Finishing touch: KYMCO invites journalists to race a GNCC on a Mongoose 300.

Of course I know what the acronym KYMCO stands for. It represents Kwang Yang Motor Company, the Taiwanese based ATV manufacturer and my host for a weekend of ATV racing. However, as I laid awake in my hotel bed the night before The Stomp GNCC, I couldn't think straight. In fact, my muddled brain made KYMCO stand for Kelley, You Might Choke Off-road tomorrow!

Hey, I had a lot riding on this event. Not only was I representing ATV Sport in a Grand National Cross Country event, I was sort of representing KYMCO and competing against other mag editors and my co-worker Managing Editor Chris Vogtman. Heck, it was Vogts' first race, and I was more nervous than him.

The biggest hurdle the editors and racers had to overcome was that we we were racing a GNCC event on a entry-level sport quad, not a true racer. We would be competing against full-blown race quads and, frankly, many of the other racers didn't give us much of a chance. In the end, however, not only did some of us prove the KYMCO can be be raced, every journalist proved it could finish.

CHANGES

KYMCO told us from the start that the Mongoose 300s would have a few aftermarket upgrades, but would mostly be stock. For starters, KYMCO dove into the clutch and added an Erlandson Performance kit. The kit included new rollers, torque driver and engagement springs. The carburetor was rejetted with a 108 main and fed air via a K & N filter. A full Desert Toyz exhaust expelled the spent fumes. KYMCO engineers also went up three teeth to a 41mm rear sprocket.

Other upgrades included a Motion Pro kill switch, PowerMadd handguards, AC Racing nerfs and bumper, Paoli shocks and BKTX Drive tires on Douglas Wheel rims. We ran about 4.5 PSI in the tires. Many of us adjusted the shocks to attempt to improve the ride. We tried to slow the rebound on the front and stiffen the compression on the rear, but neither really worked.

Friday night, many of the editors decided to add Spider grips. Former pro GNCC racer Jeff Stoess, who was riding for ATVriders.com, also showed many of us how to modify the wiring so we could start the KYMCO's in gear.

The end result was a better sounding quad with improved traction and a quicker throttle response. However, the suspension was less than thrilling and beat us up as the race wore on and track got rougher.

THAT'S RACIN'