Thunder Bay Motorcycle Ice Racing on Lake Superior

Short video on a cold day of Motorcycles Ice Racing on Lake Superior. A steady group of 15 riders that frequent the track on Lake Superior in front of the Lakeview Lodge on Lakeshore Drive, continuing a practice in Thunder Bay that dates back 30 years. They race on the ice from the end of January to the beginning of April with modified dirt bikes and specialized safety equipment.
To safely run speeds of up to 85 mph requires the obvious safety gear for personal protection including a tether kill switch to prevent the bikes studded tires from grinding up a rider with engine running. Extended fenders help prevent similar injuries. Regular motocross boots are important not only for cornering but for protection should the rider put his foot into the spokes. Safety equipment works apparently as there have been no fatalities for decades.
Other than the obvious $600 set of studded tires, the dirt bikes carburetors are jetted richer, engine blocks are covered with foil, and radiators are partly covered to cope with the cold winter air. 2 stroke engines are more sensitive to temperature changes than four strokes but worth the effort for the power to weight ratio they provide, not to mention the distinctive angry sound. A softer and sometimes lower suspension will better cope with the higher speeds and smaller bumps on the ice compared with a dirt track.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• Motorcycle
• Ice
• Racing
• Studded
• tires
• lake
• superior
• lakeview
• lodge
• thunder
• bay

[dirtydogvideo]

when the clip started i thought...crap another boring bike on the ice....i'm glad i kept watching...those mothers are moving! nice lean down on that turn! holy hug the ice batman! great film...does your cammera have zoom?...it would have been nice to be able to zoom in for back turn and the long shots....but great racing action thanks! dirtydog

[tacomawhite]

Respond to this video... Hey dirtydogvideo I am using a simple FUJI camera with 10x zoom.  I was using zoom that day. the toughest part is to keep them in the frame.

[ebastianlar718s]

This video is a favorite on Kuwait City

[thunderbaybuzz]

Never knew Tbay had ice racing! I seen it on ThunderBayBuzz(dot)com which showcases Thunder Bay news, tweets, sports, Thunder Bay classifieds and entertainment. Really cool site that is showing Thunder Bay videos!

[keefer2111]

Yup those boys from TBAY are a bit crazy, but you need to see the guys in Ignace.

[NonRider]

dont let nobody kid ya these guys are flying

[spaghetticat2]

Count me in, I've always wanted to try that

[marchingwildcatsnake]

i could never get usto that

[templedigital]

Nice video work and holy speed!!! Wow. Nice work, guyz.