Vital MX Forum QNA: Kyle Chisholm

GuyB
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Edited Date/Time 4/10/2017 4:41pm


Kyle Chisholm has been King of Bercy, a privateer, and pretty much everywhere in-between. Among others, he's had rides in the U.S. with Canidae Motosport Kawasaki, San Manuel Yamaha, MotoConcepts, Velocity Racing, CycleTrader.com/Rock River/Yamaha, Jeff Ward Racing, and Team Chiz. He's also made occasional forays into Canada with Richmond Kawasaki, Rockstar OTSFF Yamaha. And...he's waiting on confirmation of his deal for next year. Bring it on, Kyle.

Bring your best questions, and he'll be peeking in here this week to answer them. As always, keep it respectful, and ask questions that you would like in a face-to-face meeting.
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OR Racer46
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12/14/2015 5:20pm
Hey Kyle How is Cody doing ? I used to ride at sunshine and was the track medic. I know your parents and brother . I have also had to race against many of your old bikes that Dennis Casey would buy lol . 2 ? For you. Since you ride at Chads. And we're doing your own thing why didn't you stay on the Yamaha ? You have always kinda been a kawi guy . And at your level. Is there really that much of a advantage with one brand over the other. ? Other than support . Good luck this year. Hope to see you at the races
Sandberm
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12/14/2015 5:21pm
I think I can speak for all the Vitards and say you are one of our favorites.Thanks for doing this.

You started branding yourself last year as Team Chiz. Can you talk a little about that? Has it been more or less difficult then you thought? What have been some of the challenges you face starting your own brand/team. Are you able to train/test like you should or do you find yourself doing a lot of the business end of things?

Stuff like that.
12/14/2015 7:26pm
Hey Kyle, I hope you're training and 2016 deal are going well. Whatever it is, I hope there is a t-shirt again. I'm sure your life is busy with the baby on the way. Can you tell us what your training routine is like now? When you are on the road as a privateer, do you ever get acts of support from fans local to the national tracks? How could we best support the privateer efforts like yours? Best of luck to you this season. I hope to see you at four races this year in Indiana and Michigan! You'll be the first rider I'll look for. Thanks for your contribution to our sport.

The Shop

Adam43
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12/14/2015 8:50pm
Got any 2013-2015 Kawi parts for sale?
burba437
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Silver Lake, WI US
12/14/2015 9:36pm
Kyle.

Out of all the teams you have raced for what was your favorite to ride for?

I hope you get something good for the year coming up you are one of my favorite riders and think you deserve something good.
Good luck in 2016!
Jimmy_Sloan
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12/14/2015 10:42pm
Kyle,

Always been a fan because you're cool in your interviews and always a nice guy. What are your plans after your motocross career is over? Planning on staying involved in the industry?
HenryA
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12/15/2015 1:22am
Hey Kyle!

I've been a fan since you and Britney did the Bercy experience video! What are your personal thoughts about the trip? Will you ever do a race in Europe again?

How was the realation between you and Chad Reed at the end of the '09 season? Media reported lots of stuff but it seems like you guys doesn't have a problem with eachother today.

Best of luck in 2016!
rowle1jt
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Mount Pleasant, MI US
12/15/2015 5:19am
Chiz!

Huge fan and I am stoked you are doing this! Mad respect for what you have been doing starting your own team and at times driving your own pickup to one off races! :-)

1) I was shocked to see you on a Honda, are they offering a level of support or money not offered by other teams?
2) Getting excited for baby yet? Being a father is awesome!
3) Are you in Cali? Britney may need to get on another game show and win you guys a minivan! Smile

Best of luck in 2016!! Looking forward to seeing you stay healthy and kick some ass!
Renner153
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12/15/2015 6:33am
Hey Kyle. Big fan here. Quick question, do you still have my jersey that you promised me back in 07?!?!?!Tongue
TeamRags
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12/15/2015 6:41am Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 10:00am
With good rides coming harder and harder to land, at what point do you consider a different career path? Meaning, you obviously need X amount of cash flow to survive, what does it take ($$) to get Kyle Chisholm to commit to another year of racing versus walking away and starting a new career?

Enjoy watching you ride, good luck this year!
dsmith
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12/15/2015 7:47am
what is it like to be in a video game?....do you play as yourself?...do you play at all?..how did you go about getting in a video game?...did they confront you with a contract?
thanks
mattyhamz2
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12/15/2015 8:07am
Hey Chiz!

Thanks for doing this. Congrats to you and Brit on the little one. Not too much longer right? Being a dad is awesome! Now for my question. Why the switch to the Honda? I haven't seen any videos of you riding it yet, but man you looked good on the Kawis and Yamahas! Best of luck in 2016 with racing and your little princess!
Ramrod
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12/15/2015 12:53pm
Hey Kyle, I have watched you race in Canada many times but I think your first year coming to Gopher Dunes was great to watch. You may have dnf'd your bike, I can't remember the finish.

What is your favourite track in Canada?
12/15/2015 2:59pm
Hey guys! First of all thanks to Guy B for having me on here this week. And thank you guys for the questions! I hope I can answer them all and bring some insight to you and anything else you guys are interested in! Let's go!
12/15/2015 3:15pm Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 3:17pm
OR Racer46 wrote:
Hey Kyle How is Cody doing ? I used to ride at sunshine and was the track medic. I know your parents and brother . I...
Hey Kyle How is Cody doing ? I used to ride at sunshine and was the track medic. I know your parents and brother . I have also had to race against many of your old bikes that Dennis Casey would buy lol . 2 ? For you. Since you ride at Chads. And we're doing your own thing why didn't you stay on the Yamaha ? You have always kinda been a kawi guy . And at your level. Is there really that much of a advantage with one brand over the other. ? Other than support . Good luck this year. Hope to see you at the races
Hey yeah I remember. Bummer sunshine shut down. I used to ride there quite a bit. And yes Dennis is a pretty good friend of ours so he buys some bikes from us haha. My brother is doing good. He is finishing up some college classes, did the last couple nationals, and is trying to make a plan for racing the 250east SX series.

So I decided to ride Kawis this past year for 2 reasons: I rode my brothers and liked it. And one of the people who helped me said they could get a couple Kawis. But honestly I believe that all the bikes are pretty good. Some doing things a little better than others but then others do some other things better. It's all about setting it up and making it comfortable for you
12/15/2015 3:22pm Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 3:32pm
Sandberm wrote:
I think I can speak for all the Vitards and say you are one of our favorites.Thanks for doing this. You started branding yourself last year...
I think I can speak for all the Vitards and say you are one of our favorites.Thanks for doing this.

You started branding yourself last year as Team Chiz. Can you talk a little about that? Has it been more or less difficult then you thought? What have been some of the challenges you face starting your own brand/team. Are you able to train/test like you should or do you find yourself doing a lot of the business end of things?

Stuff like that.
Well thank you! I hope I can be one of your guys favorites! We wouldn't be racing dirtbikes for a living if it weren't for the fans supporting us all. So thank you guys as well.

So last year when I decided to go racing on my own and start my own "team" we couldn't decide on a name. So we went with "Team Chiz" because that's what a lot of my fans like to call me. So we added in the number 11 into the name since that's my permanent number for branding and I like it.

As for doing my own team this year it was both fun and enjoyable but also very stressful, time consuming, and tough. I would say it was a little tougher and a little more work than I thought it would be. Some stuff was easy and some was more difficult. I would say some of the challenging things were just getting the right support from sponsors so I could do the things I wanted to do to be competitive. Fortunately I had a lot of great help from great sponsors and even some new ones along the way so it worked out. Also I think the toughest part for me was balancing the training/riding with the business side and talking with sponsors. I enjoy the business aspect and always have and would possibly like to get into that side more in the future. But it was tough just being able to put as much time into riding as I needed to. I made it work. It got easier as we went through the year. Typical days were like wake up, breakfast, go riding, clean my bike, lunch, workout, be on the phone calling,emailing, or texting people, eat dinner, go to sleep, repeat haha. So it was a balance but I learned a lot and enjoyed the experience. Thankful for my wife family and friends also for all the support when I needed it most
12/15/2015 3:44pm
Hey Kyle, I hope you're training and 2016 deal are going well. Whatever it is, I hope there is a t-shirt again. I'm sure your life...
Hey Kyle, I hope you're training and 2016 deal are going well. Whatever it is, I hope there is a t-shirt again. I'm sure your life is busy with the baby on the way. Can you tell us what your training routine is like now? When you are on the road as a privateer, do you ever get acts of support from fans local to the national tracks? How could we best support the privateer efforts like yours? Best of luck to you this season. I hope to see you at four races this year in Indiana and Michigan! You'll be the first rider I'll look for. Thanks for your contribution to our sport.
Training and everything is coming together well. I'm feeling good and trying to work my butt off to make myself better! For the t shirts I am working on that. I want to get some hats and other little things for the fans also so keep an eye out for that stuff. The past year has been crazy and busy and I'm sure with the baby on the way it's bound to be even crazier. But I'm beyond excited for that and thankful.

Training routines vary throughout the year. During the offseason I'm doing much more long lower heart rate cardio and some heavier lifting to build strength and muscle. As you get closer to the season (usually starting around the middle or end of November) you start doing shorter but more intense workouts and maybe less weight more repitions in the gym along with higher intensity gym workouts. The same goes for the ridin aspect as well. In general I do a lot of cycling, running, swimming, and rowing for cardio. During the season it is more of a maintaining thing where you want to stay fresh but maintain your fitness. The more you race as well makes the next race easier for me at least. With all the races we do on 450's it's easy to overtrain because we don't get much rest all year but you're always wanting to get better so sometimes you have to know when less is more.

I've had quite a few people come up at random races and hand me some money or gift cards or stuff like that and also ask how they can help. It's awesome and I appreciate them a lot. Every little bit counts. And for the best way to support I don't really know other than the typical things. With the way our sport is ran its tough to make a living for most guys and the money is not spread out very well or enough at all in my opinion. Thank you and hope to see you at one of those races
12/15/2015 3:50pm

Should the sport return to two strokes?
I love 2 strokes! So I would be a fan of that haha. I think it takes more skill to ride one. I grew up on 2 strokes (125 and 250) so I enjoy getting back on them occasionally. A lot of the younger riders nowadays never even rode them
12/15/2015 3:58pm
burba437 wrote:
Kyle. Out of all the teams you have raced for what was your favorite to ride for? I hope you get something good for the year...
Kyle.

Out of all the teams you have raced for what was your favorite to ride for?

I hope you get something good for the year coming up you are one of my favorite riders and think you deserve something good.
Good luck in 2016!
Hey thank you very much! What I have going on for this year I think is very good. I'm very happy with it and excited. I'd like to think the hard work and suffering this year is what has given me this new opportunity so I'm very thankful.

Man I've been fortunate to be on some good teams with good people. I don't have very many bad experiences with most of the teams I've worked with in the past. But I would say my favorite year(s) were 2010-2011 at Motoconcepts. Contrary to popular believe I had a great experience with Mike Genova and I had my best year racing in 2010 with them (10th in 450SX and 6th in 450MX championships). I earned my permanent number that year and then David Vuillemin was hired in the offseason of 2010 and he trained me for the 2011 season. He definitely doesn't sugar coat anything but I appreciate that and worked well with him. He taught me a lot and I was having my best year in 2011 with them before I had a bad crash in Houston from my chain breaking.
12/15/2015 4:02pm
Kyle, Always been a fan because you're cool in your interviews and always a nice guy. What are your plans after your motocross career is over...
Kyle,

Always been a fan because you're cool in your interviews and always a nice guy. What are your plans after your motocross career is over? Planning on staying involved in the industry?
Well thank you! I appreciate that. After my racing career I'm not 100% sure what I want to do yet. I would love to stay involved in some way or another. I think it will depend on the opportunities I have at the time. I would love to manage a team, own a team, be a trainer, own a race track, promote races, etc. Any of those things would interest me. But I could also see myself starting a business that maybe has to do with dirt bikes or maybe nothing to do with them at all. I like business in general.
12/15/2015 4:13pm Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 5:19pm
HenryA wrote:
Hey Kyle! I've been a fan since you and Britney did the Bercy experience video! What are your personal thoughts about the trip? Will you ever...
Hey Kyle!

I've been a fan since you and Britney did the Bercy experience video! What are your personal thoughts about the trip? Will you ever do a race in Europe again?

How was the realation between you and Chad Reed at the end of the '09 season? Media reported lots of stuff but it seems like you guys doesn't have a problem with eachother today.

Best of luck in 2016!
Thanks. That trip was awesome and I'm glad we got to share it with everyone like that. I did a couple of those videos from different races a couple years so I'm not sure which one you saw but if it was when I won King of Bercy that was obviously a great trip. I really enjoy going to other countries and racing and experiencing life over there and around the world. I'm blessed to be able to do that and I want to enjoy the experiences while I can. I have done other races in Europe pretty much every year unless I have an injury where I couldn't go. But they're all fun and great experiences both on and off the bike.

At the end of 2009 to be honest I never said a word to Chad. And he never said a word to me. I don't really care to get into it, but one day about a year later we found ourselves in Florida at a local track near where we both live with just a few other pros, and I decided to go up to him and give him my thoughts and apologize for any misunderstandings, and I didn't know what he would say or how he would act. He was very understanding and polite and I believe we squashed everything right then and there, and he actually invited me on the spot to come out to ride at his house with him the next day. And since then Chad has been nothing but awesome to me. We ride and train together, and he helps me in so many ways it's hard to list them all. Riding and training with him at his property, advice, helped me with my own team this year, and just anything really. He and his family are awesome!
12/15/2015 4:34pm Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 4:56pm
rowle1jt wrote:
Chiz! Huge fan and I am stoked you are doing this! Mad respect for what you have been doing starting your own team and at times...
Chiz!

Huge fan and I am stoked you are doing this! Mad respect for what you have been doing starting your own team and at times driving your own pickup to one off races! :-)

1) I was shocked to see you on a Honda, are they offering a level of support or money not offered by other teams?
2) Getting excited for baby yet? Being a father is awesome!
3) Are you in Cali? Britney may need to get on another game show and win you guys a minivan! Smile

Best of luck in 2016!! Looking forward to seeing you stay healthy and kick some ass!
Thank you for the support very much! And I'm pumped to do this with you guys.

So yes, I just started riding a Honda a couple weeks ago. It's my first time ever really riding a Honda. But the bike feels awesome so far and I'm getting more comfortable with it each day. So part of me feels like I'm losing something, but obviously I'm thankful for the opportunity but I'm not going to be doing my own team again this year. I've been given a great opportunity with a "newer" team that's expanding their program and I'm excited to be apart of it. So that's why I'm on a Honda. But the bike really does feel great and I think it suits my style well.

Yes, getting very excited! Very thankful for the opportunity to be a father and I can't wait! Britney is due March 4th so it will be here before we know it!

And yes, I'm in Cali. Britney may or may not have gone to a game show when we were in Cali for Monster Cup and she may or may not have been picked. She really was hoping to win another car haha. But you'll have to check it out in May sometime I believe.
12/15/2015 4:36pm Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 4:52pm
Renner153 wrote:
Hey Kyle. Big fan here. Quick question, do you still have my jersey that you promised me back in 07?!?!?!Tongue
You're not a big fan! Don't lie Big Rob! Haha. But yes I'm keeping it nice and cozy for you! It'll be worth millions after I retire.
12/15/2015 4:40pm Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 4:43pm
Renner153 wrote:
Hey Kyle. Big fan here. Quick question, do you still have my jersey that you promised me back in 07?!?!?!Tongue
come on! dudes famous, we all want a jersey from Chiz!


Do you get to keep some of your personal sponsors this year? is this a SX only deal and if nothing else comes up for outdoors what would you do?
12/15/2015 4:43pm
TeamRags wrote:
With good rides coming harder and harder to land, at what point do you consider a different career path? Meaning, you obviously need X amount of...
With good rides coming harder and harder to land, at what point do you consider a different career path? Meaning, you obviously need X amount of cash flow to survive, what does it take ($$) to get Kyle Chisholm to commit to another year of racing versus walking away and starting a new career?

Enjoy watching you ride, good luck this year!
Good question. GOOD rides definitely seem to be harder each year. There are more good riders than there are good rides so it's tough. For me I've always told myself that I want to race as long as I can if: 1) I'm still enjoying doing it. 2) I can be competitive and finish at least where I want to finish. 3) I can still make a decent living to pay my bills, provide for my family, and hopefully save whatever is left over for the future. As long as I can do those things I would like to continue racing. I'm sure at some point I'll have to make that decision like everyone does but for now I'm just enjoying what I'm able to do for a living.
Ewan
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Scotland GB
12/15/2015 4:47pm
Hi Kyle

Couple of questions.

Out of all the bikes you've ridden whether as a pro or as an amateur, if you had the opportunity to restore just one in years to come to be a garage queen, to race for fun or whatever, what would it be and for what reasons.

Do you follow the GPs? if so, who's your money on for 16?
12/15/2015 4:48pm Edited Date/Time 12/15/2015 4:51pm
Best place within 2 hours of Tampa for weekday riding? Eastbay any good? Serious question. Thanks.
Within a couple hours of Tampa there are a few good places. Dade City has been around forever and where I grew up riding, Eastbay (now called TampaMX) is fun and now owned by my buddy zack freeberg who just quit racing SX/MX to run the track, Hardrock in Ocala, Bithlo in Orlando (might have a new name now). For me, if you want to drive a little further, the best tracks are Florida Tracks and Trails down south of Tampa near Punta Gorda. It's an insanely nice facility and great tracks. Also I'm north a few hours just west of Jacksonville, and WWRanch is another insane facility and track!

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