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/127727
on e of my goals. Of course, I want to be the best that I can be in motorcycle racing first - its my obligation to the people that I work for and also the fans. Then I'll tr y to take on the next s tep in m y go als. In motorcycle s, I ca n see m y self going this year and next year and then maybe just a few races th e following yea r. I'd like to d o some of the bigger events. It all depends on how yo u feel abou t it . I'm ha ving more fu n with it . . now than I w as a few yea rs back. If it still feels good, I'm going to keep doin g it. I worked my whole car eer to ge t to this point and I want to try and reap the benefits of it. Did it come as a relief that you didn't have to race in the 600cc Supersport class, or was it a disappointment after last year's success? I don't reall y miss it at thi s point. Well, I gu ess I do when I'm sitting ther e watchin g it, but I don 't miss the extra strai n of it. Riding two tot ally d ifferent motor cycles on the same day tends to work on yo u a little bit mentally . Tha t was th e tou ghest part. When you watch the 600cc Supersport class, it at times appears a little rougher than the Superbike class and everybody seems to be on the ragged edge. Is that a fair assessment? I think it appears that way because the b ikes are s omew h a t m ore fo rgiv ing because of the different tires. Don 't ge t me wrong - you rid e th em more over the ed ge. It rewards doing that. Superbikes d on 't reward that kind of ridin g. Although I'm one of th e older guys, I feel at home on the 600s. I have a lot of experience riding in that fash ion . At the time I was coming up, there were a few of us making a living from rid ing those kinds of motorcycles. You learn qui te a bit about how to over-rid e them and ge t away with it. Do you think your riding has improved of late, and is that just a byproduct of experience meaning more than youthful exuberance? Th er e's no d oubt ab ou t it. I' m a better rid er th an I ever was at thi s p oint because of experie nce. But yo u can ge t to o far into th at ex pe rience thing too . The bottom lin e is si mple - once yo u lea ve th e starting li n e you've got to han g it out just as far as the yo u ng guy sit ting next to you. All th e mo to rcycles " ar e very good so the lev el of competition is better - not only amongst the riders but al so in th e teams with th e preparation of the bike . Ther e isn 't any junk out th ere so e ve rybody ha s to earn th e ir p aych eck when th e checke re d fla g drop s as far as rid e r s a re con cerned. What does Jami.e James do when he 's not out racing someth ing? I s pend a li tt le tim e on th e d irt b ik e. Basicall y, I'm ge tting m yself prepared for car racing. I spend a lot of tim e in m y shop , working with th e ca rs an d try in g to learn them . I don' t wan t to be du mb found ed if I' m ever pi ck ed to dri ve one of 'em. I can at least talk the terminolog y and h ave an id ea of h ow things work. That's basically ho~ I went abou t it in motorcycles . I sta rted on my own and I thin k it's paid off for me in th e long run - kn ow in g a little bit about the mechanical end of it. Does any of your motorcycle knowledge cross over into car racing, or is it completely different? Actually, a lot of it crosses over. Driving the cars is basically the sa me - exce p t you have to have a lot more pa tience. That's what I'm havi ng to le a rn . As moto rcy cle racers, if it 's n ot wo rki ng quite right you jus t di g that much deeper, ha ng it ou t a little further and ge t away w ith it . In car racing it d oesn' t reward that at all - by the time you sca re yo u rself, yo u' re in the wa ll. So it's a little different in that aspect. Over the winter there were a lot of political things that went on with racing here in the U.S. Did you follow all of that? I just basically took a wait and see attitude wi th the whole thing. I'm learning as far as that goes every d ay - ther e's not a who le "lot you can d o abo ut it, so it's better to wo rry abo u t wh at yo u can do. "I have se en thi n gs ge t b etter over th e years, so I hate to eve n bring up negative thin gs. I thi nk righ t now we're on the upswin g, and I hope that wh atever they'v e lea rned in the p ast to make this happen they will con tinue to d o - even more effect ively. Doug Polen is returning to the AMA series, at the very least for the Laguna Seca round. Last time he was here on a Ducati, he dominated . Will he have things as easy this time around? Th ere ' s n o d oubt tha t the Japanese machines have gotten bett er . It will defi nitel y be d iffer en t for him , but the gu y ha s a lot of talent . He h ad the Du cati pretty well figu red out at the tim e, but I don't think he will be as effective as he was. In oth er wo rds, I d on ' t think he 'll just come in here and steal the show like h e o n ce did . I' m sure he' ll d o good , thou gh . You 're last Superbike National win was in 1992, at Road America... I've go ne throu gh quite a bit in the last few years, bu t I think right no w I'm feeling more comfo rt abl e w it h the whol e racin g situ at ion th an I h ave in a long time. I feel rea lly goo d abo u t it. . You have another year left on your contract"after this year with Vance & Hines Yamaha. Is this the team with which you'd like to end your career? Sure. I've had a good relationship with Yam ah a and also the guys at Van ce & Hines. As long as th ings are goin g like they're going, I' d be a fool to want to swi tch at -this point in my career. I'd like to fini sh up whe re I am - w ith a great team . I' m th e type th a t I want to be deserving of whatever I get, so I want to 0 win a race her e pr etty qu ick...