Jacko Strong pulled it off with the front flip ramp to ramp on the Crusty Demons tour! Jacko, had made three previous unsuccessful attempts on the current tour, but saved his best for last in front of more than 6,500 crazy Australians freestyle motocross fans! Jacko said, I was a lot more relaxed knowing it was the last show of the tour and the support from the Cairns crowd was fantastic, this time I was using thinner resi-mats and had moved the ramps to the full 85 feet. Now I just cant wait now to do it at the X Games, Please subscribe

Motocross champion Josh Hansen revs up for his third consecutive gold medal at this summer’s X Games 16 in Los Angeles. Hansen, known for his natural talent and inimitable smooth riding style (inherited from his father, Donnie Hansen, former world supercross champion), secured back-to-back X Games victories in 2008 and 2009 during the Men’s Moto X Super X event.

Following a comeback season, the 26-year-old has been invited to compete in this year’s following main events: Best Whip, Speed & Style and Super X. Hansen hopes to close the summer with another win under his belt.

In 2009, Hansen elected to put his career on hold after the tragic loss of two close friends, choosing only four AMA races to compete in for the year. In January, renowned motocross coach Mitch Payton selected Hansen to ride the West Region for the Monster Energy/Pro Circuit team. Making what many have called a comeback, Hansen finished at the top of the season, winning the final round of the 2010 Supercross West Lites series at Salt Lake City, placing second at the AMA East/West Shootouts in Vegas, and concluding top 10 overall.

Since stepping into the limelight of professional motocross at the age of 17, Hansen’s career has exploded, receiving top honors in the AMA Lites Class and Full Factory Ride sponsorships, a professional campaign that has placed him amongst the very best of the sport.

X Games 16 will be held in Los Angeles from July 29-Aug 1 at the following venues: L.A. Live, L.A. Coliseum, Nokia Theater and STAPLES Center. For a full schedule, visit www.xgames.com.

Follow Josh Hansen on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/joshhansen100) and Twitter (@JoshHansen100).

Zero Motorcycles has made a name for itself in the fledgling electric motorcycle world with its motocross design, but now the San Jose firm it taking it to the streets. The release of the all-new Zero S delivers light overall weight (225 lbs) and electric power (31 hp with 62.5 lb-ft immediate torque) in a supermoto-like package.
As an electric design it suffers from limited 60-mile range and top-speed ceiling of 60 mph, but the green ride can be recharged in under four hours with a 110V or 220V outlet. As a plug-in electric vehicle, the Zero S also qualifies for the recently passed 10% federal tax credit – so the $9,950 MSRP is effectively reduced by a cool Grand.

Great artists create great things out of what others deem useless and leave it to rot. Kenny Scott is one of those artists. The man couldn’t bear the heaps of cardboard going waste and decided to create something meaningful out of it and hence comes this full scale Harley Davidson replica that he created while using the cardboard.
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Fortune Hanebrink has come up with an all-terrain utility bike that surprisingly runs on a brushless electric motor. Dubbed Fortune HANEBRINK, the zero-emission vehicle is powered by a 600W electric motor that gets fueled by a 10Ah lithium-ion battery pack.

Equipped with a 14 speed gearbox, the bike includes carbon fiber bars and tubeless tires that help it counter even the most difficult terrains. Engineering and handcrafted in California, the Fortune HANEBRINK is the confluence of ingenuity, ecology and luxury. Fitted with five lithium ion batteries, the HANEBRINK provides a run time of over 6 hours, more than 100 miles of riding, and the batteries are fully recharged in just 3 hours.

Costing about $5500, the HANEBRINK reaches speeds up to 40 mph and employs 14 speed-gearing with a low range that is easily capable of carrying up to 300 pounds of bulky cargo up steep terrain or deep into inaccessible areas. The HANEBRINK is a revolutionary all-terrain hybrid vehicle that can truly go anywhere on the planet, maintaining minimal environmental impact and zero-carbon emissions.

Lance Armstrong returned to the Tour de France in 2009 after four years away from cycling’s most prestigious race. At the age of 37, Armstrong rode his way to a third-place finish. And though it was one of the great athletic performances of our time, it paled in comparison to Armstrong’s seven consecutive victories in what could be the world’s most grueling sporting event.

Entering the 2010 cycling season, Armstrong was focused on improving his position in this year’s Tour as he tried to dethrone Alberto Contador, the rival and former teammate who won last year’s race. That commitment filtered down to one of Armstrong’s sponsors, an outfit named Giro Helmets. The Santa Cruz, California, company had recently launched an Advanced Concepts Group to do “real R&D,” according to Chris Bullock, the group’s manager.

The Giro team brainstormed project ideas and eventually landed on what seemed like the perfect one. What if it focused on building one helmet for one rider, so as to maximize performance? Armstrong was chosen as that one rider, and the cycling time trial –- which emphasizes aerodynamics, because each cyclist rides solo against the clock –- was chosen as the venue. The goal was simple: to create the fastest, most aerodynamic helmet in the world for the conditions Armstrong was likely to face.

“This project was really driven by Giro,” says Armstrong, who will wear the resulting helmet during Saturday’s prologue time trial in Rotterdam, Netherlands. “They went way outside of cycling to look at different sports and concepts.”

One of those concepts helped solve a major problem: How do you create a completely customized helmet for a rider who is constantly traveling around the world, not only for his cycling career but for his cancer foundation?

Simple, actually. You spend $15,000 working with a Los Angeles special-effects house to create a lifelike replica of the rider in his time trial position, along with a detailed model of his head and face.

The Oregon Department of Transportation has undertaken a review of literature on lane-sharing, the practice of splitting lanes of traffic on a motorcycle, but the review fails to come to any real conclusion.

The department noted that increasing motorcycle and other traffic, and potential benefits of lane-sharing to traffic movement patterns, make the issue worth considering, but in its review it found that there was very little study of lane-sharing benefits and problems.

The obvious benefits of lane-sharing include reducing congestion and travel times, increasing reliability, and reducing emissions, the review paper, finished in June, stated. However, it notes that “while these benefits are frequently cited, their value has rarely been quantified,” and “the degree to which a motorcycle impacts congestion, relative to a car, is not well measured, especially when lane-sharing is practiced.”

The review says that law enforcement finds lane-sharing is useful in emergency situations.

In North America, lane-sharing is only legal in California, where it’s legal by default-no law has been written to ban the behaviour.

The Hurt Report is cited as the most frequently noted study, but that 1981 paper did not directly examine lane-sharing as a causation factor in crashes, and the California Highway Patrol does not include lane-sharing among its approved list of crash causes.

Lane-sharing is widely allowed in Europe, and has been studied there. The MAIDS report, for instance, found it to be a factor in a small percentage of collisions, and largely because drivers in stopped or slowed cars do not expect a motorcycle to be moving near them, and may suddenly turn into the motorcycle’s path.

Valentino Rossi has been officially cleared to ride at this weekend’s German Grand Prix at the Sachsenring, six week’s after his accident in Italy.

The Fiat Yamaha rider was examined by the Chief Medical Officer for this event, Dr. Huber Fischer, who found him fit enough to compete this weekend. Rossi will be present at the Official Press Conference at Sachsenring at 1700 CET today.

Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. announces the release of the new electric commuter “EC-03,” a model designed and engineered with the product concept of a “Smart Minimal Commuter.” Yamaha Motor will begin selling from September 1 in the Tokyo metropolitan area^*1 and nationwide from October 1, 2010.

The new EC-03 is a “zero-emissions” vehicle with a smooth and quiet ride that also allows the rider to enjoy lightness and slim design not found in conventional 50cc scooters. This model features a new high energy density 50V lithium-ion battery manufactured by SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. and Yamaha Motor’s exclusive super-slim Yamaha Integrated Power Unit (YIPU), which combine to provide smooth running performance at all times. Furthermore, it achieves a running distance per charge of 43km (@ 30km/h on a flat road)^*2 to provide the functionality and running performance desired for short-range transportation needs in the urban environment.
This new model also features plug-in recharging from a 100V household electrical outlet (3-hole grounded type), excellent ease of maneuvering thanks to its lightweight aluminum alloy frame and other features to ensure the high level of functionality and convenience as a “smart, minimal commuter” vehicle. Prior to its market release, advance orders for EC-03 will be accepted at designated dealerships beginning from July 15 in the Tokyo metropolitan area and nationwide from September 15, 2010.

After weeks of carefully sculpting, polishing, and tweaking his YZ450F to make it sea- and air-worthy, James Stewart finally tried his hand at the Red Bull Flugtag event on Saturday in Miami, Florida in front of more than 85,000 spectators.

James’ confidence was soaring pretty high right before his flight: “Since I’m a Red Bull rider and can’t actually be judged in the event, I figure I might as well just go ahead and break the distance record so that everyone remembers me,” James said with a grin.

Unfortunately for James, however, flying a stationary motorcycle off of a 25-foot-high platform (with no motor) wasn’t quite as easy as he thought it might be; though James did put in a solid attempt, his distance was quite a bit shy of the winning team’s flight/descent of 54 feet. Still, it was all in the name of fun for the 2009 Supercross champ, and he definitely accomplished that goal.

“Red Bull Flugtag in Miami was a blast! It took me out of being so serious from what I normally do, which is racing,” said Stewart. “Red Bull does so many cool things and being one of their athletes, the opportunities are just unlimited. I want to go for the record again!”

Valentino Rossi will leave Yamaha at the end of the 2010 season. He won’t be moving to automobile racing, as some have speculated, but will join the Ducati Corsa MotoGP team.

Motorcycle News UK and other European press are reporting that a MotoGP insider has confirmed that Rossi and Yamaha have failed to resolve a contract dispute; as well, Rossi refuses to continue teaming with Jorge Lorenzo.

Torrance, CA: American Honda announces today that Kevin Windham will be added to the Honda Red Bull Racing team in place of Davi Millsaps. Millsaps was injured during the Budds Creek, MD, AMA Motocross race on June 19, and the timing of his return is still to be determined.
At 32 years of age, Windham enjoyed one of his strongest seasons ever during the 2010 Supercross series, finishing the year in the runner-up spot. He climbed the podium eight times, and posted two consecutive race wins in Seattle and Salt Lake City.
“I’m really excited about this opportunity to fill in for Davi until he’s healthy and ready to race again,” said Windham. “As I said earlier this year, I had no intentions of racing the full Motocross season, but it will be great to get back on the bike and fill in for a few races. I want to thank my GEICO Powersports Honda team for supporting me in this effort, and of course Honda Red Bull Racing for giving me this opportunity to team with Andrew Short and Ashley Fiolek. This should be a lot of fun.”
Windham will begin racing in round seven held at the Spring Creek event on July 17 in Millville, MN, and stay on board until Millsaps recovers from his injuries and returns to the Honda Red Bull Racing team.
For more information, contact: American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (310) 783-3745.
©2010 American Honda Motor Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.