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RJ was a great guy to idolize as a kid for me. He was and still is the man. Super friendly guy
I got a flat top in 1987 because of ads I saw of him. I haven't forgotten him. Nobody here has forgotten him. There are younger people who haven't heard of him. That's different and who cares! Legend.
Any given day any of those guys could win. What a loaded field.
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Who's in the bad boy club?
Good to see RJ appreciates Aussie birds.
1982 CMC Golden State National - Saddleback Park
Still some of the best FOX gear ever.
The white stuff in particular would easily look good today. I had the red pants. Even the chest pro still looks good.
My absolute favourite was the opposing red-blue gear. I think it still stands the test of time.
That's the one that inspired my idiotic attempt with a DT100 on a much smaller drop
I LOVE LOVE that picture!
He must have been confident his front wheel wouldn't implode, like it did when he was on a YZ250!
Fingers on the clutch!
Those guys in the 80s are often forgotten because of how insanely dominant the next two stars were with McGrath and Carmichael. Put on some amazing races no question.
JT Racing was the gear of my choice. Still ran the red Foxhead on my helmet with a Redd Foxx butt patch
I was fortunate enough to go on a three day trail ride in the Mojave desert with my buddy Kardy, a bunch of goons, off-road legend Scot Harden, and the Badboy himself. ‘‘Twas a blast, RJ is hilarious and a fascinating gentleman, I’m a lucky boy.
Absolutely the era where Fox gear looked great, instead of recently where...it doesn't.
Pit Row
1st time I met RJ was at Palm Ave. He was doing jumps there that nobody else would pull off. (Bear Killer)
He comes out to Burners Carlsbad deal most years. Super nice guy.
Those of us of a certain generation watched this on VHS till the tape wore out :
https://youtu.be/jJIQBtDU-tc?si=JaWN0GAc_QtCLdi8
The best part of this is at the end trophy presentation. Johnson Hannah Dymond and Cooper and the Coors girl. Hannah is such a hoot! I’m not even sure Hannah was getting a trophy but he got up there anyway. Fun times 👍
I remember the RJ and Baily battles as Honda teammates. I can't imagine having to re-learn swapping the throttle to the left side and still race at the 1% top pro level.
Are you sure on the year? Looks more like an 88/89 CR250.
Wow, I never heard that story! I knew RJ injured his right wrist (navicular bone?)...but I never knew he swapped sides with the throttle!
Much new respect!
Didn’t know that either. Wow
Well now I'm trying to go back and find the youtube video of an interview where he spoke about that. I don't think it was very successful, but they did retrofit the bike for that. It was an interview he did within last few years. Seems like they had one of his old bikes or a replica of one of his old bikes in the shot behind them.
Pretty sure 1986 is a typo - that's the '88 model, IIRC.
The '89 was the first year USD forks but I'm thinking that's the '88 platform with USD forks.
Agreed on 88. Interestingly tho regarding the USD forks...RJ was actually running select races with the 1st Gen Showa USDs as early as 86.
Agree 1988, 1988 had Honda on the seat, 1989 had CR on the seat.
Post a reply to: Ricky Johnson interview.