classic decoster

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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,…
Read More...

Even in 1994, Supercross politics were volatile. In the October, 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.…
Read More...

In 1996 the term "Perfect Season" hadn't been coined, at least not in motocross. But there were winning streaks. Jeremy McGrath was at the height of his powers and it seemed that there was no one to challenge him in Supercross. That…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

In 2005, Ricky Carmichael and Roger DeCoster brought Suzuki back from obscurity and developed a bike while dealing with the pressure of perfection
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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…
Read More...

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.…
Read More...