What is something your dad/moto mentor told you as a kid that stuck with you? Was it true or false?

Keep your fucken feet in the pegs

While coming ho behind me while I was riding a ds80 through the bush in the Tarawera forest

As I got older and faster , I used full yell at his not stand the fuck up

Dad "you having any trouble slowing down for this corner ?

Me "NO"

Dad " than you're not going in fast enough "

👨‍🦯

Being nervous never helped anybody do anything

If it were easy everybody would do it

Dad: "Live to ride another day."

Looking back on this, I would say it has helped keep me in the sport. So many of the kids I grew up racing with no longer ride due to injuries, burnout, money, etc. I ride hard and have fun, but also try to be mindful of my limits.

Long time mechanic/mentor:
"If you don't learn from experience or others experience, you will learn with your wallet."

This lesson slapped me in the face at 16 years old when I bought my first 250F, a used 2009 Kawasaki KX250F. First ride the bike catastrophically dropped a valve and blew up due to poor maintenance from the previous owner. I have never bought a used four stroke big bike since then. I had to learn with my wallet on that one, but that experience really drove home how important maintenance is.

“I don’t care what place you get, but you better put the hardest effort in every race, first or last.”

He told me that on the way home from high point after I gave up and DNFd the first moto. I was at the bottom of the old uphill. Sitting there. He walked down. Got on the bike. And ripped it up the hill. By the time I walked back to the truck everytbing was loaded up.

"When in doubt, stay flat out."

"You should only EVER be hard on the gas or hard on the brakes."

"If someone is in your way just fucking move them."

I crashed a lot less when I started ignoring his advice haha

Never got moto advice because motorcycles were too dangerous. I'm jealous of you guys who grew up racing with your Dads. I wish I had that connection with him. The advice he gave me that stuck was
Treat other people the way you want to be treated
Whatever you do, be the best at it
Never time to do it right, always time to do it over

Growing up I would always be in the garage with my dad "helping" him change tyres. We use degreaser to mount tyres and I will never forget that every time we were changing tyres he would say, "you can never have too much lube."

Now every time I help my buddies change their tyres I always look them dead in the eyes and say the same thing while spraying degreaser.

I'll let you guys decide if that one's true.

“You get out of something what you put in.”

“If it was easy everybody would be world champion.“

- Bryan Wade

And my dad, when I considered quitting after not qualifying for my first 500 GP:

“You’ll never qualify if you don’t go.”

One time I crashed and pulled off the track because the race wasn't going my way. My dad was so upset I quit the race that he took my motorcycle away from me for several weeks. On that day, I learned the lesson to never quit.

I wear glasses.

I just started this with my son.
“ Push on the track or push your bike back”

Dad gave me some solid advice outside of moto as my parents wouldn’t let me have a dirt bike per say his advise was “college may not be your thing, maybe it’s time to start looking for a job” after 2 years of partying my ass off. RIP Pops!

Best moto advise from my mentor (uncle that took me with him every time he went ride/race). Elbows up and when it doubt GAS IT!

I mainly grew up flat tracking but a few have mentioned before. My dad's favorite was he always told me to not look back no matter how big of a lead I had. Never quit, If I quit in a race it would set me up to quit anything in the future. My all time favorite from dad, Wide open til you see God then Brake.

I've been thinking about this one for awhile, and I'm very fortunate to have had a bunch of mentors growing up, now that I'm coming into my own as a racer a bit, their advice has meant more and more. I'm only 19 so I'm sure their advice will mean more as I get older, here's 4 examples that have stood out to me as I've thought about it the past couple days.

Dad: "if that front wheel is moving, you're doing better than someone, that goes for life too"

Mom: "this will never be anything but having fun so either start having fun or load the bike up"

Grandpa: "you won't feel old until you quit racing" (he retired at 72, still rides dual sport)

Randy Bayliss: (to a friend of mine): "you bike is set up fine, your problem is that you aren't riding it hard enough." Anytime I think my bike is the issue, I definitely consider if I'm riding it hard enough to complain...Newsflash: I'm not.

And honestly I can't tell you how much I've learned from the things people don't say at the track: I've watched people tear down competitors bikes in the pits at vintage races, people loan others bikes at hare scrambles, and countless other examples of people helping others when no one would blame them for not. You can learn a lot about how to treat people at a motocross track as a kid growing up...my .02 cents anyway.

My dad told me to keep things stock, if you want more power buy a bigger bike. After 20 years of modifying 250 2 strokes and 250f's to get more power for deep sand riding, I got a 450. Other than a spark arrestor and thermostat it's all stock, and I'm going to say he was right.

"Tomorrow an asteroid may take us all by surprise, be (and do what makes you) happy right now" It applies to moto and everything pretty much. Whenever I'm having a bad day I meditate on this, and stop wasting the rest of my day crying, whining or just being angry. Live life today

If you don’t crash every once in a while, you arnt trying hard enough!

Standard stuff for standard men was one of my dad's sayings.

My dad told me " That 1972 TM400 is better for your first racing bike than a '72 TM250. You'll outgrow the 250 too fast." On second thought maybe he DIDN'T like me lol.

Never say youre going out for “one last lap” or go out for “one last try” on something you havent been able to hit, thats when everybody gets hurt. Since my dad told me that as a kid I cant even count how many times Ive seen ppl make this exact mistake and get injured.

Anything that involves tits or tires, is going to be expensive. Get use to it.

"Get your ass out of bed" LOL

Boy did it stick with me, for last 40+ years rarely in bed past 5:00-6:00 AM even on weekends. Old habits die hard.

Definitely true, get your ass up and "Get er done" !