 amaha-mounted Chad Reed won all three nights at the 25th annual Bercy Supercross held in Paris, France in early November. The THOR-sponsored Australian was dominant each night and showed his superiority in the whoops, much to the amazement of the partisan crowd. Reed defeated Grant Langtson and Andrew Short to claim his first-ever King of Bercy title.
“I couldn’t expect a better result for my comeback in Bercy, and I’m so happy to win this race. During three nights I had to battle strongly with Grant and Andrew and it was a good race to prepare next season. The crowd was amazing, as always in Bercy, and I had good time here in Paris” stated Reed.
Also making an appearance in Bercy was the King of Supercross himself, Jeremy McGrath. McGrath raced Friday and Saturday night and put on a great show for the crowd with his signature ‘Nac Nac.’ He missed the Sunday program due to race commitments at the Baja 1000 and had to fly back to the USA having given fans a taste of the legend that once was. “I have so many great memories here in Bercy,” explained McGrath. “I’m really happy to see my French fans again and have some fun racing.”
King of Bercy Overall Results - Combined 3 nights: 1. Reed (6), 2. Langston (14), 3. Short (19), 4. Grant (39), 5. Brayton (43), 6. Coulon (43), 7. Coisy (43), 8. Musquin (44), 9. Paulin (60), 10. Sorby (64)
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 apid growth in the U.S. market has allowed San Francisco-based LeoVince USA to move into expanded facilities. The new building adds more office space, an R&D center with dyno-room, photo studio and greatly increased warehouse. “We’ve been growing so fast because response from customers and the dealer community to the quality of our product has been phenomenal. A lot of our competitors are scaling back but we flat out needed more space to keep commitments we’ve already made for 2008. We are also putting the finishing touches on our R&D Department that will give us a competitive advantage in dealing with the specific needs of the U.S racing and consumer market,” says Tim Calhoun, U.S. Manager.
The
company also announced two staff additions: Cat MacLeod to a new
Marketing Manager post and Manny Hauswirth to the new position of
Electronics Development Manager.
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 egendary motorcyclist Bud Ekins, 77, passed away on October 6th. His career accomplishments are too numerous to list here, but for those who did not know him we offer this overview. Born in Hollywood, California on May 11, 1930, Ekins was one of America’s best-ever off-road motorcycle riders, winning 4 Gold Medals in the International Six Days Trials during the 1960s, as well as numerous events in Southern California including the famed Big Bear Grand Prix, Catalina and more. He was a Triumph motorcycle dealer in the 1960s and also became one of the first Honda dealers. He went on to become one of the foremost stuntmen in Hollywood, doubling for Steve McQueen in the fence jump in “The Great Escape,” as well as many other stunts in dozens of movies and television shows. In his later years Bud provided an important service to Hollywood by setting up antique motorcycles and cars for use in movies with good running modern motors and parts that would hold up for the long hours of filming. He also collected and restored them and became one of the sport’s authorities on early day motor vehicles. Bud was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999. Godspeed Bud.
 he motorcycle industry was saddened recently with news of the passing of Gene Koch. He was a sales representative for Drag Specialties for many years as well as an avid motorcycle enthusiast, custom builder and member of the Hamsters Motorcycle Club. A service and memorial for family and friends was held in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. There is no designation for memorial donations or a charity at this time. The staff of Drag Specialties Magazine and Parts Magazine extends their condolences to Gene’s family and friends.
 erlyn Plumlee, 55, a cornerstone of the American Honda road racing team, passed away in November at his home with his wife Marta at his side after battling cancer for two years. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tuners in the history of American road racing. Always first to shake a competitor’s hand in victory or defeat, Merlyn was a gentleman in an often violent sport. His friendly demeanor melted the lines drawn between competitors. He was respected by all and his friendship was cherished throughout the paddock.
Merlyn began working in the American Honda race shop in 1982, when he attended his first national road race—the Daytona 200—as part of the Honda factory team. Merlyn was known for working his magic with machines and riders alike, and this talent helped nurture some of the greatest riders in the history of the sport: Steve Wise, Freddie Spencer, Fred Merkel, Scott Russell, Doug Chandler, Simon Crafar, Mike Hale, Wayne Rainey, Bubba Shobert, Ben and Eric Bostrom, Jake Zemke and Nicky Hayden.
A native of Colorado, Merlyn was, in his own words, “a moderately successful professional dirt tracker,” until he realized his talents lay elsewhere. He then took up road racing, mostly on the local level, with a great deal of success. But his true talents came in spinning wrenches. Early on, at the age of 14, he began working in a local motorcycle shop in Colorado. He parlayed that job into a successful career as a professional tuner that carried him to seven Superbike championships.
American Honda mourns the loss of Merlyn Plumlee. He was a genuinely good person who was a pleasure to be around every day, the nicest guy anyone could hope to run into in the AMA paddock, and a man we could always count on for more than two decades. The paddock will forever be changed by his passing, and our hearts go out to his wife Marta, who had the privilege of knowing him best of all. Godspeed Merlyn. See you in the winner’s circle. 
Ben Bostrom was just one of many motorcycle champions who worked with Merlyn Plumlee (right). Photo by Tim Huntington.
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n the weekend of October 6th and 7th, Old Bridge Township’s Raceway Park in Englishtown, NJ played host to the 31st annual Kawasaki Race of Champions. Sponsored by the Kawasaki Motor Corp and its local participating Kawasaki dealers, the event has a long history of showcasing the next big thing in amateur motocross. In the past riders like Ryan Villopoto have come through the ranks to show their skills on the rough Mickey Kessler-prepared track. THOR backed riders took home numerous class podiums including victories by Frankie Lettieri in the Schoolboy class and PJ Larsen in the Open 4 stroke class. Larsen continued his winning ways on Sunday by taking the premier 250 Expert class victory as well. 
