INTERVIEW
KAWASAKI MECHANIC – MIKE WILLIAMSON
P58
Getting Started
Wiliamson's journey as a factory
mechanic began 23 years ago,
when he was a teenager spinning
wrenches on his own race bikes and
occasionally for other local racers.
It didn't take long for people to no-
tice the quality work that the young
mechanic turned out and along the
way he did West Coast amateur sup-
port work for Yamaha. When he was
just 16, in 1993, Williamson went on
the road for the first time with rider
Donald Upton. He was driving the
van to the races and prepping the
bikes – it was a lot of responsibility
for a 16-year old kid. He credits fel-
perfect picture setting these two ob-
serve. While the life of a factory me-
chanic may beat the doldrums of many
work-a-day jobs, it is, in fact, a job of
intense workload and commitment.
Spending time with Ryan Villo-
poto's mechanic Mike Williamson
you not only get the sense of that
commitment, but you also learn the
path a mechanic typically has to take
to get to Williamson's position. For
every factory mechanic who looks
to be the envy of tuners in waiting,
there's a dozen out there sleeping in
the back of a van, living off fast food
and working for next to nothing. It's
called paying your dues.
(Left) During
the Supercross
season, Mondays
and Tuesdays are
spent each week
at the shop getting
Villopoto's bikes
prepped for the
race weekend.
(Right) There's a
whole lot of work
behind the scenes
to make sure that
Villopoto has the
best bike possible
to fight for wins on
Saturdays.
