GEICO Honda’s Eli TomacThe only thing GEICO Honda’s Eli Tomac wanted was an outdoor 450 Motocross title. The Colorado native was making this mission quite obvious as he dominated the opening rounds of the 2015 Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship.The CRF450R pilot stood at the top of the podium in the first five motos, but the unthinkable happened during his sixth moto – he crashed. While in the lead before a home crowd at the Thunder Valley National, Tomac lost the rear of his bike, crashing hard. Medics rushed Tomac Thunder Valley MX track, and he was initially diagnosed with a dislocated right shoulder.
But further testing showed that Tomac injured both shoulders, including a 100-percent tear of his left shoulder’s rotator cuff. This required immediate surgery, and the GEICO Honda team reports that Tomac also needs further surgery on his right shoulder.Unfortunately, this means Tomac will be sidelined for the remainder of 2015 Motocross. Future plans for 2016 Supercross are currently questionable.“Eli was understandably upset when we were talking a little while ago,” GEICO Honda team co-owner Jeff Majkrzak said. “Obviously, after the start he’s had, we were all hoping for a championship run. Injuries are an unfortunate part of this sport, and this one is very tough for all of us.”To date, Tomac has won two championships – the 2012 AMA Supercross 250cc West title and the 2013 250cc Motocross title. He has also finished runner-up in three championships, the 2011 and 2013 Supercross 250cc West series, and the 2015 450cc Supercross series.Tomac has collected 12 overall MX trophies on a 250, and three more on a 450. In Supercross, Tomac has won 11 races on a 250 and three more on a 450.
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!