Our Story

Meet your suspension guy, Leon Hanson

For Leon, the love for racing started at a young age watching his dad race desert in Southern California. Growing up in District 37’s Desert Vipers Motorcycle Club and then later joining 100’s Motorcycle Club, the time came for Leon to throw his leg over a bike and race himself. He began with racing USDR and District 37 in 2010 and moved through the ranks up to Expert. Although a desert racer at heart, there were many Grand Prixs, Hard Enduros, and a little bit of Motocross and EnduroCross that he raced as well. In 2014 he began racing mountain bike enduros, contesting in series like SoCal Enduro, California Enduro, Scott Cup and Big Mountain Enduro. He also raced E-bikes at GNCC’s.

Leon’s mechanical experience began in high school where he was able to choose Auto Shop as an elective. There was no shortage of vehicles either - the students fixed donated project cars, as well as the school vehicles, and school staff’s personal vehicles. After Leon graduated high school, he utilized the experience gained and worked at various independent auto repair facilities.

Leon’s suspension career began in 2014, when he landed his dream job at Factory Husqvarna/KTM (and later GasGas) Off-Road Department, working alongside some of the industry’s top professionals that included riders, mechanics and suspension technicians. Through out the years, Leon has gained in-depth levels of knowledge and experience for all off-road racing disciplines, including GNCC, National Enduro, Sprint Enduro, EnduroCross, Hard Enduro, Grand Prix, and Hare and Hound (a lot of those racers would sometimes cross over into Motocross and Supercross).

Leon has multiple off road championships:

  • Craig Delong: 2020 XC2 Champion; 2023 GNCC XC1 Champion

  • Colton Haaker: 2016, 2018 - 2020 AMA EnduroCross Champion; 2017 & 2019 FIM SuperEnduro World Champion

  • Dalton Shirey: 2023 National Hare and Hound Champion

  • Ryan Sipes: 2015 ISDE Overall champion (1st American ever)

  • 2016 ISDE World trophy team with riders Taylor Robert, Kailub Russell, Thadd Duvall, and Layne Michael