Since setting off from his home in the UK on 1st October 2012, Bridgestone sponsored rider Bruce Smart has been living out his dream to tour the world on a motorcycle, and he’ll have covered 70,000 miles and raised a lot of money for charity in the process when he finally gets back to Britain.
Bruce recently rode up through Mexico and crossed the US border into Texas on his Suzuki GSX-R1000 fitted with Battlax BT-023 & T30 sport touring tyres. With a little help from UK Business Development Manager Steve Watts he then got the chance to live out the dream of many a rider when he attended the Texas Tornado Boot Camp and stayed overnight with Colin Edwards and family last weekend. We took the opportunity as Bridgestone’s biggest UK distributor to put a few questions to Bruce about his stay with one of the MotoGP crowd favourites.
When Bruce arrived he admitted that he didn’t expect Colin to be around, but as he was chatting to the instructors up rolled a truck and out jumped Colin Edwards to greet him like an old friend. That weekend also happened to be the Texas Tornado’s 40th birthday so he joined in the celebrations long into the night.
Unfortunately for Bruce there was already a team from Buell Racing out on track, so he didn’t get the opportunity to ride one of the bikes but he did get to watch the action up close on one of the three dirt circuits on site as they took part in a number of ‘Super Pole’ sessions. Colin also has a purpose built gun range on site, but with the infamous .50 calibre rifle out of action Bruce is saving up to go back one day!
He did however get a chance to speak with the riders and instructors about bike setup, and on that day they were using Yamaha TTR125 dirt bikes, fitted with a Bridgestone motocross front, with a Bridgestone road tyre on the rear. According to the instructors this setup provides a much greater level of feedback for the rider during training. This in turn allows them to get a better understanding of the effects that throttle and body position have on rear grip and bike position. The riders we’re full of praise for the school, and the amount of feedback they were getting from the Bridgestones and how they felt they could push their ride much further as a result. Bruce went further, saying “that’s one of the things I love about Bridgestone rubber, it really ‘connects’ you to whatever surface you’re riding on, giving you all the info you need to ride accordingly” and he’d certainly know a thing or two about that after the distance he has covered on some of the most difficult terrain imaginable!
You can continue to follow Bruce on his travels via his Teapot One website and also on his Facebook page. This year we have reintorduced a comprehensive range of Bridgestone motocross product covering all terrain types, for junior 50cc bikes up to adult. This also includes their latest Battle Cross X30 and X40 products, which were recently tested out by the father son Extance duo!
For our latest Bridgestone stock and price information you can check out our Virtual Warehouse via our website trade area, or call to speak with a member of our sales team. If you would like access to this facility, or would like to request a reminder of your details please get in touch with us.
