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I spoke to a guy on facebook who told me he was /is the guy behind you in the pic (you can see his helmet in the bottom right) he then told me that he was'nt keeping pace,but he went down hard in the first turn and that you had just lapped him.
Another pic there of you and ronnie both looking at that factory honda and laughing.yeah i'd be happy too if i knew i'd be getting to ride that bike back then! It looks like Ronnie's even rubbing his hand's together at the thought of it!
Somebody also mentioned that those bikes (or maybe johnny o's bike?) had a super trick rear brake pedal on it but i'm not sure if i'm correct on that one? My memory is'nt the best ......
txs again david,hope everyone likes the pics.............cool stuff
I just heard that Art had some health complications. Hopefully he is okay. Send some good vibes and prayer out for him. He's getting up there in age, but I pray he recovers and gets a while longer to teach and travel.
I heard a funny line from him last year. He was getting an award for being in broadcasting for 50-years and he started out by saying, "You make a lot of mistakes when you're young ... I invented the 60-yard line." Ha! I can totally picture it. He was great to work with and very patient with me. In all his true passion for the sport and excitement, he'd get a name jumbled up like Ricky McGrath or Broc Summers here and there, but he was a the right host with the perfect voice at the right time for our sport.
That next one of Lechien and I is at Gaildorf in 1985. We're all decked out and headed to the starting line. We hung out a little bit that year, put stickers on our helmets and played a lot of ping pong at the hotel in our spare time. He was having a great year!
That out of shape photo, hmmmm, is that Lake Whitney? I should've won that day, but I rode like a squid and there's the proof, but so did Hannah so I didn't feel too bad. I think Liles won
Lechien and I are probably laughing at something Jim Felt was saying. He's leaned down behind Johnny's bike. That was a great time at Honda for Lechien. His 125 was like a 250 and those wild looking 250's were F1! He smoked the 125 class every week and almost won the SX title. Good times.
That next shot is at my national in Va. I took some time cutting those extra vents in that Scott face mask knowing it would be hot and after I won I tossed 'em to the crowd. Somebody has a pair of goggles worn by a guy who put on his own national and won!
Those last couple photos stand out for two reasons. First, you can tell we all got along back then here in the US and abroad and we really enjoyed our time in the sport! Secondly, Johnny wore that corduroy Gary Bailey MX School hat all the time. I don't know why, but Gary was probably stoked.
The Shop
David , I sure hope you stick around , or at least just stroll through the board ( or just this thread ) at times. It truly is an honor having you here. Thank you so much for all the awesome stories and information you have passed on in this thread. You are a true to life legend.
This thread = Hall of fame material.
Jeffro
I was aware of him just from observing the Honda team. He seemed to fit in with the team going on runs with the guys and kicking the hacky sack around with Sun, Hansen and O'Mara, but he also had a professionism about him. Once I signed with Honda at the end of 1981, I got a call from Jeff who introduced himself and asked about my training so he could have some idea how to form a plan to get me ready for the '82 season. I was comfortable with him right off the bat, but I was also intimidated so I just made up a few things since I basically had no running program or stretching or diet or supplements. Once I met him he had a way of knowing my condition, but not letting me know he knew so as to not make me feel like the liar I was and how far from the type of shape I should've been in. I've said on here before, I just rode. A lot! Anyway, I got a lot of basics from Jeff, some of it confirmation of what I knew deep down but hadn't put into practice yet. (I don't remember much emphasis on sleep) Jeff would train with us and he made it fun. In '82 I broke my foot the week before Anaheim, but rode the next round in Seattle mostly because Jeff had me in a special brace and gave me the confidence to try. Later in the year I broke my fibula in the Astrodome and that messed up my opportunity to start the nationals with my new strength. So Jeff arranged for me to see a hotshot dr. near Anaheim and that guy had my cast cut off and asked me to walk towards him down the hall. I was freaking out! My leg was clearly broken, but after he and Jeff explained the non-weight bearing bone part, I left there in an ace wrap and got 3rd or 4th at the Lake Whitney national 2-weeks later. Before Jeff, every injury was an ordeal. After Jeff, injuries were dealt with immediately and correctly making them basically a non-factor. In 1983, I totally ruined my ankle in Dallas on press day and missed that round, but never missed another round. Once healed from that, I broke my other foot during the main event in DC. Jeff's contribution to Honda is immeasurable, but for the record, Darryl Schultz probably would'nt have won the 1982 500 title and in 1983 Johnny O and I might not have won our titles! I know for sure I wouldn't have, which means I would'nt have had that blue plate! Honda didn't rehire him after that and I was puzzled. Hannah and I had a little discussion about keeping him on board, but the $ mixed with our funding of Jeff's services for Johnny and Lechien eventually didn't sit well so I lost touch with him, but I owe a lot to him for teaching me to fish! In many situations in racing and in life, he was the most hands on person (outside of family) that equipped me for the rest of my career AND, when I got hurt and was talking about how I was gunna get better and walk his response to all of that was, "But what if you don't?" It took some time and pride swallowing, but I learned how to move on. He's very sharp and thinks ahead. There are many things I remember him saying, but I don't want to give it all away. I can just say that in those early years at Honda, Jeff's involvement and professionalism made me take things more serious and for that I'm grateful. He would still laugh and keep things fun, especially over Johnny's antics, but he was valuable imo at Honda and it was a real bummer to lose him.
I don't know what all Jeff got into since those days, but he was always very helpful to me. We called him Private Stock because not matter where we were, long flight, middle of nowhere testing etc. he always had the perfect thing to eat in his backpack.
thanks for taking the time to take this picture with me in Maggiora. It was the icing on the cake for me after a great weekend of racing and a bad weekend for our Team Germany.
By the way, here's a photo from 1979, and this past year I found the current owner of the bike who lives in southern Virginia.
I remember a friend pointing out Gary's cameras to me before morning practice at the `80 Road Atlanta Trans USA final, and realized his set-up was really progressing by the `84 Six Flags national
Thanks again and Happy New Year to you and the fellow participants here on Vital MX.
Pit Row
I'm wondering what your memory is from that winter of December 1982 leading into the `83 season? What was your confidence level, riding level, anything in general going on, and did you mainly ride that winter in Simi Valley or Southern Virginia? thanks
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