King of The Motos- Preview and Announcements

Full Article With Pics Here: http://www.race-dezert.com/home/king-of-the-motos-to-kick-off-hammers-week-36590.html

WHO: Anyone on 2 wheels who is tough enough to try
WHAT: King of the Motos Extreme Enduro Survival Race
WHERE: Hammer Town, Johnson Valley, CA
WHEN: Sunday February 3
WHY: (Why not?)
LINK TO ENTRY FORM
HAMMER TOWN, CA-North America’s most extreme enduro event, which is billed as a Motorcycle Survival Race, is open for entries and creators Jimmy Lewis and Dave Cole announced today that the race is open to anyone tough enough and willing to make the challenge.

“Last year was an invite-only to test the concept of a real extreme enduro in the US”, explains creator and course designer Jimmy Lewis, “This time, there are no invites and anyone is welcome. We will hold a few spots on the front line for winners of other high-profile races.”

For those wondering about the magnitude of this event and its difficulty, of the 21 invited pro starters in last year’s inaugural event, only 6 finished. The 2013 KOM is rumored to be even longer in miles with the rocky sections being just as tough.

The King of the Motos is the brainchild of moto-masochist Jimmy Lewis and King of the Hammers founder Dave Cole; Both men are credited with creating North Americas preeminent extreme enduro race, following the lead of Europe’s Erzberg Rodeo, Romaniacs and Hell’s Gate. The Roof of Africa is that continents claim to extreme enduro fame.

Desert Rookie Graham Jarvis chased local ace Kurt Caselli up the “drama bomb” in the inaugural King of the Motos. Jarvis went on to claim the $10,000 winner take all prize.
In the international motorcycle arena, events like Erzberg, Romaniacs and their counterparts draw upwards from 500 entries apiece and the fanfare is likened to major music festivals with all kinds of side attractions and spectacles. There is little doubt that Lewis and Cole have stumbled onto the future of extreme enduro for North America and RDC will be there before, during and after to bring you to most in-depth coverage and imagery you will find anywhere.

Entry Form: http://ultra4racing.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/2013-King-of-the-Motos-registration-form.pdf
Specific Details
-Entry fees go up December 1st
-The race will be longer than last year in mileage with at least the same level of difficulty in the rocky technical sections.
-There will be three classes:
1) Professional, where riders will go the full distance, ride every hard section and compete for the purse.
2) Expert, riders will likely ride a shortened course and not have to do every hard section.
3) Team, Two riders each riding their own bike and riding together at the same time on the course, passing through the checkpoints at the same time so they can help each other in the difficult spots.
-GPS is not mandatory but will be extremely helpful to supplement the markings on ground through the course. The race organizers highly recommend the Trail Tech Voyager GPS since it will be used to set up the course and it’s simple interface is easy to use at race speeds. Additionally if there is any protest or inquiry about cheating in the race, the rider must provide a GPS track log as their proof of being on course. GPS route marking is very common at hard enduros and KOM is following that trend since it eliminates course cutting.
-Though it will be very difficult for any rider to finish the event, it is the allure of challenging a brutally difficult course that the KOM is providing: The course and the race are designed as a one rider, one machine (or two rider, two machine in the case of the team class).
-There will be no outside assistance from crews or spectators. The course is designed and verified by one man on one bike completing the course in its entirety.
-The course area will be closed to racers on the week prior to the event so there is no home field advantage. There will be suggested areas for riders to go and practice and a practice loop set up using the same GPS information so they can get familiar with the Trail Tech Voyager system. Entered riders will have access and availability shortly after the new year.
-Rumors have the loop length at 70-80 miles. The loop might be separated into two loops but there will be a central pit and a remote pit. The remote pit will be for gas only and the main pit will enable a rider to do any work on their bike he or she needs, as long as they do it themselves.
When Jimmy Lewis stumbled onto the King of the Hammers by random chance a few years ago and took note of the event’s massive tent city (likened to the Burning Man for rock crawlers), he sought to collaborate with King of the Hammers founder Dave Cole and created the most extreme enduro race ever conceived in North America. In the inaugural event last February, 21 of the most qualified riders started the race by climbing up a unique “drama bomb” start yet only 6 riders even completed the event.

KOM was designed to challenge the skills of the world’s best riders yet combines aspects of trials, enduro, hill-climb, off road and desert racing. Using a mostly unmarked course with an option for TrailTech Voyager GPS, the King of the Motos will be the next huge thing in off-road motorcycle racing. No longer is KOM a side-show to the ever-growing King of the Hammers and Hammer town: it is now the main kick off event for Hammer Week.

Badass moto-master Chris Ridgeway works his 2-stroke up the “Drama Bomb” start at the inaugural King of the Motos event last February. Ridgeway and his Team Hero just finished the BAJA 1000 a few weeks ago, spanking many other pro teams.
One of the things that makes KOM a unique draw is the allure of simply finishing the event. This is one of those races where a finish is a win and, even if you got last place, you still did way better than someone who couldn’t finish. This is the standard in the international arena of extreme enduro and what originally drew creator Jimmy Lewis to ride events like Erzberg Rodeo and Romaniacs.

More Pics

Chris Ridgeway

this is going to be EPIC!!!

Anyone here planning on entering ?

im riding my 950 out from NC. will be running pit crew for one of the cars in the big race, but cant wait to watch the bike race!

So is registration closed or did the fees just go up? If the latter what is entry now?

had a blast last year! Jimmy Lewis laid out a great course last year and it supposed to be tougher for the pro's this year. :eek1

JV is an easy place to see many different spots on the course. We watched 4-5 sections and that was after working checkpoint #1 after all the riders came through.

Some vid I took from Jackhammer Canyon:
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/qmfy0AtE4Z4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Here's a couple of inside notes to ADV'ers: (and A RANT!)

First, someone organize a Meet Up for all you guys to ride out and see this event (and the crawler race the following Friday!)

I'll try to get something cool organized around it, maybe a special autograph session with the riders all in one place at one time.

The course is way more spectator friendly and accessible to view a few sections per lap if on a bike. We will have spectator maps available in Hammertown.

I'm putting worker teams together, PM me if you want to be included. We will be out a week early marking course and then needing a lot of help on the day of the race. Especially helpers with good 4X4 who want to participate.

You can still enter and I'm a little bummed on the lack of entries in my opinion. For as many riders who said, "make a hard enduro race and I'll be there", I'm wondering where all these guys really are?

This race is for all the guys who claim to be real good and tough riders who can ride "ANYTHING" well, lets see it in the real world. There are plenty of guys who talk the talk, but we've created an event where you can go out with the best riders in the world and see how you stack up or if you can go as far or farther than them. You know that guy who you ride with that is such a good rider (and maybe tells you about it?) Well, sign them up and see how good they are.

The spirit of this race is one rider and one bike without outside help. (Or two riders and two bikes in the team class, they ride together so they can help each other.) So you could show up in your pick-up truck and a can of gas and have every bit of a chance as the next guy once the flag drops. (And the start will be more unspectacular than last year)

And in reality if the participation does not pick up then it will just go away. And yes, you'll have to travel to Europe of SA to do a real extreme enduro. I dreamed of bringing an event like this to the US since I rode my first Gilles LaLay Classic in the mid 90's and we have the perfect venue to create an event that has as much potential as Erzberg, but it is going to take more riders than we have now.

So, if you know someone who is thinking about doing this, convince them or they may never get a chance. Just a warning...

And if you are worried about this race being too tough, take this how you like. I rode the entire course, by myself, unassisted on a 6-year old bike. I'm old, washed up, some say fat and out of shape, so if any of you guys, especially those hot up and coming kids, can't do it, well then I'm just a better rider than you! We can talk about it at the finish line, I'll be there to greet you.

JIMMY

You know how it is Jimmy, most guys are all talk.
Jeez, if you can ride it all unassisted it must not be too tough. And you left out the "balding" part...
It will be really unfortunate if the lack of entries spells the end of the event.
Thanks for all your hard work and especially your passion!

I would sign up and do it, jsut to try and finish. Its a month away? Oy. I wonder if I could rent a bike for this

"yes I'd like to rent a bike for a few days. nothing serious, just some trail riding :"

Bump for potential racers

Really wish this weren't 2,000+ miles away. It'd be a heck of a great way to get prepped for racing this season (or completely destroy my race bike)

Andrew

Would love to race but haven't even done two loops of a D37 race yet. I hope to come out and watch though.

If you want to learn more about the race, tune into this feed live tonight at 7PM West coast time.

http://ultra4racing.com/live/

And driving 2000 miles is a lot closer than Erzberg!

Jason,

I have an XR400 I'd rent to you! It has already done most of the course!

JIMMY

I'm making arrangements to have a Bivouac camping area for ride-in campers on ADV bikes. More info to come!

Thats funny , because you were the one I was thinking about when I posted above

DONT YOU DARE

I'm heading down with another PNW local to watch the race and possibly help pit for another ADV rider.
Going to ride Area 51 out of Hesperia on Monday.