FOX Racing Shox - Rip Off the Strip!
FOX Racing Shox has a deep heritage in off road racing and they wanted to share some of that with us during the Outdoor Demo. From huge bypass shocks on their Baja trucks to the much smaller RP23 air shocks on our bikes, FOX is about racing and developing products that stand up to those rigors. Aaron Larocque and I had the pleasure of traveling from Las Vegas, NV to Sandy Valley, CA to experience first hand what it is like to drive a desert racing buggy. The buggies were all equipped with FOX Racing shocks and ready for action.
The buggies awaiting to be test driven by all the invited media and industry personnel at the Sandy Valley Race Track.
The course that was laid out was close to a mile in length and featured everything one needed to really get a feel for how the buggies handled desert terrain.
I had the pleasure of piloting this machine for three laps to what may be a top life experience from the motor side of my world.
Look at the size of these shocks - you won't find these on the average pick up truck.
Dave Weagle was also in the house and having an amazing time.
Light em up Dave!
Once we'd experienced what the buggies were capable of in our own hands, it was time to hit the road again to see what a full scale Prerunner was capable of in the hands of a professional driver. We stopped in Goodsprings, NV where we were piloted across the desert by FOX Racing Shox' resident professional offroad driver, John Marking in a 680hp Prerunner.
Work first, then play. Aaron stands perched atop a hill waiting to capture the Prerunner as it blasts across the parched landscape.
John Marking loads up everyone two at a time for an 80 mile an hour rip through the rough.
Look at that dust trail - this truck is going over 80 miles an hour at this point.
One word - BRAP!
Aaron and I's day just kept getting better and I couldn't help but walk around with a silly grin on for hours! It was our turn to hold on.
Ya, I was just in there!
For those of you reading, you may be wondering what this has to do with the bikes that we ride? It is facets of the FOX Racing Shox company like the Offroad Racing division that often initialize technologies that trickle down into what we as bikers get to experience on a daily basis. FOX Racing Shox has a very passionate cycling division and they are able to progress and evolve the suspension that we love on our bikes thanks to other sectors on their company.
Thanks to FOX Racing Shox and Zero One Odysseys for putting together a great day in the desert that we won't soon forget.
Smithers, BC, Canada 
Santa
I had an '88 4Runner (basically the same truck, just in SUV trim) and sometimes I really miss it. But then I just go for a drive in my Raptor and I stop missing that under-powered bucket of rust pretty quickly.
When it come to off-road though remember heavy is not usually better. Look at what vehicles win the international offroad stuff in europe: Samurais beat Broncos every time.
TaletoTell: I fully agree. Sami's are GREAT trucks. Espescially when you swap in a VW Turbo-Diesel and Toy. Mini-truck DT. they're amazing little rigs. And I've seen them flat out embarass bigger, more expensive rigs... Hell I see it nearly EVERY time i hit the trails here in OR or WA, and half the time theyre on tires that are 35" or smaller compared to some of the buggies on 39.5-44" tires. Lightweight is king and it keeps the rigs drivetrains alive alot longer too. Nothing like a heavy rig with a big engive to scatter U-joints and blow diffs HAHAHAHA I LOVE watching some guys blow their trucks apart then just walking up things in my little 22RE truck with Dual-cases... The skinny pedal can be your worst enemy sometime
Taleto tell: Spot on analysis aye... something I find pretty odd is all these guys sponsored by these energy drinks. They all train so hard and what not only to drink all this JUNK they get from their sponsors... I mean watching the Atherton Project I see Gee rip down like 5 Red-bulls... That is flat out HORRIBLE for you. no to mention if I drink ONE redbull I'm shaking and couldn't even begin to make a full race run down a WCDH course... Meh, maybe I'm just old and out of the loop, but I find this pretty odd. lus I'm a medic/ex-firefighter/Nursing student and I used to work in the ER where I saw MANY cases of people who came in with irregular heat rythms from drinking too many Monster, Redbulls etc... Anyone else see this as kind of a contradiction, trying to ne ultra fit and yet guzzeling garbage just cause they're sponsored by them??? hell, dump the crap out and drink Gatorade oyut of the can guys. Maybe steady hands will help you win races