Changing of the Guard. 1/2 mile ice race details.

[PLJ.]

Watched the D-14 bike amatuer nationals today on the 1/2 mile. Wow!! Gone are the days of custom framed, lowered, glassed, big fourstrokes like the Woods/Rotax's, CJ's, Star Honda's, Trackmaster Yamaha's and the others that dominated the ice seen for 20 years!!! The new weapons of choice are the wonder four strokes specifically the CRF450 and the YZ450F. Some were stock height, stock brakes, stock bars, knobby fronts, stock frames, etc. and they plain hauled tail!!!! Many open class 500cc 65 h.p. bikes and custom Rotax singles were passed easily by these wonder thumpers. Its nice to see that the fasted bikes on the track are available right down the street at the local dealership, but I miss the lure of the custom flattacker with all the personal touches, paint, decals, chrome, etc. If the fourwheeler versions of these two bikes are anything like the two wheelers, every ATC250R should be wary!!!!!!! Thanks.

[YAMAHA_Jim]

Its the same where I race flat track.There's a few nice old lowered custom Rotax's, bultaco's, etc.,but they cant touch the new 4 stroke bikes. In the quad class it doesnt matter what you ride.The track is so small that you need a good starting position to win.