Ontario · Quebec · Minimoto & Supermoto
Notes from the pit wall
I'm Josh, dad to three boys — and all three of them race. A 50, a 160 and a 190, which means three sets of tire pressures and one very full trailer. I'm the guy holding the board. This is the parking lot drills, the budget, the rain, the long drive home — and the tight-knit group of people who make it run.
Ohvale 190: Top of the Mini Ladder, Gateway to Everything After
The 190 is the top of the mini ladder, and everything about it is a dress rehearsal for what comes after: pace approaching small full-size bikes, setup that actually matters, and results that get…
Ohvale 160: Where Junior Road Racing Gets Serious
The 160 is where junior road racing stops being adorable. The bikes are quicker, the grids are tighter, the racing is genuinely close — and it is the class Abel races right now. This is what changes…
Ohvale 110: Where Minimoto Stops Being a Toy
Most kids in our world start the way Toni Sharpless and the Super Sonic Road Race School's Arrive-N-Ride program teach them to: on a small pit bike with no gearbox to think about, just throttle,…
The GP-7 Is Where the Ladder Runs Out
At the top of the Ohvale range is a bike that has stopped pretending to be small.
Ohvale Just Built the Missing Step
Ohvale announced the GP-5 in late August, and the interesting thing about it is not the bike. It is the hole it was built to fill.
The GP-2 Is the One Everybody Is Actually On
Walk down a MiniSBK grid and you are mostly looking at GP-2s. It is the bike the Canadian classes are built around, and if you are budgeting a season here, it is almost certainly the one you are…
The GP-0 Is the Bike Before the Bike
The GP-0 is the smallest thing Ohvale makes, and it is the one that decides whether a kid stays in this sport or quietly drifts out of it.
Six Versions to Get to a Race Team Logo
Designing logos is what I do for a living. So when the boys wanted a name and a mark for the family team, I assumed it would take an afternoon.
Parking Lot Dreams to Shannonville Screams
If you want to know where Canadian road racing futures are built, don't look at the big sweeping corners of a grand prix track. Look at the parking lot in the infield at Mosport.
From Ontario to Guangzhou: The 12-Hour Time Zone Grind
Racing locally is tough enough. You pack the truck, fight the traffic up to Lombardy or Shannonville, set up the canopy, and wrench all weekend.
The True Cost of a Minimoto Season
"How much does it actually cost to get a kid into racing?"
Track Guide: Shannonville Motorsport Park
Shannonville Motorsport Park is the undisputed proving ground of Canadian motorcycle racing, and for the minimoto kids, it’s a track that demands absolute respect.
Track Guide: Lombardy Raceway
If Shannonville is about bravery and top speed, Lombardy Raceway is about pure, unadulterated technical skill.
Wrenching 101: The Ohvale GP-2
When your kid decides they want to race motorcycles, the whole family gets involved. I'm the sponsor and chauffeur, but Jamie is the real technician and crew chief.
Supermoto's Triumphant Return
For a few years, the supermoto scene in Ontario felt a bit like a secret club. If you knew where to look, you could find guys sliding dirt bikes on slick tires around local kart tracks, but the…
Circuit Mécaglisse: The Round We Haven't Made Yet
Round 2 of the 2026 Canadian Supermoto Championship took the Ontario paddock east to Circuit Mécaglisse. We were not in it.
The Jump to FIM MotoMini Canada
There is club racing, and then there is the FIM MotoMini Canada series. Making the jump between the two changes the entire atmosphere of a race weekend.
Rain Racing: The Ultimate Teacher
Let’s be honest: nobody wants to race in the rain.
The Gear: Sliding at 100km/h
"Is it safe?"
The Dark Art of Tire Pressures
If you want to start a heated argument in a minimoto paddock, just walk up to three different dads and ask them what tire pressure they are running.
Managing Race Day Anxiety
They are athletes, but at the end of the day, they are also just kids.
Crash Repair in 20 Minutes
Racing means crashing. It is not an "if," it is a "when." And usually, it happens at the worst possible time.
The Paddock Family
If you watch a MiniSBK race, you will see kids aggressively block-passing each other into turn one at Shannonville. It is fierce, uncompromising competition.
The Pathway to CSBK
When people see the Ohvale GP-2s for the first time, they often assume it’s just a hobby. They see the small wheels and think it’s a novelty.
The Sponsorship Hustle
Racing runs on money. That is the unfortunate, unavoidable truth of motorsports.
Physical Fitness for Minimoto
People who don't ride motorcycles often assume the engine does all the work. They think you just twist the throttle and hold on.
The Valencia Goal
Everything in the FIM MotoMini Canada series builds to one singular date: November 26th.
Celebrating Toni Sharpless's CMA Award
It was a good day when Toni Sharpless was recognized with the Canadian Motorcycle Association Ambassador Award in 2023.
The Transition: 160cc to 190cc
Moving up a class in motorcycle racing is never just about twisting the throttle a little harder.
The Candy Store: Why GP Bikes is a Lifesaver
If you race motorcycles in Ontario, there is a very high probability that you are intimately familiar with GP Bikes in Whitby. For the racing community, it is essentially the candy store.
Balancing the Wrench and the Code
Let’s be honest about something: racing isn't cheap. From the tires to the travel, the entry fees, and keeping the Ohvale GP-2 running perfectly for the FIM MotoMini Canada rounds, the "Checkbook to…
A Win and a Fall in the Same Weekend
RACEMoto's third regional round ran July 25-26, back at Shannonville, a day after the FIM national round wrapped on the same track. By that point in July the place felt less like a venue and more…
Two Podiums in a Weekend
Round three of the FIM MotoMini Canada series came back to Shannonville in late July, and Cohen stood on the box in both races.
Two Trips to Lombardy
Lombardy Raceway sits north of Kingston, about three hours east of us, which makes it the one on the calendar that is a trip rather than a drive. We have been twice.
Second on the Road, First in Class
RACEMoto's Round two ran the weekend of June 20-21 at Shannonville, and FIM MotoMini's own Round one shared the Saturday of it — their race day was June 20, on the track's separate go-kart circuit,…
Round One, and the Red Flag Was Ours
The 2026 FIM MotoMini Canada season opened on the go-kart circuit at Shannonville on June 20. Five rounds, two classes — Ohvale 160 and Ohvale 190 — and at the end of it, a route to the world final…
MiniSBK Round One: Two Boys, Two Grids
Before I go any further I have to sort out a naming problem, because I got it wrong in my own head for weeks. "MiniSBK" is not a separate national series. It is the name for the youth classes —…
Spring Endurance at Brechin
Brechin runs a minimoto endurance round twice a year — one in the fall, one in the spring. The fall one was the first race we ever entered. The spring one is the season waking up.
We Started With an Endurance Race
Most families ease into racing. You do a school, then a practice day, then maybe a sprint round where the whole thing is over in twelve laps and you can pretend it didn't count.
The First Time Abel Used a Clutch
Eleven seconds of video, and not much appears to happen in it. A kid on a borrowed green Kawasaki, a coach walking away across the pavement, a few cones knocked flat. If you did not know what you…
Off the bike, this is my day job
I build websites for people in the paddock
When I'm not carrying the snacks, I run a web design and digital marketing practice — sites, social media, and print for small businesses, race schools and series organizers.
Visit joshbyberg.com