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Sunny Corner Trail Bike Rally 2009 DVD

2009 SCTBR DVD is COMPLETE!!!

To order your copy today, click here or visite DirtRiderImports.com

With over 50 min's of quality riding footage (and just a little bit of fluff) your sure to completely re-live the experience! And, hopefully, get some decent footage of yourself and your mates ripping it up!

Or, if you didn't get to go this year, or have never been for that matter, grab a copy and check it out!

After many painstaking hours, slaving away over the keyboard and sifting through hours of footage and music, Dirt 2 Dust is proud to announce that the DVD is complete! And it's a ripper!! (if we do say so ourselves)

Around 900 riders turned up to ride the 23rd running of the Sunny Corner Trail Bike Rally this year and man was it good! Once again, the Central Tablelands MCC put on a fantastic ride. For those who have never attended an organised rally, you are missing one of life’s enjoyable experiences. Not only is it a great day out with ya mates, blasting down the trail not having to worry about other bikes and cars coming the other way, but you also get to meet, chinwag and drink with a whole bunch of other people who love to do the same. AND, to top it all off, you could win a brand new KTM 450exc!!! As well as a whole bunch of other goodies from the various sponsors of the Rally. The Sunny Corner Rally is one of those events that offer a unique experience each and every year. For photo's of previous SCTBR's, , CLICK HERE!

Above is a small teaser of what your going to expect from our production.

The DVD's will cost $22 each. (price includes GST and Postage n' Handling if shipping within Australia Only)

Remember, if you have any questions why not contact us.

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Saturday– It had rained for about 36 hours prior, but come Saturday morning, there was not a cloud in sight.

-0630 riders brief, with prologue starting a little after 0700. Was a nice sunny brisk/cold morning, the track will be wicked!!
I got in early this year for my prologue run to give me more time for any set up changes etc. Took it fairly easy on my run, didn't want to put it down, caught the guy ahead of me just as I seemed to have a flat rear (back end was swapping a bit too much) but was actually a clay/greasy section of track that I was getting on the throttle a bit hard trying to get around this guy. Managed a 3min 01sec lap time (19th outright). Adrian pipped me with a 2min 59sec (14th Outright).

Race start at 1000 - with bikes starting every 30 seconds, Adrian set out 2.5 minutes ahead of me. Settled into a nice rhythm and managed to catch a couple of bikes, then saw the first off - Michael Vroom from Alice springs had spat himself off in a bit of a high speed whooped section coming into trees - was pulled up by a couple of other riders until Sweep rider showed up (about 30 seconds after I pulled up). so I took off again.....................

Had a couple of scares when I overshot a couple of corners, and in some tighter stuff I out braked myself into a corner and went over the bars after hitting a log. Not damage to bike or myself, but had to re-adjust the bars/levers a little, noticed the clutch perch was a little loose and I needed to keep adjusting it all the way to the first refuel.
Came into first refuel with Adrian just finishing up his refuel - he couldn't get his fuel cap off - had to get some tools (big bloody pipe wrench) to help get it off, so his refuel was a very slow one - allowed me to catch him. I refuelled quickly, tightened the clutch perch and followed Adrian out of the refuel point.
Chased Adrian for a fair while, no dust so was hot on his heels, but the boulders his rear tyre was throwing at me........ I was trying to stand up as much as I could but after getting hit in the nuts a couple of times from his roost I stayed planted on the seat to save myself some "serious" damage. Was really good to be racing so close with him - we were very similar in race speed.
Once we hit some dusty sections I dropped off a little and bought myself undone when I got crossed up when I hit something in the dust - with no steering damper I went over the bars again. Knocked the wind out of me a bit, but managed to get going fairly quickly after re-adjusting the bars again. Tried to catch up with Adrian again, but in the process I managed to get out of shape due to another wheel deflection  (must get Steering damper for next year), and slammed myself into a tree with my shoulder that spat me off the bike big time - Imagine Willy Mason shoulder charging you at full noise, and then double it - The bruise on my arm/shoulder has the netting imprint from the body armour I was wearing. The off really knocked me about, I was winded and had to massage the muscles to get them working again.
The bike managed to miss the tree so no obvious damage but the throttle seemed a little sticky, got back on the bike and slowly got back into it. Tried to adjust the throttle but couldn't get it to free up - had to really man handle the throttle. Started to cause a blister on the thumb by the time I got to Condo.

Came into 2nd refuel point - Adrian was frantically working on his bike – apparently not long after my second crash, his front sprocket had failed and all the teeth were missing. I think he must have picked up a rock and it's busted a couple of teeth and then it's just self destructed from there.
I refuelled and took off leaving Adrian working on his bike. I got about 20km's down the track and hit the wall with dehydration - I had actually forgotten to take on extra water at the refuel points, and my camel back was just about dry. Pushed on but came to grief in the real snotty rocky sections about 15km's out of Condo. Put the bike down in a short sharp rocky hill climb and broke the RH radiator shroud - good thing was the new PWR radiators held up to the crash and suffered no damage.
Got into Condo feeling completely stuffed and a little sore (muscles cramping from dehydration). Adrian pulled in 10 minutes later.
So it was back to the pits to service the bikes for the return leg. Whilst Adrian ran around looking for somebody who had a complete set of chain and sprockets for the KTM, I ripped the KXF apart and found the brand new throttle cables I had fitted prior to the race had suffered damage in one of my crashes and caused a slight kink that couldn't be seen, but obviously was binding the throttle. Had to refit the old cables. Also had to bleed the front brakes as I had suffered some air ingestion when the bike was upside down, changed air filter, fixed up broken plastics and changed the oil. Whilst doing all this I was helping my brothers with Tyres changes, filter changes, handing out other spares &  tubes I had that others had forgotten, loaning tools, setting up the Pit tents, locking the bikes up etc. (I'm telling you all this to help explain what happened on day 2)

Sunday - Got out to the track a little later then I would have liked - actually missed the riders brief, but that was due to us being told the incorrect time. Should have had a printed out Sup Regs anyway and spoke with the Clerk or Steward to confirm times, but hindsight is a wonderful thing!!
I managed to post the 19th fastest time, which was a bit of a surprise, and with Adrian's sprocket drama's on Day 1 he was back in 57th place. (12.5min behind me)
I did a quick couple of final adjustments on the bike (Slipped the forks through another 5mm to help with front wheel "twitchiness") and then got stuck into packing up. I ran out of time to double check the bike over, as I normally would before heading out but heard the first bike take off..............................I was rushed and grabbed my gear, suited up and got to the start line with about 2 minutes to spare.

I took off and felt really good on the bike, the first section is the hardest with all the rocks and I managed to blast through them fairly well. Got to about 30km's out from Condo and noticed my throttle slip a little - I hadn't completely tightened up the throttle housing due to brake cylinder access when bleeding and had forgot to re-check it. Thankfully when I repositioned it it was enough for it to hold. I managed to overtake 4 riders by about the 40km mark, and was hunting down the next rider when noticed my foot slipping off the rear brake pedal. I looked down and noticed the pedal part at the end of the lever had rotated and was upside down, not only that but there was a large amount of oil  - what the!!!!!!!!
My Oil filler cap was missing and basically the engine had flung I'd say the majority of it's engine oil down the side of the bike and over my boot. I was wondering why I was hearing a little bit of a rattle........................
The bike was still picking up oil but as soon as I revved it you could hear the cam chain & clutch basket rattle. So I put the bike in gear, stuck the heel of my boot over the hole where the plug should be and idled the next 20km's to the first refuel point. I parked the bike and watched the race go one without me. I wasn't keen to fill it with oil and bung up the hole to keep racing incase I'd already done some engine damage or I'd sucked in dirt, will find out when I strip it back down later this week.

Adrian came through the refuel point at which time I came up behind him and was yelling, "come on, come on, Darrell is pulling away, he's flying, get your ass into gear and catch him!!" and when Adrian looked to see who said that, the look on his face to see me standing there revving him up - ha ha ha ha, priceless!!
His second day run was pretty much uneventful. In the first leg he stoped to help a rider who’s bike was stuck upside-down in a fence, and on the third leg, the bunting showing a change in the track that cut out 4km, had been broken so, not knowing where to go, he added the 4km of slop and ruts back into his return leg. But despite those and with no further problems from the newly rebuilt 525, (which apparently “goes like a bloody rocket!!”)  Said that he road fast and smooth for the whole 3:18 hours and still felt good at the end…

Anyway, I got to help my brothers with their refuels, and got to see the other side of the event - The support crew side - and was good to watch. Although I was pissed off with myself for not double checking my bike over and a simple part as a filler cap bringing me to a grinding holt, I still enjoyed the day. Just goes to show how preparation makes a big difference to your race event, if I had an extra 15 minutes to go over the bike I may have picked up that I hadn't tightened down the filler cap after doing the oil change, or retightened the throttle housing after doing the brake bleed. Ahhhh again, hindsight!!

Adrian and my brothers all finished with my brother Ken picking up 3rd in the 250cc 4stroke class with a good 2nd day time that boosted him up the placing - well done.
Looking at Adrian's times, and even though he did a good job of playing catch up on day 2, if he hadn't of had the chain/sprocket drama's of Day 1 and he hadn't missed the turn that cut out 4km of track on Day 2, he would have been on the podium in the over 450 class also, but finished just outside the top 3, in 4th place by only a couple of minutes and only 8 min behind 2nd place. Bad luck mate, I guess you'll be running better quality chain & sprockets next year huh??

Our thanks go out to Michael Smith, not only for the photo's to the right but for also putting 400km of red bull-dust through Adrian’s new Outback, oh, and for being a great pit crew… J

Our appreciation goes out to Rachel Herbert for suppling the photo's to the left. Thank you Rachel....

We would also like to thank Pivot Pegs, Undecided Clothing, BelRay Oils, Motoz Tyres and Incite Graphics for their support for this event.

DAZ.

 

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Team ‘DIRT 2 DUST’ had a bash at the NSW Stadium MX at Maitland (NSW) on the weekend and had a fair bit of fun in the process.

Didn't start out too well as Friday afternoon I found out the valve spring retainer that Kawasaki had broken whilst replacing my Valve stem seals during the week, hadn't shown up from Sydney. Lots of frantic phone calls and found the courier had left them at the Sydney Airport. Many Kawasaki dealers in Newcastle and Sydney called but none around, went to see Hoppo at Axis to see if he had something that might fit, but no luck. Basically the KXF450 was dead for the weekend, I was not a happy camper Friday afternoon!! 
Thankfully my brother Ken, who had come up to race as well, offered me the use of his CRF250, which I was a little reluctant to use, but there seemed to be a big enough gap between his races and mine that we could work it in. So I set about getting his jetting sorted out a little better, but with the suspension set up for his weight (he's about25kg lighter then me), it was a bit too soft so all I could do was wind the compression dampening up to help with my lard a$$ slamming it into the track.
This wasn’t the only drama - Adrian driving up from Sydney on Saturday morning had overheat problems with his car and got to the track a little late, which in the end wasn't a drama as the event was running late due to the bad weather. Adrian was riding his KTM525EXC.

Track was fairly wet and slippery, and practice was a bit of a laugh, just trying to stay on the bike and looking for any line that gave you some traction. 

Race 1 - Because it was so slippery it evened out the field a little. Still got hosed off the start though, but Adrian managed a good start as I saw him slip into 3rd position. I think I was back in 9th or 10th after the first corner and had to play catch up. Managed to claw my way back up the field and caught Adrian going into the last corner, bumping into him as he turned in (I don't think he knew I was there), but he had a double take as he realised it was me and it was basically a drag race to the finish line. Adrian got me by .100 of a second (we had transponders fitted for the event). Adrian was pumped, first Stadium MX and 3rd in the first race - woo hoo, oh and the fact he beat me was something I'm sure he was happy about ha ha ha ha.

Race 2 - Track had dried out and was cleaned up by the bobcat a little. A lot more traction this time around - making it a more enjoyable ride. Problem was I lined up with Lyndon Heffernan on one side with his YZF450 and Adrian on the other with his 525! Mmmmmmm, I launched out of the gate to be met by 2 bikes converging in front of me and buckets full of roost filling me in, basically backed off and I think I was last into the corner, then slammed into a guy who got all out of control in the first corner pack, I think I pushed him back onto the track, but sent me off the side. Not sure how Adrian came out of the corner, I think he came together with Lyndon also. Gave the little 250 a hiding and managed to over take a few people, Adrian said he could hear me coming by the way I was revving the 250. Managed to sneak past Adrian on the last lap through a corner (250 cornered a bit better then the big girl). They cut the race short by 1 lap so we finished in 7th an 8th respectively.

Race 3 – By night time, the race track was fairly well rutted up and there was some greasy areas as well. Adrian got a good start I think he was in 4th, I got hosed again and was somewhere at the back. Adrian had washed his bike between races and must have gotten some water under his grips because as he came around to the stutters, his grips started to slip. He was struggling to hang onto the 525 properly and slow drifted back into the pack, I even managed to get past him once again on the last lap, and we both finished in 8th & 9th positions.

Had a good time banging bars with Adrian through some of the turns, having a good laugh at watching him getting out of shape up in front of me and sussing out my brother's CRF. I would have much preferred my own bike, but I'm glad I didn't miss out all together.
Adrian said he had a ball, and I'm sure I'll see him at more MX events next year, but he did mentioned that he would like to try it on a motocrosser next time!!

Funny thing was after the 3 races Adrian and I ended up on the same points I believe, I'd say somewhere like equal 6th or 7th overall.

Darrell Greig

 

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Dirt 2 Dust do the Yellow Mountain!

 

Well, "Team Dirt 2 Dust”, consisting of myself (Adrian Bruce) on the 202 plated KTM525 and Darrell Greig on the 313 KXF450, competed in the Yellow Mountain Cross Country over the weekend of 4th-5th Aug, with some mixed results.
The conditions were fantastic this year as it had been raining during the week leading up to the event, turning the normally red bull dust into nice loamy soil. There were over 200 entries this year, the biggest since its conception 5 years ago. Track marking was the best to date also, with plenty of time and effort going into it to make sure that the track was safe and the riders didn’t get lost. So a big two thumbs up to Condobolin and Tottenham Motorcycle Clubs for their effort.

We were off to a good start as I placed 4th overall in the prologue and Darrell placed 6th (only 2 seconds behind). We were both really happy with that, but then it kinda went downhill from there.

On the first day, I had two crashes and Darrell raced most of the first day with no front brake. He broke the lever pretty much on the first corner, changed it for a new lever at the first refuel and proceeded to break that one 20min's down the track. He was over shooting corners, running into fences and trees all over the place. I did a big power slide into a fallen tree on day one and sprained my left wrist which slowed me up a bit.

I would also like to extend a special mention to the Greig and Roche familys, who’s hospitality and track side help We could not have done it with out. Thank you.

Adrian Bruce

 

 

 

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Chad Reed at Raymond Terrace.

Chad Reed returned to Aussie soil, for a one off race at round 4 of the MX Nationals, at Raymond Terrace, to promote Australian Motocross. It was a highly anticipated face off between QLD sensation Daniel Reardon and Reed. Reardon, who has raced away with all but one of the six motos this season, was not fazed by Reed's appearance and welcomed the competition. This was a good chance for Reardon, who hopes to ride in the US next year, to see what kind of speed it’s going to take to make it OS.

In race one, Reardon got the hole shot, which sent the crowd wild and Reedy quickly moved into second. Both Reed and Reardon streaked away from the rest of Australia’s Pro Open riders to have a race that was all their own. Reed settled in behind Reardon, checking his speed and occasionally showing the front wheel. Reardon road admirably, not seeming to be rattled by the presence of the former world Supercross champ, stayed focused, rode strong and flawless. After copping enough Australian roost from Reardon, Reedy simply popped past the #122 Kawasaki and quickly pulled an 8 second lead, showing Reardon the pace that it’s going to take to make it in the AMA series.

Race two was pretty much a carbon copy of race one.

"It was awesome to get out there and bang bars with Daniel and the boys, it is a very competitive series and there's so much talent here.
I also need to thank Craig Dack and the team for allowing us to run the bike from under their truck, and of course the crowd for coming out here today, I'm glad I've been able to spend so much time with the Aussie fans."

In the Pro Lite class, Jake Moss on the #6 Yamaha was just too good for the competition, despite battling some early arm pump, he pushed through it and rode away with both motos.

A.Bruce

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NEW EDITION OF DIRT 2 DUST DVD FREE, WHEN YOU PURCHASE AUSTRALIAN TRAILRIDER MAGAZINE - OUT NOW!

Have we got some stuff for you. This latest edition, called "SUNDAY SESSION II" packs in:

• The 2006, Sunny Corner Trail Bike Rally.
• The Yellow Mountain Cross Country Event.
• 2006 Melbourne Motorcycle Expo
• 2006 Sydney Motorcycle Show.
• Two Day KTM Trail Tour.
• The Full Bore MX Park.
• Interviews with Dave Schwarz and Jehi Willis.