Industry Insider Interview with Stillwell Performance
BE:Thanks for talking the time to do this interview for us and the members of ThumperTalk.com!
AS:No worries! ThumperTalker’s are the best! I’m on there all the time; I am the suspension expert on their panel.
BE:So tell us how you a little about Stillwell Performance… How did you get started in the Dirt bike suspension business?
AS:I got tired of doing all my buddies suspension for free! No, I have always played with suspension, and over the years have had most of the leading companies do a bike here and there. Honestly, I always felt I could make the bikes work better doing them myself than what I was buying. So, that thought process turned into some serious testing time and people really liked the settings. From there it just took off!
BE:Is it true, Stillwell Performance is the Largest RACETECH Suspension Center in the US?
AS:Yes! I’m really stoked about that. Our customers gave us that privilege; we have some of the most die-hard loyal customers anywhere. I always love it when a guy/gal will call us after riding our setup and just rave about how the suspension gives them more confidence and control. Next thing you know their buddy calls and says “I just rode Dave’s bike and it’s like cheating” then sends his stuff in! We use a combination of Race Tech parts and our own valving for off road. I test every setting before we finalize it; I just can’t go as fast as these young guys anymore!
BE:Stillwell Performance holds a strong reputation when it comes to off road racing… How did you get involved in racing?
AS:If you want your settings and products to be the best, then you have to compete and prove it. We started by sponsoring Shane Watts, ex World and GNCC Champ. He has been very helpful in both testing and giving real world feedback from a top level pro perspective. Shane has that uncanny ability to connect his throttle hand, his brain and the tires and that has helped us a bunch-not just for the Expert guys, his input has helped our setups for all riders from the Pro to the casual MX or trail rider.
We have since expanded the team and currently compete in GNCC, WORCS, National Enduro, EnduroCross and a number of regional MX and off road series across the US. Two of our sponsored riders will represent the United States at the 2010 ISDE in Mexico as well. Nicole Bradford is on the Women’s Cup Team and In Blythe is riding for the Junior Trophy Team. I’m really, really proud of our team!
BE:I heard a rumor that you might be bringing a couple of KTM350’s to the race… is this true?
AS:It is! A 2011 KTM 350SX-F and a 250SX-F, actually. KTM Racing and Fay Myers Motorcycle World in Denver really stepped their support to us this year and it has been a blast tuning on the new chassis. We have it working really well already-and we are just getting started. We have been testing every day at the MX track and racing the bike. Then, next week we will be taking the KTM’s to the Colorado High Country for 4 days working on settings for pure off road. Ian Blythe is our rider for EX and he will have his choice of bike to ride for the EX races.
BE:What bikes do you tend to do the most suspension for?
AS:We work on all brands. We started with tuning on KTM’s so I would say that represents the biggest percentage of our business. But we do a ton of Kawasaki/Yamaha/Honda/Suzuki bikes as well, for both MX and off road. We are also known as a Husaberg specialist.
BE:Obviously new bike sales are down in today’s economy. Do you guys offer suspension work for the common rider whose 5-year-old bike needs an affordable re-valve or custom set up?
AS:Yes, we really understand that. There are a lot of guys right now that are looking at that new bike price tag and really thinking “maybe I’ll keep my current scoot another year. We offer multiple options and price points for all our customers. If it’s 10 years old or a few years old we make them work great!
BEo you spend much time riding? If so what kind of riding do you enjoy? What bike do you ride?
AS:I do. If I get a spare moment we are loading up to go riding! Last year I rode over 2000 miles off road, mostly in the Colorado High Country. I ride everything; I love to tune suspension so it’s not hard to get me on most any bike. But a perfect riding weekend for me is the Colorado Rockies on the horizon, a crisp two stroke, 30 gallons of gas, a bunch of my longtime riding buddies and 100 miles of gnarly single track a day. Last year in August we rode 10 days straight and did almost 1000 miles of single track! It does not get any better than that!
BE:What’s your favorite thing about EnduroCross?
AS:3 things-first, it’s the great equalizer of all dirt bike racing. You have off road, trials, WORCS, GNCC, desert and MX guys lined up together. There’s no other series that does that. Second, it’s unpredictable. You just don’t know what is going to happen. Third, the racing ALWAYS seems to be good-the fans get a lot for their money. Fans can come early and see all of the daytime qualifiers, the fast lap competition, etc. It’s a great value. I hope they expand the series I think it can do very well.
BE:Who do you think is going to win tomorrow night?
AS:Wow, that’s tough. Taddy is always good, but Geoff Aaron and Mike Brown are two of my favorite riders. I have a ton of respect for all of them, coming from totally different disciplines. The skill these guys have on the bike just floors me!
BE:Alan thanks for your time! Have a great afternoon!
AS:Thanks Brian, and Keep It Pinned!
National EnduroCross Round 2 Race Report
I 70 Eastbound from Denver must rank as one of the most boring drives in the world.
Stillwell Performance Pro rider In Blythe and I were barreling down the interstate headed for Round 2 of the National EnduroCross Series in Guthrie, OK just outside of Oklahoma City.
I had been warned that Oklahoma in the late summer could be hot and humid, but we were just not ready for the blast furnace that hit us when the van doors were opened! Man it was hot, and the humidity had you feeling like you were living in a sauna.
We were stoked for Round 2, Ian had put in a very solid ride at the first round to take 3rd overall in the Open class in his very first National EnduroCross. We had learned a lot from the first race and were anxious to see what we could do to improve our finish.
Adding to the excitement were brand new KTM 350 & 250SX-F’s in the back of the boxvan. KTM Racing and Fay Myers Motorcycle World have stepped up to support the Stillwell Performance team for 2010 and 2011 and we had just taken delivery of the 250 on Thursday. Ian had picked the bike up, went straight to the track for break in then right to the shop to race prep the bike.
We had already tuned on the 350 suspension over the past 2 weeks, so we took the revalved forks and shock and swapped them over to the 250 for the race. The new SX-F’s are linkage bikes and this would be the first off road race for us with the new design. We had raced the 350 at a local MX race with our other Pro Eric Decker the weekend before and had been happy with the bikes development as Eric brought home a pair of 4th overall’s in the Pro class.
The Lazy E Arena is huge by EX standards, almost twice the size of the first round in Las Vegas. In addition to the normal minefield of off road obstacles, there were enough high speed MX jumps and whoops to make it interesting. The guys with motocross backgrounds could have a bit of an advantage here.
Ian rode both the Open and the Expert/Pro classes. The Open class has it’s own main event in the evening if you make it through the elimination qualifiers during the AM. The Expert/Pro races also whittle down the field in the AM-if you make it to the night program you get the chance to line up against the factory boys.
Practice went well, the 250SX-F is a perfect fit for his riding style and our suspension setup was good right from the start. We fiddled with shock adjustments during practice but in the end stayed with our original setup.
The open qualifier was his first race. The top two transfer straight to the main event in the evening. Ian got a great jump off the line and scored a perfect holeshot. He rode flawlessly and gapped second place by 5 seconds to take the win! The bike was working great and we went into the afternoon “hot lap” session feeling strong.
Hot laps are my favorite part of the schedule. All the riders (the morning qualified guys and the top 20 factory supported riders) get one lap by themselves as fast as they can go to see who can log the quickest time-which also determines starting pick for the night qualifiers. Ian had a relatively clean lap and ended up just inside the top 20 overall times-pretty good for a kid in his second event!
We worked on the bike during the break, my good riding buddy Tony Atkinson was there to help in the pits and that was a big plus. Aside from the super hot temps and the humidity all was good heading into the “Big Show”!
Ian’s Open Main Event was the race right after his first Expert/Qualifier, which had Factory KTM rider and current EX Champion Taddy Blaziuak and Factory Kawasaki rider Ricky Dietrich in it. Our strategy was to ride the EX/Pro race hard if he was in a position to transfer, if not then take it easy and find some good lines for the Open Main. Ian was running third for a bit behind the factory duo until a collision with another rider knocked them both down, and put us out of qualifying position. Ian wisely backed it down in preparation for the Open Main.
We were pumped for this main-out of ALL of the Open riders Ian had turned in the fastest qualifier time, which gave us first pick on the gate for the final. We lined up far inside, he got a so-so jump and came around the first couple of turns in 5th. Ian made some really quick passes and moved into 2nd before the soon-to-be infamous rock turn, CARNAGE CORNER! Before carnage corner there was a long straightway with a 9ft. tire jump and a loose firewood section that was giving everybody fits all night. Ian got alongside the leader and went to cut inside of him in the rock corner. The leader tipped over, dropped his bike on Ian’s front wheel just as the pack plowed into him from the rear. What ended up was a 5 bike pileup that would make a NASCAR driver cringe. Ian ended up on the bottom of the pile with almost everyone getting away. First to last in less than a lap! Major bummer! Ian caught a few guys by the finish but was out of the fight.
The night went downhill from there. Ian had eaten something before the night races that didn’t quite agree with him and spent the time after the open main getting rid of it at the corner of the pits, if you know what I mean. He crashed a few times in the Expert/Pro semi, finishing out of a transfer position and our night was over.
All in all it was a successful race. A qualifier win, and the overall fastest Open time is a great accomplishment in just two tries.
Ian has a chance to ride and train with National #2 Geoff Aaron (who lives close by) leading up to the next round in Indy and is pretty excited about that.
We’ll be back!
Keep It Pinned,
Alan