PRO GuIDe
Swedish made vintage MX discs
Well known as a manufacturer of the“ strongest stainless steel motocross, street, off-road and vintage spokes available”, in addition to modelspecific, rims, hubs and complete wheels, Swedish MX wheel specialist Cross-Center International also makes one of the world’ s widest available ranges of vintage MX wheels, with a claimed 99 percent coverage of all vintage models as well as comprehensive recent and late model MX brake discs.“ We are a true one-stop-shop for MX wheels and components for most models for nearly all years,” says owner Torbjoern Bergh.“ We manufacture our discs in-house from genuine high-grade Swedish steel, and customers who have tried to source MX brake discs elsewhere, especially for the older bikes, tell us ours is the largest available range in the world”. In fact, there are those who think that the high level of interest in vintage motocross at this time is doing much to sustain and fuel the late model market, and as a complete front wheel and component specialist,‘ Tobbe’ says he has seen the strong growth in the vintage market in recent years.“ Vintage MX is over 50 percent of the sales
here in Sweden, and our export orders suggest the same is happening around the world. The enthusiasm for vintage is massive – I put a picture of my KX 500 vintage wheels on Facebook in April and over 30,000 people had seen it in less than three months.” Tobbe is a bit of a purist when it comes to brake discs, believing that a lot of the current design tweaks on the market“ sell well because they may look good, but are often a step backwards when it comes to braking power, reliability and disc and pad wear.“ There are many claims out there, especially when it comes to heat management, that just aren’ t justifiable. Which is why we mostly make OEM style discs, and they sell and perform best in our experience. Sometimes we are able to add certain improvements and refinements, but we think that a round brake disc with a lot of material and large, straight arms, an inner ring and no floating rivets is by far the best performing, most reliable, durable and economic brake disc.“ Modern brake pad compounds and manufacturing techniques are so good now that many of the old issues and preconceptions about how to get the best out of a pad are no longer relevant – especially where the effects of gasses is concerned. The result is that some of the designs that are currently fashionable can actually reduce the life and performance of the pad, as well as the disc”. The Cross-Center range is indeed comprehensive, with new discs being tooled each time the manufacturer design changes. This means that for Honda models, for example, the company offers four different designs with M6 bolts for fronts from 1997 and up( and two M8 bolt fitments) that all have the same measurements all the way up to 2018( 2008 being a one-off exception).“ The same applies to many other brands and models, though other manufacturers have been more consistent with their designs in the last 20 years, generally with one design for‘ 97-‘ 01 and one for‘ 02-‘ 19”.
CROSS-CENTER INTERNATIONAL Habo, SWEDEN Tel + 46( 0) 36 466 64 www. cross-center. com
Venhill cables for KTM 2-strokers
British motorcycle controls specialist Venhill Engineering has developed replacement Featherlight throttle cables for KTM’ s latest generation twostroke off-road bikes. Available for the 2017 and on 125 cc, 150 cc, 250 cc and 300 cc models, these OEM replacement Featherlight throttle cables are developed from OEM items and designed to give improved performance and feel, as well as adding durability and a smoother action. Each cable features Venhill’ s high-quality Featherlight cabling – a marine-grade stainless steel inner wire for minimum stretch, and a PTFE( polytetrafluoroethylene) liner to reduce friction and give a lighter action. The liner also removes the need for lubrication- a real advantage when riding offroad.
The cables are‘ Bird-caged’ – a special process applied to the end of the inner wire, which allows solder to penetrate the weave of the cable, making the bond with the nipple much stronger. The process adds extra strength and durability, so cables can withstand being put under repeated stress and pressure – another major plus when riding off-road. Available in black, orange, blue, green, grey, red, white and yellow for 250 / 300 SX / EXC( 2017); 25 / 150 / 250 SX( 2017 / 18); 150 / 250 / 300 XC-W( 2017 / 18) and for the 2017 Husqvarna 125 TC.
VENHILL ENGINEERING Dorking, Surrey, UK Tel: + 44 1306 885111 sales @ venhill. co. uk www. venhill. co. uk
30 INTERNATIONAL DEALER NEWS- AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018