12:55pm Saturday 28 November 2009 : The first time in the world that a Harley Davidson has been back flipped to Dirt. Kain Saul from the Gold Coast-Australia, was the mad man behind the bars.
The XR1200 Sportster supplied by Harley Davidson Australia and prepared by Gavin Walker and co from Quick Fix Harley Davidson, The bike tips the scales at 257 kilo and has around 100 horsepower.
The jump took place in Victoria at one of Cam Sinclairs practice compounds.
The jump and this footage was featured on SPORTS TONIGHT as the PLAY OF THE DAY.
big ups to SAULY, and all the crew that helped out.
Yet another ground breaking trick tonight from the Gladiator Games this time with Petr Pilat as the pilot and the Mayor of Prague as the passenger a world first tandem backflip to dirt….I wonder if Boris Johnson the Mayor of London would have the balls to attempt something like this – I very much doubt it!
I took part in my first dh race in about 11 years last weekend down in torbay, with no idea of the track we turned up on slicks to find a super wet track, with only one run down before my race run we had little time to pick lines, with all the locals riding the track twice a week and every weekend it was clear the few not so locals that had an invite were going to find it hard, First run and i think the nerves kicked in, a off line moment and i had to get off the bike and push to get going, After that it was on and we charged down and took the 6th fastest time!next up was a fresh new trail, Again no time to practice other than one roll down..
We got an ok run and came in 7th, No sooner as i got to the bottom we were told we would have another run on this track so we hit it up as one of the last riders the track was cut up and i was one of the only rider to go quicker on my second run, even with a crash!, taking another 6th, 7/6/6 giving me 7th overall. looking forward to some training this winter and more DH racing early next year to go along with the freeride and other events and jams we will be hitting up.
On November 14th, 2009 the newest member of the AFMXA, Jeff “OX” Kargola was in a serious accident while pre-running for the Baja 1000 in San Felipe, Mexico. Ox crashed, smashed his belly (probably with the bars digging in) and drove his head into the ground. He says he “saw a bush shadow that may have been hiding a rock”. His front tire missed it, but his back tire hit it sending him into his crash at probably 50mph. He isn’t too sure, but he knows he was riding down the highway after the crash through military check points without stopping. OX saved himself. Riding alone, he got up and rode to the highway and towards San Felipe, a 45 mile ride. Eventually he got dizzy and was going to crash on the pavement and stopped in the middle of the highway. Some locals stopped and put him in their car and one of them rode his bike to SF.
At 11:22am the AFMXA received word that Jeff was in a clinic with a laundry list of injuries and we went to work! Medjet assist was called immediately as Dr. Gus Gialamas stayed in constant contact with the Doctors at the clinic in Mexico. By 2:45pm Medjet was in the air and Jeff was on his way home to be admitted to Scripps Mercy in San Diego for proper treatment. He landed in San Diego at 5:03pm and was in surgery by 7:53pm to stop internal bleeding.
Because OX is a member of the AFMXA he knew he could contact us and we were able to assist him in a life-threatening situation. The AFMXA will continue to support him and look forward to his full recovery!
Although his medjet flight was covered by his membership (had he not had it this would have cost him between $40-60k) his hospital stay and surgeries are not. We are currently taking any donations on AFMXA.org to help support our friend and team member.
This weekend’s AFMXA Awards show held at the Pala Hotel and Casino was a huge success. Opening the event was a killer rap performed by none other than freestyle riders Ronnie Faisst and Nate Adams. Check out their entire performace in the video below.
Brian Deegan and the Metal Mulisha teamed up with ProComp to create the most bad-ass wheel of ALL TIME! Introducing the Metal Mulisha Wheel!
UPDATE: Pro Comp and Deegan have recently announced a new, Special Edition, all-black wheel known as The General in 2012. You can find out more about it on ProComp USA's MM page
Click Here To Check Out The Dirt Bike Show 2009 Photo Gallery! Thanks To The Guys @ Fox For A Wicked Thai Dinner And An extremely Funny Night Out ! Probs To Bolddog For Hooking Us With Passes !
I was just digging back through our archives and I remembered we ran a competition for a set of signed Jenson Button gloves back in February! Click HERE to check it out.
I wonder if the lucky winner still has them? I bet he's kicking himself if he doesn't!
And so it is- the last race of the F1 calendar, has come, and gone. We come to the last moto gp race of the season, and I am hoping for a Casey Stoner win. It has been a tremendous season for Alpinestars and we now have a F1 world championship to add to the trophy cupboard. Who knows what could’ve happened if Casey Stoner hadn’t sat out those 3 races, but hey ho, this is the gruelling world of sports and at the end of the day, these guys are human, just like you and I. Going back to success, it has been great to see the Astars logo all over the tabloids and spread across our tv screens, throughout the year. It is this exposure that makes the brand grow and grow, and allows us to be able to branch out and create great lines, taking the brand out there to the people who love what we do. So, as per usual, here are some pics and notes from around the world.
F1 ABU DHABI
Red Bull Racings Sebastian Vettel won the inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sunday by racing around McLaren’s stealing the lead from Lewis Hamilton who did not finish the race due after suffering brake failure in his MP 4-24. 2008’s World Champion Hamilton ran in the lead from pole with Vettel following his every move. Vettel took the lead when Hamilton came in for his first pit stop on lap 18. Vettel followed shortly after and was able to come out ahead of Hamilton. Soon after though, Hamilton reported a vibration and limped to the paddock on lap 20 suffering the first mechanical failure during a race of his career. At that point, Vettel simply disappeared and was able to lengthen his lead over his Red Bull teammate Mark Webber. Webber had to fend off the spirited advances of new World Champion Jenson Button in the closing laps but was able to hold off the Brawn GP driver. Button was happy despite missing out on second. “It was a bonus to finish on the podium after the year we've had,” said Button, who had not finished on the podium since Monza in September. “I need to thank everyone at Brawn and Mercedes for all their hard work. It would have been easy to switch off after Brazil, but we didn't. We've come away with a podium, which is a nice way to end the year."
NASCAR TALLADEGA- JIMMIE JOHNSON
After a lengthy red flag period causes by Ryan Newman flipping his car in a major crash on lap number 183, once the race went back to green and eight laps later, Jamie McMurray won the Amp Energy 500 on the otherworldly fast and intimidating 2.66-mile tri-oval that is Talladega Superspeedway. By all accounts the race was deemed a “snoozer” as a few hours before it went green. What caused basically 450 miles of mind numbingly boring racing came at the behest of NASCAR president Mike Helton who banned any sort of bump drafting and who demanded to “see daylight” between the cars in the 33-degree banked turns. End result: Amazingly long periods of single-file traffic and no driver willing to defy NASCAR's order not to bump through the corners. Nonetheless, what ultimately happened on the superspeedway was a melee in the last 50 miles, upwards of 35 cars fighting tooth and nail in a frenzied effort to get to the front. Ryan Newman's nasty crash with five laps to go left him upside down in the grass, and NASCAR stopped the cars with a red flag as safety workers required 13 minutes to cut him from the car.
SUPERCROSS- JAMES STEWART
Although resigning AMA Supercross Champion James Stewart crashed twice in the second night of racing at Bercy on Saturday in Paris, France, the American still managed ride away to a somewhat easy overall victory. All things considered, Stewart utilized 3-1-1 finishes to ace the overall on the second of what will be three nights of racing in the French metropolis. Stewart began the night by tipping over in a slow speed corner while on a slow lap, then going on to finish third in the Superpole after nicking the wall in the Bercy tunnel. Undaunted, Stewart kept the Yamaha pinned in going onto to win the America race and the Main event. Stewart won the overall over fellow American Justin Brayton (1-3-2) and Frenchman Marvin Musquin (4-2-4).
TITBITS OF THE WEEK
“Man jumps bike over chopper…..” Travis Pastrana has been at it again. It would be fair to say the American essayist didn't quite have the future exploits of extreme sports star Travis Pastrana in mind when he championed the cause of individualism in the mid-19th century. After all, leaping onto a dirt bike and performing a backflip over a hovering 40-metre helicopter could be pushing the boundaries of sanity to new limits. But that is what 26-year-old Pastrana, who has won 14 X Games medals, did in front the Sydney Harbour Bridge today, to announce the Australian tour of the MTV show Nitro Circus. See clip here:
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I took part in my first dh race in about 11 years last weekend down in torbay, with no idea of the track we turned up on slicks to find a super wet track, with only one run down before my race run we had little time to pick lines, with all the locals riding the track twice a week and every weekend it was clear the few not so locals that had an invite were going to find it hard, First run and i think the nerves kicked in, a off line moment and i had to get off the bike and push to get going, After that it was on and we charged down and took the 6th fastest time!next up was a fresh new trail, Again no time to practice other than one roll down.. 
