A real Racer from Wales
You find not many out there who take the own money in their hand to do things different. John Dimbylow a Welsh Gentleman with the heart for racing got that preference of doing the things different. Choosing an American V-Twin motorcycle to race with American riders (mostly) some of the most difficult and dangerous races in the world. Isle of Man TT, the Macau Grand Prix, like many of us, John has seen the potential of Erik Buell’s bikes and believed that with the necessary amount of development and track experience something really great can be achieved.
That spirit can best be recalled, by reading the press release from May 2015, when Splitlath Motorsport announced to be EBR factory Race team.
“It has been an amazing few month since the new EBR Motorcycles was launched, and we have been focused on the process of getting our great new EBR street motorcycles into production,” said Erik Buell, Chief Technical Officer of EBR Motorcycles. “The demand for new motorcycles is really fantastic, and for certain we will stay focused on this by growing our dealer base. But we do love racing and we are happy to announce that EBR will be joining forces with Splitlath Racing, and featuring them as our factory team for 2016. It’s not about big budgets, but the passion and joy of racing and the fierce independence of the riders, crews and owners of such teams.
Splitlath will be racing at select international venues that will represent EBR Motorcycles well, and will showcase the adventure and excitement of racing the EBR 1190 around the globe.”
John Dimbylow, team principal of Splitlath Racing touched on the plan for 2016:
“After working with Erik Buell for a few years now, Splitlath is excited to be fully integrated to the EBR family, and to have the opportunity to be part of the growth of this unique brand and philosophy. The engineering of all EBR products is a delight to work with, and for us to be in a position where we can work with a very talented set of engineers and are part of the process of race development is a real privilege.
As race fans know, Splitlath has been racing in 2015 and 2016 mainly in the emerging and exciting Chinese Pan Delta Superbike series, where the crowds and TV coverage are huge. Our team has been incredibly successful there, winning every race entered to date in the premier Chinese Pan Delta Superbike series, against full factory efforts from big players. This series is where all of the world’s major motorcycle manufacturers are positioning themselves as the Chinese market opens up, thirsty for high-end Western machines. EBR is gaining huge respect there.
Splitlath also attended the Isle of Man TT and Macau GP, more to produce videos of these amazing events and the experience around them, than to go for the win. Incidentally, when the stock EBR 1190 was entered two years ago, it was the first trial of these bikes. When we finished, we were informed that EBR was the first manufacturer ever to compete in, and complete the TT circuit at its first ever attempt. The Isle of Man TT is just so savage that it shakes bikes apart in ways that you can’t anticipate, so it is a real proving ground for any street bike. Our riders say the EBR incredibly assured handling, wide powerband, and light wheels that stayed on the rough tarmac make the TT course a bit less daunting!
Splitlath anticipates returning to the US to compete in due course and we are very excited about this. Currently, we are talking with sponsors and looking for approval from the US organization.”
It’s our job at NCCR today, to preserve that spirit and tell the stories what has been and of course, of what all could have been.
