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Nice Saddleback roll call one time during morning practice at a national dropping down into a rocky crag thing with a sheer wall to climb afterword, Mickey Dymond on a 490 Maico jumps past me, bottoms out hard, blips the throttle and lofted up to the top. No I didn't qualify that day. For me in Colorado my friends to this day Boo Stitchter and Jay Rice showed me the way to get fast as fuck in a hurry by hanging out and pounding laps till our tanks were dry.
I remember when KW showed up for the first time on his 80 asking if he could ride the money class for practice and Ray saying sure we will take your money. I think he finished 5th and had a good battle with Bob.
Also, when Kevin did the triple to the inside and doubled the gulley jump out of the lefthand corner was crazy on his 125.
RC, Ray Mitchell, Scott Duke, Mark Barnett, Earl May, Bob Handy, John Collins, Alley Semar, Jeff Fritz man a bunch of fast guys raced there over the years.
Mine was definitely David Bailey. Later in life I was lucky enough to hang out with him some, and it was as cool as I thought it would be.
Brad Lackey for sure. I remember reading about his world championship chase for years, always in the running but never quite winning. Until he did! And even then, he didn’t get the chance to truly be world champion for a year, just one race on a private Yamaha running the #1.
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Listened to the Matthews pod with Bones bacon, apparently MC & has remained as one of the nicest, most approachable folks in the industry, impressive he's that grounded being 'the King' & Idolized to the degree that he is.
Good parenting goes a long way.
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Yep... And Wyatt had installed a throttle cable on that Suzuki that would not allow the throttle to get to the WFO position. Skip figured that out after they pulled him in for support in the middle of the season. If I remember correctly, MC won a race or two like that too. Without those weird issues created by shoddy mechanic work, I think MC doesn't lose the 1997 SX title.
I was a Broc Glover guy when I was a kid with RJ a close second.
You are right! My dad owned the track and I was there working and racing that day. Also on 80s, but younger and much slower. He did so good. 5th was what he got in a stacked class.
I will never forget revving piazzas bike.
Mine was McGrath. Seeing him for the first time on the track inside Texas Stadium was mesmerizing. I still vividly remember it. Triple into a bowl corner, blitz the whoops, amazing.
Marty Smith was my first big hero but I started riding KTM when they were Penton's and where not where they are today so I was a huge fan of Heinz Kinigadner. After I became a dealer and started meeting a lot of pro's in person I got sort of used to it all. Then one year we went to the factory in Austria and the race department put on one of the dinners and Kini worked for them and hosted. I was pretty geeked out and got to meet him. Told him I was friends with Trampas Parker and he told me this whole story about Trampas filling in for him at this huge charity race he held every year. Very chill guy that still loved talking about racing and bikes. Guy is the size of an NFL linebacker too.
Being a Georgia boy it was Ezra!
Always thought Mike looked like christopher reeve..superman. no homo.
Cross thread points awarded.
Yeah, I was star struck by Hannah...
That is awesome
I remember the first time I saw McGrath in the kingdome pits when I was 11 in 1998. I Waited in line and he was sitting at a 4’x8’ table signing a big stack of the chaparrel Yamaha posters. I just stood there and stared at him when it was my turn to grab a poster. He slammed his hand on the poster after signing it and said “Here ya go kid!”. Seeing him in person as a young kid that close was surreal. I’ve never been star struck like that.
Best thread in a while imo. As a kid, Mickey Dymond was the racer I thought was the coolest. He was a badass rider, was buddies with Tommy Lee of Motley Crue and had the hot girls around him. When I got a little older up in my teens Ron Lechien and JMB were the guys I thought were rad.
Pit Row
Mine were Glen Bell and David 'partyboy' Armstrong
Americans will be who?! Aussies will be nodding knowingly haha
Reading this took me back to another time in life, follow me here. I used to live with a fairly famous MX guy from MD (his number was 199). Usually once a month he and I would sit down and take time to respond to fan mail. He would sign posters and such and I would fill out the envelopes to mail them back. Some of the letters people would send were very touching, so we knew how much a small gesture like sending a poster actually meant to people.
MC is prob my Fav (met in Detriot Silverdome), however i had a chance to meet Magoo in 07 at Budds, the day RV spanked the world. I was on cloud nine for the next few months, pretty special experience and a special race weekend for sure. Flew home that trip beside Stanton and his boy, which only added to the excitment of the weekend.
I was a Leisky fan, but Belly always looked cool.
Funny you bring this up, because I actually have a story about him too!
Years ago, I was at Disneyland during the first Pirates of the Carribean world premiere. There were a ton of A-list celebrities there, and among them Travis. Nobody seemed to really know who he was and he was kind of just walking around, so I went up to him and talked to him for a minute, took a picture. It was kind of funny actually, like he was almost relieved someone recognized him lol. Definitely a cool experience
Jeff Ward was my fave as a kid, but will never forget seeing Mickey Diamond throw a whip over the finish line in Houston. I had never seen anyone do that before. That guy had so much style.
From that moment on I pretended I was MD when riding. Later on McGrath of course.
Seeing McGrath in the Autograph line in 2000 at Minneapolis when I was 10. That was the first time I've ever been shaking in my life while meeting my idol.
I'd have to say Jeff Ward . But also Goat Breker . He didn't win any major titles but he was always there plus I was into KXs at that time .
Chicken. I just wanted to wear cool gear, have skulls on my helmet and slay chicks. Also, Doug Henry for not the same reasons.
That’s awesome. How did you have RC’s address?
The Bomber.
I remember seeing RJ ride the first time back in the early 80s. I wasn't into riding back then. My thing was jetskis at the time. I was with some friends down by the border, I think palm ave. There was this huge play ground that people would go riding. There was this guy that was going up vertical walls and then somehow transitioned from going straight up a vertical wall to getting the bike to change direction in the air and land on top and keep going. I was blown away how that could happen. Only to find out later that was RJ. I wouldn't say he was my idol but he sure blew my mind that day.
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