of about 7,000 total population, (McCook,NE).  From time to time we would stop in to “shop” their back lot and storage room, well this time they had acquired a 1969 H1 500cc triple (street bikes we collect) and as we dickered on the price of the for the 500, the dealer asked “Is there anything else you want back here?”  I had spy-ed the F11 sitting way in the back under a good layer of dirt. ”I said what do you want for that?”  The dealer replied, “Well I will just give you that since your already buying the 500, anything else you see that you would like to take off my hands?”  We also came home with a DT175 that had been hit by a car, but that’s another story.  We paid for the 500 and a day later I made a trip back to the dealer for the 3 bikes. 

After getting it home and doing some preliminary cleaning and adjustments, I proceeded to try to fire the bike.  Everything was in spec, carburetor, ignition points set correctly and in time, but it just would not fire and run.  Upon a compression test revealed very low compression, I kinda suspected it in the beginning but I have made bikes in worse shape run and run well, so I didn’t think a whole lot about it. A tear down for a top end was in store.  Now I found out why the dealer gave it away with the other bike, the piston had a small piece missing on the crown near the edge of the ring land.  Ok not a big deal, I have done top ends before, no biggie.  Sourcing the parts was the real challenge and probably the reason the original owner abandoned it at the dealer years ago.  The piston, rings, and wrist pin were obsolete from the OEM and Wiesco.  In the days before Ebay and the Internet, my only shot was either find a bone yard bike/engine that was in better shape that I could rob the parts out of (not my first choice) or find some NOS (new old stock) parts.  Through many phone calls to dealers spanning the country, I got a tip of a guy that buys up dealers parts inventories when they go out of business.  I thought SCORE!  Well this was a mixed blessing as the guy only has the parts cataloged by part number on micro-fiche.  So without an OEM part number he could not tell me if he had the part(s) or not.  With some digging on some old micro-fiche parts diagrams I got my numbers, and sure enough he had all the parts I needed NOS.  Fast forward a month or two later I had basically a “new” 1973 F11M. 

Many good memories were had on that bike.  I hate to fathom how many hours I put on that machine.  At the time it was all I had for a motocross bike, even though it was not a true mx bike.  The thing was heavy hovering around the 300 pound mark, and suspension was sub-par even for its day, 4 inches in the front and about 3.5 in the rear with little to no damping to control the springs.  I felt I handled the bike well considering its drawbacks and ultimately I believe made me a better rider for the future when I would update my equipment.  I am a firm believer that ANY rider should cut their teeth on a vintage or lower performing bike for a while before they go head first in to one of these cutting edge machines.  Below is a link of me and my friends riding these bikes back in the day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9O1pdW1o4g

Reflections of machines gone past…

Now I know this is an ATV site but nearly anyone should be able to relate to the following story. Everyone has that one or many machines that bring back a fond memory of the past.

What ever you want to call it, reminiscing, memories or just shameless self promotion. I was vacationing back at my old stomping grounds in Nebraska where I grew up on my folks farm. While I was back there I ended up helping my folks clean up from the ending harvest season which ultimately meant putting all our restored and currently ridden bikes into winter storage, to make room for the farm equipment. This meant moving them from the main shop into a dedicated storage shed. Hold on, maybe I better back this up a bit.

I grew up on a family farm that my folks still farm to this day. My dad and mom rode motorcycles in the 60’s and 70’s so naturally that was one of the hobbies growing up (that and restoring old cars). Being a farmer we never got rid of anything because “you never know when you may need this or that”. Some of my school mates rode as well and in those days we bought bikes for nothing fixed them, rode them, fixed them, rode them and on. The phrase “RAMP IT!” seemed to claim a lot of bikes back then. Usually the night before a ride we had to fix what we broke the weekend before, and many parts were just hard to find. This was before E-Bay so trips to motorcycle boneyards and leads on junk bikes were regular occurrences.

Of course along the way we collected bikes and restored them not really for show, but just for fun and to make reliable drivers out of them. I did this throughout my teens and twenty’s through college. Graduating college and starting a career the bikes of my past got pushed back into storage as I scaled back a bit (student loans can do that you know) I carefully selected only a few bikes that I could store and ride in my new “home”. For these I chose my Kawasaki KX250 for track and trail riding, Gas Gas TXT321 for trials, and KZ400 for commuting (later to be replaced by my Buell XB9SX). This meant I had to put all the rest on hold for the future.

Fast forward to the future (present). I was getting a bit nostalgic and as I pushed the bikes around I decided to get a group photo of all the old bikes from my past. Each bike has its own little story about it, whether it be how I acquired it or some memorable event while riding it. It should be noted that really none of these bikes are worth a fortune, some have historical significance and are collectible for that reason, but most just carry sentimental value. Possibly in future articles I might delve into some of the bikes are tell my story about the bike as well as telling a bit of history about the bike from when it was new.

Feel free to express some of your fond memories of bikes or atvs of your past in the comment area.

click below for videos

Team MGR memories

Team MGR from way back

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Photo Flashback

While looking through some older galleries on my website this afternoon I thought you might enjoy a couple of my images from a couple of years ago. [Read more]

Images