Swapmoto Live Podcast

The Dubya USA Vet World Championships went down today at Glen Helen Raceway and SmarTop/Bullfrog Spas/Motoconcepts/Honda rider Mike Alessi made a last-minute decision to join in on the fun and showed up literally 20 minutes before the gate dropped on the first 20 Pro moto and went on to sweep the title with a 1-1 tally. On this week's 6D Helmets Kickstart Podcast, we chat with Mikey about his new...

Presented by 6D Helmets The summer of 2018 was a strange time for Phil Nicoletti. Despite having a number of top-ten finishes and even an overall podium to his credit, the New Yorker had no lucrative offers on the table to race in the United States. With all stateside options exhausted, he took a contract with the Rockstar Energy/OTSFF/Yamaha team to contest the Rockstar Energy Triple Crown series...

Presented by Fly Racing One of the biggest storylines of this offseason is the JGRMX operation. A staple of the sport for over a decade, it is the only factory Suzuki motocross effort in the world and is always a place riders keep in mind when it comes to signing a contract for the next season. Unfortunately, this has been a very rough tear for the North Carolina-based operation has felt the effec...

Presented by 6D Helmets It's been over a year since we've gotten to see the number-six machine of Jeremy Martin line up behind a starting gate. After breaking his back at the 2018 Muddy Creek National, the former 250 National Champion underwent three major surgeries to properly fix the damage to his body. With only a few weeks of training and testing under his belt, Martin made a last-minute decis...

Presented by Ogio Powersports It's been an exciting few weeks for Adam Cianciarulo. After wrapping up his first 250 National Championship at Iron Man MX a few weeks ago, the Floridian has been getting his feet wet aboard his new Monster Energy Kawasaki KX450, as he will make his premier class debut this weekend at the Monster Energy Cup. For today's How Was Your Weekend Podcast, we phoned up AC to...

Presented by 6D Helmets Did you forget that Cooper Webb won the 2019 Monster Energy Supercross Series championship? May feels like a lifetime ago and Friday's press intro for KTM's factory-backed teams served as a reminder to all about which rider will rep the number one plate through the 2020 season. A leg injury at the Unadilla Motocross put Webb on the sidelines and out of mind since August, bu...

Presented by Fly Racing Erick Bartoldus has been a fixture in motocross for nearly two decades now, and in his current role at Yoshimura R&D he oversees the marketing strategies of the high-performance exhaust manufacturer. From his early days as a professional BMX racer to his pivotal role at GT Bicycles to his start in motocross as an editor at TransWorld Motocross to his instrumental role i...

Presented by 6D Helmets The 2019 Red Bull Straight Rhythm is done and dusted and what an event it was! The two-stroke-only format has breathed new life into the race, and more fans than ever turned out at the Pomona Fairplex to watch Honda HRC's Ken Roczen, FXR Racing's Joey Crown and Triggr Racing's Tyler Bowers take the top spots. SML helped get Alex Ray to the event with a super-fun two-stroke...

Presented by Fly Racing This weekend's Red Bull Straight Rhythm at the Pomona Fairplex is sure to be a good time, as the sweet smell of two-stroke premix will fill the air as a field consisting only of two-stroke motocross bikes will fill out the starting grid in the tournament-style match race. Today was the practice day at the Fairplex, and cohost Mike Sleeter and I sat down with Red Bull's Jere...

Presented by 6D Helmets The 2019 Motocross of Nations is in the books and Team Netherlands earned its first-ever MXoN championship. Michael Antonovich was on the scene for Swapmoto Live and this morning's 6D Helmets podcast was recorded on both sides of the world, as race fan extraordinaire and snack addict Dominic Gaytan joins Anton for a little race recap.

With the 2019 Motocross of Nations just days away, we took a minute to preview the top teams and riders ahead of the international event at Assen in the Netherlands. Will the French continue their run of dominance? Can the Dutch claim the Chamberlain Trophy for the first time in history, on their home turf? How will the extensive practice time in Europe help the American riders? Michael Antonovich...

Presented by <a href="http://www.6dhelmets.com"><strong>6D Helmets</strong></a> With no races going on last weekend, we decided to pay a visit to our friends at 6D Helmets this morning to learn more about the men behind the brand and the creation of the helmet technology that changed the sport for the better. Bob Weber and Rober Reisinger are both former professional motocr...

Presented by Ogio Powersports With the Motocross of Nations less than one week away, we phoned up Monster Energy/Star Racing/Yamaha's Justin Cooper for this installment of the How Was Your Weekend Podcast. Cooper is representing team USA on his Yamaha YZ250F in the MX2 class, and he has been in Belgium training in the sandy conditions since Monday. We were pleasantly surprised to hear how well he...

“MOTO: The Movie” showed viewers the rigors of motorcycle riding over the course of ten installments. But when the production wrapped on last year's video, the crew decided it was time to take things in a new direction. Longtime leader Taylor Congdon passed over the assets to partners Jason Plough and Dominick Russo, which allows the two young filmers to direct future projects as they...

Presented by 6D Helmets The Montreal Supercross went down in the Great White North last weekend and SML was on hand to capture all of the action. Justin Brayton finished third overall aboard his Penrite Honda CRF450R and had some of the most intense battles through the evening. JB10 joined us on this morning's Kickstart Podcast, presented by 6D Helmets.

Presented by Fly Racing Have you kept track of all that's happened to Joey Savatgy over the last twelve months? Things like his advancement to the 450 class via a ride with Monster Energy Kawasaki, the pack-leading performance at the Monster Energy Cup, a handful of top-seven finishes in Supercross, some mechanical woes outdoors, and an eventual departure from the factory team were the easy things...

Presented by Fly Racing Osaka, Japan's, Genki Watanabe is one of the most stylish guys you'll ever see on a dirt bike. Less than one year ago, "Wanky" suffered a badly broken leg that was further complicated by compartment syndrome. After nearly losing his limb, Watanabe worked hard to regain strength and rehab himself back to fitness and just a couple weeks ago he earned a silver medal in the Bes...

Presented by 6D Helmets We started riding our 2020 450s all the way back in June when we took delivery of the Husqvarna FC 450 and KTM 450 SX-F test bikes, and once we were allowed to pick up the Suzuki RM-Z450 a couple of weeks ago, we assembled a panel of six test riders and invited the manufacturers to join us for one final day of comparison testing. After hundreds of laps and dozens of hours l...

Presented by Fly Racing Of the handful of anti-doping violations in professional motocross, Cade Clason's case is one of the more mismanaged. Clason, a privateer that followed the US pro series for years, tested positive for a prohibited unless TUE-approved amphetamine in 2017 and had his racing career come to an abrupt halt. When news of the time the result became public, Clason immediately state...

Presented by 6D Helmets It's been a long road to recovery for Malcolm Stewart since he broke his femur in January, but the popular rider has been putting in some serious work in preparation for his return to racing. Though Anaheim 1 is the ultimate goal for the Motoconcepts Honda rider, he will compete in a handful of off-season events, starting with the September 14 Montreal SX. Malcolm recently...

Presented by Fly Racing Justin Bogle has always been one of the coolest guys in the pits, and catching up with the Oklahoman is always a pleasure. It's been an interesting season for the former East Coast 250 Supercross Champion, as he recently revealed that he has been suffering from the Epstein Barr virus all year long. His results on the Rocky Mountain ATV/MC KTM 450 SX-F have been impressive n...

Presented by 6D Helmets After graduating from the 2019 Loretta Lynn's Amateur Nationals, Jo Shimoda joined the Lucas Oil MX Nationals tour at Unadilla as a full-fledged member of the GEICO Honda team and turned in two top-15 finishes aboard his Honda CRF250R. Hailing from Suzuka, Japan, Shimoda is expected by many to be the first Japanese rider to have an impact on AMA Pro racing since Akira Narit...

Presented by 6D Helmets Multi-time Amateur National Champion Bradley Taft has been missing from the AMA Pro Racing scene for a while now, but he's hoping to return to action, starting next month. Taft stopped by the SML offices to bench race about last weekend's Budds Creek National, and also to fill us in on his new deal.

Presented by Fly Racing A few weeks ago we learned that Christina Denney will leave her position as Team Manager of CycleTrader/Rock River Yamaha after the 2019 Ironman Motocross. Denney's involvement in the team over the last 10 years has helped it go from a simple spot in the pit area to a competitive effort that allows riders the chance to learn the ropes of pro racing. Although her role in pro...

Presented by Fly Racing We tried something new last night and did an Instagram Live broadcast with Jeremy McGrath from our condo in Whistler, Canada. The tequila was flowing just beforehand, so this is likely the "loosest" interview we've done with The King. Why are we in Whistler? Maxxis Tires brought us all here to join in on the fun at the annual Crankworx MTB festival, and we've been having a...