![]() ![]() I had to shave my legs, and they used a lot of makeup. I flew to San Francisco, walked into a room, and there was a photo of Rodin’s The Thinker bronze sculpture, along with a big rock. We shot it the day after I won the 500 National Championship. Hey, I was wearing boots! That idea came from Pete Fox. TALK ABOUT THE FOX “THINKER” AD WHERE YOU POSED NAKED. I RODE IT, BUT ROGER GAVE ME THE BIKE THAT I NEEDED.” “MY LAP TIMES WERE PROBABLY FOUR-SECONDS-A-LAP FASTER, AND I ENDED UP WINNING THE OVERALL. Could I have been better on my starts? Could I have been better in the corners? Did I train too much? Did I train too little? It was easy to keep motivated. If I won, I always questioned where I could have been better. They always found a way to fix their flaws and come back. If you beat them one week, they would come back stronger the next week. The two guys who I consider my toughest rivals were Jeff Ward and David Bailey. Yes, I won a lot of races, and I had great adversaries. YOU WON A LOT, BUT YOU HAD REALLY TOUGH COMPETITION. Even some of my friends would say, “We want to see you start at the back and come through the pack.” I understood, but those people didn’t realize how hard I worked to perfect my racing. I recall seeing T-shirts that said, “Anyone but RJ,” or “RJ” with a line through it. I won a lot, and some people didn’t like that. HOW DID YOUR POPULARITY AFFECT YOU? To some degree, it was a negative. YOU WERE MXA’S “RIDER OF THE YEAR” IN 1986, 19. Johnny O, in his Honda jersey, didn’t know that Rick Johnson, in his Yamaha jersey, would soon be a teammate at Honda. I punched Ronnie Lechien in the face one time, and I had taken a couple of guys out when they started it first, but I did not just hit people all the time. I was a Christian, but I would go out dancing and chasing girls. When I finally realized that I was slowing myself down to take people out, I knew I needed to just focus on going fast. I wanted to be like Bob Hannah and wanted people to fear me, but I was not a mean person. I had a spiked hairdo, and ironically at the same time, the artist from Life’s A Beach came up with ‘The Bad Boy Club.’ I was taking people out. IN YOUR EARLY PRO DAYS, DID YOU HAVE A BAD BOY REPUTATION? I did not really have a bad boy image, but I was a jerk in 1983. We had both taken each other out a few times in 1983, but we buried the hatchet and said, “No more of that.” We would ride hard against each other, and maybe even bump each other, but it was never intentional. David and I would later have a gentlemen’s agreement that we were not going to take each other out. David Bailey and Johnny O’Mara were great friends, and I, the new guy, was on the outside. IS IT TRUE THAT TEAM HONDA WAS CLIQUISH IN 1986? Yes. IF YOU BEAT THEM ONE WEEK, THEY WOULD COME BACK STRONGER THE NEXT WEEK.” THE TWO GUYS WHO I CONSIDER MY TOUGHEST RIVALS WERE JEFF WARD AND DAVID BAILEY. “YES, I WON A LOT OF RACES, AND I HAD GREAT ADVERSARIES. I did the math, and with the salary and the bonus money, I could make much more at Honda. I told Roger that I wanted to win, so they added in big bonuses. ![]() ![]() I was supposed to get $225,000 from Yamaha. They adjusted the suspension, raised the handlebars and that thing was fast. I went to a track out in the hills by Carlsbad and Honda brought out Ronnie’s old works bike. I called Yamaha and made an excuse that “I could not come up today.” He said, “Okay, we’ll be down this afternoon.” “Hey, would you consider riding for us?” he asked. It was a Wednesday morning, and I was scheduled to sign my Yamaha contract that day when Honda team manager Roger Decoster called me. WHEN DID HONDA ENTER THE PICTURE? After the Kawasaki setback, I figured I was going to have to re-sign with Yamaha. Johnny O’Mara (left), Jeff Ward (middle) and Rick Johnson (right) in 1984. Then, I signed up for the 1980 San Diego Supercross, but I didn’t qualify. Right after my 16th birthday, I got my Pro License and won every regional up in Washington and Oregon. I could not race the AMA National series until I was 16. WHEN DID THAT HAPPEN? I turned pro at the age of 13 in Southern California. I watched how hard he worked, and that was my benchmark. We met at local races, and after he got his factory Yamaha ride, he would let me ride one of his bikes and take me riding, as I was not old enough to drive. WHO ELSE WAS HELPFUL IN YOUR EARLY MOTOCROSS DAYS? Broc Glover helped me a lot. I was always racing against full-grown men. Once I turned 12, I got on a 125, and within three months I went from junior to pro. When I was 10 years old, I was racing on Wednesday nights and on Saturday and Sunday. I had the ability to come home from school, throw my boots and gloves on, and go riding until dark every day.
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