Perhaps you’ve heard of Josh Hayes, or Joshua Kurt Hayes, if you’re not into the whole brevity thing. He with the four AMA Superbike Championships, the seven national motorcycle road racing titles, and the 88 all-time AMA race victories (a record). The “Mississippi Madman” has pretty much won everything there is to win in motorcycle road racing here in the U.S.
Except the Daytona 200. “Hurricane Hayes” has come oh-so-close on a number of occasions. He won it temporarily in 2008, only to then lose it on a mechanical technicality that was no fault of his own. More than once, he’s also been in the lead coming out of the chicane on the final lap, only to suffer the indignity of getting caught up in Daytona International Speedway’s infamous draft and getting edged out at the checkered flag.
Well, this will be Hayes’s ninth Daytona 200 (10th if you count 2020 when practice and qualifying was done, but the race itself was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic), and this time, he is bringing a knife to a tire fight. The tire fight is three tire manufacturers all competing head-to-head in the Daytona 200 with Dunlop, Pirelli, and Bridgestone all in the battle for supremacy. Hayes, ever loyal to Dunlop, will be one of the riders whose bike is shod in tires from Big D.
And the knife? Well, there will actually be two of them. The first knife is Hayes’s razor-sharp CSU OneCure Yamaha YZF-R6, a bike that he loves to race and that is equipped for the Daytona 200 with a new, allowed-by-Supersport-Next-Generation-rules machined head that should give JH4 a little more oomph when he twists the throttle coming out of the corners so he can try to stay with the larger-displacement Ducati Panigale V2s, Suzuki GSX-R750s, 636cc Kawasaki ZX-6Rs, and Triumph 675s and 765s.
The second knife that Hayes is bringing to Daytona is something you can also own:
The Josh Hayes Limited Edition Benchmade Mini Bugout
Quinn Knives has created a Josh Hayes Limited Edition knife to help support Hayes’s 2024 Daytona 200 while also putting a stylish knife into the hands of motorcycle fans who’d like to support Hayes in a unique and rewarding way.
When you purchase a Josh Hayes Limited Edition Benchmade Mini Bugout, you not only get a top-tier, made in the USA, customized knife, but each JH4 Mini Bugout purchased automatically enters you for a chance to win the Grand Prize: a fully custom, handmade, Duane Dwyer “Rotorcraft” folding knife valued at $2,500 and created from the actual brake rotors that will be removed from Josh’s Yamaha R6 after he competes in the 200 on Daytona’s high banks.
Duane Dwyer is a legend in the knife-making world, and he’s local to both Quinn Knives and Josh Hayes, as well as being a longtime motorcycle enthusiast. Rotorcraft knives are iconic because they are handcrafted from used brake rotors, plus other bits from exotic cars, motorcycles, and even military aircraft.
“Due to Quinn Knives, my personal knife collection has gone from zero to hero way too fast,” Hayes said. “I’d been eyeing the Benchmade Carbon Fiber Mini Bugout for some time because I love that carbon fiber and the Yamaha blue accents. So, on a recent trip, I decided it was time to get one. Alex (Dunstan, Quinn Knives owner) started talking about putting some of my designs on it, like the Jolly Roger and #4, and well, one thing led to another, and we thought. ‘Why not make this a limited run, 200 pieces for the 200, and get the motorcycle community in on the action?’ Then I found out about the fantastic custom knives Duane Dwyer makes and offered up my racebike rotors, made into a knife, as an extra-cool prize for one lucky winner. It’s crazy how quickly this all came together and a big thank you to everyone who made it happen. I hope fans like the JH4 Mini Bugout as much as I do, and I’ll be giving it everything I have to put the CSU One Cure Yamaha R6 on the top step.”
When. you purchase a Josh Hayes Limited Edition Benchmade Mini Bugout, you get all this:
• One (1) Josh Hayes Limited Edition Benchmade Mini Bugout
• One (1) Josh Hayes Autographed Thank You Card
• One (1) Entry for the Grand Prize Josh Hayes Yamaha YZF-R6 “Rotorcraft” Knife custom-made by Duane Dwyer
A maximum of 200 Josh Hayes Limited Edition Mini Bugouts will be produced, and proceeds from the sale will go directly to supporting Josh Hayes’s CSU One Cure Yamaha Daytona 200 effort. The special purchase window is open till March 11. All knives will be produced upon the closing of the program with orders shipping within approximately 30 to 45 days of closing.
Use the special code “JH200” and take an additional 15% off any applicable product on the Quinn Knives website.
For the full 2024 MotoAmerica schedule and to purchase tickets for MotoAmerica events, click HERE
For information on how to watch the MotoAmerica series, click HERE
