Your moto regrets

I’ll also add, not buying more Plasticwerks plates when they were available. 

Kawasaki Korner?

Buying a Yamaha dealership with a partner in 2004. The only ship that doesn't float is a partnership! Add the home loan crisis of 2008... lost everything I worked for up to that point at 37 years old. Took 10 years to financially recover 100%.. Live and Learn!! Will never have a partner other than my wife and go into debt for ANYTHING!

But you took the risk and managed it. Much respect!

Fuck partnerships. Tried it twice (non moto),but I wasn't in that deep. Never again. 

I honestly can't say I have any. I've won a handful of races, finished mid pack in a bunch more. I've jumped a few pretty big gaps (for a lady) and even got to ride a CR500 for a bit. I've ridden almost every brand and size motorcycle, even some weird ones like a Cagiva 125 mx bike. I've slept trackside in tents and camping trailers. I've raced woods and even pulled a sick holeshot on my KX125 about 15 minutes before cartwheeling ass over end down a ravine in the woods at my very first hare scramble back in 1989.

Broke my wrist on the 500 2-stroke, probably concussed myself on that same bike.

I've learned to work on my own bikes and can competently rebuild any engine. I'm grateful for an inquisitive mind and knack for learning how to fix things. Thanks to my dad for those genes.

I'm in my 50s now and am just having fun riding at the tracks these days. If I had anything left that I kinda wanted to do but haven't yet, it's to ride at places like Unadilla. I live down in GA so that makes planning a trip like that challenging.

Sandhills Cycles in Gordon

Getting a DT100 instead of YZ80 in 1977 for the type of riding we were doing.  
 

1985 skipping second moto of 125 race to study for biz law exam.  Did lousy on the exam. Should have raced. 

But that’s normal to be chasing women at 16-39 yrs old. What’s not is the factory riders doing all that boring training & not having a social life.  The 90,s 125 riders only made 16-25k.  I worked in 39 states & out of the country at the biggest pipeline utility co in the country. On the hhg rig worlds strongest we had a mouto . 1 you pass up is 1 less you,ll ever hv. That’s women, I swear I had times that I did better than Mich Jager at his peak.  So we had a blast traveling - working. Tv crews on most job sites saying you hv every horizontal drilling record in the world , etc. I Loved the variety of work, operate all kinds of equipment some we designed & built, hardcore laborer work, mechanic, buisness agent for the unions, etc. we invented plowing gas lines in with a train-28 cylinder I operated it & maintained it.design projects for the government . I did stuff most men dreamed of doing. Even flying home was a power trip 1st class or a leer jet.  I should hv quit in 96 b4 a ton of operations& wotc started that ruined everything. I became a 1 man crew. But I turned 30 in 96 Nov & that’s a little late to take Mx seriously.  I proved my 1st race I could run a x factory rider down. So no regrets on my speed. I would like a chance at it but it’s impossible to make any money out here now. The sport is just too expensive now. Day to day I don’t know if any co I work for is going out of buisness.  Should hv had a nice 5 yr career playing bball. Pathetic but I look at Mx as my 2nd chance but way too many denied work injuries- surgeries. All my bikes where stolen just terrible luck. I want to hit some races in 24 . Not as obsessed with I hv to win as in the past I think. I don’t hv anything left in my body. MRI,s don’t lie back, neck, basically everything is destroyed. So a 3-3 ah good enough probably lead laps then shoulders that r junk or wrist causes hand not to grip then back it down to a 3rd.  So it’s ride for the feeling & the fun experience of  being there . Or if my next rnd of injections works better. I may try 3 or so Pro Ams. I wouldn’t mind being the oldest rider at 57 to get points.  Opposite spectrum 15 yr old bball star to a 57 yr old batting for 17th at a Pro Am. Lol I,ve been working with a 2 fractured bones in my wrist since aug 6.  I rode 4-5 times it didn’t bother me no where as much as a beaten truck. 1 ride with my revalvaled suspension I did in 22. It’s not that great so that’s a problem. Cylinder plating screwed up my porting . I need to get that fixed.  

Do it while you can...go to the MX Rewind. 

Selling my only bike for a ring...

getting my first holeshot... then my bike cut out three turns later.

Opposite of what most of you have said about "one more lap." My problem was not listening to my dad to take it easy and learn the track and instead sending it on the first lap of practice. Broken femur. Last race we both ever entered.

Finishing top 5 too many times to count, but never pushing enough to get to the front. Never won a race but was pretty dang close a few times.

Damn good stories in this thread

Whoa!!!! 😲

Yeah there is. I was waiting 4 a ld when I posted earlier. It was windy 30 mph & cold . I finally got 1 it pu in Central Wi. The lakes r all froze only a dusting of snow. Some lakes looked like a bright mirror with the sun beaming. Perfect ice riding conditions. Easiest day here yet. Run back to Chicago. I just got back from Walmart 3 Hot Eastern European women were discussing cold medicine. I acted like I was searching 4 something just to listen 4 a minute. My gal here is stunningly gorgeous & interesting. The other co.s women r also Super hot & interesting. 1 co orientation was in a high rise . I go to the 8th floor & see guys working then open a door & it’s ever man’s dream 18 cool hot Russian chics packed in a room.  When I,m tired I sound like Rocky . There chatting back& forth & say , oh no man orientation is on the 6th floor. When I started at a Lithuanian co a beautiful blonde says oh Mr Anthony would u like to join me for a coffee in our break room.  The table was a custom kings table 10 ft long 8 in thick the chairs had 5 ft tall backrest. A fancy liquor cabinet with Russian spellings on the bottles, etc. I Love the adventure. That was a big reason I wanted to race the GP,s. The traveling would be adventurous. And the tracks back then where unique with beautiful scenery. 6th grade graduation you had to pick what you where going to be. I wrote pro mx racer. My creative teacher wrote in the book next to my pic. My name then , he,ll be setting a much faster pace . We,ll read his name in the paper for winning a motocross race.  My mom is from Holland & most of my Dutch relation lives there. Both my grandparents died in 01. I wanted to see there farm which is a campground now & relatives. I had a bike shop offer a yz125 to race a couple rounds. I regret not going. I had chunks of bone floating in my back from breaking it in 96 . So I had a lot of back problems back then. I still should,hv gone. But we got Awesome sand tracks in Wi. Too. 

In 2017 just 6 months after moving to sunny Southern Ca. I got pissed at a practice track racer that revved on me at Milestone. I started to chase him down, OJ’d a table in the middle of a rhythm lane, caught some head shake, lost my throttle hand on the bar and when I re grabbed I was WFO of the lip of the next jump. Spode spectacular yard sale. Broken left hand and wrist, left handed BTW, broken fibula and grenaded my tibia/ankle. 5 plates and about 30 screws in total. Worst crash in 25+ years of riding set me back 14 months mentally, physically and financially.   Biggest regret, getting pissed over nothing on a practice day. Ankle reminds me of it every day.  Glad I can still moto and cherish every moment of it that I can and deeply feel for those that can’t. 

I regret not training and getting fit throughout 32 years of racing mx. I stopped MX about 8 years ago and got into XC mtb racing, ending up doing a lot of long distance endurance type stuff.

I'm way fitter now at 53 than I ever was in all those years of mx, and knowing how much better I would've been if I had been this fit back then is a self-inflicted kick in the nuts. I made Expert grade at club level but would fade badly every time. All those motos hanging on with arm pump and fatigue, while riders passed me in the last couple of laps... ugh. Youth and hindsight, hey?

Other than that, selling my fully restored '88 KX500 a few years back to a fast local who basically ground it into the dust inside 6 months..

100% agree. 

I started bicycling at 30 and within a year i was in better shape then i ever was when i was a fast local when i was 19-23. Too late to start chasing MX glory in your early 30's

Oh well

Regrets ?!?!  None, wish that I could live it all over again.  Thankful for every day I get to ride and memories I have.  At least the ones I can still remember.

Yeah you’re probably right about doing some training. I work 7 days a week for months straight extreme physical & a beat down. And I look at riding as a fun thing. So I like to not train at all. To keep it pure & ride on talent alone. But   My legs get really tired & I need better cardio.  In 22 I had pt for back, it band that hurt worse than a broken femur & neck, shoulder 4-21 to late August. I did kettle ball in pt that helped strengthen my legs. I did a lot of  speed sit-ups to ovr come my injured back . Pt was flustrating & never got the injections that I needed until this yr. I got Extremely sick my throat swelled shut & I got oral thrush from 2 meds that later I found out . You can’t take together. The dr,s   Where terrible. So I figured my body is toast anyway. I,m going riding 1st time in 12+ yrs.  I rode like I didn’t care about get injured Or dying. Lol after a couple rides I read a post from you about breaking up with your chic & riding like you didn’t care if you died. I laughed because it’s so crazy how fast you can be if . You take 2 normal fears out.  Kettle ball did help my legs.  I worked 7 days a week to get the muscle knots out,etc. just to get loose & limber.  I did notice my cardio improve a lot from riding. I prefer to ride my self into shape. But I need to go wo for 8 laps not 4. Probably should do cardio twice a week. I find it boring & need to get ovr that . 

Getting a career job at the age of 20. Lots of the guys I raced against ended up racing supercross and outdoor nationals. I wouldn't have been anyone in the sport, but I would have at least tried to get out there a few times before getting a real job.

Wish I got into it a lot earlier. First bike this year at 27 and I have lots of work to do

Coming onto these message boards and putting too much energy into talking shit to people who lived on the other side of the world rather than focusing on my racing. Self belief and confidence is one thing, delusion and burning bridges is another.

I'm 30 now. I know everyone is talking about how they could have went pro if this or that happened, but genuinely my biggest regret is being lazy throughout my 20s and not taking advantage of my youth. I know most of you older riders would consider 30 "youthful" but it's not the same as being fearless in your early 20s. I regret making excuses and not going riding with my buddies over the past 10 years. I've gone here and there, but not as much as I should have. One of my best friends when I was riding all the time passed away in a motorcycle accident last month and he was always trying to get me out of the house and get to the track, whether that was moto, bmx or mountain bikes. I always made excuses and looking back I realized it wasn't about riding that I missed out on, it was spending time with your buddies. I feel like you aren't going to remember if you didn't hit that triple or not when you're laying there in your death bed, you're going to look back at all the memories you had with your buddies over the years and I regret not spending more time with my friends growing up.

You’re funny Bro.  I couldn’t find a parking spot east of Cleveland lastnight across Pa. On i90 until a Waze into Ny. I invented a spot in a trk d-h lot.  Blabbering on here I wish I would hv slept. I got 3 or 4 hrs of sleep I think I got up at 3.30 am. I cut my 10 break short. I87 north in Ny. To Plattsburgh whoa that is a scenic beautiful drive. I hate mtns but these r cool with lakes, ponds, a lot of wyndy rivers 1 was a down hill river  . There all cut through the tall evergreen trees.  Lake Placid home of the 1980 Olympics.  Burlington Vt. Was stop 2 gps etc wanted me to take the ferry. I found another way i87 n last exit in the USA. Cross 2 big lakes a few interchanges, drive the shore of a lake with the sun setting.  Such a Beautiful drive today.  

Maybe having a little speed on 80's, but staying at that level because I never really worked to get better. Other than still being able to hit whoops half decent, everything just stayed very average.

I always say last lap. And make it a good 1. If it’s not I do 1 more last lap. I never leave the track with a bad last lap.  It’s like bball base line 3 all net, then leave.