DECOSTER

Back in early 2001,  the YZ250F had not yet won in National Competition, but Roger DeCoster, among others, knew it would, and he knew it would change motocross forever. In the March, 2001 issue of Dirt Bike he made it clear that he was no…
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In the October, 1996 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster talked about the future in a story called “Motocross Bike: 2000 A.D. It’s kinda fun to look back at what he saw coming. What will motocross bikes look like in the year 2000?…
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Back in 1994, Roger DeCoster asked "What makes a World Championship?" It was unclear back then just as it is today. Here's what he wrote in the May 1994 issue of Dirt Bike. Last summer I won my sixth world championship title. It was…
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In the April, 1994 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster was wondering how motorcycle manufacturers were allowing their logos to vanish from the bikes their top riders were racing. At the time, apparel makers were becoming a bigger and bigger…
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In 1998, Roger DeCoster was still on staff at Dirt Bike, a position he held since 1994.  He was also Suzuki's Race Team Manager by then. That gave him a vested interest in the rules that allowed four-strokes a displacement advantage in Pro…
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In 1994, motocross in the U.S. was changing rapidly. Motocross in Europe, less so. Roger DeCoster watched it all, which prompted this column in the August, 1994 issue of Dirt Bike. Has motocross changed since the '70s? Of course it…
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By Roger Decoster
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In the early '90s, professional motocross, Supercross and most other forms of motorized racing were supported enthusiastically by Big Tobacco. The irony of this was not lost on Roger DeCoster, even through he wore Camel logos through most…
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Back in the ’90s, Roger DeCoster produced a monthly column in Dirt Bike. This one was from June, 1993, when Roger dealt with the topic of Belgium’s success in GP competition. Today, Belgium is still an international powerhouse in FIM world…
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Roger DeCoster has mentored more motocross champions than any man in history. His own racing record is incredible. Beyond his five  500cc World Motocross Championships, he was a member of more winning Motocross des Nations teams than any…
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This  story was alternately written by Roger DeCoster and Bob Hannah for the July, 1995 issue of Dirt Bike. The subject was the 1978 Trans-AMA Series. In the beginning, the series didn’t really have a name. It was just a collection of…
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We often point to Doug Henry’s 1998 Yamaha YZM as the beginning of the modern four-stroke era. Actually, it started much earlier. In 1993, Jacky Martens won the 500cc World GP Championship on a works Husqvarna 630. Before that season was…
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In 1994, America was unseated after a 13-year winning streak at the Motocross des nations. No one knows more about that event than Roger DeCoster. Here’s what he wrote about it in the December 1994 issue of Dirt Bike. It was…
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What's the difference between a legitimate pass and dirty racing? That's been a difficult question for a very long time. In the June, 1994 issue of Dirt Bike, Roger DeCoster addressed the issue. The standards he put forth have become a…
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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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