DECOSTER

At the end of 1996, Jeremy McGrath was already the greatest supercross rider in the history of the sport.  The news of his switch from Honda to Suzuki rocked the industry to its core. This was a major score for Roger DeCoster, who was still…
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In 1995, Supercross was in a wild-west phase, as different promoters and even different sanctioning bodies struggled for control. Just like today, each area had different soil types, but back then, there were different track builders, too.…
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Today, a professional motocross career often starts in a rider's pre-teen years with his family following the races that lead to the Amateur Championship at Loretta Lynn's.  It wasn't like that in the old days.  In this column in Dirt Bike…
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In 1998 , Team USA's 13-year winning streak in the motocross des Nations was in the rear-view mirror. Great Britain had ended it back in 1994 and the U.S. was struggling to reassert itself as the dominant power in world motocross. In the…
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In the beginning, Supercross was a distinctly America form of racing. Europeans came and went without making a lasting impact. That changed in the '90s. In the August, 1998 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster wrote about a new wave of…
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In 1998, Roger DeCoster was still trying to rebuild Team Suzuki. The previous year had been difficult as he tried to accommodate Jeremy McGrath without the resources that he truly needed.  In his January, 1998 column for Dirt Bike Magazine,…
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Even in 1994, Supercross politics were volatile. In the November, 1994 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster wrote about a short-lived split between the AMA and the promoters. The issues of the day were much the same as they are now.…
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Last week we looked back at a column Roger DeCoster wrote for Dirt Bike Magazine back in 1993, when his third son Mika was born. We decided to call Mika today, and see what he's been doing with himself for the last 27 years. IT…
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In 1993, Roger and Kaarina brought Mika DeCoster into the world. He was Roger's third son, prompting a column in Dirt Bike where he reflected on parenthood and youth athletics. In the years that followed, Mika did, indeed, become a…
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By 1998, the U.S team in the Motocross des Nations was proven to be beatable. We had lost the last three out of four. The 13-year winning streak had ended back in 1994. But we were hopeful with the addition of young Ricky Carmichael to the…
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In 1998, Sebastien Tortelli won the 250 World Motocross Championship by 8 points over Stefan Everts. Many motocross fans will remember that fact. A less well-known fact was that at the 11th round, Everts had been disqualified for having a…
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TAKE CARE OF THE PEOPLE WHO TAKE CARE OF YOU Every kid in the world wants to know how to land that big sponsorship. They spend a lot of time thinking about what a sponsor can do for them. It helps if you turn it around. Think about what…
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HAVE A PLAN A & PLANS B THROUGH Z Of all types of racing, motocross is fairly pure. The gate drops, and the guy who goes the fastest wins. Other forms of racing, like enduro timekeeping, are more strategy than speed. Some types of…
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MAKE YOUR BIKE DO SOME OF THE WORK Today's motorcycles are good. They have come a long way from the days when the buyer had to finish manufacturing them. Even so, the bike you buy isn't perfect. It can't be, because the people who made it…
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CHOOSE AND PREPARE THE RIGHT EQUIPMENT I will be the first to admit it. It's good to be a factory rider. When you don't have to worry about the bike being ready, you automatically have a big advantage.  These days, though, motocross…
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YOUR BIKE RUNS ON PREMIUM. SO DO YOU Computer guys have a saying: GIGO. It stands for garbage in, garbage out. Human beings aren't that different from machines. They need fuel. If you give them poor fuel, they run poorly. The biggest…
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PAY ATTENTION TO YOURSELF-- IF YOU DON'T WHO WILL? You are generally the last person to know something about yourself. Riders can let the most obvious things go by unnoticed--sometimes it's because of ego, sometimes it's because they just…
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BUILDING LUNGS YOU CAN LIVE WITH Jeff Stanton, Jeff Ward, John DeSoto, Mark Barnett, Johnny O'Mara. Sure, they all were fast, but they also were riders who knew the value of training. Basically that's true of almost any rider who made an…
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There are a zillion different ways to train. There's running, bicycling, weight training, racquetball, basketball and a whole wealth of other balls. All of that is fine, but never forget that the best training for motocross is motocross.…
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IF IT WORKS FOR HIM, IT CAN WORK FOR YOU If you want to win, act like a winner. It sounds obvious, but even riders at the top levels can improve their technique by watching other riders and imitating certain aspects of their riding style.…
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