"In the time and the moment you have to do everything you can. That's all you can really ask for is your best at that point in that moment.... And for me, I do whatever it takes, and if that's having to give a little more than what I'm comfortable with, then I maybe have a tendency to go past that point, but at the same time you know I want to win or die trying."
Ryan Dungey
"I'm a champion and I've done it in Europe and I don't see why I can't do it here in America.... I've got a book at home that I've made from last year on the World Championship, and I always look at those special moments when I won GPs and got the holeshot and just checked out. When I'm having a bad day I'll always open up that book, or even watch some races from last year when I was riding good, and that lifts me up again and the next time I go out riding I'm back on it again."
-Tyla Rattray
Kawasaki is the only top team...
Kawasaki is the only top team we saw running the oil cooler on a 450, and combining that with water pump mods. Note that the oil lines are heat-wrapped to keep exhaust pipe heat away from the oil.
Austin Stroupe's Pro Circuit...
Austin Stroupe's Pro Circuit KX250F ran an oil cooler and this unique-for Pro-Circuit-pipe. We suspect that this is a pre-muffler rather than a chamber to affect power. Opinions are mixed over which type of oil cooler is best. Pro Circuit uses an independent oil radiator, while other teams run the oil through the radiator coolant. Note the second skin to make the pipe tougher.
Not all the outdoor mods are...
Not all the outdoor mods are about performance, but keeping the bike's capabilities intact. This KX450F has a stop to prevent the brake pedal from moving up, a brake snake to keep the tip from getting ripped away and foam and a cover to keep mud from jamming it or the peg.
"We're born with it, I think. A lot of us have a gift. I have a heart, and I'm in shape.... I want to be one of the guys so bad that I think about it every morning when I'm running and every afternoon when I'm bicycling. I know that I have it, it's just if I put it to use."
-Tommy Hahn
"I don't look at anyone next to me and think that I can outdo them, I just do what I do as good as I can. If it's more than the next guy or if it's less, I don't know-I don't even think about that. If you have it, it's already inside you."
-Brett Metcalfe
"Championship. That's what it's all about, that's why I'm here and it's my job. You gotta think, like, what else would I be doing? I'd be doing 9 to 5 on a building site working like that, so even when you're on a bicycle you gotta think we have it good."
-Tommy Searle
"When (you're training and) it hurts, and when it's the worst is when you're making up a little time on the other riders, pretty much putting the coins in and just another step, and if it's not hard, you're not getting anything."
-Martin Davalos
"Confindence for me comes from winning, or riding really strong, or proving to myself that I did what I wanted to do."
-Jake Weimer