Okay....#1 They weren't born famous...They got famous by doing tricks and pushing the limits...They have no fear.
If you ride or race motocross now....how expensive and stylish your gear is means nothing as long as it gets the job done. You can spend $500 dollars on gear to protect you to the best anything can, or you can drop thousands on gear. Up to 500 on jersey and pants alone. Up to 1000 dollar boots, 600 dollar helmets, 800 dollar neck braces, 600 dollar knee braces, 50 dollar gloves, 180 dollar goggles....It's endless. But, keep in mind no matter how much you spend on gear will not make you good or famous. Yea, good looking gear is nice. I have 200 in my pants and jersey, 20 in gloves, 160 in my helmet, 30 in my goggles (I'm sponsored...120 dollar goggles for 30) 300 dollar boots, 50 dollar knee guards i hardly ever wear, 80 in a chest protector. And my gear is all new within a year to two years. I have name brand stuff, I think it looks cool, and it gets the job done. Now that's around $840. Could I get by without name brand gear and top of the line stuff? You bet. Now even $840 in gear definitely beats $3,730. I know guys with less than 3,730 in their bike, trailer, and gear combined and they are still getting noticed.
I don't believe they make hand movements really...Sometimes at the end of a race I give a fist pump or something stupid just for my friends or whoever is there watching to show off a little, but it's all what you feel.
Rolling the throttle means nothing, no one cares either. As long as you get your bike warmed up so it won't seize up on the first double (like I did once) your good to go...
*NOTE!!!! You might have a loud bike, But just because your bike is loud does not give you the right to be a A$$ and rev it up to the rev limiter just to be loud as hell and get attention. Every track has that one person, and everyone hates that person. It's extremely annoying. When people do that at my normal spots I ride, they aren't very good and they are all talk. So as a result, I ride especially dirty to scare the hell out of them and let them know they aren't Ricky Carmichael. If they keep doing stupid stuff like high revs when its completely unnecessary, as well as bragging and trash talking, I have been known to make contact with guys/take them out in extreme situations. And I am normally thought of as a pretty clean rider. It's little stuff like the revving that makes you negatively noticed. It makes everyone else a little upset with you, and makes it easier to really make them mad later. So PLEASE!!! Just don't do it. That simple.
Goggles don't matter either. As long as the strap isn't down by your neck your good to go.
Those Metal Mulisha guys really don't care about their gear...Why would they? They are rich and they wear their own brand. They designed it. Most their stuff they get free as well. I would wear any gear, especially BRAND NEW free gear any way or style they want me to. Just because you wear fancy Metal Mulisha gear doesn't make you popular.
One little tip about how you wear your gear, most people tuck their jersey into their pants....leave it a little baggy cause you will look stupid if you tuck it in to the point where you can see every little wrinkle in your skin. If you're into wearing knee guards (which I STRONGLY recommend after a bad crash a few weeks ago that ended me up in the ER) They go under you pants. You look kinda dorky if you do it the opposite way...If they fit over top that is.
Also the number of stickers on your bike doesn't really matter. No one cares. Unless you have sponsorships where you are required to have their name on your bike, I wouldn't do it. I got the great idea to use tons of stickers on my very first bike when i was little and one day i walked out into the garage and looked at it and thought..."What a piece of shit." It looks tacky. one or two are fine, but don't go crazy like I did. Also as far as cosmetics of the bike, you don't need a $300 dollar full graphics kit. If it means that much to you that you want it, go right ahead. But I personally would rather put that $300 into my bike to make it faster or use it towards a new bike instead of the looks. I have backgrounds on my bike that I got new of Ebay for $10 dollars. No one would know it was cheap, I'm happy with it...done.
What makes riders famous is hard work, dedication, love for the sport, confidence, social, and most of all SOME CRAZY TALENT ON A BIKE. You will be nothing unless you are fast. That is THE #1 most important step if you want to be recognized. I don't know what skill level you are at or anything, but If you are new to motocross, You will NOT just go out and throw some tricks down. People don't realize the time it takes to nail even a simple trick.
I am very well known for riding motocross at my school. Even if people don't know my name, they know what I do. And I swear almost every week someone at my school will come up to me and say "Hey dude! Can you do a backflip!?" or "Do you know Travis Pastrana!?" No. It doesn't work like that. You don't know how many kids would be doing backflips if it was that easy.
I've been on a bike for around 6 years now and prior to that I've rode quads since I was 6. (I'm 15 in a month) I am literally JUST now within the last year or so getting into tricks. I can throw no footers like nothin. Easy. You will eventually learn them from racing even if you don't plan on it, you will. No-handers, Nac-Nacs, and heelclicks are where I'm at now. I have attempted all of these successfully minus the heelclick.
And like I said, I've been on a bike for a big part of life. Soon to be half of my life. I do tricks to give me more confidence on the bike and also cause it's fun to impress people with something not everyone can do. No, I'm not a Pro or nothin, and I'm not planning to be the next Travis Pastrana. My point is, To be good, especially on a dirtbike, you need lots and lots of seat time. AKA Experience.And about the lifestyle of them, that doesn't mean shit. I get extremely pissed off when I am judged as bad-ass cause I ride a dirtbike. Hardly anyone that I know of who rides has tattoo's, piercings, drinks/smokes under age or are rebels in any way. We are crazy in our own way. This may shock you, but I play piano. I get all A's. I'm have a 97% in Chinese at my high school. I haven't even touched drugs or alcohol. I don't want to. I haven't broken the law....(besides breaking the speed limit a little
) Now how bad ass am I? Every person who rides motocross is different. We have the love for the sport in common. There is no certain way you need to be. Don't even think for one second that you need to change yourself in anyway to be successful. Being different in my opinion as far as the good grades and positive things helps if anything. (with getting sponsored)Motocross/FMX is in it's own category in my opinion. It takes guts if nothing else, tons of mental strength, physical strength etc. I know of nothing else like this. It's you by yourself. You ain't got timeouts if you are tired. There is no team. It's all up to you. If you are up for it and put in the time, that is what makes you a good rider. You need many characteristics to be a famous rider...it just takes the perfect blend. Not many people have every characteristic it takes, and of those that do are the guys who are famous and on TV and have millions of dollars.
I hope I helped... Let me know if you have any other questions. I'll try to help.
Aaron M.
Edited by 0honda, 05 June 2012 - 04:04 PM.
What scares me is there are people out there really like that...............
