THE BEST OF JODY’S BOX: A SEMBLANCE OF RATIONALITY OUT OF INTERCONNECTED PARTS
“I had been in out in the garage for a couple hours, but I hadn’t made any progress…if you judge progress by getting closer to a specific goal.
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“I had been in out in the garage for a couple hours, but I hadn’t made any progress…if you judge progress by getting closer to a specific goal.
The most prolific motorcycle designer of all-time built his own linkage fork, but never sold it until he turned it into a famous mountain bike fork
It disappeared into the bowels of the KTM R&D department back in 1990, but like Jonah and the whale it was spit out 30 years later
“I’ve known Stumpy his whole life, but only because he was the brother of my racing buddy Fred Phalange. In truth, I don’t know Stumpy’s given name and if he hadn’t been Fred’s younger brother I don’t think I would have ever noticed him.”
“I race motorcycles for the same reasons that Frank Luke busted balloons”
“People would ask him what those two crazy Australians were testing, and Jody would say, “They are testing plastic components—on other riders’ bikes.”
There are advantages to be lapped because you get to finish right behind the leader—which makes unobservant spectators think that you finished second
You gotta read this, it’s the dark version of motocross bike history
Suffice it to say that on its own playing field and in its own time a 1971 CZ 250 is every bit the match for a 2021 Yamaha YZ250F
The next two weeks will be anxiety ridden, not just for the AMA National riders, but for the local riders who are blown off the local tracks by them
“I would love to take the time to apologize to all the people I’ve inconvenienced with my stupidity over the years, but…”
Jody builds a fuel-injected 2019 Husqvarna TE300i motocross bike for himself, but gives it to his arch nemesis
“I have been fortunate to have been around a slew of great champions, and you can always tell when they are winners.”
Most people don’t know this, but every factory team hires one employee to laugh at every joke their stars says. It makes the star feel good and is well worth the money over a long season
I like that the guy next to me in the pits could be Ken Roczen’s neighbor (isn’t everybody). Or that the guy next to me is Ken Roczen (happens all the time).
Motocrossers share a common bond that is primordial. It goes back to the hunter-gatherer days when primitive man had a close relationship with his own mortality
Motocross racers don’t talk about their personal lives, self doubts, fears of inadequacy or anything remotely private. We are from Mars, afterall
“I don’t remember races I’ve won. I don’t remember races I’ve lost. I don’t remember my first race. I don’t remember the last moto I was in yesterday.”
If it could be done, he’d do it; if you needed it done, he was the man to ask; if it couldn’t be done, give the job to Tom White
There was room to park a Buick Roadmaster towing an Airstream trailer between the two jumps, and the landing ramp was steeper than the emergency exit on a Boeing 737
It was such a great idea that Honda and Yamaha copied it it, but it was doomed to extinction anyway
If the guy behind me is faster than me, and after all these years I don’t think there are too many people who aren’t faster than me, he is free to go on his merry way as long as he goes by on the outside
A quick primer on how to dress for success in the world of motocross, why dressing in all-black was good for Dracula, but bad for a motocross racer
Make no mistake about it, there are still a few Hodaka parts left on this Super Combat
It is understandable that motorcycle racers aspire to be famous. After all, they engage is a risky sport, dress in a brightly colored super hero costume and perform in front of audience of fanboys and manfriends
Last week it rained on Glen Helen the night before the REM race, this week it rained at Glen Helen just as practice started, but everyone had fun anyway
I assume that people who spend thousands of dollars on gaudy day-glo gear and personalized graphics, also have a passing interest in the history of the sport
How to keep a straight face when strangers tell you about their previous life as a famous racer
I don’t know where I got them. I’ve had never seen or heard of the company before, during or after I started wearing them
In politics the end comes by being caught with three showgirls in a Virginia watering hole and in motocross it comes with being three feet short on a triple