All things youth moto…

Cobra’s stellar mini cycles provide a powerful platform for the auto industry spark plug manufacturer’s continued growth in the premium small engine market

HILLSDALE, Mich., (Feb. 16, 2012) – Big news out of Cobra’s headquarters today as well-known automobile spark plug manufacturer – Autolite® – has partnered with the industry-leading mini cycle manufacturer to fire Cobra’s award-winning 50cc and 65cc two-stroke engines for the upcoming 2012 amateur MX competition season and beyond.

Engineering its Xtreme Sport iridium Finewire plug specifically to fit Cobra’s needs, Autolite® will include Cobra’s all-new 2012 electronic power valve CX65 in their booth at Indy this week (Booth # 1735B).

“Cobra is confident the legacy and heritage of Autolite’s involvement in the auto industry will lend itself to improving the spark ignition in both our 50cc and 65cc two-stroke engines,” said Cobra’s Sean Hilbert. “Autolite’s premium small engine spark plug design will no doubt offer the same quality and reliability the company’s been known for in motorsports since 1967.”

Autolite^® Xtreme Sport^™ Iridium Enhanced Small Engine Spark Plugs
Based on the success of the Autolite XP Xtreme Performance^™ spark plug design in the automotive market, the Autolite team is bringing the same high performance design to the growing small engine applications of motorcycles, snowmobiles and ATVs. This new plug design will feature:

• An iridium-enhanced 0.6mm finewire design for improved ignitability and longer life.
• More focused ignition versus standard plugs for faster fuel combustion to help prevent fouling.
• Engineered to last longer.

About Autolite®

Since its inception, the Autolite^® brand has provided the automotive aftermarket and Original Equipment Manufacturers the highest quality ignition products. As a leading supplier of spark plugs, ignition wire sets and Coil-on-Plug boots, the Autolite^® brand has the right ignition products for you, regardless of your vehicle make or model.

There is no question that Cobra’s patented CFD (or ‘slipper’ as most call it) plays are large role in driveline durability. For years prior to its introduction, the sights broken transmission gears or a snapped chains were relatively commonplace at the race track. The device’s operating principal is relatively simple: The CFD adds some ‘give’ to the driveline system. Unlike other types of motorcycle transmissions, when a centrifugal clutch (used on all 50cc motocrossers) is locked up, the entire powertrain…everything from the rear wheel to the piston…is also locked. Now imagine landing off a big jump with the throttle pinned. The engine is spinning at close to 15,000rpm, and then SLAM, the rear wheel comes to almost a dead stop as it hits the ground. With very little give in the system, this results in brutal wear and tear on many components such as the crankshaft, clutch basket, clutch shoes, transmission gears, transmission bearings, chain, sprockets, and rear wheel.

So how does the CFD work? It’s very simple, actually. The primary gear, instead of being one solid part, has been replaced by a clutch that is set to disengage at a pre-determined torque level. This break-away torque is several times the maximum engine torque (so it doesn’t slip when the engine is driving it), however, when it receives a high load in the other direction it spins providing a cushioning effect on many expensive engine and driveline components.

So what does this mean on and off the racetrack?

• More time riding and less time doing maintenance!
• Durability improvements in all driveline components.
• Longer clutch shoe life.
• Reduced weight and friction in the engine’s final drive and more power to the ground.
• The freedom to aggressively throttle away from heavy landings without having to worry about things breaking.
• Overall reduced cost of ownership!
• and Last but not Least…Improved rear suspension performance because the driveline can now absorb some of the impacts from hitting square edged obstacles rather than kicking the rear wheel.

So, all that’s left is to make sure that owners can properly maintain their CFD, and that’s why we created this video. Pay particular attention to this practice when you have a new bike or install a refresh kit as it takes a few rides for the system to take a set.

Championships & podiums abound in the 50cc SX & MX classes, while the CX65 continues to expand upon Cobra’s winning heritage in the 65cc classes

HILLSDALE, Mich., (Dec. 2, 2011) – The annual Thanksgiving trek down to Gainesville, Fla., for the nation’s top amateur motocross racers again paid big-time dividends for the world’s leading manufacturer of podium-driven competition mini cycles – Michigan-based Cobra Motorcycles.

The 40^th annual Thor Winter National Olympics, presented by Pro Circuit – better known as the “Mini Os” – crowned two 50cc class Cobra Nation riders with the coveted “Olympiad” title for their combined MX/SX efforts at Gatorback Cycle Park. Georgia’s Gage Linville (7-8 class) and Nevada’s Reed Cooper (4-6 class), names certainly destine to be reckoned with in the future (see Cobra’s: Millsaps, Alessi, Canard, Bowers, Stroupe, Izzi & Cianciarulo), raced to overall combined class victories on one of America’s key proving grounds for competition mini cycle brands.

In addition, the overall 2011 Loretta Lynn’s 50cc class 7-8 podium, including Reed and two of Cobra’s Bakersfield (Calif.) Boyz – Ryder Di Francesco and Jett Reynolds – made up the entire 7-8 50cc class Olympiad podium at the Mini Os, the first time in memory that that’s occurred.

“Just a great competition week down in Florida. Cobra kids showed up in full force and again had a decided impact on the 50cc class championships, while Cobra Nation racers continued to make successful inroads into the 65cc class’ top five overall results with our American-made CX65,” said Sean Hilbert, President of Cobra Motorcycles. “Congrats to Gage and ‘Reedy’ on their Olympiad titles, and to all the other Cobra Nation members that made the trip this year to Gatorback.”

Standing out amongst the usual titles for Cobra at the Mini Os was the fact that a high number of Cobra-backed riders will return to contest their same class for 2012. Linville, Di Francesco and 65cc class chargers Pierce Brown (Utah) and Tommy Rios (Florida) will all return as favorites in their respective classes beginning with the Amateur MX Nationals’ season-openers this March.

Also noteworthy from Cobra at the Mini Os …

· Maryland’s Jack Rogers was on it in the 65cc 7-9 class, piloting his Cobra CX 65 to a 2^nd place podium finish in the SX division.

· Both Brown & Rogers raced pre-production 2012 CX65s with Cobra’s new, industry-exclusive electronic power valve. And how’d it perform? “Really, really – REALLY – well,” beamed Hilbert.

· Other Cobra Nation podium performances at the Mini Os were scored by: Pennsylvania’s Cameron Davis (2^nd, 50cc SX 4-8 Stock) and Ohio’s Tanner Kemp (3^rd, 50cc SX 4-8 Stock).

· 50cc class racer Branden Walther (Texas) won his first-ever major Amateur MX National overall, taking the 4-8 MX class championship at Gainesville.

· The UK’s Dylan Woodcock won the opening moto in the 10-11 65cc Stock class – and was poised for an overall podium finish – when he slowed up a bit to remove a tear-off and was plowed into by another racer, costing him that probable podium.

2011 Cobra Mini Os photos by Rodney Webb

A little dude with the last name Weber ended up on the cover of the August 2011 Cycle USA. Great shot! Does anyone know who Master Weber is and where he is from?

The 2011 AMA Amateur MX National Championship opens this week; racers can get the first look at the 2012 Cobras

HILLSDALE, Mich., (Aug. 1, 2011) – Hosting some 72 of the nation’s top young amateur motocross racers arriving from all points on the map, American-made Cobra Motorcycles has landed in balmy Hurricane Mills, Tenn. – the proving grounds for the world’s top amateur racers at the 30^th annual Red Bull AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship, presented by AMSOIL.

An illustrious friend to motocross, country singer Loretta Lynn has opened the gates to her sprawling ranch every August since 1981 for the top amateur racers and their families – those that have met all the standards for the strict qualifying process over the past several months to arrive at this great race. And “great” in that just the phrase Qualifying for Loretta’s has become part of the MX industry’s lexicon, relating to excellence not only in racing, but product engineering as well. And this is precisely why, year after year, the Made-in-Michigan Cobra Motorcycles continue to showcase Loretta Lynn’s as title chapters in the company’s amazing heritage, with racing lineage centered at Loretta’s while spanning the globe with its legendary competition mini cycles.

Sean Hilbert, President of Cobra, is one of the nation’s leading advocates in the AMA’s “Kids just want to ride” campaign to save the sport of mini bike racing as we now know it. Hilbert has both feet planted firmly on the rich, loamy Loretta’s Ranch soil – there for each and every Cobra Kid competing at the Ranch and pleased to talk about the new 2012 Cobra CX 50 Senior and Junior and the revolutionary CX65 flagship models with those whose kids wish to follow in the “Cobra Generation’s” footsteps.

“Loretta’s is our Super Bowl, all rolled into one week of the best amateur racing we’ll see all year,” said Hilbert. “This is the one, with some big time bragging rights on the line. Our kids are pumped. Their dads and families are pumped. And this is what makes all those sleepless nights brainstorming on how to make one of a thousand parts on the Cobra bikes -built here in our Michigan factory – lighter, stronger and better.

“We want the Cobra brand and the great riders – and families behind them – to have every possible advantage out there. And one week in August at Loretta’s Ranch is what it’s all about for us at Cobra.”

2011 Cobra/Loretta’s Preview

51cc (4-6) AMA 1 Stock Junior class … aka “The little guys”

2010 class champ: Gage Linville (Cobra)

Led by Cobra’s “Bakersfield Boyz,” the 4-6 class should see a lot of Jett Reynolds, Brock Bennett and Ryder Di Francesco – both out front and on the overall podium. Champions of the highly competitive NMA U.S. Mini GPs held earlier this year in Mesquite, Nevada, Reynolds, Bennett & Di Francesco come from the same town – Bakersfield, Calif. – that produced Cobra’s top 51cc senior class racer, Stilez Robertson. Also keep an eye on Texas’ Seth Milam, Missouri’s Brock Lassiter, Pennsylvania’s Callin Kauffman, Washington’s Alex Mann and New York’s Reed Cooper.

51cc (7-8) AMA 2 Stock Senior class … “The King Cobras”

2010 class champ: Jackson Turpin (Cobra)

Last year, as a seven-year-old, Robertson won the opening 7-8 AMA 2 moto and was poised to take the overall when he wrecked on the start straight and was only able to make it back to 11^th in the third and deciding moto, settling on 4^th overall. Robertson returns this year on his King Cobra as the odds-on favorite to win the class, having dominated his division both here – sweeping both the 7-8 Stock and Modified classes at the Mini GPs – and winning the MX Masters Kids in France already this summer.

Joining Robertson as a number of other Cobra front-running favorites in the 7-8 AMA 2 class are Utah’s Pierce Brown, Oregon’s Max Miller, Washington’s Ethan Mann – who just converted to Cobra, Pennsylvania’s Chase Yentzer and last year’s 4-6 AMA 1 class champion at Loretta’s, Georgia’s Linville.

Also with solid top ten shots at Loretta’s on their King Cobras are: Riley Allen, Braden Bruce, Cade Britt, Vance Stiers, Branden Walther, Dylan Schwartz, Jace Kessler, Gauge Keith, Jayden Taylor, Cole Harkins, Keith Davis and Lawson Hardwick.

65cc (7-9) Stock, (10-11) Stock & (7-11) Modified … “The 65s”

2010 top Cobra: Chase Sexton (Cobra), 3^rd, (7-11) Modified

Last year Illinois’ Chase Sexton scored Cobra’s first podium in the brief history of the new CX65. In 2011 Cobra 65cc racers will continue to expand upon the American-made competition mini cycle’s race heritage, looking to add an overall class victory at Loretta’s like Sexton did at the first major MX Amateur National last year – the 2010 Mini Os in Gainesville, Fla.

In the 65cc (7-9) Stock class Cobra has more entries in 2011 than ever before. Cobra’s Brown will line up his CX65 in hopes of replicating the success he met at the NMA Mini GPs – a podium 3^rd place finish in the Stock 7-8 class in Mesquite this year. Other top Cobra riders in that class include Jack Rogers, Jordan Jarvis – the only girl to qualify for the 7-9 65cc Stock class since its inception – Tyler Archambault, Bruce, Tres Campbell and Kruz Sampson. And in the Stock (10-11) class Cobra’s best shot at a trophy looks to be with Canada’s Tanner Ward and Missouri’s Michael Hicks.

For more information on the 2011 Red Bull AMA Amateur National Championships – including up-to-date scoring, link to the Loretta’s website at: http://www.mxsports.com