SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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BAJA BUILDING BLOCKS ORMHOF Inductee Tim Morton, Builds Bikes And Racers With A Solid Foundation To Compete in Baja By Dan Sanchez Photos courtesy of Tim Morton It’s no surprise that both experienced and novice motorcycle racers come to Tim Morton’s workshops or Baja Bound Adventure rides, to gain more knowledge for competing in Baja. To his success, Morton is an Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Famer and has seven SCORE Baja 1000 wins, seven SCORE Baja 500 wins, and five SCORE San Felipe 250 wins under his belt. He also has four SCORE Pro Points Championships and one Overall Motorcycle Points Championship, all of which make him one of the most respected riders when it comes to SCORE Baja racing. With numerous wins and success in his racing career, Morton and his wife Jennifer, began their Baja Bound Adventures business in 1997, providing Baja bike tours and experiences for riders, as well as providing “arrive and ride” race bike rentals for anyone who wanted to compete on a fully prepped bike. “Most riders don’t realize what it takes to race and simply be properly prepared for Baja,” says Morton. “In my workshops and Baja Bound Adventure rides, I essentially teach riders how to be safe and successful when riding in the Baja desert.” Morton’s Baja Bound Adventures has taken many enthusiast and experienced racers through the deserts of the Baja Peninsula as a learning, and enjoyable experience. Many times, these excursions have led to Morton managing and leading race teams who want to tackle a SCORE race. In 2023 he led the Class 50 team of Robert Creemers from New Zealand who won the SCORE San Felipe 250, SCORE Baja 500 and SCORE Baja 400 in their class that year. “They had a bad crash at the SCORE Baja 1000 but pulled off a second-place finish to win the Points Championship,” added Morton. Morton has always been a go-to guy with the right amount of knowledge and experience, that factory teams like JCR Honda and others, would ask him to take along an up-and-coming rider to “test” before bringing them in. “Tim has always been a great fan of the underdog whether it was a team he was racing with or just some young up and coming kids making an effort against the factory supported teams,” said Johnny Campbell. “He always is willing to share his Baja and racing knowledge with most anyone, especially those new to the desert racing discipline.” Aside from sharing his knowledge of Baja racing with hundreds of racers over his career, Morton was also well known for building reliable and race-ready bikes. “Most of our bikes are Honda 450’s,” says Morton. “We typically prep them with all kinds of modifications, but the new bikes come pretty well set-up for off-road racing. When someone comes in and asks for us to prep a bike, we typically want to know everything that they know. For some a stock bike is fine, while for others, we may alter the suspension and make other modifications we think they will need.” Most serious modifications Morton makes are proprietary and he won’t disclose what works best in his experience, but he did say that there are some basic items that are necessary on his bike builds. Some of these include adding gussets in key areas like the swing arm, adding a chain guide, and a lot of minor details which aren’t noticeable to the average bike enthusiast, but makes a big difference in Baja. “One that I can tell you is the wiring,” says Morton. “We take the time to completely re-route the wiring, so it’s protected and buried out of the way. Most guys get to a SCORE race and then they must deal with having to mount the Stella device and don’t really know what to do with it. It’s a lot of wiring and it usually ends up bunched-up in the steering area and the fork. There’s a lot of failure points when you do it like that, so we take the time to use a wire harness and have a plate that holds it all together.” It’s those small details that can make a difference between finishing in first place or not at all in a long SCORE race. But those are the things Morton knows best and is the reason why many racers end up purchasing bikes he’s built for them to ride. As many young racers are now leading the SCORE Moto field in the Pro Moto Unlimited class, Morton sees their potential and is glad they are also being mentored by veteran racers. “I see that these new guys are extremely talented and very fast,” he says. “Lately I’ve been watching Tyler Lynn for a bit know, and he rides so smooth and precise. There are a few other kids that are also fast and I’m a little taken aback because I’m afraid they will get busted up sooner or later. My lessons for anyone I take out on my workshops is to pre-run well and know your sections. But pre-running should be to learn the course, not to go all out. I don’t like when guys come back with arm pump and blisters on their hands when their pre-run should have been comfortable and enjoyable. Save that for the race.” “When I go out riding with a team in my workshops, we’re going to learn how-to skills, motorcycle skills, and we’re going to understand how things are done in Baja or wherever we’re racing. Most need to learn how to slow down and ride smart. That’s one thing Justin Morgan did extremely well. He learned the importance of pre-running and knew areas where he could ride fast and areas he had to slow down. If he got passed, it wasn’t a problem, and he continued to ride his race until he won.” While it doesn’t seem Morton is hanging up his helmet anytime soon, he still encourages riders to learn what they can from more experienced veterans. He and Jennifer also continue a long-time tradition of donating and supporting the local people in Baja, providing items for kids in local schools there, raising funds for orphanages, and much more. Morton also continues to have workshops for racers who want to learn the nuances of racing in Baja. Their next one is June 13-16th after he SCORE Baja 500 where registered attendees can actually ride on the course and learn what they need to in preparation for the SCORE Baja 1000. More information can be found on the Baja Bound Adventures website at bajaboundmoto.com. SJ