Team Mazda Chaparral Yamaha 125 rider?

jimk wrote:

Button did for sure... not sure I can recall his number right now though.

jimk wrote:

Button did for sure... not sure I can recall his number right now though.

DownSouth wrote:

Button was #11 wearing Oneal gear on a Chaparral YZ125 in the nationals in 1998. He was teammates with MC on Chaparral that year.

jimk wrote:

Button did for sure... not sure I can recall his number right now though.

DownSouth wrote:

Button was #11 wearing Oneal gear on a Chaparral YZ125 in the nationals in 1998. He was teammates with MC on Chaparral that year.

andymoto wrote:

And yet he was a privateer.

tblazier wrote:

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/65727046@N02/6015483422/][img]https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/6015483422_6c34c1cd44_b.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/65727046@N02/6015483422/]guess7[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/65727046@N02/]teyblyy[/url], on Flickr It was Jimmy Button #11. I think he may have switched to the 250's mid year because he felt he...

guess7 by teyblyy, on Flickr

It was Jimmy Button #11. I think he may have switched to the 250's mid year because he felt he was too big for the bike. Not sure though.

DownSouth wrote:

Button finished the '98 125 nationals 6th overall on the season, he did not switch to a 250 outdoors. I had to consult my MXA archives...

Button finished the '98 125 nationals 6th overall on the season, he did not switch to a 250 outdoors. I had to consult my MXA archives for that one.

1. Ricky Carmichael 525 Kaw
2. John Dowd 477 Yam
3. Casey Johnson 407 Kaw
4. Robbie Reynard 371 Suz
5. Mike Brown 356 Hon
6. Jimmy Button 329 Yam
7. Stephane Roncada 246 Hon
8. Tim Ferry 244 Yam
9. Nick Wey 238 KAw
10. Nathan Ramsey 204 Kaw

Neutra wrote:

If it has the Mazda logo on top, it's Ryan Morais I think. He got hurt at A1 a couple corners after his first pro start...

If it has the Mazda logo on top, it's Ryan Morais I think. He got hurt at A1 a couple corners after his first pro start. That kid was flying during practice and I was looking for him that year. He was LB's protege back then.

tblazier wrote:

[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/65727046@N02/6015483422/][img]https://farm7.static.flickr.com/6020/6015483422_6c34c1cd44_b.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/65727046@N02/6015483422/]guess7[/url] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/65727046@N02/]teyblyy[/url], on Flickr It was Jimmy Button #11. I think he may have switched to the 250's mid year because he felt he...

guess7 by teyblyy, on Flickr

It was Jimmy Button #11. I think he may have switched to the 250's mid year because he felt he was too big for the bike. Not sure though.

spd721 wrote:

Didn't Morais ride on the Bud Light team that MC had in 02? I thought I heard that he did but had issues since he was...

Didn't Morais ride on the Bud Light team that MC had in 02? I thought I heard that he did but had issues since he was under 21.

DownSouth wrote:

Button was #11 wearing Oneal gear on a Chaparral YZ125 in the nationals in 1998. He was teammates with MC on Chaparral that year.

andymoto wrote:

And yet he was a privateer.

HighCam wrote:

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his...

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his parts came straight out of the Chaparral parts room and the engine was modified at Chaparral also. Remember Chaparral Performance?
Yamaha would not support Jimmy Button at that time (no bikes, no parts and no bonuses) because Yamaha was angry that Button was racing with Henry during the Supercross series the year before (1997) and Button and Henry got together and Henry ended up with broken wrist. Yamaha was really mad at Button and told Chaparral that if they wanted to hire Button again, they would have to do everything by themselves because they would not support him with any anything.

Chaparral did hire Button and Button killed it that year! Finished on the podium many times in Supercross that year and and almost won a couple main events. Then he rode the 125 class outdoors and did really good outdoors too. That's the year that put Chaparral and Larry Brooks on the map. Brooks was the Team Manager and was the one that wanted Button and went against Yamaha's wishes and hired him.
I know this story very well, because I was very good friends with Brian Kinney (BK). Brian was Button's mechanic from 1997 until Button stopped racing.

To show you how Yamaha or all manufactures forgive or forget very quickly when a rider gets good results, Yamaha hired Button to be on the Factory Yamaha team the next year (1999) and Button rode for Factory Yamaha until he was injured at San Diego Supercross.

andymoto wrote:

And yet he was a privateer.

HighCam wrote:

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his...

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his parts came straight out of the Chaparral parts room and the engine was modified at Chaparral also. Remember Chaparral Performance?
Yamaha would not support Jimmy Button at that time (no bikes, no parts and no bonuses) because Yamaha was angry that Button was racing with Henry during the Supercross series the year before (1997) and Button and Henry got together and Henry ended up with broken wrist. Yamaha was really mad at Button and told Chaparral that if they wanted to hire Button again, they would have to do everything by themselves because they would not support him with any anything.

Chaparral did hire Button and Button killed it that year! Finished on the podium many times in Supercross that year and and almost won a couple main events. Then he rode the 125 class outdoors and did really good outdoors too. That's the year that put Chaparral and Larry Brooks on the map. Brooks was the Team Manager and was the one that wanted Button and went against Yamaha's wishes and hired him.
I know this story very well, because I was very good friends with Brian Kinney (BK). Brian was Button's mechanic from 1997 until Button stopped racing.

To show you how Yamaha or all manufactures forgive or forget very quickly when a rider gets good results, Yamaha hired Button to be on the Factory Yamaha team the next year (1999) and Button rode for Factory Yamaha until he was injured at San Diego Supercross.

andymoto wrote:

A true privateer pays for most everything outta his and/or someone elses pocket(s) willing to help with every racing/living need known of that don't profit from...

A true privateer pays for most everything outta his and/or someone elses pocket(s) willing to help with every racing/living need known of that don't profit from gear, product endorsement deal(s) a cent.
Most in this situation would've given their arm for free bikes, parts, testing facilities, riding with McGrath...among other perks.
No need to italics and underline; sounds like bragging with all due respect.
Remember Duke's riders meeting after GH '98 he announced JB won top privateer award in 125s that wasn't popular with a good number of folks and remember 'em letting Finch know what they thought.

HighCam wrote:

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his...

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his parts came straight out of the Chaparral parts room and the engine was modified at Chaparral also. Remember Chaparral Performance?
Yamaha would not support Jimmy Button at that time (no bikes, no parts and no bonuses) because Yamaha was angry that Button was racing with Henry during the Supercross series the year before (1997) and Button and Henry got together and Henry ended up with broken wrist. Yamaha was really mad at Button and told Chaparral that if they wanted to hire Button again, they would have to do everything by themselves because they would not support him with any anything.

Chaparral did hire Button and Button killed it that year! Finished on the podium many times in Supercross that year and and almost won a couple main events. Then he rode the 125 class outdoors and did really good outdoors too. That's the year that put Chaparral and Larry Brooks on the map. Brooks was the Team Manager and was the one that wanted Button and went against Yamaha's wishes and hired him.
I know this story very well, because I was very good friends with Brian Kinney (BK). Brian was Button's mechanic from 1997 until Button stopped racing.

To show you how Yamaha or all manufactures forgive or forget very quickly when a rider gets good results, Yamaha hired Button to be on the Factory Yamaha team the next year (1999) and Button rode for Factory Yamaha until he was injured at San Diego Supercross.

andymoto wrote:

A true privateer pays for most everything outta his and/or someone elses pocket(s) willing to help with every racing/living need known of that don't profit from...

A true privateer pays for most everything outta his and/or someone elses pocket(s) willing to help with every racing/living need known of that don't profit from gear, product endorsement deal(s) a cent.
Most in this situation would've given their arm for free bikes, parts, testing facilities, riding with McGrath...among other perks.
No need to italics and underline; sounds like bragging with all due respect.
Remember Duke's riders meeting after GH '98 he announced JB won top privateer award in 125s that wasn't popular with a good number of folks and remember 'em letting Finch know what they thought.

HighCam wrote:

Then why do people call Chad Reed a Privateer? Privateer is a loosely used word in this sport because there's nothing that rules on if someone...

Then why do people call Chad Reed a Privateer? Privateer is a loosely used word in this sport because there's nothing that rules on if someone is a privateer or not. Please have their opinions, but there aren't any rules written.

In the case of Jimmy Button in 1998, Chaparral (a motorcycle dealership) purchased the bikes and parts for Jimmy Button. No, Button didn't pay for anything, but Yamaha didn't give Button or Chaparral any support for Button.

Yes, I agree that a true privateer pays for everything himself and drives to the race himself and so on, but how many of those type of privateer do you know that run in the top 3 to 5 positions?

In this case of Jimmy Button in 1998, the moral to my story was that Yamaha had pushed him aside and didn't want Chaparral to sponsor him and they sure as hell weren't going to sponsor him. But after Brooks went ahead and hired him, Chaparral supported him and Button got really good results that year. Yamaha picked him up and even hired his mechanic BK the next year and no one ever talked about what had gone on in 1998.

So back to the discussion, was Button a privateer in 1998 or not? You decide.

RandyS wrote:

I didn't see it mentioned after the first couple of posts but I think Deegan did ride for Chapparal but on Suzukis I think and not...

I didn't see it mentioned after the first couple of posts but I think Deegan did ride for Chapparal but on Suzukis I think and not connected to MC/Brooks.

HighCam wrote:

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his...

He was a privateer, a true privateer! McGrath's bike's were Factory bikes from Yamaha and Button's bike's came right off the show room from Chaparral, his parts came straight out of the Chaparral parts room and the engine was modified at Chaparral also. Remember Chaparral Performance?
Yamaha would not support Jimmy Button at that time (no bikes, no parts and no bonuses) because Yamaha was angry that Button was racing with Henry during the Supercross series the year before (1997) and Button and Henry got together and Henry ended up with broken wrist. Yamaha was really mad at Button and told Chaparral that if they wanted to hire Button again, they would have to do everything by themselves because they would not support him with any anything.

Chaparral did hire Button and Button killed it that year! Finished on the podium many times in Supercross that year and and almost won a couple main events. Then he rode the 125 class outdoors and did really good outdoors too. That's the year that put Chaparral and Larry Brooks on the map. Brooks was the Team Manager and was the one that wanted Button and went against Yamaha's wishes and hired him.
I know this story very well, because I was very good friends with Brian Kinney (BK). Brian was Button's mechanic from 1997 until Button stopped racing.

To show you how Yamaha or all manufactures forgive or forget very quickly when a rider gets good results, Yamaha hired Button to be on the Factory Yamaha team the next year (1999) and Button rode for Factory Yamaha until he was injured at San Diego Supercross.

andymoto wrote:

A true privateer pays for most everything outta his and/or someone elses pocket(s) willing to help with every racing/living need known of that don't profit from...

A true privateer pays for most everything outta his and/or someone elses pocket(s) willing to help with every racing/living need known of that don't profit from gear, product endorsement deal(s) a cent.
Most in this situation would've given their arm for free bikes, parts, testing facilities, riding with McGrath...among other perks.
No need to italics and underline; sounds like bragging with all due respect.
Remember Duke's riders meeting after GH '98 he announced JB won top privateer award in 125s that wasn't popular with a good number of folks and remember 'em letting Finch know what they thought.

HighCam wrote:

Then why do people call Chad Reed a Privateer? Privateer is a loosely used word in this sport because there's nothing that rules on if someone...

Then why do people call Chad Reed a Privateer? Privateer is a loosely used word in this sport because there's nothing that rules on if someone is a privateer or not. Please have their opinions, but there aren't any rules written.

In the case of Jimmy Button in 1998, Chaparral (a motorcycle dealership) purchased the bikes and parts for Jimmy Button. No, Button didn't pay for anything, but Yamaha didn't give Button or Chaparral any support for Button.

Yes, I agree that a true privateer pays for everything himself and drives to the race himself and so on, but how many of those type of privateer do you know that run in the top 3 to 5 positions?

In this case of Jimmy Button in 1998, the moral to my story was that Yamaha had pushed him aside and didn't want Chaparral to sponsor him and they sure as hell weren't going to sponsor him. But after Brooks went ahead and hired him, Chaparral supported him and Button got really good results that year. Yamaha picked him up and even hired his mechanic BK the next year and no one ever talked about what had gone on in 1998.

So back to the discussion, was Button a privateer in 1998 or not? You decide.