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My Son ( Cody Littau ) got His First MX Championship

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 4:07 pm
by slotcarrod
I have been away for the last 4 days this week at the Western Canadian Amateur Nationals. As some of you may know, much of my time is spent with my son Cody Littau doing Motocross. This was his first national. He has only been racing for 3 seasons and this is his first year on a 250. He had to qualify to race this event earlier in the season with a top 10 finish in a Provincial race, he got second in that.

He raced two classes MX2 Junior B and MX3 Junior B (MX3 is much harder as it's like GP with 450 and 250 bikes combined)

We thought he had a chance at top 3 in MX2, but with a poor 40th gate pick his start was bad. He charged through the pack to get up to 10th and was taken out. this happened 4 times. He ended up 40th out of 44 in his first moto!

His second and third moto was better and managed him 9th over all in MX2 class.

In MX3 we thought a top 10 would be great! Well he got a better first gate and managed three hole shot's, even against 450's. His first race he finished 4th, second race was passed on the last lap because of me telling him to take an inside slower line on one corner! :oops: He got second in that one. Last moto yesterday he got first and the overall! :D

There was another pit area twice this size on top of the hill! :shock: Over 700 qualified racers.
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My Son Cody's CRF250R #23
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At the gate
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In the lead and pulling from the pack!
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Holy trophies! :shock:
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A proud moment for my son, and me! I wish I got a better picture! :(
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Cody Littau #23 #392

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 5:43 pm
by treehugger
pretty cool Rod congrats to your son .
i only rode a motorbike once when i was twelve a triuph trials bike i rode it in first (all i could manage my first atempt at a gear change didnt let of the revs and let the clutch out to quick the front of the bike goes up and i go back and decided to put my hand down to save myself and put it in the spokes (it sounded like the clickers on my pedal bike never been on one since :lol:

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 6:20 pm
by Seabass
Awesome news man! I know exactly how hard one has to ride to be able to pull this off. MX is a great family sport and as we both know MX riding requires some of the most demanding conditioning than in any other sport in the world.

Thanks for the pics, makes me miss ripping up the track (450 rider here :D )

Jake

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:47 am
by dsmith
oh ya very cool....i just got back from redbud..it was awesome... 8)

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:39 pm
by slotcarrod
Thanks guys, I'm so happy for him! He worked very hard for that and rode smart for the 4 days.

It's very daunting to go to a race like this and see most people drive up in $250,000.00 Toy Haulers and have endless amounts of money for the best parts, tires, bikes, suspension, etc.

I only have a 2000 4Runner,a 2 bike trailer and a tent! :oops: Stock bikes with stock suspension. We still kicked ass! :mrgreen: I'm going to sell my 450X to get better suspension for his Suzuki, spare wheels and parts. Just can't pay for the stuff out of pocket, have to sell my trail bike! :cry: But I hardly use it anyway!

Jake, what 450 do you ride?

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 7:27 pm
by Seabass
07 RMZ450

Ton of fun, I just don't get out as much anymore. I moved and have not been able to find anyone that enjoy riding with. Left a crew of about four riders back in Georgia :(

It is nice to hear the good guys winning. You are right, those massive haulers and unlimited amount of money can be very intimidating.

Jake

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 10:59 am
by slotcarrod
Cool, I am switching my son over to a RMZ250. In fact you can see it behind the CRF in the picture. We brought it along as a back up bike but found out you must run the same bike for the full event or you get a dnf. Stock 2010 RMZ250 suspension is too stiff, even for a 180 lb pro. My son is 114 and a junior. About $1000.00 to fix that, but worth it!

On Sunday at practice he blew up the crank on the Honda :x . 2010 bike, only half a season and the thing blew :x . Good thing it was the day after the races. That is a $700.00 hit in parts, even with 20% off at his local store. Plus I have to pay the wrench! :( All part of the game! :|

Jake, are you a military man? If so, thanks!

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:38 am
by Seabass
Man that stinks about the Honda. That is the downfall with the 4 strokes, expensive to rebuild the motor. The RMZ is a very nice bike, he will be happy with it.

I am in the Military, thanks.

Jake

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:15 pm
by longboardnj
That is the downfall with the 4 strokes, expensive to rebuild the motor
its only getting worse... wait till all bikes are fuel injected... problems problems problems ...... congrats slotcarrod and good luck with suzuki

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 11:34 pm
by Charlie don't surf
Congrats Rod, and the 450's are running FI currently ( except the Yamaha last I knew ). I raced a bit myself, but by the time my technical skills were at there best--my fear was also at it's biggest, best finish was 2003 NC State Champs finished 2nd +25 behind Damon Bradshaws brother :lol: ( started too late :roll: ) But I still have one of the last 2003 Honda CR250's to come out of Japan with a real HRC motor (53 HP with Dyno sheet) over the 26 the stocker's were pulling in 03'. It was good to run a Honda/Suzuki dealership :wink: And Rod, one thing you will really like about the RMZ is the level of support Suzuki gives to amature racers, the support is top notch ( if they could just get the frame to the Level of Honda )

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:15 am
by cyclepsych0
Yamaha went to EFI on the '10 450.... Damon Bradshaw's brother.. Zack, right? I always thought he'd make a good pro, never saw him up there though. I thought he ripped in the amature ranks?.?.

Congratulations to your son Rod!! It's a lot of effort to make it at the national ranks. I hope his success continues and he stays healthy enough injury wise to keep competing..... 8)

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 12:28 am
by m_vice
Congrats to you and your sun. It is awesome when you son gets to start wining races, and it make you want to sell all your tuff for him. It is in a way a better feeling than wining yourself.
The best in the next raceā€¦
:D

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:40 am
by slotcarrod
Thanks all you guys! :D


Longboardnj, you say the efi bikes are problems? Both my sons CRF250R and RMZ250 are efi and they are great! Touch wood! No more jets! Yea! :mrgreen: I have not seen any problems from any of the older 450's or quads with efi. What makes you say efi's are trouble?

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 6:38 pm
by Seabass
My bike is the last year prior to EFI in the RMZ. I have heard nothing but praise from the EFI systems as well. No more jetting has been all the rave down here in the south and guys are reporting great things.

Jake

Re: My Son got His First MX Championship

Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 10:59 pm
by longboardnj
not tryin to put down anyones bike its just to me efi is no good .. yea jetting can be a pain (my banshee has 2 carbs so thats 2x the work)... i worked at a yamaha honda ktm dealer.. it started out with the efi on raptor 700s going(many different reasons).. then grizzly 700s shutting down in water up to the tail pipe, then taking in water in the motor.(grizzly 700 intake is much higher, up by the handlebars so it was not sucking in water it was the efi shutting down) them honda 450 efi bikes started to fill the engine cases with gas (kinda like the problem cannondale dirt bikes and quads had when the company i worked for tried to sell them years ago) plus ive been hours away from anything and had carbs take in dirt, water exc.. then just clean them out and go riding... efi would have been done ... i even saw left over efi snowmobiles need alot of work just from sitting for a few months..top it all off a few weeks ago i went to a local atv mx race and i saw efi suzuki atvs race then shut down the atv and not be able to start it up again yet all carb atvs were fine. i am sad about all the dirt stuff needing to go to dealers or a laptop to get fixed now..