Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126013
w •• sick for a co up le of days . I was peeing bloo d and stuff. Th en I rode Ohio . My ki dn ey s were bad, an d I just wore two kidne y bel ts. It hurt m e so bad , I finished sixth an ywa y. Nex t week , I went to Virgin ia and broke my arm . Because you're a really good ride r, and you've hardly been beat if you didn't crash or break, you've almost become a legend in your own time. You're known for riding crazy. Dirt Bike called you " Th e California Wild Man" after they saw you do a full-lock power slide to get around Jimmy Weinert at Carlsbad. What do you th ink when people call you ·'crazy: ' " berserk" - and a few other th ings? Really, you j ust make everybody think that, then they're all scared of you and they'll leave yo u alo ne. If you pull up beside them, they'll shu t off and th in k, " Th is guy's n uts!" - But n ot really. I'm kind of safe, really . But yo u psych e 'em out th at way. In prac tice ba ck East, you j ust b erserk it a co up le times , overshoo t the turn , hi t a guy, give the Europeans the elbow. You just do n't take nothing off of th em . Like when Fal ta an d me were going a t it back in Delt a, I was leading it o n a Ho nda in the 25 0 Inter·AMA Series. Falta co mes on th e ou tside and st arted giving m e the elb ow. I j ust ran hi m into a hay bale! I said, " Bul/shit! He ain't go ing to do th at to m e! " He got pissed o ff after th at and p assed me, trying to knock me down. But y ou don't ta ke nothing o ff of th em , and they leave yo u alone . How 'd you develop your riding style? I mean, if people say you're crazy, and you say you aren't - like a few years ago , at Corona, you d id stan d i n\tOn·the-seat·wheelies-downhill ! Why do you do these th ings? I just do it for the spe ctators. They really want to see a sh ow . They do n ' t want to see someb od y get out in front and go 'ro un d an d 'ro un d. Th a t ain 't fun. Givin g the pea ce sign, doing wheelies, standing on th e seat down hill: that j ust mad e th e crowd more happy , bec au se th ey pay m on ey - and th at 's my winnings, to o - an d I wan t them to co me out and watch. The riders get m ad and every th ing, bu t th ey 're j ust jealous because they can't do it . Who does' your wrenching? Harry K1em. He 's re ally good, bu t CZ won't let him po rt my bi kes or nothing. Th ey say, " Stock, oh, stock is very good. Europeans use stock." And I tell th em , "No way , they d on ' t, " they just don' t wan t theAmeri cans to be at th em, that 's all. And th ey say , " Un hh , unh h, " How do you prepare yourself for a race? I run three m iles a day : an d then I wo rk out on ce in a while , like in the evenings wh en it cools off. I used to ride all the time, bu t I ca n 't ride ar ound he re any m ore , because everyone snivels an d stuff, an d th ey gripe, and th e cops come ou t in helic o p ters an d run me off. I hate going all the way to Sad dleback, because th at 's 50 miles from my ho use, one way . I don't want to drive a hundred • •• a • • • ~ ••• • • • miles to ride for a little while. Every tim e I go down th ere, my b ike break s in ab ou t 10 minutes . Harley·Davidson is just releasing their MX bike. Would you go with them if they offered you the ri!tlt deal? Yeah. I wouldn't m ind trying one, y ou kno w, be caus e they got m on ey an d th ey can really corne o ut with som e th ing. Th ey can ma ke an ything, or bu y it. If th ey want to win, th ey would d o it . Bu t they re ally ain't in to MX, they 're really in to mile or road racin g. I wouldn't mind ro ad raci ng, I thi nk it woul d be pretty neat. I b uilt a cafe racer once, and wh eel ied around town and stuff, and had th e cops chasi ng me. I j ust bro ught a Kawasaki 900 an d got chased a co uple ni ghts ago. Had my girlfriend on th e back, an d we were wheely ing do wn the main str ee t wit h the co ps chasing me. I had to j ust get on th e freeway and tum that thing on . I was j ust flying. So you want to -go to Europe, and become World Champion: I guess that in getting there, the class you'd ride in wouldn't matter - you just want to be champ, right? Right . I lik e the 500 clas s be tter, because it's got a lo t of ho rsep o wer and stuff. I wouldn 't m ind ridi ng th e 25 0 if I got a good 25 0, a f ast 250. 111e 250s I always get are so slow, I do n 't ever have a ch ance. But wouldn't the real challenge be fac ing guys like Mikkola, DeCoster, and Lackey? I th in k th at mo st o f those guys are going d ownhill ; like Mik ko la is going to Honda. I thin k it's almo st over for him, because I don 't kn ow how they can ride th ose Hon das. Pierr e is do ing reall y bad th is y ear o n the Honda co mpared to last ye ar, whe n he was o n Yamaha. There are too many bugs to get out of them. He 's ge ttin g th em out, an d everyth ing h e wo n one GP because DeCoster broke. I do n't t hink th at Mikkola's going to do too good switching from Husky to Ho nda. But the Americans are co ming u p. They should be in there th is year; next year for sure . Anybody that you look up to? Gary Scott. I'm really glad that he 's gettin g G rand National Number On e, because Ken ny Ro bert s got kind o f a big head a ft er he won it a couple of tim es. I like Gary, an d 1 really watch out fo r him. He 's really sm o king th em in the Mile. Th at's so n ea t. Any other goals in mind? No . I j ust wan t to be World Champion. I ju st hop e th at I can ge t a good ride wh ere I can get p aid some bucks , so I can d o some trainin g and stuff. I train, bu t I ge t m ad becau se I train all week lon g, th en I go ou t an d ride fo r five or 10 minutes, my bike b reaks. Then I go in and beg for parts, an d th ey te ll me , " Oh , bri n g the bikes in. We ' l fix 'e m. Th ey wo n't break." Then I bring the m in to them, and th e bikes break . I can 't ye ll at th em, becau se th ey say, "We tried our best. " But Triu mph-Suz u ki helped me ou t a lo t , you know. They reall y try hard, and stuff, and I ad vertise for them . Bu t I live kinda far from the m, and I can't go down there all th e ti me. They got to make m on ey , and they don 't ma ke nothin g off me, bec ause they work on my bi kes for n othin g. Th ey try hard , but we are n 't getting nowher e. I j ust hope CZ co me s up wi th some th ing for me. A couple of weeks later, I called up Rex's dad to give me a few last details to complete this interview. I n the course of our conversation, Mr. Staten mentioned Rex was out riding some bikes that no fewer than three factories were offering him. At this moment, Rex will · probably ride for Suzuki, and the local talk has him saying that the RM 370 is the best box-stock bike he has ever ridden. But officially, nothing will be known for sure until late October or November. Mr. Staten summed up adequately the saga of Brad Lackey , Tony DiStefano, Rex, and all those who have bee n "spo nsored" by CZ and American Ja wa: " Th ey pr omise you the moon, but they d on ' t give you n othing ." • (I DII • ~ t 10 r-- O'l '""" 00 C\l l-< II) > J: 0. « c:: 0 0 ~ ..0 0 ..... U 0 0 J: 0. J: u it oJ ::l ci Z J: 0 .., Christmasub! DEPT. SUB. P.O. BOX 498 LONG BEACH. CAUFOR. 'A 90801 CYCLE NEWS WEST (1 yr.) $12.50 CYCLE NEWS WEST (2yn.) . • •• • • • 22.00 CYCLE NEWS WEST (3 YIS.) • . • •• • . • 30 .00 Via 1st class mail for one year Via air mail for one year This is a Renewal Please bill me I enclose cheek or money ord... 40.00 50.00 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Name IPle1l1eprin llegib ly l Z ip 45