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/127164
they had expected of me. I had the feeling that if I didn 't do something they would have let me go. I'm sure they would have. I started doing well and getting so me results and I think that's what kept my job at Kawa saki , for another year." L ech ien so ug h t ot her offers, although he didn't want to cha nge teams . " I jus t sta rted feelin g reall y good on th e Kawasakis, a nd th e last thing I wanted to do was move," Lechien sa id. "I've mo ved aro u nd everywhe re, a nd it's a big deal LO switch bik es. It tak es a wh ile to get accustomed to th e bikes, to kn ow what they're go ing to do. T o be able LO go as fast we go o u t there a nd do the thin gs we do, you have to have co mp lete co nfidence in your bike." Lechien 's job is safe for a no the r yea r since he re-signed with Kawasa ki, but this tim e he went for the sho rt-term co ntrac t instead of th e multi-year deal. " I' ve gotten th e three-year, bigbucks deal before a n d I've just basi call y kicked back and felt comfortabl e, like I didn 't have to do anything and I didn 't ," he admits. "That was my major downfall, so I'm onl y goin~ for a yea r a n d hopefully I'll wm a cha mp io nsh ip or two a nd co me back and sign for another year -long deal. " ~ It 's been three long yea rs since Lechien last enjoyed a championship and all th e rewards that go with it, and with his recent success he's getting hun~ for a no ther title. " I'm ge ttmg a little older and wanting it (anothe r championship) a lillie worse now because I had it earlier in my career and hav en 't had it in a whil e," Lechien says. " It's gelling lonely without it," he adds with a laugh. "Now I feel stro nger, a nd I'm older," sa id Lechien. " Every thing just feels like it 's coming together for me a nd I have more confide nce in the bike and my ab ility o n th e tra ck. Not rha r l didn 't have th e confidence before, it 's just that I felt really good o n th e H onda a nd I had th at sensa tio nal year ('85), but I was mixed up in drugs th en . I got on th e Kawasaki and everything was 'just going down the tu bes in a big hurry. It's taken me a cou p le of years just to get straight ened o ut from that." Just getung straightened out from . his much-publicized drug problem has helped. While he had th e problem, he wasn 't co mfortable with his life or hi s bikes, and it affected his performance. Lechien 's drug problem first came to light wh en he was ca ugh t carrying marijuana as he was ent eri ng Japan where he had gone to compete in the Tokyo Supercro ss following the 1985 American season. Lechien hasn't said much about the incident or his problems with drugs in the mOLOrcycle press before. In fact, the first report of his recent rehabilitation appeared in a San Diego dail y newspaper. But now he 's glad to tell his story and seems proud that he's red uced a mountain to rubble. " I had the law after me, I had 502s (d r ivi n g under the influence of alcohol or drugs), I missed my court dates, I hadn't gone in for some work time," explains Lechien. " T h ere were just so many things that had built u p and I was using the drugs (alco hol, marijuana and cocaine ) to hide from them. I didn 't wa nt to dea l with a nyt hi ng an d th ings just kept building up and I just kep t pushing them asi de and pretty soon I had this mountain pushed aside." Lech ien was also push in g aside his parents , those around him a nd LO a certain extent, his racing. "I was gelling in sq uabbles with my paren ts, I shied away fro m them (Above and right) One of l.echien's favorite ways to train is an intense game of HiBall, which is played in this trampoline court. (Below) Lechien (4) gave Rick Johnson (1.) a run for the 500cc National title this year. and th en I moved out when I was about 17," said Lechien. " It was a really bad scen e. I didn 't hav e much responsibi lity, I had a 10l of money and all these friends who were into drugs. It just kind of drug me right in th ere wi th them. ·I started usmg pot when I was in schoo l, I had som e friends tha t were into it and it just went on from there. Whenever I di dn't have something to do then I' d be doing drugs, and I just got rea l mixed up in that." So mixed up he says it nearly ended h is racing career. " I actually called m y dad and said 'H ey, screw it, I don 't want LO race anymore," Lechien said. "It was a really emotional time for me." Lechien credits his parents and everyone else close LO him with getting him back on his feet. " T he y all got together , and I didn't have an y idea about it," explained Lechien. " O ne day my accountant showed up and said we had to go talk to a negotiator. We went to a clinic wherethey have Intervention. That's where the people who are around you, for me it was my fam ily, the people at JT Racing (Lec hien 's long-time riding gear sponsor), and Kawasaki Team Manager R o y Turner, and everyo ne set me down. They had all this stuff written out and ready to go , a nd it rea lly made me see the light. They wanted me LO go in for rehab ilitation right then, but I said there's no way I was go ing in for 30 days. It took me a lillie wh ile to realize what I had a nd wh at I was j eopardizing before I made th e com m itmen t to go in and ge t help." Lechien looked a t th e da te on his watch. November ,1. It would be exactly a year th e n ext d ay, November 5, since he fini shed reh abilitation at th e McDonalds Center, pan of th e Scripps In stitute in La Jolla, Califom ia. " I' ve come from the big dump," he states matter-of-Iactl y, " It's night and da y from th is time last year. Mentally a nd physically it turned my racing around, I'm a lot clearer. My life is 100 times better. You can't believe it. " H e looks back on th e expe rie nce differently now, but is still a ble to describe his life th en like it was yesterda y. " It was the worst feeling, I wa s in su ch a hole. It 's a weird feeling when you've got letters from th e courts coming a nd you 've got warrants. I was ready for them LO come ove,! to my house and take me away. " It 's like killing somebody, " continued Lechien, " or doing som ething that's really bad a nd yo u've got the feeling that you 're going to get in trouble for it. It was just a big cloud ha nging over my head and I couldn't ge t away from it ; it kept following me around, getting worse and worse. "It's not worth it. It 's always played up to be such a big deal, tha t' s kind of the curiosity pan about it. Bu t it's no th ing like they all put it up to be, you know. All it does is 5