EP#61 - Tye Simmonds - Part 1 - growing up in Bourke, racing MX here and in the US and more.

In this episode of the ADB Podcast, Mitch catches up with former factory motocross racer Tye Simmonds to look back on a career that took him from his home in Bourke, NSW to competing at the highest level of the sport in Australia and the US. Tye shares how he first got into riding, the people who helped him along the way, and what it was like signing his first professional contract.

We also dive into his years racing motocross at home and overseas, the challenges of making it as a professional racer, and ultimately why he decided to step away from the sport. It's an honest conversation packed with stories from one of Australia's most respected racers, covering the highs, the setbacks, and life after motocross.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the ADB Podcast, where we talk all things dirty with your host, Richard Lee. We've got another ADB Podcast with us, and uh we actually have a really special guest today. It's a bit of a fun one because a lot of you may not have heard from him or what he's been up to for the last couple of years, but for a long time there in our industry, he was the name that pretty much was on the end of everyone's lips. You couldn't get away from what he was doing. Uh but before we introduce you to our next guest, I will thank our sponsors. We've got um Dunlop, they're sponsoring the podcast with a range of their different tires. They have the MX34. That's their new tire that's superseded the MX33. We actually rode with that tire on the I think it was the Yamaha YZ250 that we were testing the other day, and we were blown away by the traction of the 34 and how much better it was than the 33. So go out and have a look at the Dunlop MX34, and then also uh Sherko, Sherko are sponsoring the show with their fast finance deal. You can get it on two strokes, and I believe they're also going to offer their fast finance deal, which is pretty good on their four strokes coming up, too. But we'll have more news on that later on. Anyway, without further ado, I'm gonna introduce our guest. It is Ty Simmons. Ty, thanks for coming on the podcast.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Thanks for having me, mate. Sorry it's been a headache to get me, but we're on and ready to go.

SPEAKER_00 1:15

Oh mate, I fully understand. I know what you do nowadays, it's not that easy to be uh sitting in front of a phone like this, catching up. So um, hey, but before I mean, I I want to know, it's gonna be hard to squeeze everything that I would love to recall and talk to you about in like an hour and a bit. But um for those out there, the for those out there that are that are under the age of 18, they probably may not know the name Ty Simmons. If you are over the age of 18 or 20 and you've been in our industry and you don't know the name of Ty Simmons, there's something wrong with you. Um but it's funny because I was even thinking that today, I'm like, for me, it doesn't feel that long ago that you were like in our industry and dominating the sections that you were in while you were racing, whether it was motocross or enduro or or desert. And then I thought to myself, and I was doing a bit of research and I'm like, so it's not like this shit was 10, 12, 13 years ago now. Um so lots has happened since then. Um but yeah, we want to talk to you about uh career during racing, like kind of how you grew up first and then career during racing, and then we want to know what you've been doing after racing because that's kind of interesting and entertaining in itself as well. Um and for those that don't know, the first time I met Ty was actually 2010, and Adam Riemann and I came out on adventure bikes. This was like the first time that adventure bikes were getting big, and we did this ride on a BMW 1200 and a 650, and then a tenor A660 and a tenor super a super tenoret. And we came out to your place and we stayed the night in um at bro out of Burke, where you are now. And um I I will that that trip will always stay with me because I I grew up on a farm and we do a lot of we shoot a lot of pigs and bits and pieces, but you took us to pigging. And so Reeman was loving it. You know what Reaman's like? He's so dramatic, and but it was a big eye-opener, I think, for uh a couple of the other guys that came with us. But we got to see your facility. You had super cross-tracks set up in the middle of all the farming that your old man was doing. Do you remember that? Do you remember that 2010?

SPEAKER_02 3:17

I do, mate. I do have a shock in memory. It's terrible, but stuff I do remember here and there. Um, but yeah, I remember he's come out. Uh, we're at work, like at home here, and then I reckon Cadium had like I had an AXC or I had something or other, and we changed the gearing on it and we took off. And it was about 220 kilometres out to that station, like from really close family friends, yeah. And uh I I I seen that magazine not that long ago, might I in that bit of a bit of a uh bit of a deal like you guys done on it. So um I do remember that. That was funny, that was pretty cool.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

That was a fond memory for me because there was a few, like I said, I've done a little that we've I've grew up on a farm, but there's still a few fur a fair few first there. I've never been out farming really where you got you are, which is as flat as it is, so you can do that kind of stuff, and just all the other kids getting into the pigging, and I was like, that kid's like 11, and he's got his head half up the pig as well. They were all family, but was awesome.

SPEAKER_02 4:11

Um yeah, it was cool, mate. It was that was a fun deal. Like, like, yeah, like I said, they're all family friends. I started going out to their they got two stations out there when I was about 15, so that was my like get away from training and racing and like on weekends off or the off season, that's where that's where you'd find me and be out there, you know, mushering or peeing or yabbing or whatever, mate, you know, having having a blast.

SPEAKER_00 4:32

Yeah, I love it. So for those that don't know, Ty lives out of Burke uh and or grew up out of Burke, or we're gonna find out later on kind of where you've been the last little while. Um, and yeah, grew grew grew up with it as a in a farming community, um, still essentially does that now. Um, but we're we're gonna go back to where you where it all kind of started for you. Before we get there, what are you doing now? Because all I see is you mustering goats in a chopper, and it's it was funny. Like, we're gonna also get to you all of a sudden stopping racing and how you got into mustering goats, because it's a very funny thing to go from like factory star to see you up in a chopper and start moving goats. But is that what you're still doing? What explain to us what you do right now?

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Yep, so yeah, still contract mastery, mate. So yeah, sheep, cattle, or goats, whatever you need done. Me and the team sort of we turn up and we can do everything right. So uh I still got my old man's dad's still my right-hand man, um, and got some young, really good blokes that work for me with me. Um yeah, so if you need your property master to whoever or whatever, you know, like I said, whether it be sheep, cattle, or goats, we we turn up and get it all done and got the set up where now, mate, like you don't even you can sit on the couch whole time and you know, you we just roll in, get the job done. Um and yeah, the bank, you know, you get paid by uh the avatars if it's goats or if it's you know doing sheep and and cattle, well, yeah, like you'll end up paying us, but you know, we just roll in and do everything for everyone and and roll out, you know what I mean, and try and keep that, keep the ball rolling, going from place to place. So yeah, I'll leave, I'll leave here in Burke, still based here in Burke, but I'll leave and can be gone, sort of work into it if I'm gone for about two or three weeks, you know, before I get back. So yeah, it's uh but it's unreal, mate. It's uh tell people all the time, like pretty lucky I've lived the life that people wouldn't be able to do two or three times over, you know. I got to uh I got to ride bikes for a living, and like that was absolutely what I loved for so long, and then literally stepped out of riding dirt bikes and jumped into flying aircraft, helicopters and gyrocopters and whatnot, and and it's the same again, mate. I'm getting literally paid to do what I love again. So been very lucky, very blessed.

SPEAKER_00 6:35

I couldn't agree more. It is a life that most people will never live. If they had multiple lifetimes, they'd never live it. And in fact, um I got called by good mate Stephen Tuff, Tuffy, um, earlier today, and he used to be with ADB. And I told him, Oh, I'm speaking to Ty this afternoon. He was like, No way, that's awesome, because he's so, you know, he the same as me. We we grew up in the same kind of period that you were, you know, dominating uh the race scene as well. And he just wants to know what's your what happened in life back then, what's happening in life back now, because it is such an interesting, I think, a really interesting story. Um hey, so let's start then. Before we even start about your professional career, what age did you start riding and what did riding look like out at Burke? It's flat, so it's not like you're getting out and trail riding amongst the hills or whatever else you're doing. So so when where how did getting into bikes start?

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Um I think it was just a it just started like little Jim Carners, like bending and flagging barrels and and you know, little towns around Burke of, you know, towns of 10 people, 20 people, 50 people, they had these do's right on weekends where you know for the for the parents and whatnot, they'd go out there on a Friday night and there'd be barbecuing a bit of a piss-up, um, you know, or a dance at the hall or whatever, like this is back back in the day. They don't do that sort of stuff now, which is a bit unfortunate. But then, you know, on the Saturday it was Jim Carners, so it's start as, you know, the young ones and then go to the opens or the you know, the adults and you know, kids of all ages, from five-year-olds to like, you know, as old as you want to be, um, men's and women's and children, you know what I mean. So that's kind of how it all started. Dad, uh, dad always rode bikes, had buggies, that sort of stuff. He hasn't changed much now, mate. He's 63 or 4, and he's the same as what he was back then at 18 to now. So that's kind of how I got dragged in it. You know, dad was always on bikes, and um, yeah, I started going out there when you know I was in a PV-50, and that's kind of the fundamentals where it all started, mate. And then from there, you know. Um, a couple of little club days close to Burke within, you know, sort of 400K's, Cobar, um, Tottenham, Dubbo, Doblin, like, you know, across the Maury, like that, we'd sort of go and do a few of them, and yeah, sort of before we knew it, kind of started to win a few things, got a little bit more serious. I had a I had an uncle actually that that raced back in the day, sort of he was around the McFarland and Ando and Reedy era. Um he never got the support like you know, a local bike shop in Dubbo, give him a hand. Um, but he was really motivated and driven and didn't have the natural talent or the backing. Like my pop, who was one of my biggest backers, you know, didn't do much with with my uncles, you know what I mean? Like didn't really support them um in what they wanted to do, whether it be rode on or or for Uncle Scott with riding bikes. Um, yeah, so bloody um that's where it all sort of come from, mate. Dad used to ride bikes when he was young. Um the Jim Carn is just a local thing around here. There's still little bits of it, not so much anymore. And then obviously Uncle Scott he he rode and got to a professional level and sort of got pretty good at it, but then got to the point where you know he was starting his own sort of security business and kind of didn't have the factory support or the backing to go on with it, so he he took off and went the other way and now is very, very successful in what he does. But yeah, that was kind of the how it all rolled out for me, how it all started, I suppose.

SPEAKER_00 9:46

And so how do you go from competing in those events kind of locally um to you you you're a junior world champ as well pretty early on? How do you go from being you know successful locally to then jumping up to a world stage uh in a matter of years later and and dominating on a world stage as a junior? Was there a coach or someone in your area that helped you go from being a kid who races at his club to a kid who can win in the world?

SPEAKER_02 10:14

I think the biggest thing, mate, I I had like my dad, like you know, mum sort of left when we were a bit younger, so I kind of only had dad Well Pop as well, Nana Pop, who I sort of live with growing up. Um but my dad was just he, you know, he was a builder at the time. He had sort of six or seven houses in Burke. And kind of once we started to figure out that, you know, like Riders winning club days, and then got the state level, and all of obviously nationals and whatnot. I think a few people got in his ear and kind of said, you know, obviously I was going all right at the time. So he sold, uh he signed, he sold quite a lot of his houses in town here and pretty well had a lump sum of money and said, you know, at by that time I was sort of 12 and 13 and getting, you know, pretty handy, I suppose. Said, you know, we've got this. By the time you turn pro, you're not making money or doing well. Well, that's it, game over, you're coming to work for me, we're gonna be building and and whatnot, you know what I mean. So um kind of got that off him at a young age, which was really cool and good, but he was so motivated and driven and would do anything um, you know, to get me to that better level, I suppose. Um, yeah, it didn't matter, you know. Um just trying to think of some of the boys like Josh Case at one point in my life when I was 11, 12, you know, he was the quickest kid in Australia, so we'd always go to Victoria to chase him, you know. Um the boys up in Queensland, like the Harley Quinlens, um Toddie Waters, Wacky Todd was probably the biggest one. But Todddy Waters, those kind of guys, Dean Ferris, he was sort of a bit of a late bloomer, but it didn't matter where we were, whoever's the quickest in the like in Australia at that time, that's where dad would take me. Um the day I was you know old enough to step up the next class, I was there, you know what I mean? Um, so I had dad who was very motivated and driven. Um, and you know, obviously no excuse for him. He was an old hard ass, but without him and the way he'd done it, I would not be where I am today. And and that's in life in general, mate, with everything you know. Uh and the biggest, the biggest sort of secret weapon we also had was Uncle Scott. Um, because he, like I said, he he sort of raced in that area with you know McFarland and Reedy, um, with Andos, those kind of guys. So he got to see it all, um, like those guys at that level, and then obviously stayed really passionate about the sport and sort of kept in touch and watched it for a long time. You know, he he lived and he's and he's still based in Dubbo. Um, we'd feel like a bit, you know, I'd be riding around at the time and he'd obviously come out and do work. And he would just turn up there for a couple of hours one afternoon, like at the farm that Dad and Pop sort of built, like, you know, we sort of built and got it going. And the shit he could do in a couple of hours with me, like it was still to this day pretty mind blowing. You know, he could just pick my riding apart, try different shit. Like, yeah, it's still pretty mind-blowing to this day what he could do with me at any given time. You know, dad was sort of the hard ass and always up me and into me, where he'd just turn up quietly and just, you know, just yeah, just pick it all apart and and make me work on things and get better. And then um, and then also, you know, big old family deal. But then I had Uncle Pete who had absolutely nothing to do with motorbikes. He was the rodeo scene with dad, but he just believed in, you know, believed in me and dad and and what we're doing. And he was always there, like with, you know, he's got kids as well, like my cousins, and uh uh his boy actually should have been a lot better and was going to be a lot better than I ever was by a long shot because he had the facilities and set up, but he was always there pretty well most afternoons with Pop and Dad, um, you know, pushing me in and getting me going and just always, you know, encouraging and had good words just for the motivation, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Um I remember uh Grabbo, I'm gonna paraphrase what they said here, Pricey all saying one at one stage to me that they felt like you were the most naturally gifted writer that they'd ever seen. Um that in fact I remember Grabbo almost getting jealous because he's just like it it's not hard for him and it's frustrating because they have to work for it. Um you know, we see that every now and then in people who come through. I think, you know, talk people talk about with Jet Lawrence and if there's this things that come naturally to him that just don't come to other people. Um do you ever think, and probably pricey to an extent as well. Do you ever did did you ever hear that stuff growing up in you when you were 12, 13, 14? Were people telling you that before you started real people really started to notice you?

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Um I I definitely did hear it a lot throughout my career, especially at an early age, but we'd have uh we would also have kids come out, um, you know, obviously trying to learn or you know, see what we were doing different, I guess, to other kids, right? Like obviously being so far out here, no one would see me until it was a weekend, or you know what I mean. We weren't practicing anywhere close down inside, you know, at that 10, 11, 12, 13. Once I sort of got on board with KDM, well, we'd be down there inside and going to different other plaques, like practice places with other kids and whatnot. But at the start, mate, I I sort of would hear it a fair bit. I was very lazy, and to this day I'm still fucking lazy, like like I know it now, you know what I mean? Like, um, but knew I was very naturally talented. I was pretty, I could do like play most sports, but sort of knew it at a young age, but never clicked or registered, you know what I mean? But where I kind of did see it, but didn't realise at the time, like kids had come out here riding and I'd have jump tracks, play tracks with huge jumps, with like rutted out, shit was dry, dusty, you know, and these kids, you know, that were quick on weekends at race days at good world groomed tracks, they couldn't do shit out here, you know what I mean. So yeah, I kind of knew that I was a lot better than than everyone at the like when at those age, especially the kids that come out here at the time, and I thought were really fast and quick, but put on a bit of rough stuff, hard stuff, they'd struggle out here, you know what I mean. Yeah. Um, I mean, we had the best tracks in the world, I think, um, over the years, and and purely because of dad um building everything and making everything. But yeah, I I think it definitely didn't, I hurt it a fair bit when I was younger, and then as I got older, but it wasn't until like later, sort of once I'd I actually quit riding. Um, and then I started to I started to rodeo. I just wanted to get on a few bareback horses like dad did at one of my like really good mates out of Cameron Corner. Cameron's Corner, he he's all mean owned a half million acre like station and heap of cattle. And I was out there doing a lot of work with him and he was just starting to slow up and retire from riding, but he was he would, you know, he wouldn't go to rodeos, but he would just turn his ass off. Um and just so motivated, so driven. It wasn't until about that hour like I was like, shit, I am like I'm just still pretty talented, but just lazy, you know what I mean? Um, yeah, so it was a while after, like that's probably one thing I wish we could go back and knew at the age of 12 or 13 or 14 how sort of naturally talented I was um and sort of had the motivation and drive that I got now back then. But that's life that happens, mate. That's the way it is, because you know, you know, all my uncles and most of the family like that that were so supportive and and pushing me so hard, they weren't they weren't naturally talented, I had no talent, had more of me, you know, little finger. And I think it definitely pissed dad, like pissed them all off at certain stages for sure.

SPEAKER_00 17:04

But mate, hindsight's a beautiful thing, and and you know, I think I I don't think I can't think of a single person who can't, as someone who's now been through life experiences, look back and say that they um you know wouldn't have done things differently, um, you know, in in a past in their earlier life. Um and so yeah, I I it's it's it's funny you say I look back and I wish I had it on XYZ. Um and I'm sure there's probably who people who didn't have the talent that would look back and say, Oh, if I just had a trained more or developed more skill or whatever it is. Hey, so going from Burke to anywhere, I remember you saying to me once when we caught up um it's the middle of everywhere. And I'm like, Well, what do you mean? It took me 12 hours to get out here, it's not the middle of everywhere. And you said, No, no, no, it is because if I go and race in South Australia or in the bottom of Melbourne, or across on the east coast near Sydney, or up in Queensland, I'm 10 to 12 hours from everywhere. And I thought, well, that's probably that's a good point. You actually are in the middle of kind of everywhere. It beats being in Queensland and driving two days down to South Australia and the other way around. Um what was there anything that your family had to give up when you started making uh competing at a national and a pro level? Um, you still were living in Burke, so you didn't move away from Burke. You talked about your dad selling houses to start to fund the kind of racing program before obviously maybe um contracts could take over. Was there anything else that the family had to move or change or do things differently because you guys were in Burke?

SPEAKER_02 18:38

No, and that was probably the beauty of it. Like I had such a such a uh such a good base here in Burke that we never moved, we never left, right? So, like, yeah, you're dead right. It's eight hours to Sydney, nine hours to Brisbane, nine hours to Melbourne, eleven to Adelaide. So very central, and it was the same once I started to do a bit of rodeo. I'm like, that's when it really clicked and registered for me, you know what I mean? Like we're so close and it is so easy to drive and do that. Like, you know, at the very longest, you got an 11-hour drive, like you know what I mean, and living out here all your life. Like I do enjoy driving. I don't get to drive as much as I used to, but I do love getting the car and I do do love the driving. But we never we never had to give anything up. Like uh, I sort of live with my Nan and Pop on my dad's side, and uh Nan was an old, she was an art hard ass old Catholic. Like uh went to a Catholic Catholic school. Um, mate most of the time for old dad, you know, I'd get out of school at three o'clock on a Friday, and we'd drive, you know, eight, nine, ten hours to get to a race, race all weekend, turn around, he'd have to drive all night home to be at school, you know, eight o'clock, nine o'clock on a Monday morning, you know what I mean. So I didn't I didn't dip out on any less school or anything like that, uh, especially in the younger days. Um, yeah, so so to answer that question, mate, no, no, nothing changed. You know, we got the farm when we got a bit older, um, which is only 100 acres, but it's right on the river, and you get a lot of really good, like good deep gullies, so really cool natural terrain, jump tracks and play tracks. Um, and then Uncle Pete also went on and bought a uh two or three thousand acre paddock on the river, which is like a 10-minute ride, not even when you go through another like 2,000-acre paddock. So we had like, you know, just like kind of up and down the river banks riding there, and that'd be a warm-up to get over those tracks, you know what I mean? Uh they both acquired more farm equipment to build more tracks, you know. We we wore out or dad wore out pretty well, two bobcats, you know, dad's old one, Uncle Pete bought one, um, bought front end loaders, like just everything to do the job to make you know things better as we progressed and got older and got on, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 20:43

Um okay, let's talk first contract then. Uh you were KDM Jr., but I assume they weren't they were contracts, but they weren't really paid contracts. I'm assuming it's bikes and parts and support and bits and pieces. Do you remember the first contract you signed where they were going to pay you a salary? Do you remember how much it was? And do you remember what age you were?

SPEAKER_02 21:01

Yeah, so I reckon I was I was 15, about to turn 16. Um at the time, I can't remember, I might have been in year eight in high school. And I'd only done like, you know what I was about to turn pro, like, you know, about to turn 16, go pro. Um, I honestly think I'm pretty sure like 60 grand sign on. Wow. As a 16-year-old. Um, and then that was just with KDM. Like, I think at the time, like Unit was on board, Scott Goggles, like, yeah, Red Bull wasn't long after. Um, had quite a few sort of personal sponsors as well. So I can't even remember what the bonuses and stuff were like, but yeah, like it was it was pretty good money for for back then, I thought.

SPEAKER_00 21:42

Wow, that is good money. And so that was that was motocross. That's to race which class in uh back then it would have been MX Nationals, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

It was MX National, so we're in the States a fair bit with Osborne, and then we come back to do the like the national C and I was fifteen and it was not long after that. Um Um, you know what I mean, might have been the end of that year.

SPEAKER_00 22:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:03

I'm pretty sure the nationals are sort of later in the year because they were pretty hot. The junior nationals. So then, yeah, it was literally for the next year. I remember we we nearly we we signed the contract here to do Pro Lights, Motocross, and Supercross, which is MX Nationals and Super X, I think it was back then. Um, and then we almost didn't stay purely because oh, I think I was forced to race um under 19s, and we I didn't want to, didn't like, yeah, it was there was a bit of a blow up about it. Um yeah, so I think it was still 60 grand regardless. Um, I think my first ever pro race I'd done, I'd just turned 16, and the under-19s or whatever didn't start until a couple rounds later, or whatever it was. We went to friggin' Connondale of all places. Um, and at the time, um I think I was 14, might have been raced at Canberra, and then it might have been cool in the next year. So you'd walk into our shed at the farm. I had 285s of practice of race bike, I had two one to fives, practice race bike, two 250s, practice race bike. I had two 252, no, it might have been one 252 stroke, and might have been two 450s, right? Like had there was I can't even remember how many bikes this shed was just stacked. And then obviously turned 15. So the 80s went, but still had the 1D5s, the 250s, four strokes, then two strokes, and and the and the four fifties. And uh yeah, dad was like, right, we can't. I could I don't know what the loophole was, but I couldn't race the Pro Lights class, so we we raced the 450 class or the or the MX1 class or whatever it was called back then.

SPEAKER_01 23:39

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:39

Um, so we had two bikes at home, the two to the two stroke and the four stroke, and you know, they had suspension and whatever done to them, and yeah, we were just pounding out 30-minute motors, 30-minute motors flat out, and just on the stopbice to figure out which one we were quicker on quicker on, because back then the KDM 40 was pretty heavy. Yeah, I think it only had the four-speed gearbox, whatever it was. Anyway, here at home, never been to Connondale either. That was the other thing, right? Um, here at home, over 30 minutes, I was like 20 seconds quicker or 30 seconds quicker over, you know, over 30 minutes, just being lighter, you know, just could hold on to it and ride the thing harder over time. So we go up there. I'm pretty certain it was my first one. I I can't really remember, but anyway, we line up there, and obviously it's fucking hilly. It's hard parked, it was wet, slippery. Like it was just the wrong move. And I I can't remember. I think I might have gone nine nine for both, like for both motos, or I I can't even remember, but I know Pricey was racing back then. I think he beat me. He was he went, you know, he was one of two spots in front of me, went the same, you know what I mean. So he got an ass whooping at the age of 16 though, yeah, just turned 16, I reckon. Oh god, okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:48

I don't think that's still pretty respectable at the age of 16.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Mate, I was in trouble, dad. Fucking you I I just remember we walked out of there with a tar between our legs thinking we were gonna set the world on fire and do great things. And um, yeah, she was a good wake up. I mean, I I think being on the two to two stroke was definitely the wrong move for sure, but um, but yeah, she was a good old wake-up call.

SPEAKER_00 25:09

Do you remember who won?

SPEAKER_02 25:11

Nah, I couldn't tell you. Um yeah, yeah, I think like in the UJ, Marmor, Shane Boys, it was all that sort of error. Um, yeah, but I I I could I couldn't couldn't couldn't remember what who won, mate, for sure.

SPEAKER_00 25:26

It's crazy. Anyone listening, any of the factory riders listening nowadays that are uh on any of the factory teams really, let alone uh the KDM factory teams, that they need to just block that last five minutes out as to uh the current the kind of support, uh the amount of bike, the bits and pieces, because it doesn't look like that anymore, mate. You guys came through in a really good period there where you know uh economies were better and and and businesses were a bit healthier or whatever it is, and so there was um a crazy amount of uh resources that were able to be thrown at things like you know, motocross teams, think teams, uh the enduro team, everything else. It kind of was a good period there.

SPEAKER_02 26:04

Um I remember I'll tell this is just a quick story, but uh so we had like a couple of Dubbo uh dealerships sponsored me when I was on the 60s and just got on to 80s, and then Phil Bond picked us up at Coastal KDM. Everyone, you know, back in the day would know old Bonnie, he was an old legend, and um yes, he sort of got us in the door with uh with Jeff Lee to KDM and everyone knows Lee, he was around forever, and we had a really great relationship with him. Um I did, and so did Dad. And I remember it was Sydney Supercross one year, I was on an 85. Um, I reckon J Martin was on 22 show. I think Boydie might have been on the team at the time, and then Ryan was in the 250 class, right? And Boys Marston had a good night, and Lee She had been on, you know, he'd had a he'd had a few beers and whatnot. And we he rang dad to go up and see him after sort of, you know, after we'd race and we're watching the must-have, you know, the the 252 show boys finish off at night, and KDM Marston had a good night, and I think I I'd won it or whatever it was. And then he'd uh he'd ask, hey, it's going, how the bike's going, oh you know, we're about to send one back. This is run now. We're walking past the KDM stand like stand, like in I I can't remember what Sydney Superdome or whatever it was back in the day, you know. And here's this brand new 85, and he just walked over and he's pretty drunk at the time. So there you go, that's a winning tonight. Other boys done shit, you know, terrible. So we wheeled this brand new 85 out in the elevator, down to the car park, put her in the van, and off we went back to back to burger the brand new KDM 85.

SPEAKER_00 27:30

Thought about bonus?

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Yeah, that was that was that was a pretty good bonus. But um, but yeah, I I definitely see that sort of nowadays, and and as I was finishing up, like we we definitely come through in a pretty good time and a bit before my time, you know, money was good back then and uh got a lot of support and sponsorship where you know even as I was 11, she was all starting to start to taper off.

SPEAKER_00 27:49

Yeah. Um hey, before we get into all the stuff as a pro, boy from Burke heading overseas for the first time. How old were you when you went over to race?

SPEAKER_02 28:01

Um the first time I went over, uh I think I was 11, mate.

SPEAKER_00 28:06

Had you been on a plane? No. Most I don't think I had by the time I was 11. I think most back then most 11-year-olds probably hadn't. You had you how far from Burke did you go? I mean, you've probably traveled the country for racing, obviously, up until then.

SPEAKER_02 28:20

Well, it it was the it was uh so I always remember this pretty well. It was a KDM Cup, right? When that first came about. Um, so I wasn't even riding KDMs at the time. Local dealership in Dubbo, they had Suzuki's, and um I had a Kawasaki and a Suzuki 60 or 65 or whatever they were, right? And they they had given us a bike and give us a bit of sponsorship. We were having troubles, we're blowing motors up, and the the the shocks, the rear shocks were blowing out on us. And uh another dealership in Dubbo, uh, Dubbo City Motorcycles, the Mendems, they still own it to this day. And and the son who was my age or a year older, Alex, he he now runs the show, he's the old man's in the back, you know, uh working on everything. Um had got in dad's ear, said, Look, this KDM Cup's coming up. You've just got to be, you've got to own it, or like you don't have to own, but you've got to ride a KDM to do it, to qualify. So they're like a little area qualifier, and then the finals were up in up at the Gold Coast.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 29:18

So anyway, he gave us his son 65 at the time. Like I, you know, I was beating Alex and whatnot, and said, take this, take it home, train for a week or two, and then go and do. I think we went to Scone for the qualifier. Obviously, I think we won it, and then when then we had to go to the Gold Coast. But we're here at home. I remember getting ready for the Aussies, and this thing was stocked, might have had an exhaust, bugger all suspension work, and I was quicker on it than these bikes that had motors done, suspension done, and just said to dad, like going down to the Aussie, like, can I race it? No, we can't, we've got to do the right thing, you know. So it was Toddy Waters and um and uh Josh Casher once again racing them fellas. So we go down there, first race, didn't get a good start, come through. I think I got third to those two. I I can't really remember what I just remember those two boys being down there and racing them. Um must have been three motors finally. Anyway, whatever it was. So blew a motor up in the first one or whatever it was, then a shock blew out in the second one, and then finally dad's like, ride over the third one. You can ride this KDM. Didn't get a start, but run these boys down and left them and checked out on this KDM. Like this thing was incredible, right? So then the next week we go up to the Gold Coast and just was like happy as a pig and shit, got to ride this KDM, and it was actually a pretty good battle with I think it was Josh Cash, or Todd he might have been in the older class or whatever it was. And um, yeah, I remember it was a pretty good battle, got pretty heated after it, but that was how I got, you know, the first trip over the States for this KDM Cup. So yeah, so I'm pretty sure it was 2004 mate. So we go over, done the world minis, met Zach Osborne, done a like a little lead-up race um to qualify for this. They call it the Reddellens, had no idea what that was, done the area qualifier, won it, and then yeah, got to meet Zach Osborne, who we really we became really great friends with. Um, and then yeah, it was only a couple of months later they were on the phone talking. Dad said, You need to come back, do the regional, and if you qualify for that, then you you gotta come back, like come and lay with us, come live with us, get ready for the reddit, because they've been trying to help kids qualify and get into the letters for years and years, you know. Yeah, and then funnily enough, so I hadn't been on the plane, got on a plane a couple of months later. Dad and I left work on a might have been a Wednesday night or whatever it was, flew to the states, landed there on a Wednesday, picked up a like a minivan, drove to the KDM factory because they helped us out with bikes and whatnot. Um they sorry, they gave us one bike, dad pulled the seats out, we ran it in. I think we got like an exhaust and took suspension over, and that was it. And uh he drove 11 or 12 hours out to uh Albuquerque, New Mexico, and this is before like iPhones and everything, right? So I'm 11 years old, landed in LAX, had a paper mat, and I had to like get that out of the city. Never got lost once somehow. Something had happened with dad's credit card, it got cancelled, so he's we'd walked through the airport with like four or five grand's worth of cash. So he had to hand over his passport because you know, didn't have like a credit card to put on file. Like it was the sketchiest shit you'd ever seen in your life. So hand his passport over, only had cash, dodgy little rental car set up, drove 11 hours out there, raced Friday, Saturday, um, qualified fourth and fifth. They take top five for both classes, and then flew back over on like a I think we flew back in and then drove to like a supercross at Sydney or Brisbane or whatever it was. We'd gone a week and no one hardly knew we'd done anything.

SPEAKER_00 32:43

Hit and run, mate. That's a hit and run job. Shit, eh? Wow, okay. So that was your first experience over in the overseas in the US being away from Burke. Um talk us through some early success you had as in the pro class because you you raced here in Australia in the Pro Motocross, but then you went on what seemed to us from the outside like a pretty good deal with A Star uh uh A J was A Star not A Star. Um what was the J Star? J Star over JDR, yeah, with Jay Reinenberg to America after you'd kind of but you were racing here for J for JDR, and then you were doing some rounds in the US for JDR as well. Talk us about the success before that kind of period. What what kind of success had you had in Australia before then?

SPEAKER_02 33:33

Um so yeah, down the down the 19s, I won it, and then uh then went to Supercross in the Pro Lights class. And I'm pretty sure it was Luke George and Matt Moss who I was racing at the time um in that class. And I reckon I got third to them guys. Um and I won around that year at Townsville. Uh first round was in Perth, I think. I might have got third to them. I can't I can't really remember. I I know I won around, I know I had an arse whooping in Adelaide. Um, and I yeah, they had these massive whoops, and I think Reedy came back, and they were huge, and even half of the 450 guys weren't doing them. But I think Matt and maybe one other guy and me were trying to do them in the light spice with people jumping off and over. And anyway, dad came back and we built these friggin' six-foot whoops and like you know, to get ready for like to if they come up again for the season, but never did. But yeah, so I think that year wasn't too bad. Like me first sort of pro year, ended up third, I reckon, something like that overall. And then went into uh pro lights motocross the next year. So at that point I might have turned 17 in May, sort of halfway through the year.

SPEAKER_01 34:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:49

Um, I think it layer might have been a fair bit through the through the actual motocross. I think I won a couple of rounds, might have won one wanneroo, always seemed to do well in the sand over there. Um yeah, that was so that was 2009, 2008, too. This was 2009. Um done uh yeah, that's right, done the motocross, and then we'll test it with Supercross in 2009. Um and obviously I was always a big kid, right? Like I was always pretty, I was I was very tall and pretty heavy. You know, the time I was pretty fit, like I wasn't carrying much extra weight, um, but I'd ride, like I was on the bike flat out. But I wasn't doing much off, like I was doing off-bike training, but I would ride, you know, say 40 hours a week or more. Like that, I just lived on the bike pretty well, done a bit of off-bike training, but yeah, but we we were testing, getting ready for that 2009 supercross. I know Reedy and like Burner and a few others were coming back. Um, and anyway, they had a 450 sitting there, and we were here at home training. I was just, you know, trying to get threes out of corner and just struggled with a bit of power and being a bit heavier and whatnot. And one day they said, just jump on that 450. Well, I had a 450 there at home riding, but they'd set one up, done a bit of supercross suspension, done up whatever work they'd done to the motor. Didn't didn't do a whole lot because the things were pretty quick. And I jumped on this thing, and life is just easy. Like instead of trying to seat rounds and going up, like I was pushing through the jumps and staying low. And um, so 17 out of it, and we just made a decision. Fuck it, we'll just ride the 450. It's a lot easier. I enjoyed it more. Um yeah, so then then decided to do the supercross series on that at 17. Um, wow, and then uh everything was going really well. Like we were training our Rsov, had you know, pre-season was like, you know, getting ready for the supercross season was great. Everything was Mickey Mouse, and we're a week and a half or two weeks out from the first round was in Tasmania. Um, and we'd had, you know, I think at the time, like we had Matt Moss was out at home, Toddy Waters, might have been like five or six pro guys, right? Um, and you know, we were doing had like a sprint tracks and a couple of supergross tracks alternating everything. Like KDM, they'd bring the truck out. I think the Suzuki boys come out, like it was it was unreal. It was pretty cool looking back at it. Um, yeah, two weeks out or a week and a half out, dad would water the truck, like you know, we we would race simulation day, practice time qualifying hit races, and then your mains. Um, yeah, and uh dad would water the track getting ready for like a main event. So then we just go out and we spend five minutes just running the track in, like you know, it was wet, bit slippery, getting it on. And we had this jump. I don't even know what like why we had it. It was huge, but it was like this monster quad. So you'd come out of a corner, and I'd be, you know, whatever gear on this 450, click in first, click second or third, and then just off the seat and four. Like it was it was huge. Anyway, we'd land, you know, sitting down, leg out, turn left, no dramas. Anyway, this one day it was still just a little bit wet. I landed off this big quad and uh like the first time I'd done it getting ready for this our main event sort of thing, and the front end tucked. And when the front end tucked, well, my ankle caught the ground, and then like my bars I'd tucked the front end, had hit like my you know, my femur. So then before I knew it, like I crashed, and pretty well my ear was like on my ankle, but just the whole left knee just snap, crackle pop the whole deal. I just made an absolute mess of it, right? Um, yeah, so then that that really hindered sort of that super cross season. Um, I still think we got on the podium a couple of times, but uh the we had to make the call, and I was so young, like, look, we can't do anything to fix the knee, just had to like strap it up. So, yeah, so I remember riding that series. I could only get my heel on the foot peg, and that was it. And luckily, that was that four skid uh four-speed gearbox. So I was only riding the superdrush track in like two gears, and I just shifted the heel, you know. Um, yeah, so then that was 2009, that was the second year, and then and then I reckon that was when the 350s had turned up.

SPEAKER_01 38:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:55

Um for that next year, which is 2010. So then rode the 350s, yeah, for that motocross and that supercross series.

SPEAKER_00 39:04

So how did that 350 compare with the other 450s that you've been riding? We we have a cover, it's one of my favourite covers actually from twin 2010, and you are on the 350. Uh you must have got the first one in the country. And um how how did that bike that and that was also the first time we saw like a mid-capacity uh bike be competitive in that class? Kairolly ripped on it as well for the following few years. Yeah, how how what was that early model 350 like compared to the 450 you've been riding?

SPEAKER_02 39:34

I I think it was good. It was a lot lighter, it had the linkage suspension, it had the you know, the fuel injection. So overall it felt better. Um you know, and I think you know, with time down home, it was good. But comparing to the other, because the KDM 450 at that point was behind a bit, right? Like everyone had jumped to the fuel injection, everyone had the linkages. Um, it so it was behind. I like looking back at it all now, um, it was definitely behind. But those like in the height behind it, all right. So you're dead right. I think Crowley got there. Was four like pre-production, four were made, Crowley got two, and two turned up at birth. I think like you guys, ADB done a story on it.

SPEAKER_01 40:13

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:13

Like they come out, it was all wrapped up, hush hush.

SPEAKER_01 40:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 40:16

Um, we got it out here, and I remember we're having trouble at the start because we would run like abgas would burn a lot hotter and cleaner, um, and was cheaper, way cheaper back in the day.

SPEAKER_01 40:24

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 40:25

Um, so we were running that, and then we had we started having dramas with the fuel injection because of the lead and whatnot. But I I just remember like there was a lot of hype around it. I obviously loved it because this new boot thing was going to be closer to the gap models, like we thought it was the bee's knees, right? Um, I remember back in the day, journey. I spoke to dad a little about this in the past, and but you know, with Uncle Scott as well. And I reckon that 350 was a bit of it sort of killed my career a little bit, yeah, in a way. Um, I think you know, at the start here in Australia, that I was a lot closer to the 450s, but once going over there, that really, that really sort of hindered me, you know what I mean. Um, so back in the day, like kids had come out here, other factory riders, and we would always swap bikes, like from since I was in the 60s, 80s, one to fives right the way through, dad would always make me get on other bikes, and I'd get on other bikes and be like, you know, our KDMs were always quick through juniors a whole lot, feel like we haven't set up, but I'd get on other bike, like, fuck, this is way better. This is comfortable. Tell dad, so we'd try and make changes, and yeah, and sort of was the same here, or always done it, always tried different bikes. But when I got over to the states, there's a lot of factory teams, there's eyes, there's the media, so that sort of stopped. And it wasn't until uh I'd gone over there at the end of 2010. We went over to what's the designations. Um, yeah, so I'd done 2010 here and then sort of signed a contract with JDR to go over there. It was actually on my 18th birthday. We were here, so it was May. So I was meant to go the end of that year, and I hadn't signed a car uh contract with JDR, but somehow, whether it be through Red Bull or whatever, Larry Brooks got my number. Yeah. Um, and it was on my 18th birthday here in Burke. I had a few guys out here training and riding. We must have been getting ready for Supercross, I think it was. It was after the I anyway, I can't really remember the time limit of it all, mate. But anyway, Larry Brooks rang me on my 18th birthday, and it was in the afternoon. We'd we train and rode all day, and then we're having a piss up that night at the local pub from the 18th, and I get this funny number called, didn't think much about it. Answer it, hey, it's you know, Larry's got this American accent on, and I I'm pretty sure I thought something like being meeting at someone called and rang, like, yeah, yeah, get fucked, basically. Long and short it hung up on it. I think dad knew someone must have rang dad and said this is what's gonna happen. And I don't know, I still don't really know. I've never really asked him about it. He might have teed it up for Larry to ring me. So then he's rang again. He like like he was laughing, like, mate, you know, I'm dead serious. I know you're coming over. I'm like, yeah, Rod I like we, you know, James Stewart's obviously our main rider. Yeah, read he's ridden for us, rah- rah-rah. I know you're coming over because I was going over to watch the designations with dad and you know, see the setup with JDR, and then go and test the 350 over there, meet the team and whatnot, and rah-rah, rah. So, anyway, so he's like, I want you to come and test with us while you're here. It's all hush hush, you know, see how he goes, here I like the bike, and we'll go from there. So I got over there and um tested the 350. Um uh, like you know, the bike is really good. That had a lot more work done to it. It was a lot better than one here, and then also we got to test factory tires, which I'd never done ever, right? And on the day, I think it was like nearly two seconds quicker out of a front tire, and like a second or a second half out of the rear. It was something crazy like that. Like once the track got a little bit broken in, a little bit hard packed slick. I said, Right, here's these factory tires, do a couple of sprint laps, we'll put them on, go and get a field, and then we'll start doing sprint laps and whatnot. Like it was mind blowing, crazy. So, anyway, we'd have done a week on this thing or however long, and I was so happy, so stoked. You know, had signed the contract with them, or I can't remember when the whole dealings of it was. It might have been two trips. Anyway, so we go over and do this. Um, like for Larry, we go to test this Yamaha, get to the factory, all this stuff, got this bike, they roll it out, and it's got the number seven graphics on. I still need to find the photos and videos. Dad's got them on an old camera. So I go to like to the Tetraq with Yamaha, and here's this like it's just number seven, James Stuart all over it. Manwell bike. Anyway, I get on this thing, and the track what it had been watered, but the Yamaha boys had been there all day, like it was really late in the day. And I got on this thing, mate, and to this day, it was a fucking rocket shit. Like blew my mind. It was it was nuts, it was absolutely nuts. The stuff I was doing, like in rhythm section, like there was, you know, coming out doing like a three-thread and pulling on quads and just nuts. Went and rode it for like 10 minutes right back to dad. I said, This is it, like I'm we are riding for Larry, like in Larry's, you know, smiles. So we kept riding. And Larry sent me pretty happy today, rider, no dramas. Might have been the next day. He said, Rider, come over to the factory, got a contract for you. Here we go, let's sign. And I can't remember what we signed for with JDR, but I think it was like up around the 200s. Um just to sign on, and I was 18, like I was fresh 18, you know, which was nuts. I obviously skipped the lights, class went straight to the to the to the 450s. And it was obviously for way less money, um, which would have been hard on dad at the time, but I was like, fuck that. I don't like I never ever cared about the money. When I sort of retired, like pulled the pin and quit, uh, like in 2015 or 2016, um, I sort of quit because of money, and I never ever rode for money. Like I always rode because I loved it. The money was always a bonus for me, you know what I mean? Like it was just helped out out, or as I got older, started making the money. I was, you know, it was just yeah, just kept living the dream riding dirt bike. So I can't remember, mate. I think it was like 60 grand or 80 grand or something like that. Um, so it was a huge pay cut, but I'm like, I couldn't give two shits and said to dad, like, this is this is a like mind blowing. And then I had to go back, so they wouldn't let me out of my contract pretty well. I come to the point, like, and I don't get me wrong, I got on so well with all the JDR crew, Jay, his mum and dad, everyone over there, like Nate Ramsey, the whole, like the whole crew were amazing people and and got on really well with them. But that was that was like you know, for me, that 350 gone over there, I reckon that definitely hindered my career. Yeah, um, and I I I sort of didn't, I never thought about it for a long time. Like I walked away from racing, I never watched motocross, shooter cross. Yeah, it's only been the last couple of years, obviously, because of Jet and Hunter. Every now and again, I'd see a few highlights on social media that sort of followed, but you know, looking back and thinking back, I've had a few chats with like Uncle Scott and Dad, and I think that Yamaha, but in saying that, it was the next year or two they folded anyway. The CMM world team might have been the following year. So who who knows what would have happened, but I think like my results would have been tenfold better than what they were. Yeah, because you look at like, you know, then I got back on that 350, and for that whole next year, I just despised you know having to get on that thing every day when I was watching. I think Kyle Regal ended up signing with it, and I'm watching that fucking prick go to the line on that bike, just like cranky, you know what I mean? Yeah, you look at uh Michael Lassie with like a whole shot king, shorty whole shot at most of his career. Obviously, Cairo done pretty well in the GPs over there, but they were tiny blokes, right? Like they were they were small. Like I think at the time I was like 75, 80 kilos, and like Vil Potto, like all those guys, Bubba, you know, don't you? Them guys are 65. Yeah, on a bigger bike. On a bigger bike. I you know, I remember being at Washhoo and other joints, like coming out of a corner, felt like you got the corner perfect, have like a little jump, land on the back wheel and be mono on half that straight. Just couldn't ask any more out of this bike, and then guys would pass you like you're standing still. Like, I just I just remember it just it was a very frustrating year. I ended up getting crooked, and it was probably my first big year of like doing a lot of off-bike training and a lot less on-bike training. Because even the year before and I was living here at home, I just ride and ride and ride. And like I I remember Tim Cole, he was tied up with KDM for a lot of years. He was at me and him used to butt heads, mate. Well, like severely butt heads, like really, really butt heads. And I'm just like, you know, we'd go up and do KDM boot camps, and I remember Grabbo and those guys were there back in the day, like they had the Microcross team, the off-road, the super bike guys, and whatnot, and they'd sit us down, like, yep, like Ty struggles with this. I think I was always strong, but couldn't cycle, I couldn't row, had no like core stability compared to all these other guys. And I think it was one day Leske might have flown in or whoever, like the team manager at the time, Tim Cole, sitting down with dad, and they're up us like this is just unacceptable. You know, he needs to be fitted, he needs to be dad. Dad, like we, you know, we try and get him, but he's like, and I was, I was lage, I hated it. Um, but then you know, we'd spend all week training or a couple of days training, and then we'd get on the bikes, and the fuckers wouldn't see which way I went like this. And then get the first round, I'd generally win the first round, or you know what I mean? I'd be top two or three, and they're like, Yeah, whatever you're doing, it's perfect, keep it up, you know. Um, so yeah, that first year in the States, uh, that was that was the big eye-opener for the off-bike training, yeah. And then just the schedule, mate. Like, I don't think people really realize the schedule. You had it was 17 rounds and 18 weekends. So, like you're on a plane on a Thursday night or Friday morning, you spend all day flying. You do or like especially it was on the East Coast, obviously, West Coast is where we were based was easier, and then uh, and then yeah, I think it's like two weekends off, and then you do 12 rounds of motocrossing 40, 14 weekends, you know what I mean. So it it was ruthless, like yeah, the the whole schedule of it all. So it was a big eye opening, a big shot for me. But I think looking back, um it I think it all would have been a lot different had I got to ride that Yamaha over that 350. But in saying that, like that team had done everything in their power to make that thing better, and you know, like yeah, to to really to really bloody um get it the best they could for us, you know.

SPEAKER_00 50:15

Um all right, before we get into the JDR uh team uh uh experiment, US experiment. What uh what why didn't you ride the Yamaha? What what was the decision in the end to not take the contract that was in front of you with the salmon? Was it just because the money just wasn't possible to live in the US on that?

SPEAKER_02 50:33

No, we'd already signed the JDR.

SPEAKER_00 50:35

Okay, so you couldn't go back on that contract?

SPEAKER_02 50:37

I couldn't, no, I couldn't go back. We tried uh it was gonna get to like um I I think it would basically went in because I must have had two trips over getting ready for the following year. Gee, mate, you're really testing the old memory here, and I haven't got a real good one. Um, but anyway, must have been the second time or whatever is when I tested the Emmaha and said to Lay, like, you know, we've I've I've already signed, or like he's like, it's all right, it'll be fine, we'll get out of it. Yeah. And then I I you know, I think the the Reinenbergs were very wealthy and successful people. And I pretty well went to it, like went to them like the the next day or that day when they gave some of and said, This is what's happened, gone and test for them. They're like, nah, but it's just gonna end up in court or legal fees. I I don't really know the extent of how far it got with dad and them, but I I'm pretty sure that's how it went down.

SPEAKER_00 51:25

Yeah. Okay. And and did that leave, was there any so obviously the Yamaha deal was then off the table? Did it leave and you're writing for JDR? Did it leave any um did you ever feel like, well, I don't really want to be here and be on this bike and be doing this, or were you able to park that experience you had with um Larry Brooks and kind of move on with the team that you'd signed with and and yeah?

SPEAKER_02 51:47

I I think my it was the first couple of rounds I didn't even qualify for the night show. Like I felt like I was riding good, but I remember getting to them and like you'd try to practice and qualify, and in between the transitions would be soft, and I'd never been one to like doubt, doubt stuff. Like if there's always a three or or or a big jump to do here in Australia, like at home, wherever, I'd never ever been doubtful. And we actually had I had a few crashes on that 350, like a false neutral. Um, we're up at a lessie one day training. This is prior to the season, and caught like just a false neutral off an up ramp of a triple, like off a seat, false neutral. Um, like cracked an eye socket, just like made a bit of a mess of myself. And yeah, we were we were trying to get this thing better and just sort of couldn't. I couldn't get starts. Um, you know, transitions that were a bit rutted and soft, like I just didn't have the the uh the what do you call it? Like I didn't have the competence to pull these things on on this 350, you know what I mean? Like really struggled with and Dan Ridden at the time was my teammate, and he was having a few issues, but he was doing a little bit better than me at the time over there. Um but yeah, it wasn't I didn't make the first few mains, mate, and that was just the biggest kick in the guts. And then, you know, I'd see that Kyle Regan. So I just it was a little like after a few rounds or halfway through the series, I that's when I started to like despise being on this scene compared to the other thing, you know what I mean? Like I knew I could do stuff, but just didn't have the bike. But in saying that, like I was also starting to struggle at that point with like the the how how solid the whole deer was, like training every day. Um and I, you know, we would we would get like you know, we had a doctor at the time that, like, especially in some of the motocross, I'd go and see a doctor and get like IVs every week, twice a week, you know what I mean, to keep me hydrated. Um, the cycling that we were doing, like we had Randy Lawrence, who was an incredible trainer, done a lot with Villapodo and all those guys. Um we had like he was our trainer or my trainer, you know what I mean. Um so the whole don't like I said, I loved the team, they were great people, done everything they could for me and and and bore the bike and whatnot. Um, and I loved like I loved the whole, you know, at that point, like I was starting to love the training and getting better at it, but just the grind week in, weekend, week in, week out was starting to take a bit of a toll on me. Yeah, you know what I mean? Um, and just getting frustrated with the bike at the time. I mean, I think nowadays stock 350 is off the floor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um so why couldn't you get a 450? It was just no, that they they didn't want it. So dad ended up, we ended up uh we ended up buying, or dad, we went and bought a 450 from motocross because you know, dad had the shits with the 350, you know, this this 450 fuel injected linky suspension was meant to come out, they had it coming. Dungey was coming, they wanted to turn up prior, like he was coming the next year, but it just didn't didn't turn up. And dad had the shits and went and bought one. And I went and tested, and it was heavier, and yeah, I think it just got at the time that 350 was still pretty good, like that. But that 450 was obviously a long way behind, you know, and they put so much time and effort into that 350. Like, I think they had F1 guys doing all like the mapping. Well, like that was like a lot of money went into it. Yeah, and I know it was it was a very sore subject when dad went and bought it, and I went and rode it, and I liked the power of it, but didn't quite handle as well. And yeah, I think it was just the easier option and probably kept everyone happy to stay on the 350. Yeah, sure. And it was later, so then it was later in the year. I got on really well with Josh Strang as well, just been another Aussie. He lived in California, he was doing a whole different series. He'd come across and done a couple of motocrosses that year as well, and uh it was it was halfway through the motocross season or whatever, but we're out at Parlour one day training the test, and for some reason, I must have stayed a bit later, and all the mechanics had gone back, and we didn't have anyone there with us. Actually, I tell you, I might have dad and my mechanic there, and everyone else had gone like back to the workshop, and we're pretty well done for the day anyway. Josh was like, get on this thing and he'd wreck that clutch. Like stringing was always like hard on clutches from memory back in the day. He said, Get on that 450, and it had a bit of work done to it, not a heap suspension. And I think like my suspension was harder, he was really soft. And mechanic and dad, and we went out and done lap times, and I was like three or four seconds of lap quicker on this thing. Yeah, and the clutch was fucked, like I was never hard on clutches, but the clutch was fried. Um, and then that's like, yeah, then I was like fuck like same deal again. Like that Sam Manuel bike had just been on my mind all year, and then got on Strang's bike and still had however many rounds to go. And I didn't, I just didn't have good deal. I think you know the best I got might have been Millville. I got a seventh, but I'd come like I started outside the top 20 in both motos and went, oh, I can't, it was 7-11 or 8 and 11. I cooked myself, I I fully cooked myself the second moto, um, which I'd never ever done. But yeah, like just was getting frustrated, couldn't get starts, always coming from a ways back, and and just yeah, so then got on that thing and that was just blew my mind again, like sort of how much better these other bikes were in a way, and that wasn't even a factory bike.

SPEAKER_00 57:02

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wow. Um, okay, let's let's talk about the JDR time because the Reinenberg's put together a pretty good team. It looked like from the outside, like it was as close to factory as you're kind of gonna get as a satellite team, I guess. Um JSTAR is a sponsor, they were like a fancy car, super supercar kind of sponsor. So we I remember like we ran photos. This is all like prior social media too, because this is like maybe MySpace might have been around. So the only time we saw you kind of doing anything was like we're in the mag or something. And so um I remember we ran photos. We we had a column called Tyspace, which was the point of MySpace. Um and we ran some photos of you in like like Ferraris or Lambos or whatever kind of car. What was the the put aside the fact that the bike was frustrating, that you said the team was awesome and everything around you was awesome. What were some of the highlights of being on that team, some of the you know, trips you got to do, parties you went to, cars you drove, or some of the uh extra fringe benefits of being on the JDR team in the US?

SPEAKER_02 58:08

Mate, and that's like I said, I'm you know, I'm not running the team down or the people behind it, it was just that bike, you know what I mean? They done everything they could in their power to to make it great um and and do everything they could. And going back to me, obviously I was a big guy, right? So we were behind the eight ball. I think I can't remember what the old saying was like this every three kilos of horsepower, you know what I mean? You're down. Yeah, um, so yeah, they they were incredible, don't I think? But mate, I I was a 17-year-old kid, absolutely living the dream. Um the other hard part for me was so you know, uh, so had to get me sporting visa. So we didn't get much money at the start um when we got over there, which was fine. Um, but then I was 17, 18, and I was getting these checks come through every month because I was there by myself for a long period of time. So wind back the clock a bit when we were living at the Osborne's and traveling to and from in the in the junior amateur days. Uh I snapped my ankle over there and had to get surgery or whatever, but I couldn't fly back. But we would go over for like I think three months at a time was the longest we could go, or whatever it was, right? But you couldn't overstay because it was classified as a holiday visa. Well, anyway, getting close there to finishing that trip, I broke my ankle and I couldn't fly. They wouldn't allow me to fly back. So we overstayed our holiday visa. Oh man. And everything was fine. We went backwards and forwards a couple more times in like the junior amateur days. Um, and I don't know what happened, why dad didn't come over from the start, but I don't know what was going on back home. But anyway, I was over there and oh, they they hunted dad. So I got over there getting ready. So we'd done our supercross series here or whatever it was, got over there and it was like two months or three months or less to get ready for the AMAs. Um, and dad flew in. He flew in a bit later. Um, so I was a 17-year-old kid, had to set up like a house, which I think we got like a condo. It was Billco's condo back in the day. Like two-story, two-car garage, three-bedroom, three-bathroom, gated community, um, which was pretty cool. JSTAR, like we bought some cars with JSTAR, like a Chrysler 300. For dad, like dad wanted that, and I just had like a blacked-out van, which was pretty cool. Actually, I think it might have been Twitches back in the day. So this thing was pretty neat. Um, but yeah, so I was literally living the dream of the 17, 18-year-old um moved to America, then had to, you know, set up a house. But yeah, they they booted dad out. So he came over two weeks, was was meant to be it was two weeks or a week and a half, pride around one at Anaheim. As he came through customs, they pulled him up and said, you know, you've overstayed your visa way back when they were they were booting him. So we'd send like a car in to pick people that come and stay, or or or you know, anyone coming from Australia, JDR had this, you know, they'd send the car in, you'd pay him 200 bucks or whatever, and they they'd deliver him back out to us, like our doorstep, save gunning LA and dealing with the rat race. Anyway, a couple of hours go past, finished riding for the day. No, hadn't no one had heard from dad, rang this guy, he's like, No, I'm still standing here, still waiting. So they grabbed dad and cussed him and spun him around. I said, That's it, you know, you to go back, fix your visa, you're not allowed in the country. He was walking from the customs like interview rooms back to the gate, and the guy says, Oh, like, what are you doing? He dad said, Oh, like I'm over here, my son races supercross, about to make you know his debut here in the States. He's like, Look, Supercross, AMA, like, yeah, he's like, Well, who's you riding for? And he's like, Oh, like this new J Star. And this guy was obviously in the dirt bikes and lumber, right? Yeah, he said, Really? He said, Oh, yeah. He said, you know, I I know that team, I know, you know, some of the guys coming over, and he just basically said, Dad, how much cash you got on? Dad wanted two or three bucks. He said, Rider, give it to me. He said, sit there, he said, don't fucking move, I'll be back. Come back, he said, mate, you've got two weeks. So two days after Anaheim, you fly out of the country, don't you dare stay over, go home, get like go home, get your visas sorted. Yeah, so dad only came over for like a week and a half, seen the first round, then he pissed off, like he was gone again, you know. Had to go and get his visas sorted out, and obviously it cost money for dad to be there, and he had to come back home and work. So yeah, so then, like I said, 17, 18 year olds. So the Reinenbergs took me under their wing. Jason McCalpine was also over there. Oh, yes. He was young, like he he was doing a lot for those guys, the media side of things. Um, buddied up with like Josh Strang, Kenny Roxon, um, yeah, and then obviously the guys on their team and and a few others, you know. So back in the day, I used to drink a bit of alcohol, like when I was here in Burke and younger, and like weekends off and you know, the offseason, whatnot. And we got over there one one, might have been one weekend, and I reckon Nathan Ramsey, like they must have known what was happening. And we're at PJ Larsons and one of his buddies' friends' place, and we were just playing poker, sort of nothing bad. We weren't out doing anything silly, but we were drinking there, you know. Bit of a late night, might have finished at one or two o'clock. And I actually had an Australian friend over with me at the time. Well, sure as shit. Next morning, Nate Nathan Ramsey's on the phone, and and I was late getting a train, and he must have just known for sure, I reckon. And uh Randy launched him, like they trained the arse. I was a little Australian mate, like he was sick throwing up, and I battled through, I made sure I wasn't crooked, but it was it was hard yakker, and uh that I I don't reckon I drank bugger all um since like you know what I mean. That was in the like getting ready for it sort of pre-season, a couple of weeks out, and then obviously had Christmas and New Year's there by myself, like like we were with the Reinenbergs, but yeah, like I'd go home every night sort of thing by myself as a young guy. Um, but yeah, mate, like just live the dream with those guys. Like we would we would get up and and I I was loving it, you know. You'd go training with Randy Lyons, and there was, you know, like Jason Anderson, we had PJ with us, like there was six or seven or eight different pro guys, and we'd be all training together, pushing one another, go to the KDM test track. You had Kenny, Shorty, Lessies, like it was incredible. It was, you know, literally was living the dream. Um, and then obviously uh JSTAR was the massive car dealership, and everything, you know, any sort of flash sports car you can think of, he'd have it sitting there on the lot. And uh we had to do a dealer signing there and somewhere else for answer. I can't remember what we're but we're in these like supercar, like Lambos and uh like Audi's and for like just nuts, and 17, 18-year-old kids, and you know, I think Ryan Ma might come over, so he was a little bit older, but yeah, he was we were living a lifestyle that's for sure, mate. It's pretty, pretty impressive, pretty crazy looking back at it.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:36

What was uh apart from the bike issues, what was one of the trickiest things about being that age, earning that kind of money, like you said, you once the money started coming through. That's a $200,000 sign-on plus the rest of the stuff. What was the hardest part about trying to stay as an 18-year-old focused on winning and also being an elite athlete in the US when you didn't have a family around?

SPEAKER_02 1:04:58

Um, yeah, I think I got pretty homesick. I know like it was a bit tough there around that Christmas and New Year's time because I had no one there with me. And like I said, like you know, Jason McAlpine was always with, you know, there was just a little core group just hanging out. Uh once we got that little alcohol session out the road, like we barely drank it. Well, I think it was the off-season, you know, like sorry, after motocross, after Supercross, we had a bit, then after Motocross, like we never partied or done much of that. You know, we we would go to the mall and go to the movies and and go out for dinners and chase girls, like as you would do with sort of 17, 18-year-olds. Yep. Done a bit of that, but it was funny. It sort of really got into the groove and loved it of the whole like training every day and going on the test track. Like, I loved it. Like, and the team that like the the the boys in the core group that we're with and and training with them Kadian boys like at the test track um those days, like it it was, you know what I mean, like living the dream. It was everything I'd ever hoped for, plus some. Um, so there was really no distraction after, you know what I mean. So, and by the time, you know. Like I said, I was training a little bit here, but nothing to that extent. By the time I'd knocked off, like you know, you would train, then you'd go and try like like test and and practice and ride. By the time we knocked off, like if you might have gone to the mall for dinner, but that was it. Like you're in bed and busted, or or I think, you know, PlayStations back then. We'd play a bit of PlayStation and we like between I think you know the Reinerbergs and Jace and a few others might have been linked on the internet and whatnot playing games together. But that was about it, mate. You know what I mean? Like there was no other, no other shit going on. But uh for me, that whole season, just as it got on, it was such growing and so hard, and and you don't, you know, never never thought about it or think anything, and you never hear it much, really. That's what sort of also got me like just grinded me out, you know what I mean?

unknown 1:06:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:45

So what was the decision then to come home? Why why why why'd you come back to Australia?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:50

Well, come back. Well, well, the team folded the 450 side of things. That that they they quit that team went to a lights only the next year. Yeah. So I come back, I literally uh come home for three weeks off and then was to go back and start testing in that time. I think um obviously my results were shit, had a horrible year in the scheme of things. Um and Red Bull were pushing pretty hard because we were still tied up with them. We sort of tried to get the Sam MW team, but I think that might have been when James went back to a super cross-only deal. Yeah. Um, and they might have already had someone sign because by the time we figured out that JDR weren't running a 450 team next year, I think we're back in Australia. Right. Um had spoken to Suzuki, who I think they had met he the year before and had Dungey, or I can't remember how it all really went, but they nearly had a spot for me, but it was for no sign-on bonuses only. And we were like, yep, we'll take the deal. Like I was, you know, at that point, Dad and I were we it didn't matter, we were just keen to get on, you know, a Jap bike and and and and a 450, you know what I mean. Um and it ended up they just didn't have the budget at the end of the day. Suzuki, like which would have been incredible once again, but they just didn't have the budget, and I was actually back here and just never got a chance to go back, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 1:08:12

Yeah, um so many people, so many Aussies especially seem to go Australia, Europe, the US. Um I know Hunter has apparently been in touch with uh the Bahanens over here, um, uh about kind of doing it that way and that it's a it's a really good step to take. And you know, this concept that you need to make sure you sell everything in Australia and then move because you're kind of forced to make it work overseas. Um you did it differently, you went straight to the US. Uh do you think if you had gone to Europe first and grinded it out in Europe and then gone across to the US, it would have been a different result in the US or experience?

SPEAKER_02 1:08:53

Uh that I don't know. It's sort of hard for me to say. Like I never thought about this for a long time, just you know, got on and sort of forgot about it all and moved on. It was only last year, a few different people asked, and me and dad, who dad's not much of a talker. We spoke about a few things um and then brought it up. And we, you know, I think how have I been on a um, you know, how have I got that Sam and Mel San Manuel ride? I think life would have been a bit different. Um, I think for sure, mate, if I've gone to Europe, it would have been different. But I love Supercross 2, that was the other thing.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:26

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:27

I'm trying to think back. I think there might have been some sort of an opportunity at one point to go to Europe, yeah, but then at that time, um stuff was like the JDR going to KDM from I think they were Yamaha Pry and the whole talking about the States thing was on the table as well. So I'm you know what I mean, dad and I right a super cross, dad being dad once again. That's the best. Like obviously the guys in Europe are incredible in the motors, like it's just motocross, you know what I mean? Like yeah, they're unreal what they do, but we you know, the super cross and everything appealed to us more, um, kind of thing. So I think maybe for sure, had have gone over there as a 17-year-old to Europe, life could have been a lot better, a lot different. Um, a bit more time to mature and whatnot. Um, you know, had have I been smaller and gone over on a light spike, I think life life would have been a lot different too, you know what I mean? Um yeah, I I you know, so you can sit back and dwell on it and all these different things, mate. But share, I I think either way, if I went to Europe first, definitely would have been different. Had I got on a on that salmon whale bike, life would have been different again. But that's life, that's that's just the way the cookie crumbles and the way it goes, I think.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:37

That is, mate. Um, hey, I'm conscious that we wanted to do start do this in two parts because I'm gonna go on for an hour and ten minutes. Uh so and we're we're not even halfway through. Um, so why don't uh let's do this in two parts. I got I've got one or two more questions, and then I want to get you back on in the next couple of months to talk about life when you got back to Australia because there's Hadawins, there's runner up at Fink, there's switching to Enduro, like what the hell? There's uh a junior six day. You won a junior six day, I believe, as well, i in in the team. Uh yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, the team. Uh and then there's like you discussed briefly before, there's deciding to give up racing to go and ride bareback courses and uh and everything else. We've got another like an hour or so to go and likely threw up too much of your time. But the one the I'll I'll ask you one more question and then we'll catch up again. Um when you came back to Australia, was it hard to go from, like you said, the training regime that you had in the US, the support from the JDR team uh back into back to Burke, back to where you were, which is maybe um longer travel to to go racing in a smaller series. Um did you find it difficult to go from all that that was happening in the US to then coming back to little old Australian racing here in Australia? Especially sorry at that age too. Like we had the Medy Medie did it. Mehdi was over in the US for a decade or however long it was, and then he came back to Australia, but it was almost like he came back to retire here. Um same with uh even Dan Ridden. Dan Ridden had a lot of time in the US and he came back here. He had some good years still back here in Australia, um, but he spent a lot he spent half his his time in the US. When you came back to Australia, you were still young enough to um do what you I just listed, all the things that you did achieve. Was that a tricky transition going from the US back here to Australia?

SPEAKER_02 1:12:26

Yeah, it was, mate. It was, and I to be honest, I ran off the rails a bit. So I'd come home for three weeks, what do you call it? Like to see family catch up, have it off, and then it was straight back over preseason, back into it for the next year. So um, yeah, so for me, I got back for the three weeks, and then that's when we got the call that you know um the team had folded, like there was no 450 team for the next year, they'll go on lights only. Um, yeah, so that was a hard deal, mate. And at that point, um, yeah, I think I was on the piss a bit, catching up with family and friends, and you know, you think you're missing out on a lot, get back here, and it's all still the same. Everyone's doing the same thing. And then I didn't didn't have that much prep. Like our tracks were pretty buggered here from floods and everything. So dad had a fever to work in front of him, and I sort of can't really remember that point, but I know the first round I don't even reckon pretty sure we opted to ride the 450 because at that point, dad like we had the ships with the 350, and and you know, the bike wasn't nowhere near as good, so we decided to go with that 450. Um yeah, and it was the very first race, mate. It was a mud race down in Melbourne. I won it. Um next round might have been I can't, I can't mate. I can't really remember what the rounds were, but yeah, so we rode the 450 for that series, and just didn't get it set up right. I think you know, my effort going into that series was pretty pissed poor. I think I ended up running second to Marmont in that series. Um yeah, I reckon I did. I ended up running second to Marmont in that series to Jay and just got like I'd come down to the last round. He had a bit of a lead on him, but I think if I'd beat him in that race, like you know what I mean, we would have won the championship kind of thing. And um yeah, so I'd done that and then what happened? And then yeah, I think we sort of mate, I can't really remember.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:39

Was it a healthy contract coming back to Australia? Was it as good as when you before you left? It was still better. It was better, okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:48

Like not as good as the states, but it was still really good for here.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:50

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:51

Okay. And then I'm trying to think. Oh, that's right. So this new 450 KDM 450 was coming. We were told prior to the supercross, it's coming, it's coming. Um, so we're gonna ride this new 450 fuel injected linkage suspension for the supercross. Well, it didn't end up coming, and then uh um, you know, I think they were telling us that you know it was all coming, and that ended up getting the shits and rang leasecu directly. I think it was like, nah, like mate, this thing's it might be here for motocross. Like, that's if everything goes right and depends on so many things. And we'd sort of been getting told different stuff. So then and there, like after that Surah Shoes, we'd crack the shits um and found out it wasn't gonna be here for that motocross, and we were still testing that 450 at the time. So then you were like, nah, we dipped out. So that's when we we pulled out of that contract for the motocross side of things. Um, yeah, and then uh and then couldn't get a ride with anyone else. Um, I even reckon we sort of rang everyone, no one sort of, yeah, everyone had sort of signed, didn't have any spots. So then we pretty well we rang we rang a couple of different, you know, manufacturers and then Honda. Uh Urif Konskey was the one who said, Yep, you know, we'll give you, he gave us six bikes for the year, you know, three for motocross, three for supercross. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:16:13

Um was that a very sweet Honda?

SPEAKER_02 1:16:16

No, no, that was the following, that was the following year. Yeah, that was the following year, mate. So we done Supercross with which was 2012, done Supercross at JDR, then tried to run our own deal um with Honda, which was like it was just literally dad and Uncle Pete. Yeah, uh, because Ross McWaters was an old team manager, Kenny Wheeler, who does like he owns factory spec suspension. He was my mechanic back when I was like in juniors in the pros, the KDM team. So we rang them guys up and then sort of ran our own deal with them. And um uh saying deal had run off the fucking rails, was drinking and partying, and just just at that point, like I think Nathan Ramsey still would ring me at that point, checking in on me, and I I guess he sort of must have known that I'd sort of run off the rails a bit, and dad might have been talking to him. I can't really remember what was going on, but yeah. So then round one come around, mate. I was so unfit, the bike wasn't ready, the bike was too quick. Like Ross Ross built this engine that was fucking nuts. Um, and I couldn't hold on to it. I literally could not hold on to the so Connondale was the first round, so we go up there with all these expectations. We were still waiting on parts and stuff from Honda and and a few other things because, like, you know, I was so used to the hydraulic clutch, the Brembo brakes, we we we had to spend a lot of money and tried to get it to like some of the KDM, you know, what they have stock, you know what I mean? Like those things that I've been used to all my life. Um, so yes, we're way underprepared. I was way unfit. Um, first round, I think it was like we went 5'5 or 6'6 or something. I think Tanley was there. That's when Coppins were there. Yeah. And we got closed, you know what I mean. First round. Um might have been might have been uh the second round was that go in at tracks, I reckon. Might have been two weeks leading to it.

unknown 1:18:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:16

And that's where I was I was pretty well living there at the time, like our packs at home, half flooded and whatnot. And I spent a lot of time there riding back in the KDM days. So we just went there. Obviously, it was the next round. I was pretty well living there for like three weeks, like before Collendale, and then the two weeks leading up to it. Um, fitness was getting better, that bike was getting better. Um, but yeah, couldn't hold on at the first round. It was just fucking rocket ship.

SPEAKER_01 1:18:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:39

So then the second round was way better. And I believe Townley went 1-1 the first round. He was he was on fire. Um, and it might have been time qualifying. I think he'd set the fastest pace, he was a mile in front of us, then Coppins, and then whatever else. I think that's when he crashed and done his hip. Yep. I think he might have been out for that year. Uh, but anyway, um, so then yeah, it was getting better starts, could could start, and you know, it was up front. And I think the first motor, I can't remember what I got. It was hard. Uh mate, I can't remember what happened. Can't remember the first motor. Anyway, fitness was better, was riding better, could hang on to the bike a bit more, track on you, it was comfortable, you know. But then the second moto, get a pretty good start, take off. Marmot was out front, I reckon. Yeah, and then past him and like checked out in my mind. I thought I'd like I was gone, you know. I don't know, whatever a bit of a gap on him. Well, fuck, I didn't even know it, but Coppins was up my ass the whole time, or just back and afterward, I couldn't hear him. And but my fitness over a motor still wasn't there, right? Like it just still still was coming, still was getting there. Um, and then yeah, with like five minutes to go or ten minutes to go, pit board, Coppins three seconds behind. And I'd never looked, I just felt really good. I knew I was running out of steam, but I had a big enough, like, you know, I could you'd go up over that really big heel turn and come back over, and I could just gauge. I'm pretty sure it was Jay or whoever it was, or Dan McCoy or whoever, but I could gauge and pull them away, pull them away, and then just sort of kept that gap pretty comfortable and was happy, you know. And then all of a sudden Coppins is there. Well, he passed me and I couldn't wheel him, but so I think I got a second or third overall. Um then we go to WA, had done a lot more tests and was getting better. Pretty sure podium there. Um, and then we were at we were at Murray Bridge, and I reckon I nearly won around one uh a motor or whatever in a podium there, like everything was just progressing. We were getting this bike better, fitness was better, we were on song, like everything was you know shaping up to be a lot better here, yeah. And felt really good on this Honda, like felt really good. And we we had uh I think we had three or four bikes set up at home. Um had motors, suspension, but we had vortexes on two or three of them. And the the stock Yamaha uh Hondas at that at that time in 2012, they would flame out. So if you'd snap the throttle and they would just stall, yeah. Um anyway, so we're getting ready uh for the next round, which was up at Harvey Bay, but like a month off or something silly, three weeks or whatever. Yeah, we're riding sand tracks here at home, went down to Dunny Dew, which I love. Like it's a really good sand track in New South Wales, sort of grew up racing there, and mate, just everything was clicking, felt on fire, everything was Mickey Mouse, um, felt unreal in the sand. I even got on a 250 Honda at that point at that, like at Dunny Dew, like racing as many motors as I can at this, like I think it might have been state tile or whatever it was, and just felt unbelievable. Got back home, um, doing 30s in the sand, felt good. Anyway, one day I've jumped on one of the bikes we'd been to Dunny Dew, and two of them were filthy, like might have been two days later or a day after. Dad had washed one, the other one was filthy. Like, just get on that other bike. Well, it didn't have the vortex on it.

SPEAKER_01 1:22:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:09

And and anyway, I was in one of his supercross tracks doing a bit of riding, and I was in like a like like we called it the gully tracks, really big jumps, all natural return, just a big free ride and really fun time. And I was in there riding around and uh had a mate riding at the time with me. But anyway, took off this up ramp and the bike stalled like as I left the up ramp. And I still remember it to the day, like as I was in the air, I thought I was gonna come down on the front wheel and then I was just gonna like bail out the front, like would have rode it out into the corner, like and there was a burn to go left, and I was way wrong. I I literally landed like upside down, like fully upside down. So, like I think it broke a cheekbone, shattered my nose, um, had like an eye shut. This was on a Monday. Harvey Bay was that Saturday, like it was you know, six days out from going to a national, and everything was going really good. Well, my face was obviously a mess. Um, pretty sure I got I can't I can't remember what happened. I don't know if we got flowing out or not. The double. Anyway, all this stuff right out, like cheekbones broken, nose is busted, but other than that, I was all right. My right hand was my right hand was sore. Oh, I can't remember. My right hand was sore, but not too bad. So anyway, and at the time we weren't, you know, had no one, had no, you know, Honda giving us bike, but didn't have any money, hadn't signed for any money, so we're spending our own money to go racing. Whatever bonuses we made, you know, on on national weekends is what we're making. Um, so we drive all the way up to Harvey Bay, get up there, get on the bike in practice, and fucking throttle hands just like sore, like really sore. Um, try and ride practice, and I'm doing a bit of winging and wide, and fucking dad's obviously up me. Spent a lot of money, time and effort to get you know to get through this year, and we're starting to cut in, you know, to our money and blah, blah, blah. Two time qualifying, and I was like fifth or sixth and should have been, you know, fucking leading it all top two, sort of thing. Like, yeah, was really riding good prior to the crash. Well, I end up didn't race today, went into like race safe, and I developed a really good relationship with race safe prior to that year, like because every when I'd done my knee, like that first year I rode a 450 because I'd have to go in there before every race strap, but they check it every week. So I got in there and I knew the doctors really well. And he's like, I was like, mate, something's going on my hand, like I can't hold on, can barely twist the throttle. I couldn't even pick up. Remember, after like once we made the decision not to race, I went to pick up like a can of coke or something or a gator at and I I physically couldn't pick it up. Like it just got worse and worse as the week went on. Well, anyway, we go back. I think it must have been to Dr. Andrews in Brisbane on the way home, like literally the next day on a Sunday, he checked us out. Well, I'd shattered like a heap of bones in my hand and like torn a heap of ligaments. So, like, yeah, across the base of my hand was just a mess. Like, I was done, you know what I mean? So they couldn't do much about it, um, just had to let it heal. So then that was the motocross season done. And then at that point, mate, like just felt like it'd been a failure of a year, let everyone down. So then that's when I sort of really ran off the rails, just got back home, partying on the piss, bloody started to play football. Like, yeah, had really sort of run a bit of a mark and and run off the run off the rails. Me and Dad were sort of blowing pretty hard. Um Uncle Pete was sort of trying to straighten me out and help out as much as he could, and then yeah, went into that super cross season, mate. Wasn't wasn't fit, wasn't ready. Same deal once again, the hand was still sore, but trying to just get by. Um, I don't I can't even remember what it came, but it was shit outs but anyway, that's when we sort of struck the deal with Endo. And yeah, that was when 2020 uh 2013 came about, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:25:46

And so 2013 was your you when you move across to Enduro, 26 uh 14 for to Enduro.

SPEAKER_02 1:25:54

Yeah, the end of 2014, mate. Yeah, so I'd done I'd dotocross season. Well, I dipped out halfway through the motocross season with Endo.

unknown 1:26:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:03

Started, had a really good pre-season, just saying, you know, the bike felt good, but just couldn't get certain things about it right. So then I dipped out halfway through that. Um, and then yeah, had had 18 months off or whatever it was. And then at the time, same deal was I think I was in the mines about 160k. I was in Kobo in the mines.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:23

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_02 1:26:24

Uh literally driving loader, filling like trains, like with lead and zinc, and playing football, like getting like a you know, playing for the local footy club over there. I'm pretty good money at the time. Um, and then yeah, out of the blue in end of 2014, Grabbo rang, completely out of the blue. And I hadn't ridden a bike, so I'd walked away from Ando and I never rode, like never had any bikes, never rode. Um, and then um yeah, Grabbo rang and uh and and Fuj Barrel, Peter Burrell, Bernie Burrell's old man, like we always kept in touch over the years. He sort of, I don't know, them two much to got to talking, and and somehow, yeah, like Grabbo obviously tracked me down through him and and Food was on the phone. It's just come down here. Um, you know, get on these KDMs. Grabbo's just got a ride there, and he wants you to be there to like, you know, for all the all the dealerships out west, Dubbo and Bathurst and wherever those caddied KDM dealerships. He said, We just want like a country guy that can ride a bike, go out and hang out with them all and a bit of a barbecue and whatever, just go and do it. And I obviously old Grabbo must have had some sort of a plan lined up. Yeah, so we get out there that morning, just meeting everyone. He's like, Right, I just jump on whatever you want. I said, Oh, like everyone's going up the bush. So I jumped on an execution, can't remember what it wasn't anyway. He's jumped in there with me. We go up there and we're poking around and pull up, and he's like, How is it? I'm like, fuck, that's pretty fun. Like I'm enjoying it, you know. And uh and he's like, right, hey, let's go, let's just try and catch it. Like Jess was baiting me all day and took off in the bush and was like, that was a lot of fun. And then bloody uh went back to the motorcross track, got on a 450, fucking was having a ball. Like obviously the fitness wasn't there, but you know, for three or four laps, could sprint. Was having a ball. Went back up into the hills, and anyway, we finished the day. We go, I think me, him, and Master Ben Fudge, we go to Magic. He's like, How was that? I said, Oh yeah, it was all right. He said, Right, oh he said, it's good. He said, Uh, do you want to come and do um it was down in Melbourne, the like enduro expo thing or whatever it was?

SPEAKER_00 1:28:18

It was like an enduro X. It was that's right, Enduro X.

SPEAKER_02 1:28:23

He's like, Do you want to come down there in two weeks? I was like, Fuck no, like I'm that unfit. Not it, not a chance. I'm like, to do what? Like he's like, to race, like got this endurox thing, come down and ride for us. I'm like, not a chance. Like I knew at that point, like he was the team manager of the Enduro and Desert Race. I'm like, no way, like said, mate, I'll embarrass you. This is shit. He's like, nah. So take these two bikes. So give me two bikes, like a 350 SX and a 350XC. So take these bikes with you, go home and try and ride. So I think I went back to the mines and worked like seven days on and then had the next seven off, which would lead into like to the Melbourne like Enduro X thing. So I do a bit of riding saying it was pretty half-arp, like you know, just as unfit. Just we're literally riding around an old motocross track at home, like everything's bugged from the floods and hadn't done nothing. Well, sure as shit. We go down there in the first day I won it. Like and that actually might have been a four, I can't remember what it was on 350 or 40, like an extent. Fucking won it. Yeah, I remember. I think it was Milner, might have up against Milner or Hollis in the final. I can't remember who it was, but banging bars, and there was this double, like these logs thing in the end up and like fell short end out and can't wheel, so the final was pretty easy. I sort of rode around luckily because he can't wheel because I probably would have run out of steam, you know. And I was, I was getting arm pump and just was up to shit, and then the next day I got second or third or whatever, and but from there, I I I hadn't got a contract like two or three days later from Grabo to go and do Enduro and and the deserts here.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:48

Yeah, he had something, he knew something, didn't he? Friggin' Grabo. He's always got something going on.

SPEAKER_02 1:29:54

Yeah, 100%, 100%. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:29:56

Well, mate, it's probably it's probably a good spot to put it on pause. Um because yeah, we've we've kept you two lot long enough, but I I got lots of questions about that about switching to Enduro, how hard that was, what you had to change. I mean, you went and raced a six day, and I'm assuming before you went and raced a six day, you'd probably never changed a tire in under five minutes yourself, and all that kind of stuff, right? They talk about for another good story in that. Yeah, exactly. I've heard. So, like, it's not there's lots there's so much there. Then obviously, then there's think, I'm assuming you'd never done over 170 kilometers an hour on a dirt pipe before. So um we'll we're gonna have to come back a second time round, otherwise this thing will go for three hours. Um all right, that's been excellent. I've I've it's been really cool to hear what it was like early on for you and that and that trip to the US, and then you know, it must have been so you know, what a what a story to go from what you were doing in the US to then coming back here and working like the rest of us, essentially, for uh, you know, a year um before getting the call out from Grabbo and then completely upending your life again, essentially, then going back into that life as a full-time factory racer for so many more years to come, you know, and achieving so many things that there are guys right now that are working and trading their ass off to win a Hatter, and they will do it for 10 years and they won't win one. Um be cool to delve into what it was like to come back and then dominate another genre of our sport, uh, which is really cool. So we'll leave it there. But mate, thanks for coming on. Everyone out there listening, just um stay plugged into the podcast and to our social media channels for when we get tie back on to talk about the Enduro side of his life because they're it's like two separate lives, you know, there's the motocross, supercross, and then there's the off road side, and they're uh they're both worthy of of lots of time. So we'll make sure we get tie back on in the next couple of months.

SPEAKER_02 1:31:45

Thanks, mate. Appreciate it. Thanks, bud.