GP’s Classic Steel #37 – Classic Moto Gear

In 1989 Honda made a major push for all its team riders to wear their in-house Hondaline gear. The TX-10 stuff had never been particularly popular and was certainly not the most stylish gear on the circuit. Team leader Ricky Johnson, after several years with Fox Racing, declined to wear the gear for the amount offered and in a bit of a shocking turn, eventually bucked his bosses wishes by signing with JT for ’89. The rest of team, however, was unfortunately saddled with this boring stuff. This jersey belonged to 1989 125 National Motocross Champion Mike Kiedroswki and is a good example of the innocuous TX-10 gear of the era. Interestingly, both Answer and AXO made their own versions of the Hondaline TX-10 gear. In 1991 Jeff Stanton actually started the season in Answer TX-10 before switching over to AXO at midyear.

While Honda did not implement its full “team gear” concept until 1995, in 1989 they made an early stab at it. Team riders Jeff Stanton, Mike Keidrowski, Larry Ward and George Holland all wore TX-10. Only reigning Supercross champion Rick Johnson had the clout to buck the trend in ‘89.

Perhaps the most misunderstood champion ever, enigmatic Frenchman Jean-Michel Bayle came to America with one goal in mind; to capture the Supercross title. Three years and three MX/SX titles later, he took his toys and went home to road race in France. While Bayle was never popular with crowds here in America, no one could deny his incredible talent on a motorcycle. Bayle etched his name into the history books wearing this jersey in ’91, becoming the only rider ever to win all three major titles in one year (250MX, 250SX and 500MX).

JMB is perhaps the smoothest rider ever to race on a Supercross track. He was an innovator on the track and mystery off of it. In his short time over here, he perfected new techniques that still influence riding today. One of the first riders to master the technique of skimming whoops, the quiet Frenchman was fast, fluid and always a joy to watch.

While I am a huge fan of 90% of the Fox Racing gear of this era, this bizarre Image Racewear gear worn by Factory Suzuki rider Buddy Antunez in 1991 is just terrible. I mean, in a sport where broken bones are as common as man-friends, how do you get off plastering a skeleton on the gear (“Oh yes doctor, I believe I have broken the bone right below the Camel Supercross sticker”)? This stuff was just weird and should be stuffed in a drawer never to be seen again.

This is what happens when you sell 1 million copies of Zebra print and inhale too much hairspray from your big-haired 80’s era girlfriend.  After the huge success of their Zebra gear, Fox was definitely looking for the “next-big-thing” in the early 90’s. This skeleton and barbed wire mess was definitely not it. At least when you snapped your femur, you had a good sense of just how big that damn bone is.

In 1989, when Trampas Parker won the 1989 125 World Motocross title, few moto enthusiasts even knew who the Louisiana native was. When he backed it up in ’91 with a 250 World Title, there was no doubt the kid from Shreveport was legit. Parker may have never gotten his proper due over here because of his early immigration to Europe. Even in the early 90’s people scoffed somewhat at the European talent pool, and many discounted his success. Even so, Parker took home a total of 13 GP wins and was the 1st American to claim two World Motocross tiles. That is nothing to scoff at, and Parker should be respected for his significant place in American motocross history.

Parker actually rode several American races in 1992. Early in the year, he joined fellow expatriate Micky Dymond by entering a few rounds in Supercross. Running the #100, he made the mains, but was no threat for a win. Parker’s only chance to display that big #1 plate for the home fans came later in the year at the 250 Unadilla USGP.  Unfortunately for Trampas and his GP competitors, Jeff Stanton also attended the event and laid the wood to the field in all three moto’s. Parker would loose the #1 plate to fellow American Donny Schmit at the end of the ’92 season.

This 1993 Xtreme gear was worn by Jeff “Chicken” Matiasavich, one of the most popular riders of the early 1990’s. After making his pro debut in 1987 on a #201 DMC KX125 (“DMC” stands for David Miller Concepts, which was sort of the 80’s equivalent of the modern Pro Circuit Racing), Chicken was snatched up by Team Kawasaki to contest the 1988 125 Supercross series. Jeff would reward his employer with back-to-back 125 titles, before moving up to the big boy class in 1990. His initial foray into the 250 class would be even more impressive, as he would prove the most consistent rider early on in the series, and take a win at the Las Vegas round.  Matiasevitch would actually lead the series all the way to the ¾ mark, before the pressure, and a surging Jeff Stanton, would pass him for the championship.
  Jeff would spend two more lackluster years at Kawasaki, before moving to the Suzuki team for 1993. After spending his entire career with Fox Racing, Jeff would also switch his gear to the splashy new Xtreme line of apparel for ‘93. Xtreme (which had made their name selling colorful and subjective casual wear) was looking to break into motocross gear and the colorful and popular Matiaevich looked to be the perfect rider to debut the new line. Although Chicken certainly looked stylish on the Suzuki, he would not be able to recapture the magic of his early career on the yellow machines.

After spending a disappointing year on the RM’s (which were, in all honesty, not very good machines at the time), Jeff would find no one knocking on his door for ’94. Forced to ride a privateer NCY (North County Yamaha) YZ250, Matiasevich would actually have his best season in years and earn a Factory Kawasaki ride to compete in the Japanese 250 National championships. Chicken would go onto capture 3 consecutive Japanese 250 National titles for Kawasaki, before retiring in 1998. One of the most stylish and aggressive riders in motocross history (and some would say one of the dirtiest), Jeff remains a fan favorite, and an icon of 90’ Moto.