Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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in during the week; I just ride lIIMlQt!~~ds when I go racing." -Jeff Fredette What is the toughest event you remember riding? That comes up a lot, and to be honest with you, I'm not really sure. The toughest ones that I can recall were maybe Whales in '83 and Holland in '84. What years did you compete on the Trophy Team? You know, I was digging out some stuff and trying to remember. I know I was on at least one Trophy Team and maybe two more. I was on the Silver Vase Team at least three and maybe five times. What are your thoughts on the U.S. ISDE effort? Well, it is one of those things where the Europeans race these things year-round. It would be like having them come over and ride an American enduro - it would completely boggle their minds. There are no special tests, and you don't know where the checks are. We go to the Six Days, and we don't ride ribbons. Our trail pace is plenty good enough to keep up with the Europeans, but as far as the special tests, the cornering technique and that kind of stuff, we just don't train for that. We've had years where we sent our Dream Team, the best people we've got. and we don't do any good those years, either. It's just one of those things where we've got to get riders who will commit to it. Like Kurt Caselli, he's been going over and riding World rounds and stuff, and his performance in the Six Days is showing that. He rides the ribbons well, and he's fast. It is one of those things where he wants to step up to World competition and show 'em he can do something over there, where all of the rest of our guys are just U.S.-based and don't really care about the ISDE. How many more ISDEs can you see yourself riding? Everybody asks the same question. You know, I don't have goals or anything, but I've got places I want to go and see, and next year's event is in New Zealand, and I've never been there, so I gona go. In '07, they have no idea where it's going to be yet, so I don't know about that year yet. But, in '08, it's going to be in Greece, so I've never been there. I'm probably good for about two more, maybe. As long as the body is holding up, I have fun going to the Six Days. Do you have any nagging ailments or previous injuries that haunt you? Just 27 years of wear and tear. Nothing usually aches more than the rest of me. You've always been known as Mr. KDX. Why the loyalty? My philosophy has always been, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. It is one of those things where I could probably do just as good or better on something else, but this bike has never let me down. I haven't counted it up, but every year except for two since '83 has been on KDXs. They have been very, very reliable. They don't do anything exceptionally well, but they just do everything really good. Have you thought about riding the KX250F? Well, I've been riding that thing off and on for the last two years now. I think '06 is the last KDX year, and they are working on some off-road four-stroke stuff now. If they get the reliability on the four-strokes up to where they will make it six days, then we'll have to convert over to one of those, I suppose. Finally, I'm sure you have some interesting rental car experiences. My experience with rental cars is I always drive them back. eN CYCLE NEWS • OCTOBER 12, 2005 55