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Thunderbike's newest builds are as extreme and innovative as any in the industry

“We´re creating all the parts you need for your bike,” said Thunderbike’s Martin Mix. “[We produce] wheels, forks, frames, swingarms, suspension kits, and almost everything else.”

Thunderbike was founded in the mid 1980s as a Suzuki dealership in the small German town of Hamminkeln. At that time, the company was a force on the German racing scene. They also built popular custom sport-bikes.

All of Thunderbike's Powerfilters, like the "Open Mind," feature K&N filters

Thunderbike Customs has won several of the biggest European custom builders’ competitions. They have also had success at the AMD World Championships as well as American builder competitions.

The company’s build portfolio is as extensive as any in the industry. Thunderbike produces customs that are based on the full Harley platform, as well as builds that feature their own custom frames. The builds are not limited to the American V-twin engine. Metric bikes are also represented in both Tunderbike builds and products.

Thunderbike Customs also builds beautiful traditional baggers

“All of our round kits called Powerfilter are using K&N filters,” Martin said. “K&N is a high-quality brand that everybody knows and trusts. It fits very well to our own quality standards.”

The company ships worldwide and is now truly a global force in the custom motorcycle industry. K&N is proud to be part of the Thunderbike Customs success story. We will highlight some of the company’s spectacular builds in upcoming feature articles.

Kyle Wyman heats up the Circuit of the Americas tarmac with fast test times

The Daytona 200

Wyman qualified eighth on the grid for the 76th running of the Daytona 200. By the midpoint of the 200-mile race, Wyman had piloted his #33 Suzuki GSX-R600 to the race lead. Clearly Wyman was finding his footing on the Suzuki, which he had ridden for the first time on the Friday before the race weekend.

"It was a long race and the red flags helped with finding the last bit of comfort," said Wyman. "By the second half of the first stint, I had found what I needed and I had a lot of confidence in the bike. After the first pit stop, I was able to battle for the lead.”

Wyman (#33) had an eventful day to finish 3rd in the Daytona 200

“About five laps before I was going to pit again, I felt something and thought there was an issue with the bike," Wyman said. "I was losing a lot of time and I didn't know exactly what was happening. I pitted three laps early thinking our race might be over so the team wasn't ready for me. We got some new tires on and I went back out. The bike felt great again and I made up three or four seconds to catch back up.

Wyman battled furiously and wound up crossing the finish line in 4th place just 0.052 seconds out of the third spot. However, that would prove to be enough for a podium position after another competitor was disqualified.

It was an entertaining, albeit drama-filled Daytona 200 podium finish for Wyman.

COTA Superbike Testing

Wyman says new MotoAmerica suspension rules are helping his race times

Over the two days of testing, Wyman ended the event with the sixth fastest overall time, lapping the 3.43-mile circuit in 2:10.52. That time is over a second and a half faster than the team's best time from the 2016 testing. Wyman was the fastest Superbike rider not competing on a factory team.

"Heading into the COTA test, I was really excited to ride my new Superbike," said Wyman. "My dad and I have been spending a lot of time this winter preparing this bike for battle against the factory teams, and so far we are happy to see that hard work paying off. We have been adding parts to the bike for this season that seem to be making a difference."

Many of those parts that the KWR team have been adding are the result of new rules in MotoAmerica Superbike that allow for more exotic suspension utilization. The biggest change to Wyman’s superbike is a new full K-Tech KTR-3 fork designed specifically for Superbike competition.

"The new fork from K-Tech is definitely a luxury," Wyman said. "Over last year, we had wear issues with the stock fork tubes, so the complete forks have helped us from a rigidity standpoint, but also from a feel standpoint.”

The KWR Superbike Team looks to carry momentum back to COTA in Round 1

"Compared to last year, the test was a wild success," said Wyman. "We didn't have bugs and big issues plaguing us for two days, and we were really able to make the most of the track time that was available. It's a testament to our preparation for this season. I'm looking forward to a couple more weeks of preparation before we come back here to COTA for the first race of the season."

Clem finishes 3rd at the Southern All Stars Series at Southern Raceway, Milton, Florida on March 18.

He finished the 2016 season Mid-South Racing point competition in second place accumulating 264 points. On April 1, 2017 Clem became the youngest driver in the United Sprint Car Series to win a feature event.

On March 31, he returned to Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida, to compete in the USCS Outlaw Thunder Tour presented by K&N Filters. He stampeded to an 8-lap heat race win from the second row, which locked up the second starting position for the 25-lap A-Main and won it. He aced out Thomas Kennedy, Jordon Mallet, Tony Stewart, and AJ Maddox.

The next night Clem faced a field of 26 cars and advanced six positions in his heat race, landing a 2nd place finish behind Thomas Kennedy. Starting in 4th in the USCS Hoosier Speed Dash, Clem charged to the win, which put him on the pole for the main event. As he made the pass for the top spot, the leader hit the slick and pushed up the track colliding with Clem and forcing him into the wall. His car suffered a bent and cracked frame. However, undaunted, Clem re-entered the race and recovered to record a top-5 finish. He crossed the line in 4th behind Tony Stewart, Danny Martin Jr., and Mitch Brown.

“Saturday night was a little disappointing, but still it was incredible weekend for the team,” said Clem. “It’s a big honor to be not only the youngest winner ever with the tour, but also to beat such a strong field of drivers.”

Tyler Clem has been showing steady progress during the early going of the 2017- racing season including three podium finishes and a 4th place finish in March.

On Friday, March 17, 2017 he competed in the Bash at the Beach at Southern Raceway in Milton, Florida, in the Southern All Stars Series sanctioned contest. Twenty-six cars competed in the two-day event. Clem came up short of a transfer spot in qualifying sending him into the B-Main. He battled to a consolation victory and locked up a spot in the $4,000-to-win-A-Main. Coming from far behind, Clem ultimately finished 16th.

On Saturday, March 18 Clem competed for the $5,000 top prized and achieved a podium finish in the feature after competing for the top spot throughout the whole race.

He competed for the lead in the closing laps of the 50-lapper, but fell one spot on a late-race restart posting and finished in 3rd place behind Casey Roberts and Tyler Millwood.

On Tuesday, March 21st, Clem competed in his home state behind the wheel of his Hedman Hedders #14 Rent-N-Roll Rocket Chassis Super Late Model in the Southern All Star Dirt Racing Series at Southern Raceway in Milton, Florida, and finished 3rd in the Saturday night finale of the two-day event.

Clem landed a podium finish in the feature after battling for the top spot throughout the finale. In the closing laps of the 50-lapper, he fell one position on a late-race restart and posted a 3rd place finish behind Casey Roberts and Tyler Millwood.

On Saturday, March 25th he traveled to Bubba Raceway Park in Ocala, Florida to compete in the unsanctioned Mike Peter’s Open. A total of 16 Super Late Models battled and Clem finished 5th in his heat pushing him to the 15th-starting position for the $3,000-to-win-A-Main. He stormed through 11 positions in the 40-lap event achieving a 4th place spot behind Mark Whitener, Kyle Bronson, and Doug Horton.

Josh Toth has three straight wins in the GNCC XC2 Class (Photo: Ken Hill)

Round 1: Big Buck – Union, South Carolina

Toth and Layne Michael engaged in a fast and entertaining back-and-forth battle for the lead at the Big Buck Farm in the GNCC first round. Toth secured the lead after a mid-race pass and held that lead for the checkered flag.

“I got off to a good start, and was able to work my way into the lead on the first lap,” said Toth. “I knew Michael was right behind me so I just kept pushing and it paid off.”

Toth (center) enjoys his third podium of the year with his win in Sparta, Georgia (Photo: Ken Hill)

Round 2: Wild Boar - Palatka, Florida

The Hogwaller course features the sandy soil typical of Florida. However that sand mixed with black dirt and a few tough mud holes makes it particularly challenging. Toth adjusted to the ever-changing course conditions and rode his YZ250FX to his second XC2 win. He also secured an amazing 4th overall in the round.

Craig Delong and Layne Michael finished second and third behind Toth.

Round 3: Cannonball – Sparta, Georgia

Toth has bested the competition and conquered the GNCC's varied tracks (Photo: Ken Hill)

Michael Witkowski finished in second and Jesse Groemm in third.

Toth will look to continue his dominance in the GNCC 4th round at Steel Creek in Morganton, North Carolina.

Brad Keselowski celebrates his win in the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway

“You know, the two wins this year have both come at tracks that I haven't won at before and we haven't won at as a team before, so certainly that feels really good to be able to check something off the list, and with everything else that goes into today, there seemed to be a lot of numerology today with this being the Penske team's 1,000th start here in this series, and it's been a long time since Ford won here,” Keselowski said.

Keselowski led four times for a total of 116 laps to secure his second win of the season. He won 55 points and is in fourth place in the Monster Energy Cup Series standings.

“But it felt like we were due, and if you ever can be, this is probably one of those tracks, and today was one of those days where we persevered in a special way with the battle there with Kyle at the end I thought was a lot of fun to be a part of,” Keselowski said regarding the outcome of the race.

Kyle Busch finished in second place and led for a race-high 7 times and 274 laps. Busch and Keselowski swapped leads during the last 100, with Keselowski ultimately coming out on top.

“He was way better than we were at that time” Busch said. “Just wasn't the same. Our car definitely changed there for the last run of the race, and we just didn't have what we needed in order to have the speed that we had all the rest of the day. We were able to drive away from the field. We led a lot of laps. We really had no contention there from a lot of people, just passed halfway the rest of the way to the end, and then you put a set of tires on and you lose three-tenths. That was pretty shameful, but we come home P2. So that's all we had.”

Chase Elliott finished in third place and led twice for 20 laps. Elliott was in first place at the conclusion of Stage 2 and received 1 playoff point.

Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch racing during the STP 500 at Martinsville Speedway

Martin Truex Jr and Chase Elliott won both stages of the Martinsville race, both receiving 1 playoff point. Keselowski is in the lead for the playoff standings with 10 points.

Kyle Larson leads the the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series standings with 268 points and 6 playoff points. Chase Elliott is in second place with 264 points and 2 playoff points. Martin Truex Jr is in third place with 236 points and 9 playoff points.

The next race in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series will be at O’Reilly Auto Parts 500.