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Like everyone I greatly appreciate you taking the time to respond to these with such length and detail. I was a kid in the 80s with your posters on my wall and drooling over every page of the JT catalogs. It's been enjoyable the last few days to read your comments to the variety of really good questions that have been asked.
You touched on the state of motocross today and how it's drifted quite a ways from its roots...to the point where it doesn't resemble what you grew up looking at and wanting to do. I have felt much the same way lately and my question is (as you've analyzed the sport through so many decades) what are some of the main points that you believe should be focused on...or addressed to preserve the sport and keep it healthy. I get tired of the talk that it needs to be more like Nascar or evolve into something beyond what it is. Is the state of Motocross better off because it's on TV regularly or a few guys make millions of dollars? (of course it's better for those few guys) But I'm sure Honda sold more CR 125s when racing was on TV once a year than CRF 250s today.
Yes, that was cool to be there on that very first night. Actually I've been there at least one night a year ever since!
There are three things that still pop up in my mind after all these years: Van Halen's "Jump" theme song, RJ taking out the wrong guy, lol, and the way the american racers, and especially you with your fluid style, made look so easy that track on which the best euro racers were so badly struggling.
A revelation and an awakening. Not just for me, but also for some kid named JMB, but that's another story...
Thanks again for the show!
I agree with the static number system too!!
The Shop
I started racing in 1976 on an RM100 , and when you look at the 1981 RM125 which i also had , i think bikes changed more in those 5 years , than they have in the next 35.. aside of material development and manufacturing methods.
It would be good to see the things we never got to see, thats for sure.
Enjoy your trip to Maggiora, the US riders who are going will have an experience like they never had.. if you thought Ernee was crazy last year it will be nothing on this.
Thanks again.
Although we knew Roger well and he was supportive of the project "Bercy SX 1", Honda did not have the contractual power to mandate their riders to attend (different than now with both the Teams and, apparently, the Energy Drink companies!)...
The event was a double-header, happening mid-week in that new stadium in Paris and Daytona was ran the saturday before... We were obviously running out of time (and the next saturday was the Talladega SX, not part of the Insport Championship but that I think you had to attend, being the AMA Grand National Champion... that's 4 nights of racing and an ocean crossed both ways in less than one week, you had every reason to say "no thanks!"!).
So there we were on friday morning before Daytona, you come back from your running session with Johnny and I'm waiting for you guys by Jim Felt's box van, on the parking lot. I know Johnny well, went to his house a year before to do a 10-page, all color, magazine interview (nobody from the US press was doing that at the time), which he liked very much. He knows we are serious and reliable people.
So we end up in that motel room of yours and I'm showing you our magazines (Moto Revue, Moto Verte) with the Bercy ads and ask Johnny : "how come you declined when Roger told you about this, it's our project and it's going to be awesome!".
So Johnny goes "I wasn't aware that it was a serious project with you guys involved !", and he simply turns his head towards you : "are we going ?"
And you went... "yeah, why not ?!" (not knowing that this answer was going to have a significant impact on the history of MX in France and Europe...).
Next thing I remember, your Mom is in the room and we find out one of you (I believe it was you, not Johnny ?) does not have a valid passport...
I then came to give the good news to Roger and we both went to the big Japanese boss' room (Kesuka San ?) who organized the overnight shipping of the works bikes to Paris (you were not allowed to race production-based bikes then, Honda was considering it "unsafe", because "the bikes were so different"!)...
So, thanks for having changing the life of quite many people in my country (so many fans ! + JMB, Pichon etc... and mine too, of course).
The interview I did at your house in Axton later that year, staying there a couple of days as I liked to do (another thing that could'nt be done nowadays!) is also right up there in the list of my fondest memories...
I remember the huge trampoline, the great woods-riding on your practice bike and how you gave me the (much needed) confidence to clear the only double jumps I ever cleared, as a rider, on your SX track !
I also remember driving you and Gina back from the stadium after Bercy IV, in december 1986. You had just won and explained to me how important that win was for your mental, a few weeks before the start of the '87 SX season... You sure looked like you were gonna be a major threat for RJ ! That Bercy was unfortunately your last big victory on two wheels.
Thanks again for that original answer's to Johnny's question and for having been such a great champion and ambassador of the sport !
So I guess my only question is "do you remember who managed to get that passport thing organized over the Daytona week-end ??!!
Big thanks to that person, anyway.
Great Q & A!!!!
A lot of your thoughts mirror mine in the fact about riders turning down the opportunity to ride for their country, static number system being garbage, changing the supercross format.
What can you remember about that epic night at Anaheim in 86? Was it as fun to ride as it was to watch?
Edit: just thought of another question. Do you think RC should of raced at least 1 GP?
I have some questions I hope you don't mind answering:
What were some obstacles on any National or European GP tracks that scared most racers including yourself (pretty hard to imagine you being scared after hearing what you faced and conquered practicing with O'Mara and Hansen!) during the time you raced? Would it be Suicide Mountain (big gnarly uphill take off jump), Banzai downhill (high speed dusty downhill) to name a few?
Can you give us a history of what bikes you began riding and racing up until your pro debut? I'd be surprised if you never had an XR75. Seems that's the bike most racers of your generation started their minibike racing (I could be wrong though!).
How do you rate the difficulty to becoming a champion in mx versus ironman triathlon? To be honest I just can't imagine how tough it would be to maintain maximum heart rate for hours on end during a triathlon.
Again thanks for spending your time with us!
p.s. I just joined this site just so I can ask you questions!
p.p.s. I totally agree with your sentiment regarding 2 vs 4 even though my 1st bike was an XR75 which happened to be my last 4stk.
My favorite bike to this day is my 87CR500. I owned 8 of them over the years since they were sold and I like them better than the late model bikes for overall Mx and play riding. Do you have any setup tips for this bike ? I've put on 87CR125 footpegs, shifter and brake pedal to move back a bit to help with stability, reinforced the frame at the swingarm pivot like the 89+ frames and welded a skid plate to the bottom frame rails to stiff up the chassis, a flywheel weight to lessen stalling, kept the stock pipe (like the midrange hit, but suffers bit on over rev in the sand when needed). Thanks!! - Joe
I hope I'm not too late to the party here. Great thread!
I've been a big fan since I was a kid racing minis in the early/mid-'80s (Northern Ohio/Southern Michigan). You have been an inspiration in MX and in life. Your ascent in '83 was a great feel-good story where the "good guy finished first." Who could not have been a fan after that?!
Your skills, riding style and killer gear in '84 - '86 defined an era. You were way ahead of your time. As fans, we watched you masterfully ride that HRC 500cc bike around that gnarly Carlsbad track on ABC's Wide World of Sports. I copied these races on VHS and watched those tapes very closely, over and over, trying to figure it out. Young people today just don't understand how unbelievable cool it was back then to see our heroes that we primarily only saw in still print photos (many being black and white) come to life on network television. MX was so underground at that time; you guys were almost mythical.
Your defeat of RJ at Anaheim '86 is interesting in so many ways and illustrated why you were so special in that era. With all those horrible cheese wedge jumps around the track, laid out in no real particular or intended logical rhythm whatsoever, you superimposed a smooth, seemingly effortless rhythm over that course and it was amazing to behold ... still is. I would like to see today's pros try to negotiate an EXACT replica of that track on the same bikes you guys rode. They would find it very difficult, I'm sure, to establish a consistently fast rhythm and would want no part of that. RJ is a respected legend in his own right, but all his blunt force speed and aggression could not compete with your skills that night.
By the time the Pontiac Silverdome Supercross rolled around in 1986, one of my best friends/racing buddy and I were big "Team Bailey" fans. This was around the same time that the 1985 500 USGP aired on ABC. That little documentary on you in the middle of the broadcast confirmed that you were the coolest guy of the bunch … and then you handed it to RJ two days in a row that weekend. Great times.
My friend and I were competing in the Silverdome amateur SX on Sunday night and we begged our parents to book us in the hotel where all the factory teams stayed. We were in the hotel restaurant having breakfast and then we saw you and I think your dad and maybe Cliff W come in to eat. Coolest thing ever! Then we saw Wardy and Lechien leave through the lobby for practice at the Dome and Lechien gets behind the wheel of a rental car and literally fishtails through the parking lot on the way out. We were laughing so hard! Suffice to say that between that move and that awesome right-hander both-feet-on-the-pegs rear brake slide that Lechien did during his mind-blowingly awesome 1.5 laps at Carlsbad during the '85 USGP, we were also Dogger fans!
I have a few photos from that weekend that I took and have been saving. Attached are some samples of the best ones, taken during practice and the races, I believe.
I do vividly remember watching all you guys in the pits (loved that set-up at Pontiac) and you, particularly, appeared to be in a really good, relaxed mood that weekend - lots of smiles, back-slapping others, and joking around doing some "air-riding" (like air guitar, but pretending like you were doing whips and stuff). I assume being in the zone like that contributed to your wins. Any elaboration on that weekend would be much appreciated.
Also, regarding the photo where you're shoveling some dirt, I've always wondered what those forearm "warmer" things you were wearing were. Were they like leg warmers to prevent arm pump? You appeared to be doing some impromptu track maintenance - not sure what that was all about! Notice that even then you were smiling. (I'm certain you're working on the left-hander right at the end of the lane that came out of the stands, had that sketchy triple and then some rhythm whoops).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9urvSJCFm4
Thank you for being a Hero to so many. I'll end with the fact that I fought cancer in early 2010 (stage "1.5"), one month after my 40th birthday - gnarly chemo radiation for 7 weeks. I made a full, quick recovery and my tests have been clean since the end of treatment, now 6.5 years out. I did dig deep during that time and borrowed from my MX experience to soldier through it. The challenges you've risen to in your life that have been so well documented were a big source of inspiration during that time.
Thank you, Mr. David Bailey. Please write a book some day!
Sincerely,
Tom G.
P.S. Others have said that Dungey's riding style and overall approach is reminiscent of you. I see this, too. The way RD positions his torso/core, elbows and leverages the bike and centers himself look like an updated Millenial version of you. Very cool to watch.
My wife found a reprint of this poster last year. My favorite Christmas present ever.
My first bike was a Schwinn Sting Ray ;-)
Then;
Yamaha 60cc mini enduro (I'm on it in that Lucas Oil commercial) - it shifted four down
Yamaha GT 80cc - it shifted four up, I think? I'm still mixed up..
Bultaco 100cc (lowered 125 pursang with a 100cc Lobito motor in it) - it shifted on the right side
Bultaco 125, 250 and by the time I was in the open class it was a 370
Kawasaki Uni-Trak 250 and a 420 for local races and practice - 1980
Kawasaki 250 (semi works stuff) in 1981. The first "Works" bike I ever rode was a 1981 Kawasaki. Fast and light!!
Then Honda. I got lucky and rode their epic works bikes from 1982 through 1985. 250's and 500's.
For practice bikes I would have two "stock" 250's, a 480, then 500 and I always had a 125 to keep sharp!
I never had an XR, but I did ride Gene McCay's Yamaha Nagucci (sp?) in Florida once at the mini olympics in the erly 70's. That thing revved like an old F1 car and felt like a 125 compared to my GT 80.
MX came easy for me. A gift from above. I had to work at it, but I could learn it and get good at it. Triathlon didn't come natural, plus I'm a baby in open water. All I can think of are snakes and sharks so it was hard to swim waaaaaay out there you know? I finally figured out how to swim with my legs and core giving me zero help, messing me up if anything. Once I got out of there alive the bike (handcycle) was a matter of just putting in the miles, getting to some hills, doing some speedwork. I've always been able to do that and I enjoy it. I rode 30 miles today. The race chair for the run segment took a while to figure out. Years in fact. That didn't come natural so to go 1:30 at Boston and win a few here and there was rewarding. Thinking back, they both took a lot of practice and experimenting and I did pretty good at both, but I was born to ride a motorcycle.
Pit Row
The way you wrote this is great and gives me a glimpse from your perspective, which is cool. I can picture Lechien. Ha!
I was having trouble pumping up in Pontiac in '84 and was off the back both nights so when we returned there in '86 I was getting armpump on the way there! I hardly ever struggled with it unless it was rutted or early in the season. So to combat it Cliff had those sheepskin things made to keep my arms warm. I struggled with that triple and I was getting more nervous and tight. So I went to my flimsy gloves with some of the padding cut off the tops and decided to forget about the triple and just race the track. I got smoked in my heat, but I didn't pump up. I was sitting on the bulldozer talking with Jeff Frisz who always got great starts and he asked if I counted when the sign goes sideways? He said "I'll watch all night and count." He goes watch, it's gunna be on 6. We watched one of the other qualifiers go off and it was pretty much 6 and he looked at me like, see?! I was afraid to gamble like that, but when I thought about it some more I realized I would at least be sharper if I knew within a second or so. I counted and nailed the starts! It changed the whole weekend. I went in all Tin Cup with arm warmers and gloves and two color lucky socks and crap, but it came down to executing the start with a plan and then racing the track! Simple as that.
I think I'm shoveling the back of my starting spot so I was on more of a downramp. Seeing me acting all happy and messing around was probably just over compensation for what wreck I was the first night and then how relieved and truly happy I was the second night.
Is that a Gatorade bottle for ants? It needs to be at least.. three times bigger!
Thanks for the pictures and pointing out my sheepskins. I forgot all about those.
As far as Carmichael racing a GP I don't know. He knew what he wanted to do and put all his eggs in that basket. It's not like he skipped a classic Unadilla or Carlsbad GP. He proved himself enough I think
I don't remember who's passport it was, but if it was mine my mom was on it!
Thanks again Xavier
Thanks for the great answers, especially your candid view on what it will take Team USA to be on top of the box at the MXDN again.
I hope to be in Maggiora next month. Missed the 1986 event as we were expecting my second daughter a few weeks later.
Maggiora is special, now that Paulo and Stefano have developed it further into a world class venue. My wife Jo and I were there in 2013 for Giuseppe@s 30th anniversary dinner in the restaurant in the new building atop of the course.
Ursula Luongo with with my painting to celebrate 30 years and Giuseppe's favourite riders.
My portrait from Daytona SX.
You and RJ from Maggiora 86 presented to Giuseppe at Franciacorta MXDN 2009.
Anaheim 86 original now in Omaha Nebraska.
Hours of effort, and greatly appreciated.
Should be in the Hall of Fame of the Hall of Fame
I think Up TiTe may be confused that story with Bob Hannah. Otherwise you would have remembered it!!
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