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1. The Goat
2. Stefan
3. Hannah
4. JMB
5. Cairoli
6. Herlings
7. Stewart
8. RJ
9. Villopoto
10. McGrath
11. Stanton - never gets enough credit, incredibly fast.............
How could The Man and Heikki Mikkola not be on this list ?
I am in my 20s and have only followed AMA SX/MX, so my list will omit GP guys and older AMA legends, as I don't have enough knowledge to have an opinion on them in comparison to "modern" AMA riders.
1. Carmichael
2. McGrath
3. Villopoto
4. Tomac
5. Dungey
6. Stewart
7. Reed
8. Roczen
9. Webb
10. Windham
I know this is a rather incomplete list, but again, I'm only going based on riders I've watched, plus McGrath since it's obvious to recognize his status in the sport's history. If I were to do more research, guys like Rick Johnson, Bob Hannah, Jeff Ward, and Jeff Stanton would probably easily overtake the bottom part of my list... and GP riders like Everts, Cairoli, & Herlings would find themselves on the list as well.
i like to see how most americans always leave JMB out of the best racers ever...it really shows how much better he was and how hard he kicked everyone ass....
he was world champion in 125 and 250 and then went to usa to win everything, literally....if he was american, he would always be on the greatest list of everybody here and that shows how biased and unfair most lists are
very few racers have changed the sport just by the way they did it.......Jean Michael Bayle was one of those few....he beat all the best racers of its time, in all their own series, all but 125s in america cuz when he got to america he was already a 250 rider.....
i dont belive in comparing riders from different eras, it is never fair, but a list of the best ever has to include JMB for sure !!!!!!
Bayle has made it on 7 lists in this thread so far, 5 of them by americans. Why don't you mention the canadians, australians and czechs that didn't include him on their list? Your shtick is getting old.
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Lots of great lists here. The one rider I'm surprised isn't on more of them (1 from what I saw) is Hannah. He was tough and was the best guy out there before he smashed up his leg - though he did have a few notable performances after (e.g. 1987 MXON at Unadilla).
Canadian here and left him off my list as he was a great rider probably minimum top 5 talent wise but not my top ten personal list. I picked Bradshaw first as he was the first rider I talked to at a (pre)-race and then he went out and won the race (Toronto SX) at 15 years old.
I'll just go with American riders who rode her in the US for their prime years for my list:
1. RC
2. Villo
3. Bailey
4. Hannah
5. Dungey
6. JS7
7. Rick Johnson
8. Tomac
9. Jeff Ward
10. Stanton
Hon. mention: O'Mara
Here's my top 10 list when I started to pay attention:
1. RC
2. McGrath
3. Everts
4. Carioli
5. Ross Rollerball Peterson (Canadian Legend)
6. John Sebastien Roy (Canadian Legend)
7. Rudi Zasko Jr. (Canadian Legend)
8. Zoli Berenji Sr. (Canadian Legend)
9. ET
10. CR
1. Stewart
2. RC
3. McGrath
4. Tomac
5. RV
6. Reed
7. Roczen
8. Pastrana
9. Dungey
10. Herlings
I think he gets left out because his career was actually short.
Yes, Top 15 would have more aproppriate,14th would be KDub and 15th would have to be Mr Almost, Kirt Nicolls, he had such a long, strong career.
Decoster.
Joel Robert.
Lackey.
Marty Smith.
John Desoto.
Malcom Smith.
Kenny Roberts.
Nicky Hayden.
Mick Doohan.
Rossi.
the lack of recognition JMB gets here is evident every time there are posts like this, and i find it biased because of what he accomplished when racing in america, he did what was seen at the time has impossible and unbelievable.....
i bet if i did one of those lists and miss James or Jeremy or David Bailey you would be saying the same about my list....
being a fan of motocross, for me, means recognizing and respecting the talent and courage to ride a dirtbike the way they do it, specially those who do it in an almost unhuman way, despite where they are from or what collar they use....
i have been here for a while and seen many of those list, from member and from publishers and i always feel he is the most underrated american champion, he is the only modern time racer that won all major championships in the world and beat all other racers of his time, 125 world champion, 250 world champion, 250 amasx champion, 250 amamx champion and 500mx champion....he just kept winning and moving on to a greater challenge....til there was nothing more to win and he moved on to motogp where he was factory yamaha, then he went to the endurance suzuki factory team and won le mans and the bol d'or....
i think americans should be proud that he choose to leave the world championship and move to america, you got to see the best he ever rode, i think he deserves way more respect, racerx did a top30ever list in 2015 and put him on 22nd while Dungey was 4th and Roczen 15th, one guy here said he put a racer in front of him because he got to talk to the said racer and he won that race, just for examples......
if you dont like my views, dont read it or dont answer to it, but if you do, use facts or your views, insulting here doesnt make any sense ......i never disrespect anyone, i benchrace motocross.....prove me wrong or move on......
I'm going to type really slow because I know you're dumb as a fucking stump.
Plenty of americans in this thread have included JMB on their list.
Plenty of non-americans have excluded JMB from their list.
If you want to share your opinion, just post a list like everyone else. You don't have to start every post with "I don't understand why americans . . . "
i would say you really have to type slow cuz you cant read that good........... but you know what.....whatever.... be happy !!!!!
He wasn´t that succesful but it says "rider" and I agree with most of the picks but for me Christophe Pourcel is missing, he was such a great and awesome rider!!
CP377
Man, I'd have trouble limiting a list to the top 30, so I'll just list the first ten who came to mind,
Ake Jonsson
Jaroslav Falta
Cairoli
Ward
Hannah
DeCoster
Everts
Villopoto
M. Smith
Joel Robert
Carmichael
The goat
The man
The bullet
The hurricane
The Frenchman
The Sicilian
The Stew
The Dunge
The king
The steff
sorry RV and Johnson ( shoulda got a nickname)
Pit Row
You missed the entertainment that Hannah, Chandler, and Barnett provided due to your age. 🙂
P.S. Marvin was too smooth to be on your list 😉
1. James stewart
2. Jett Lawrence
3. Jeremy Mcgrath
4. Ryan Dungey
5. Ryan Villopoto
6. Travis Pastrana
7. Jean Michael Bayle
8. Kevin Windham
9. Blake Baggett
10. Chad Reed
Ffs this !!! That’s was my point with my jmb list. This dude is an ovni. A genius on bike, an artist. He has beaten everyone in very short span, stayed healthy, and rotate to motogp without never looking back at America. Had good success with bad 500bike: 2 pole position in the 500cc category motogp equivalent. Won bol d’or and 24h du Mans moto.
ZÉRO human in the entire history of the world can say they have accomplish what he did.
I put Mr 125 on there . That’s what they called him. His dad built stock car chassis’s in Mo. I,m sure they went to the clay oval races, Very hardcore. Probably why Emig had superior race craft. At 96 redbud I hv cam Corder vid of him landing in the corner of the double double & turning quicker then you can blink. With the stacked pack on him. I got a large rock to the side of my head. My Oakley s flew off to who knows where. Emig and Everts - was really on. Had great races on 125,s in the des nations. Remember the pic of Jeff dragging the bars standing up in the sand ? Best pic ever. And that’s how you ride a motorcycle
Couldn’t you have said the bad boy?
JMB did race 125 MX and then broke his arm.
One thing that is unavoidable when talking about JMB and Stanton is that RJs injury made it so those guys could win. And it wasn’t RJs fault.
Bradshaw was his own enemy, and the Yamaha he was on was no where near a Honda.
Too Hip
The sport has been around long enough now that this list is all but impossible to compile
Here's mine based on my 50 years of spectating in the USA and following the sport worldwide through print, video and TV.
The Man
The Hurricane
RJ
JMB
MC
Stefan Everts
RC
James
RV
Jett
edit: I have to make it eleven because I can't take any body off the list and The Bullet has to be on it
since i follow the american side of the sport, i learned that the view of most american mxfans is...... you can only be the best in the world if you come race in america and win the best series in the world......
Jean Michael Bayle did exactly that, and it didnt even take that long to do it !!!!!!!
but what i most see here about him is excuses for not considering him the best......he won it all, everywhere, and still all the excuses !!!!!
My bad Dan-The-Man. I obviously read your post wrong. I should make myself wait at least an hour after I wake up before posting! Carry on.
Bayle is one of the best for sure . Maybe the most naturally talented rider ever . If he would have stuck around a little longer and won more titles instead of hitting the tarmac maybe he would be considered the Goat. But he didn't.
Bayle gets a lot of accolades from Americans . Many of these lists seem to be just favorite riders . It's just bench racing.
No you were right. I edited my post as to not confuse more people.
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