Motocross
[3] During the 1930s the sport grew in popularity, especially in Britain where teams from the Birmingham Small Arms Company (BSA), Norton, Matchless, Rudge, and AJS competed in the events.
[5] In 1952 the FIM, motorcycling's international governing body, set up an individual European Championship using a 500 cc engine displacement formula.
Companies such as Husqvarna from Sweden, CZ from the former Czechoslovakia, Bultaco from Spain and Greeves from England became popular due to their lightness and agility.
[7] By the mid-1960s, advances in two-stroke engine technology meant that the heavier, four-stroke machines were relegated to niche competitions.
[2][8] Motocross arrived in the United States in 1966 when Swedish champion, Torsten Hallman rode an exhibition event against the top American TT riders at the Corriganville Movie Ranch also known as Hopetown in Simi Valley, California.
The following year Hallman was joined by other motocross stars including Roger DeCoster, Joël Robert, and Dave Bickers.
[10][11] A motorcycle sales boom in the United States fueled by the Baby Boomer generation, helped to spark a growth in the popularity of motocross among young Americans.
[12] Japanese motorcycle manufacturers began challenging the European factories for supremacy in the motocross world by the late 1960s.
Suzuki claimed the first world championship for a Japanese factory when Joël Robert won the 1970 250 cc crown.
Although the advancement of two-stroke engine technology was the primary focus of the major Japanese motorcycle manufacturers well into the mid 1990s, a rekindled interest in engineering a competitive, lightweight four-stroke motocross race bike was expressed among several brands, including Yamaha Motor Corporation and Husqvarna.
In 1997, Yamaha unveiled a prototype 400cc four-stroke motorcycle, the YZM 400, which was debuted in the FIM Motocross World Championship.
The motorcycle made its U.S. debut in 1997, where Yamaha Factory Racing rider Doug Henry led every lap of the main event at the 1997 AMA Supercross Finale and became the first person to win an AMA Supercross race on a four-stroke powered motorcycle.
This success motivated the remaining major manufacturers, Honda, Kawasaki, and Suzuki, to develop their own four-stroke motocross race bikes.
Vintage motocross (VMX) events take place – usually[quantify] for motorcycles predating the 1975 model year.
Supercross is a cycle racing sport involving specialized high-performance off-road motorcycles on constructed dirt tracks with steep jumps and obstacles.
The supercross season takes place during the winter and spring months, with races in a different city every weekend.
There are 17 races in the AMA Supercross Championship schedule, normally beginning in Anaheim, California, and ending in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Along with the SX Open held in Auckland, New Zealand, the country's biggest event the Aus X-Open forms part of the Oceania Supercross Championship.
[citation needed] Supermoto began in the US the late 1970s when TV journalist Gavin Trippe envisioned a racing event that would prove who the best motorcycle racer was.
GNCC racing features many types of obstacles such as, hill climbing, creek and log crossings, dirt roads and wooded trails.
Providing standardized rules created the need for a governing body that both racers and event promoters could turn to and CMR was born.
[citation needed] Motocross sidecars are purpose built frames that resemble an ordinary motocross-cycle with a flat platform to stand on attached to either side and a handlebar at waist height to hold on to.
[citation needed] The major frame builders today are VMC, BSU, AYR, EML and Woodenleg.
A rider would buy a child's minibike, usually a Honda CRF110 or Kawasaki KLX110, and apply all the necessary upgrades and modifications to build a competitive pit bike.
[citation needed] Pit bikes are frequently heavily customized with decorative add-ons and performance-enhancing parts.
[citation needed] Pit bikes also have their own separate competitions held with classes generally corresponding to wheel size.
Pit bike racing is a relatively new niche of motocross, and as such, there is no official governing body similar to the AMA.
[citation needed] Manufacturers that have ceased production Motocross is governed worldwide by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM), with federations in many nations.
