THE GRIZZLY CUP
Classic motocross in Japan is seeing a move towards scrambles with ’60s-style British and US machinery
Low key, high fun, four-stroke-only scrambles in Japan
Motocross racing is a major element of the classic bike scene in Japan. Normally, the most popular machines are 1970s Japanese twostrokes, so white smoke and highpitched exhaust notes create a very different atmosphere to the kind of four-stroke classic motocross that British enthusiasts might be more familiar with.
But this year saw the introduction of The Grizzly Cup at Futtsu SS land, Chiba – with twostrokes banned. Only four-stroke machines produced before 1969 were eligible in three separate classes: rigid, swingarm and mini moto. With entries limited to 60, the event was oversubscribed a few days after booking opened.
This was no surprise since a sand race meeting called ‘Chirihama Sand-flats’ has become one of the hottest events in Japan in the past five years, and the popularity of off-road riding has been rising among Japanese-based riders who are into classic American and British bikes.
Grizzly was organised by a handful of four-stroke enthusiasts, one of them being Yas, who rode in the event on his Triumph 6T built by his brother Akira, who was also part of the team and runs Crib Motorcycle shop.
The other key figure is Shinya, who used to live in the UK for a few years and poured his passion into sprint racing with his pre-unit T100. He is now ‘governor’ of Docklands Speed Shop, the shop named after the regenerated area of London where he lived when he first came to the UK.
Thankfully, the course contained none of the hard-packed whoop sections or big jumps that characterise modern motocross tracks. Instead, Grizzly was more like a traditional British scrambles
‘ONLY FOUR-STROKE MACHINES PRODUCED BEFORE 1969 WERE ELIGIBLE TO ENTER’
course, set in a rolling meadow so that the older rigid ’crossers could be ridden quickly without major hassles.
Beginners and experts entered – some well known as regulars at VMX meetings, some were pure novices in off-road riding. One day before the event, the course condition was horrible due to previous rain and there were even some small ponds on the course, but the guys took up their shovels and got stuck in to dig drainage trenches to dry them out. On race day the course was in much better condition – rideable, but still very muddy in the morning. It was feared that some of the beginners would be stuck in the course, but they coped well considering the short practice time. It seemed that around 90% of the machines had proper motocross tyres, although the rest had dirt track and even normal road rubber!
All the entrants got at least two rides and Triumph models won in both swingarm and rigid classes, but some heavy Harleys – including Knucklehead and WL side-valve machines – did very well, too. A father and son duo entered on their own WLS and despite their bikes not being fitted with motocross tyres and having hand-shift gearboxes, they finished second and third in the rigid class.
It was a unique event with an interesting mix of custom and classic bikes, although the schedule was so tight there wasn’t time for a lunch break. The word is that Grizzly will run again in 2018 and could expand into a two-day show. It will have to if the organisers wish to grow it – at least then they can fit in a lunch break!