![]() “Mikey Hill, Mark Atkins, Jake Pope, and Kole King were crucial in sharing information.” Biltwell’s Frijole 883 Indeed! Working with his friend and fabricator Jim Bandelin, Rich and team drew ideas from Bitwell’s aforementioned “Frijole 883” build and the small crowd of Hooligan desert racers who’ve turned Milwaukee tractors into desert sleds: Probably not the brightest idea but ignorance is bliss.” I learned to ride in the desert on a 500-lb Harley Sportster. I mentioned to him that there were guys racing the Mint on Harley Sportsters… Long story short, his business was flourishing, and he offered to fund the Harley Desert bike project for the Mint 400. “Bike was built as a crazy idea that came up in conversation with an old friend… We were chatting about The Mint 400. Rich has been flat tracking a Sportster for some time, but he didn’t have any desert racing experience before the wild hair to build this bike: Today, we’re thrilled to feature this “Bajarley” desert racer from Rich Silva ( of Good Times Racing, built from a 1995 883 Sportster and raced in the Mint 400, Biltwell 100, and more. ![]() More recently, we featured Rusty Butcher’s Hooligan Enduro Sportster, built for the Mint 400 and other desert races. More than 35 years ago, a specially-built Sportster desert racer, “ Harley’s Comet,” too home a 4th place finish in the 1986 Baja 1000, and in 2018, Biltwell’s “ Frijole 883” became the first Sportster to finish the 1300-mile NORRA Mexican 1000 race. Of course, it isn’t the first time Sportsters have tackled the desert. Intended for highly capable, 750cc and above off-road-forward street motorcycles, the class embraces the classic ‘On Any Sunday’ pure joy of riding and racing a motorcycle.” - Dirt Bike Today, the series sees the story come full circle with the addition of the Hooligan Open class. ![]() Since then of course, OEM’s have changed the game through their development of off-road specific motorcycles intended for serious off-road racing. “In the early days of Hare and Hound racing, motorcycles were adapted to take on the rugged, off-road terrain of the wild west. In 2020, a Hooligan class was added to the AMA National Hare and Hound Championship, which includes the mighty Mint 400: What’s more, the Sportster has found its way from dirt tracks to the desert. The Roland Sands Super Hooligan series, along with hooligan classes all over the country, have made it possible to go flat-tracking on a stock-framed production bike without forking out a king’s ransom, capturing the “Run What Ya Brung” spirit of a simpler times. The Harley-Davidson Sportster has been undergoing something of a racing renaissance in recent years. The team has secured several wins with there biggest highlight being a 1st in Class Win at Vegas to Reno, the longest off-road race in the United States, and a Class victory at the 2019 Baja 500.Good Times Racing’s Sportster Desert Racer… “We chose the Crosstrek because it’s the off-road style vehicle in the Subaru lineup, and it’s not turbocharged.”ĭriven by Dustin Grabowski and Co-Driven by Cody Woodruff of Grabowski Brothers Racing. The Crosstrek checks all the boxes for a desert off-road build, with its tall cabin and ground clearance. The Class 5 Unlimited buggies take an extensive amount of punishment for up to 1,000+ miles, with pit stops being scarcer than water. The Crosstrek Desert Racer is powered by a Crawford Performance built & tuned Subaru 2.5L Boxer engine. "When you’re crossing an environment where the plants have needles and everything that moves is poisonous, the engine has to be as tough as the conditions themselves." - Subaru Drive Performance Magazine Off-road desert racing is a grueling sport. With long-travel KING Shocks, steel skid plates, durable 35" BFGoodrich Tires up front, 37" tires in the rear, and a Subaru Boxer Engine, the Crosstrek Desert Racer is built to take any punishment the off-road desert terrain can dish out. Subaru Motorsports USA - Crosstrek Desert Racer - Built & Owned by Grabowski Brothers Racing
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