The thing I liked most about Dirt Rider, however, was the fact that it was a magazine created for riders by riders. We were very hands-on, and that allowed me to test exotic bikes in amazing places. It was also during this time that we got into the television business with two separate shows. My most memorable experiences came from "Dirt Rider Adventures" which aired on OLN and "Motorcyclist" on Speed Channel. I got to ride in Costa Rica, Peru, Zimbabwe, Canada, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand. It also introduced me to incredibly talented people like Albertyn, Mike Metzger, Chad Reed, Dick Burleson, Steve Hatch, Randy Hawkins, Barry Hawk, Scot Harden, Trevor Vines and Grant Langston-all of whom are now involved with the company I cofounded with Jason Williams, called Pole Position Raceway. We now have four of the world's largest indoor go-kart tracks scattered around the country in California, Oklahoma and Nevada, and will probably have more in the future. Life is definitely different now, but the sport of motorcycling is never far from my mind. Each of our facilities has a mini motorsports museum, and we have more than a million dollars worth of championship bikes, jersey, helmets and other cool stuff on display. We helped David Bailey raise over a quarter-million dollars last year, and have hosted parties for Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha, KTM, Alpinestars, Troy Lee Designs and more.
My office is covered with all sorts of memorabilia that I gathered during my journalism career, and I still get to reminisce about my magazine editing days with Pole Position Raceway customers. And yes, I do miss working for DR!
Damon Bradshaw | 
Terry Swanson |  |
1989
This was another banner year for dirt riding. Suspension leaped again with 46mm conventional fork models and the first Japanese bikes with upside-down forks. Many new MX models came with 19-inch rear wheels for the first time. In off-road, Suzuki's RMX and Yamaha's WR are answers to requests from the public for off-road machines that start with a high-end motocross bike. Another first: ATK offers the first electric-start four-stroke MX and off-road models. A majority of ATKs sold have the $1000 option. Suzuki also becomes the first manufacturer to make a power valve 80cc two-stroke motocrosser. Americans featured in Europe again. Broc Glover, Rodney Smith, Donny Schmit, Mike Healey and Trampas Parker all raced overseas, and Parker brought back the first 125cc World title by an American in '89. For our 250cc enduro shootout we used a variety of riders for testing. The fastest of the group was a young MXer-turned-off-roader named Jimmy Lewis.
1990
Kawasaki introduced the big innovation in 1990. Its KX125 and 250 became the first production motocrossers with perimeter frames. The early examples were heavy, tall and passed along vibration, but slamming into obstacles head on was awesome, and most modern chassis owe at least a nod to these KXs. KTM started to make a huge push in 1990 with a completely new 250 based on Broc Glover's 1989 works bike. The bike proved a massive step forward for KTM, and a 300 based on the 250 was a waiting-list sales winner for years. This was also the year that Husaberg was born. The Swedish brand was founded by engineers who were left without a home when Cagiva bought Husky and moved it to Italy. It started small but eventually revolutionized four-stroke engine design when it mixed a 600 cylinder and a 350 crank to make the short-stroke 501 motocrosser. The Berg 501 helped make Joel Smets a World champion. Speaking of World champions, Donny Schmit won his first 125cc crown.
Ryan Hughes | 
Jean-Michel Bayle | 
Jeff Stanton |