Australasian Dirt Bike – May 2019

LOCATION
WithjustaboutallofNSWindrought,
thisshootoutwasalwaysgoingtobea
drydayonthebike.Butthatwas
perfectfora500ccshootoutbecasue
wewantedthistesttoreplicatethe
dry,sandyconditionsthesebikes
shouldberiddenin.Weallgatheredat
atestlocationknownastheHell
Track,foritsinfamoussandwhoops.
It’sonLabertRdjustoutofBraidwood,
nexttoLawsonBoppingsmotocross
facility.Ithasanendlessnetworkof
singletrackwithabigdirtroadnextto
itwhichallowedustoputtogethera
loopoffast,slow,tightandtwisty
trailsaswellassomehillsandrocky
outcrops.Oneofthebenefitswasa
seriesofwhooped-outtrailstoreally
pushthesuspensiontoitslimits.

WOLFPACK
Toensurethefairestpossibleoutcome
weenlisttheservicesofridersthat
shownobiasandhaveriddena
plethoraofdirtbikesfromavastarray
ofbrands.Itisalsoimportantthatwe
haveavarietyoftestersfromall
shapes,sizesandskilllevels.Unlike
ourmotocrossshootouts,wedonot
usemanufacturer-affiliatedriders

becausenotallmanufacturersinthis

testhavesponsoredriders.AtADBwe

callaspadeaspade,andarenotafraid

tospeakthetruth.Thisisnotafluff

piecethatbangsonabouthow

awesomeeverythingis.Nothingis

perfectandwe’renotafraidtosayit,

somakesureyoureadintothesublety

ofwhatwe’resaying,soyoupickup

theprosandconswefoundineach

bike.Wealsoencourageyoutopicka

testerthatsoundslikeyourskill,size

andageandfocusontheirfeedback.

HOWTHEY’RESCORED

ThewinneriscrownedusingADB’s

covetedshootoutscorecard.For

decadesthisscorecardhasbeenthe

keyformanyshootoutvictories.The

scorecardisbrokenintothree

weightedsections:suspensionand

handling(50%),motor(40%)and

ergos(10%).Thebikewiththehighest

weightedaveragescorefromallthe

testersisthewinner. Thescorecard

inclucesprice,thebikesdesign-brief

andperformance.Whenscoringeach

bike,thetesterisrequiredtothink

likea 500ccfour-strokerider.

Weightingthescoresmeanspersonal

thingslikeergos,donotaccountfor

muchofthetotalscore.

MitchandGrabboexplainthereasonswhyShaunandChrisshouldtucktheirjerseysin ShaunhadneverriddenaBetabutlovedit!

Chris getting his sag set by Jordan

We had five bikes at our disposal

this year and there is a big price

difference between them so it’s

going to be very interesting

44 |MAY 2019 http://www.adbmag.com.au

2019 SHOOTOUT #4 | 500cc ENDURO