KYLE PARTRIDGE INTERVIEW–OCT 27

We caught up with Motoworld/Suzuki’s newest recruit, Kyle Partridge during Spy’s ride day at Cahuilla Creek. He was hard to miss on the track, partly because he’s a giant 6’3″ tall kid, and he was riding with supercross suspension on a motocross track. Go figure. Here’s how our conversation went with Kyle, who we now think is a member of the goof troop.

How do you like your new gig at Motoworld/Suzuki?

It’s going good so far. I just started riding a little bit of supercross on Sunday and Monday, and it’s been going good.

How is your foot?

It’s 100% and I don’t have any problems with it at all. It doesn’t hurt. I broke it in the first moto at Glen Helen when I was running 10th, but it’s all healed now.

Sum up your first couple of races as a pro.

My first race at Millville I got third in my qualifier behind Ryan Mills and Greg Schnell. In the main event my bike broke both motos. Then at Binghamton my bike broke both motos. At Steel City I didn’t qualify. I fell in the first turn and came back in the LCQ and fell on the last lap trying to pass for the final qualifying position. At Glen Helen I was running ninth or tenth in the first moto and I just did something stupid. I set my foot out in the corner and broke my foot.

Will your height be an advantage in supercross?

In the whoops, for sure. I’ve ridden the whoops for a couple of days now and I can tell right now that the whoops are going to be a big advantage for my height. I’ve been putting together pretty good sections at the test track. I guess Davi [Millsaps] and Broc [Hepler] are the only ones that have done the sections that I’ve done on the test track. I feel good and the series should be good hopefully.

Have you ridden with fellow Suzuki rider Ricky Carmichael yet?

No. Hopefully I get to though. Ricky is a good friend of the family. He talked to my brother at Loretta Lynn’s and said that he would help me out this year and get me used to riding supercross. I’m excited about that because Ricky is one of the top guys out there.

How do you like living in Huntington Beach after living in Las Vegas? You’ve gone from one party city to another.

It’s pretty good, actually. There really isn’t much difference from Vegas, except for the weather. Obviously the biggest difference is that everywhere I look in Huntington Beach there are hot girls.

How close do you live to the Suzuki test track?

It takes me 30 minutes to get there in traffic, but I usually just run the carpool lane and fast track. I’ll put my tailgate down [laughter].

You better not let the cops catch you! How much different is the Motoworld/Suzuki bike from your amateur bike?

There’s a big difference. I’ve had kit suspension before, but on the Motoworld bike the suspension is a lot better. Really, it’s the motor and suspension. Going from my motocross bike to my supercross bike is different because my supercross bike has so much bottom end. I can lug the bike around the corners and get on the gas hard.

Being that you’re so tall, how high of seat foam are you running compared to stock?

I’m not really sure. I just got the [Travis] Pastrana seat from the factory Suzuki team, so I just run that seat.

What is the first thing that someone should invest in their motocross bike?

I would say that they should probably get their suspension taken care of. You could probably get hurt a lot easier riding with stock suspension because it’s not valved for your weight and set up for you.

But you’re using supercross suspension on a motocross track.

Yeah, I guess you’re kind of right. I’m not scared though [laughter].

What have you been doing in the off-season?

I broke my foot, and then I just hung out. After the foot healed I started cycling and going to the gym. I’ve been riding every single day that I can, and I’ve been going to the Suzuki test track all the time.

Who do you foresee to be your toughest competition in the 125 West?

Oh man, there are a lot of guys. Nathan Ramsey, there are a couple of guys from Yamaha of Troy, Langston, Tedesco. I think East and West is going to be equally tough.

Thanks for the interview and good luck riding with supercross suspension on a motocross track.

[Laughter] Hey, thank you.