Do you wear a Leatt Brace? If you don’t, you should. Motocross is a dangerous sport, and dressing for the crash, not the ride, is a lot more than a catchy cliche’. Do me a favor, and take a couple minutes to watch the video on the Leatt Brace web site…it’s educational, and entertaining. (And you get to see yours truly slam his head into a tractor tire, so why not?)

CLICK HERE

WARNING: This is really dumb.

Anyway, I was cleaning up the hard drive of my home PC last night and I came across this gem, left over from out unofficial TransWorld Motocross Christmas Party. I guess that since the good folks at Jagermeister sent up a tap machine and a few bottles of the delightful beverage for our party, this video is officially sponsored by Jagermeister!

Our ad guy Pat “P-Lo” Lopez is an environmentally conscious kind-of-guy…

Last week, our buddy Kevin Strikwerda from Pro Taper finally accepted our invitation to come riding with us. The Sharpie-on-the-goggle-foam trick is an oldie but goodie on the TransWorld Motocross staff, and we decided to welcome KS our with a little Tom Foolery…

Tonight, Cloud Toda, his wife and his baby daughter paid us a visit in Ginza. As I have written before, bac k in 2006 Cloudy and his mechanic at the time, Hide, stayed with my family at our home in California for a couple months while he trained and competed in the Washougal MX National. Last July, Cloud was involved in a horrific practice crash and sustained paralyzing injuries. This was the first time I had seen him, and I was stoked to see how well he was doing. Cloud is very positive about the future, and works through six hours of therapy a day in hopes of someday being able to walk again. Of course, the language barrier kept me from getting the 100% accurate story, but as I understand it, he is undergoing some pretty radical Japanese therapy and has high hopes.

It was great to see Cloud, and also to meet his new wife and daughter. We talked a lot about my good friend Ricky James, who continues to ride aboard a modified motocross bike and this year won three truck racing championships in his rookie season. I could see the wheels spinning in Cloud’s head as we talked about RJ’s bike set up…

Stay tuned for a Catching Up With Interview in the next issue of the magazine…

Until then, thanks for driving down to see us, Cloudy! Eileen, Samantha, Megan and I were glad to see how well you’re doing!

- Swap

By now, I’m hoping that you’ve seen all the shots I posted of the Japanese works bikes that I saw today at the track. Though there weren’t as many super trick bikes as there have been in previous years, I was still pretty excited as I checked out some of the stuff that’s to come in 2010.

Now, I could be partial, but I swear, Japan is an amazing country. The differences in the culture are far too great to even begin to address here in my blog, but the two things that stand out in my mind are how polite everyone is, and how clean it is here. No one litters! The scenery, the food, and the technology…I love it! No one, or no thing (subway trains) are ever late. The promptness of everyone and everything never ceases to blow me away.

The last time I was in a taxi in the United States was in New York City. When I got out, I felt like I needed to boil my body and my clothes in hot water. This, though, is what taxis in Japan look like. Check the dude’s white gloves? Trying to hide his prints from Horatio Caine and the CSI Miami crew, or what? And let’s not get into the doily seat covers. haha

After spending the first part of my trip in GInza, I am now in Kumamoto, a small country town where the race track is located. Though the place is pretty dang cheap by Japanese standards ($50 a night), it is the gaudiest place I’ve ever been to, outside of Las Vegas. This is the view from the hotel restaurant. Behind me, they had a James Dean wall clock, complete with flashing LED lights!

One of the nicer touches was this - a beer vending machine! And no, in spite of Japan’s technological superiority, I don’t think the machine could verify that its customers were of age. Years and years ago as a 14-year-old Boy Scout visiting Japan for an international camping trip, I bought a bunch of porno magazines in a similar vending machine. Isn’t Japan the greatest? (Later in the trip, afraid that I would be caught with the smut in my bag, I hid them in the bookshelf in the room of the Japanese Boy Scout whose family I was staying with. The next day, I heard his mom spanking him and yelling…about what I will never know. haha)

This is my room in the Kumamoto Airport hotel. I am glad that I left my luggage with the concierge in Ginza and only brought a couple T-shirts in my camera bag! In all honesty, I think my toy hauler might be bigger inside…

It poured all day on Friday, drizzled through Friday night, and was butt-ass cold on Saturday. In fact, it snowed here and there throughout the day. The track was a muddy mess, and riders struggled to work their way around it. Because of the mud, the course was cut down significantly. Team Suzuki’s Yoshi Atsuta told me his lap times were 1:08!

Defending All Japan National Champion Akira Narita win the title as a member of Team Yamaha in 2008. For ‘09, though, both Yamaha and Honda dropped their factory race teams in Japan due to the economic climate. Narita is racing what is basically the same bike as last year, as Yamaha wants to wait before it unveils the new 2010 works bike. Narita had WHITE pads for his Leatt Brace. I told him they were “kako-ii,” which means super trick. I’ve been trying to get Geoff and Hapa at Leatt to hook me with some white pads forever. I felt a little better when Akira said he got them in Australia. haha

This is Hide, Narita’s #2 mechanic. I’ve been friends with Hide for a few years now, because he and his former rider, Cloud Toda, stayed with my family and I a few Springs ago. Cloud used to come to the United States every year to train and prepare for the All Japan Championships, and we enjoyed having a couple International house guests. We were devastated last year when we learned that Cloudy suffered paralyzing injuries in a freak crash involving the Yamaha team trainer at a practice track. I am supposed to visit with Cloud back in Tokyo, after the race weekend is over. I am looking forward to catching up with him, but I must admit that I am a little nervous to see him. Cloud is a very upbeat guy, though, so I am sure he is doing well.

The track food is pretty good. Make that great. Today, I dined on Yakitori skewers and a bowl of udon noodles. This guy, however, is making octopus balls, I believe. Didn’t know octopi had balls? Yeah, neither did I. haha. When I was bored last night, I google searched Kumamoto, the town I am staying in. I found out that when it comes to cuisine, Kumamoto is rather famous for its…get this…horse sashimi! Bleeech! That’s right. Raw horse. Gross.

On that note, I am going to bed. I feel sick to my stomach all of a sudden.
Maybe a trip to that vending machine might help…

- Swap

It’s that time of year again - time for the All Japan National MX Championship Series opener - and here I am, thousands of miles away in Japan. Though traveling has lost its luster for me after 18 years of flying here, there, and everywhere for work, I still enjoy coming to Japan. Sure, a lot of that has to do with me being Japanese-American, but I think that regardless, I would enjoy the sites and sounds of the supreme Asian country.

Thanks to the global economy being in the crapper, I understand that both Honda and Yamaha have dropped their factory motocross efforts in the homeland. That’s right, though Akira Narita won the number-one plate as a member of the factory Jubilo Yamaha team in 2008, he is basically a privateer for 2010. Rumor has it he will be provided with a factory bike, but it will NOT be the super-trick 2010 prototype that I’ve heard plenty about.(EFI, forward-tilted engine, all-new chassis, etc…)

That said, I’m not sure what cool bikes there will be to see at this year’s series opener. I’m assuming that the EFI Suzuki RM-Z250 will be at Kumamoto, but I’ve also heard rumors of the bike making an appearance as early as TODAY in the United States, somewhere… (Stay tuned to transworldmx.com for shots!)

Anyway, be sure to check back on Saturday for photos of what I see at the series opener! And keep your fingers crossed for some bad-ass works bikes!

For now, here’s a few shots that I snapped off with my pocket camera…

I stopped by the Shoei Helmets factory to see where the new VFX-W helmet is made. Though I’d already taken the factory tour a few years ago, it is still an amazing thing to see. There is a reason that Shoei helmets are the best in the world…

This advertisement for chewing gum was plastered on the wall inside of a subway train. I’m not sure where they were going with this one, but I’ll tell you what…we need this ad in TransWorld Motocross. Hey, Pete, are you listening? hahah

I call this photo, “Bring Bring!” On Halloween, I dressed up as a rapper. Surprisingly, this Japanese bling was cheaper than the crap I bought at the “Iced Out Jewelry” cart in the Tyler Mall back at home. haha!

Getting around Japan is an adventure, to say the least. Having been here a few times now, I know my way around the subways pretty well. A few years ago, I remember Scott Hoffman from Dirt Rider showing up at the first All Japan National, and I sure enjoyed hearing his travel horror stories!

Today, I was shocked when this Red Bull Mini Cooper zipped up to the curb next to me in the Harajuku district. Two Red Bull girls jumped out with their cooler backpacks and handed out free “Led-oh Boo-luh.” The Austrian energy drink company never ceases to amaze me.

“Harajuku girls, you’ve got the wicked style.” - Gwen Stefani

“Harajuku boys, you’ve got my art director’s style.” - Donn Maeda

Last year, three days before I was set to head to Japan for round one of the All Japan National Championship Series to check out the works bikes, I was crashed into at my Loretta Lynn’s Area Qualifier and suffered a dislocated left wrist and a broken right wrist. Surgery and an overly cautious doctor delayed my departure by two days, and an understaffed American Airlines jet delayed me yet another. When all was said and done, my 11-day trip was cut to six, and I spent the entire trip decked out in a flo-pink cast on my left arm that went all the way to my armpit.

This year, my wife and kids banned me from racing the weekend before my trip, hoping to protect me from any pre-travel injuries. It’s too bad they didn’t keep me from racing TWO weekends before my trip! Last weekend, I entered the District 37 Big 6 GP at Glen Helen and - yep, you guessed it - did a number on myself. Racing in blinding dust, I missed a sharp corner in the single=track section of the course in the mountains high above Glen Helen’s MX track. Long story short, I busted my left fibula.

The funny thing about this injury, is that I didn’t think I was really hurt at all. I mean, my left calf was sore where the bike landed on me, but I still loaded my bike, went to eat on the way home with my friend Kyle, and made it to my daughter Samantha’s soccer game. Heck, I even took Samy and all of her friends to toilet paper their friend’s house later that night.

When I woke up Sunday morning and my leg was still a bit sore, I decided that I should get X Rays, just to be sure. And sure enough, that bitch was snapped in half! The ER doctors wrapped me up in a soft cast that went all the way to my crotch and equipped me with a set of crutches, even though I had walked on my leg for well over 12 hours without much pain. Thanks to my lingering injuries from last year, walking to the car on crutches actually hurt my wrists more than my leg pained me… Then, when I couldn’t even fit in my car when I got to it, I unwrapped my leg and left the splint, crutches, and five Ace bandages next to the trash can in the ER parking lot. A quick call to my old riding buddy and orthopedic surgeon Dr. Baum, and I was off to the paintball fields with my kids for a Sunday afternoon of fun. Dr. Baum stopped by the ER later that day and checked out my X-Rays, then phoned me and said to “wait at least four weeks before riding again,” and added that the break was aligned nicely. Because the fibula is not a weight-bearing bone, he wasn’t overly concerned that I had ditched my splint and crutches, but he did ask me to get a hold of a walking boot/splint before heading to Japan this week.

A quick call to my friend Brett Geurin at Ossur/Cti, and I had a trick walking boot by Tuesday. After strapping it on and pumping up the air chambers, I stood up and found that my leg actually hurt worse when splinted. Though the big plastic brace was as trick as I am sure any walking boot can get, it made me walk like the Elephant Man on crack. Since then, I’ve decided that an Ace bandage for a little support (and as a gentle reminder that I am, indeed, injured) is a better/more comfortable plan of attack.

“Now you’re a true off-roader,” said my friend Mark Tilley, of Dirt BIke Magazine testing fame. “Off roaders always ride hurt and get rid of their casts.”

Sorry Mark, but I’m not a true off-roader yet. I’m just a motocrosser who temporarily lost his way…

So, three days from now, I’m headed to Japan again. This year’s All Japan National Championship Motocross Series opener is being held north of Tokyo, near Kumamoto airport. I hear that Honda and Yamaha both dropped their factory teams because of the poor global economy, but I’m still hoping to see some trick pre-production bikes. I hear that the Suzuki and Honda 250Fs are fuel injected for sure, and that there is a chance that the Kawasaki might be, as well.

Sometime before or after the National, I am also hoping to see my friend Cloud Toda, the Suzuki factory rider who was paralyzed last year in a freak crash involving the Yamaha team trainer. Cloudy stayed at my house for a couple months a few years ago, and I (as well as my family) hope to pay him a visit.

I am planning on updating my blog throughout my two-week jaunt (limp) through the homeland, so check back often!

- swap

So today while we were testing some assorted products at Starwest, I overheard Skinny and our new guy, Bayo “O-Something” Olukotun talking about riding technique. See, Bayo “Own Damn Lunch” was a part-time instructor at the Tony D. School of Motocross before joining the TWMX team, and I know Skinny has been chomping at the bit to get some pointers.

Anyway, I ventured out on to the track with my camera to snap a few photos of our test rider Josh Brown, and when Skinny rode past, I decided to snap a shot of him for posterity’s sake. Tonight, as I edited my shots, I noticed that Skinny was eyeballing ME, not the line he was hoping to take down the next straightaway!

Well, Bayo “Silver, Away!”, I think you know what to work on next with our grumpy web master…

Back in the early days of TransWorld Motocross, we had a test rider named Josh Stice. One of the coolest guys I’ve met through motocross, Stice was a fast Intermediate rider that showed lots of promise. As a test rider, he offered very good feedback, but he was harder on bikes that anyone I knew. After only a few laps on any bike, Stice would transform a bike into a clapped-out beater. Thus, we dubbed him “The Hatchet,” because when he got done with a bike, it looked like it had been beaten with a hatchet. A few gnarly injuries eventually forced the Hatchet to walk away from motocross and pursue a career with his families construction business, but I still see him at the track now and again. He’s still super fast, and yes, his bike still looks like a turn on a stick.

Here at TransWorld Motocross, our ad guy Pat Lopez, or “P-Lo” as many people know him, has replaced the Hatchet as the guy who is hardest on bikes. It doesn’t matter if it’s a brand new project bike or a pristine new test unit; P-Lo can transform it into a smoldering pile of crap in a matter of rides. Take his personal Kawasaki KX450F for instance. Within one of two rides, he cartwheeled the thing and I saw it chillin’ in the back of his Toyota pickup (which is equally hammered - haha), and it looked much like the bike Pastrana launched into the Grand Canyon back in the day. P-Lo rides hard. And crashes hard. And that’s why his bikes often look the way they do.

Or so I thought…

Before Christmas, Pat’s “top secret” girlfriend asked me what she should get him for Christmas. Without thinking for more than a fifth of a second, I replied, “A tool box. For sure, a tool box. The one he has looks like it fell out on the freeway and got run over my a cement truck.” After thanking me for the great idea, she ran out and purchased him a nice, new, un-dented tool box.

Just now, as I pulled into the TransWorld Motocross parking lot, I noticed that P-Lo had some riding stuff in the back of his truck. And lo and behold, there was his new Christmas toolbox! One of the drawers was open, and it was then that I realized why his scooter always looks so haggard. It’s not his wide-open riding style. It’s not his ability to crash and survive end-over-end crashes… It’s because he has such an arsenal of tools, with which to maintain his ride!!!