El Machete

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!!!