Hooligans - Mint 400 with Rusty Butcher, James Hill, Dougie Fresh & Goodtimes Racing

Racing a 450lb Harley Davidson Sportster across the desert at one of the roughest races in North America, The Mint 400.  The dudes on this show are gnarly, there is no other way to explain it.  They call themselves crazy for even thinking about it, but they have finished this grueling 200+ mile race.

Rusty Butcher and friends James Hill & Noah Tedesco along with the Goodtimes Racing Family of Rich Silva, Joey Elms, & Dougie Fresh all give us the rundown of these bikes as well as how they race them.

I can promise most of us will never try this in our lifetimes!!!

Transcript

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Welcome to the dirt life show with your host, George Hamil. Yeah, yeah, yeah welcome everybody to the dirt life show episode 153 We are at what do you call your place mark? Yeah, butchers, then what's yours then? We're at the butchers den. Well, I'd like to call it the home of the hooligans as well but my name is Georgie Hamill. Welcome the dirt life show. Today we're going to talk with some awesome people super gnarly dudes actually, about the man 400 And these Harley Davidson V twins that they convert into dirt bikes. So I'd like to welcome Mark Adkins at the butcher show James Hill did we always see it was a sir img Motorsports and then we got a bunch of dudes waiting in the background I don't know if if you guys can see on Instagram but you can see on Facebook and YouTube all the guys in the background Good Times racing. We got Yep, let me see here we got rich so Chris Meyer is gonna come on from Max's got Noah Tabasco and Joey ELMS. Tonight's show is going to be badass man. I can't wait to talk about all this stuff. The things that I wanted to talk about. Like I said, we're that these dudes are gnarly. 450 pounds of motorcycle is going to be used in the dirt. Can you believe that? And if you guys looked at our Instagram, you saw Mark. Taking a rip on James new bikes is breaking it for him. Yep, that was I only a couple of parts fell off. Yeah. I love to get pizza and then it got written. I like to build everyone's bikes. I know that they're not going to finish them in and I have a better advantage. It's a huge competitive advantage, right? Pretty cool, though. Man who came up with this idea? Like I want want to talk start talking about the idea and like how this all came about? Because honestly, man, it's fucking gnarly. Oh, man, that's a long answer. I guess the short end of it. In a guy used race for me. He's one of my best friends, Mikey virus. We used to just ride Sportsters in the hills a lot and jump them and build jumps and try to like hook as many jumps at the, like this place called Where did this harebrained idea come from? Quite honestly, I lost my last company. I got sued out of it. And I literally had no money. So I just saw what though Mike is close your mouth possible. I had to sell off everything I owned and I kept one bike and it was a Sportster. And I decided to make it into a dirt bike. Because I was bored. Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Yeah. And it worked. Well, you know, I destroyed my entire body. But here I am. That's the way it works. So now you're just building one for James so he can do the same thing or what? Yeah, I also have this good idea where I don't make any money because I build my friends bikes for free. just waste your time building your friends, bikes. 110%. That's so awesome. But at least in the pits, I can hang out with my friends. Yeah. Join me in the pits and in my own shop for free. Alright, so I want to get a little bit of more of a backstory. But like let's give a baseline to the audience and to the listeners that are going to listen to podcast later to is that you've raised them at 403 times. The hooligan like three or four I forget. Yeah. And you finish it. How many once? Dude, three times. So well. I erased it three times. I finished 1/3 time's a charm. My last minute finish was interesting to say the least. Yeah, I can only imagine dude. So like, what's the like? What's the gnarliest part about it? I mean, like, first of all, just writing a 450 pound bike in the desert is fucking gnarly. But well, the off road sports are things so fun, because it's like you jumped 20 feet on a Sportster and it feels like the craziest thing you've ever done in your life. It feels like a Supercross triple. Yeah, it's like way gnarly. And like no one cares if you jump a trip on a dirt bike. Yeah, so when I jumped at 20 feet on a Sportster, it was like this big thing. I always made fun of my dad for desert racing and desert riding because I grew up as a track kid. Yeah, desert racing is probably one of the gnarliest things I've ever tried to do it. It's pretty sick, though that you guys carry. Yeah. And so what do you think James like after hearing all these stories? So the first year they brought bikes recently back to the mat was 2019 I believe. And we went I raced dualsport because I'm like, do the bringing bikes back I want to be involved right? stepped off the side by side thing. Race. The dual sport Mark was there with a handful of other guys Mikey was there. We basically finished the dual sport race, or I think what we did was we're pitting I got off the bike gave the bike to somebody else, whoever is partnered with me that year. And these guys are rolling into the pit A few minutes later, and I'm like, that is the gnarliest thing I've ever seen. Right? Like it just seems stupid. First off, which I love stupid. Like, right? Like that looks if it looks dumb and impossible. Like I'm like, how do we do that? Right? Yeah, so that's pretty gnarly. It will and then second, like we're talking about it. Before the show, you come up with this harebrained idea you're like, okay, cool, I'm gonna do it I don't want to race it side by side this year I want to you know, team over mark and do it and you guys built one of the bikes that we have behind us your your new Sportster, right in basically a week? Well, couple, we worked on it three and a half times three and a half days, right. So just like everything else, like if you had all the parts here in the shop, right? Or if Mark had them, he knows what to do. It's a streamlined process for him. If James actually ordered the stuff on time when he rolled them. It would have worked out in maybe a day. Yeah, so yeah, you can just take them out on the track. It's true. No, I am I built the bike. So I already know what's cable is going to snap one hour into the ride. A huge competitive advantage. Dude, if that actually happens, though. I didn't do it on purpose. Yeah. But honestly, like, so first of all, like, it's all light hearted and good moods around here. But like, that's kind of the whole vibe of the deal, right? Like, I always like to think about it in the same aspect like to race Baja, that started as something fun. The dudes are just like, fuck, we'll go from end to end on the peninsula. We'll see how fast we can get there. Just figure it out. So that started just on a whim, the mint 400 started just on a whim. And then you guys are kind of breeding this whole new genre of motorcycle racing and riding in the desert, as well. Like to me, it's pretty sick. Yeah. This is like, I guess how I get people like James involved. He called me I get him to do these stupid ideas. The dudes that he wave visual, called me one day and they're like, Hey, would you like to raise the mid 400? And I'm like, first off, what's the Min 400? Which is dumb. I shouldn't know what that was. But they asked me to race it. And they're not even racing them anymore. Like they did the first couple years. And now they're out because they know how hard it is to race this thing. It's physically gnarly. Like, I think the last year there was like a 14 mile like San whoop section that just like completely annihilated my back and you have to roll every thing on a Sportster. You cannot blitz oops, you cannot double um, like every now and then you can kind of get your will over one but there's just like, endless. So explain that a little bit like James was saying like on the dual sport, right? Or you gotta enduro bike, like there's a massive difference because that's under 200 pounds or 202 50 pounds, just like what it is. And then so that you can lean back and you can just smash right but like on these things, there's no way No, that's how yard so that's like, people come in Roque. I've tried to calm him down, because he's actually pretty damn fast. You can't ride over your head and you can't ride it like you're riding a dirt bike. The weight will check you in two seconds. And once that thing starts going, it's swapping, you know, and it's definitely something to get used to. I always tell everyone, they all looked at me in the beginning and the men, there's probably about 20 Dudes lined up that we got to raise summit the first couple years and I go man, your guys's main goal is to finish this thing. And they like looked at me crazy. I'm like, but 20 Dudes race them in on a Sportster and four, maybe five finish seriously every time is that because bike problems are just us can't handle it. Everything. All the above bike problems like the first meant I had electrical issues. I had saddlebags and literally just put too much weight on a fender and ripped out a bunch of wiring. So I was chasing that I finished one lap out of the two. That was a longer loop I think 80 miles. Whiskey just logged on to what's up, David? Yeah, I'd like to do that just seems so gnarly to me like okay, so track kids, right? We all grew up at the track and stuff like that, like getting arm pump and like getting tired. I mean, yeah, that can happen a couple laps like we're talking a couple laps is like the first three quarters of the men 400 Oh, yeah. So riding just on the dirt bike course of it leading out to the man. There's like a mini I don't know. What is it like a mile in the field? Yeah, like, I feel like you already have arm pump by the time you leave that and if you're smart like my other racer, Noah. There's like a It was tricky, but like you take off like on the line. And it was like this hump. And like if you looked ahead, it just looked like a little couple of feet, you know? Yeah, but no one told us on the other end of that, that it was like an eight foot drop. And Noah sent his bike completely nosedive like literally almost endod And then smashed his hand through the hand guards and literally almost broke his hand. Oh shit that's within the infield that's like the first 20 feet of the race Do you people just straight off thank just we did it. Yeah, do you like you better you'd like go at least check out the infield before you get out in the desert so you don't want or just hit it full throttle? No Did I luckily can jump a Harley a little bit but I like kind of launched off of it and I realized I was going forward and on a Harley the only safe way to land is on the back wheel. It's a throttle wide open. Yeah. So I'm saying like you're not moving the bike like you would have a typical dirt bike like that's not the way that the gyro or Mass works on a Harley, right? It's a little bit, but the only safe way to learn on jumping Harley's back will throttle on. So can land even because if you land even it's all weights. Oh my god, that hurts my back just fucking thinking about it. This is great, because I know nothing right now, dude, you're learning to hear these things. So no as Mark was like, I've here's the other thing is I've gotten plenty of dualsport rides where Mark is on one of the Harley's and we're in you know, ravines or whatever, whatever. We're out in the hills in he rides it like a normal dirt bike, so I'm just like, it's gonna be like a dirt bike. I tell everyone, man, if you want to be decent off roading Harley, it's all seat time. And I probably have the most dirt miles on Harley, then I'd say majority of people out in the world do well first of all dirt miles on a Harley. That's like not regular. Yeah, but street miles you'll get killed quicker. So I don't disagree with that statement, actually. Yeah, why don't you just ask the question, how many miles do you have on the dirt on the Harley? James? I've got two loops around the shop. You did ride my bike one. So I did. So you've got point six, nine close to miles. We're given like a little bit extra. That's something you're just gonna go. Are you gonna practice it all before you go? Yeah. Tomorrow, right? Whenever you try to get some Latin writing. Oh, we can but we got a couple of things. We got to figure out. Okay. Yeah. No, needs a little bit. Needs to be fine. Tuned a little bit. This is where I get the upper hand on winning. Yeah, exactly. Alright, so let me thank the sponsors real quick. And then I want to get into like how the bikes are built, what the differences are real quick, so you guys can always share the show. You know, hit us up in the DMS on Instagram and stuff obviously follow all the guys that we tagged in our story. So you can watch these guys shredded the mint 400 as well. Thanks to all the companies that sponsor us. KMC wheels, Max's tires, Mo tool, shock therapy, JL Audio evolution, power sports, Zoolander racing products, shock therapy, Vision canopies. And cryo he, a lot of those guys will actually be out at the Mint. Like actually helping. And so if you guys come out there and see him, check out these fucking bikes and dude, have some fun. Talk to these dudes, because they're fucking crazy. Yeah, I'm that guy with a green hair. Apparently, you got green hair, another easy to spot. Okay, cool. It's for marketing purpose. All right, so let's talk a little bit about the way the well, it's the differences with a normal Sportster that you buy off the showroom floor from your buddy on eBay. Or what you have built behind us here, and we can talk to rich about his bike a little later, too. So every hooligan every good hooligan bike is basically the same platform. Rich's bike, my bike, and every other bike I own is based off of, I typically stay in 2000 to 2003, but like a 92 to 2003 sports, here's kind of my go to thing. Stop stock by bike weight is about 500 pounds, and I take that bike and just completely strip off everything that has to do with it being a Sportster. I take the frame motor, swing arm, and then build everything from there. How much does it actually end up weighing then? I think mine are a bit on the lighter side, I probably got a bit more shit into mine than most, so they're probably about 432 That's so gnarly, though. Like, probably one of the nicer setups. So 430 pounds riding around, like, how does that feel going through a corner? Like, just terrible. The worst? Like, this isn't a good idea. Like at all. I always tell everyone, it's more about the like, you can tell everyone you did it at the end of the day, rather than like it being like, oh, yeah, it's a great performance bike, because it's not like I have the best suspension that we could do. Race tech dialed in everything. We've worked with them for years trying to tweak the settings in for the heavy bikes for my heavy ass belly. And, you know, like, it's still not the best yet but I mean, like that's as much as you can do though, right? Oh, yeah, I think the last bikes I built are the best case scenario to where you start bending the rules, which I obviously involved with the men and everything for creating the role set. So I don't want people to go to monoshock or do anything like that because then it becomes like who can fab the best rather than like, I like the class being like at all it's everything on my bikes bolt on Yeah, just keep it limited and like keep just keep it gnarly, right. All right, so we got Chris Meyer from Max's tires, his kids in the background as well. What's up Chris? How are you? What's up guys? How are y'all doing? Good. So we can't barely hear you but dude, these guys are so gnarly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's pretty been ans C. And I liked what one of them just said, basically, you know, this isn't a good idea. No terrible. We're definitely a group of people with bad ideas. It's wild to understand though, right? Like, have you? So Chris, you grew up as a track kid, like what Mark was talking about the beginning of the show to racing dirt bikes and stuff. Would you even consider racing one of these bad boys, let alone at the mid 400? No. Yeah, maybe? Yeah. I need a ride. I probably could be tucked into it. Is that the way are we conversation goes literally every time I've ever been tucked in anything. Oh, right. Yeah. No, no, no. All right, maybe. Yeah. That's literally the conversation that happened with me with the heatwave doozies. They explain what they wanted to do. And I was like, you want me to race this thing? How far? Like I ride to Starbucks on back and back on a Harley. That's exactly what I was thinking, man. It looks like Chris ended up dropping off his kid probably pressed a button or something. But somebody just killed the internet. I think we're back. We're not back. I don't know. I think somebody killed the internet. So no one's here. I think you killed it. Maybe. Let me go check real quick. Does anyone have a copy? Someone called Doug. Someone can if you can hear us called Doug. Alright, ladies, gentlemen, we are back. Trust your cell phone. Rusty, but your internet's not doing that good. Dougie. What do you think about what's going on here? Oh, you know, just the bunch of, you know, hooligan desert racers, you know, doing their thing. It's pretty much regular scheduled programming. Pretty much right. All right, James. So this bikes give us a little bit of a breakdown. So I'm pretty new to this. But there's Sportster chassis after Marc's done calling Cox over there on the for the internet. All right. So give us a little bit of a breakdown. So these things Sportster frame, chassis frame, Sportster engine, Monza 1200, I don't know what this one is. Marks is at three bottom. How about we do this, you give us a breakdown of yours. All right, and then rich give us a breakdown of the what do you guys call that bad boy? Baja, barley and then mark will give us a little bit of a breakdown here. All right. So here we go. 92, Sportster, 1200 modified you know flip pig mounts, something like that. Honda 450 X Ronin with a GoPro tapers, GoPro tapers. I got cracked earlier they're orange. They're going straight up. Gold chain with their color. Their gold moto chain? Yeah, one of Mark's jeans. I don't know what brand that is Racetech rear shocks custom built. We actually have those sprung for 190 pounds. Since I am a dad. On top of that, we got the 18 inch rear just like the dual sport so you know as much as I like to seem like I'm used to the 18 inch on the dirt bike who knows how this bikes gonna feel with that big traction guy you know? Oh, but you did say wait on the battery. Thank God we did say wait on the battery custom seat from Saddleman that clutch doesn't even feel that bad. It was a great pretty good Yeah. Dude, it looks good. All right, Rich. You want to give us a breakdown. We got a 1995 Sportster we picked up from fast J wheels by W 2005 450 front end sprung and Valve but race tech along with the rears rears are 17 and a half piggy backs So is that kind of the same setup that James and yeah are you running for are fortunate enough to have the race tech support. So that's who using their local which are your exhaust looks quite a bit different than Yeah, we had our ours exhaust was built by stealth. This is the prototype the HHP pipe we call the high hopes pipe. They'll go into production soon. It looks like it would burn the ship. Believe it or not. Maybe if you're under six feet and weigh less than 250 pounds that may burn you. But everyone that writes this bike is over 240 pounds over six foot one. We're also running the flex handlebars. What else we got here? Our rear sets were built by dude this probably makes a big difference the I don't know any different I learned how to ride desert on this bike two years ago so I've never been in the desert Tyrion the Harley do this is my experience. How gnarly is Yeah. Well, dude, that's gnarly. I don't know how but he taught me how to do it. Dude, that's crazy, man. So looks like you got a massive skid plate on skid plate. was also built by competitive racing frames, Jim mandolin, he also did our rear sets, which were custom built by Jim and a couple other friends, Mike and Josh, we have a lot of friends that are very talented and we're lucky they helped us with this. This was all just the love passion of riding motorcycles people to help us build this. Alright, let's talk about your passion a little bit. Joe, come on over here. So you and Doug are going to share the writing duties. Yes, we are. How does that go? Because Doug is a little bit shorter than you. Yeah, it'll be interesting. But the whole bike is a small I mean, I'm huge on nothing. Yeah. So we were talking about it just on the well on the podcast that broke the internet. You can't really maneuver these bikes around like you normally would like a dirt bike, right? Not at all. So what's the move like you lean back? Do you just hold on, like a passenger in those soft flips in the same on everything, you got to keep that front end down or front and up a little bit and keep the gas on because as soon as you let off the gas up front and just dives in suction to come on back? Alright, we got David, just comment that in so great make from Australia. Desert racers? Probably not the car though. Yeah, I don't know. But these things will make it through the car. But just making it through the metaphor Hunter seems like, gets you the man. Yeah, so we already talked to mark a little bit about him completing the mint. Have you completed a few times to dude? To look at this guy, dude. 100% on this bike, really? First time we took fifth second time we took 32. That's so crazy. It's pretty. It's pretty crazy to see though. And like, what was the? I don't know what you want to call it? What was the catalyst behind you getting into it? A dumb idea, like Mark said, and just, we've seen him rich. And I started talking and said, Let's see if we can get some money together build one and we got together. Off we went? Actually, that's a good question as well. So how much does it cost to build one of these bad boys? That'd be the man. There. He's got all the paperwork. Well, it depends on which one you have a nice, nice shirt. By the way, I like it. You can build one for like, I don't know what. You just need wheels. Really a suspension? I'm not even telling people that if you want to. We were just very lucky. I wrote three grand. Yeah, I don't know. It just depends. It's no matter what you do, it's gonna write like you're writing a brick. It feels like you're writing a fucking brick. And this probably is version two, right? Compared to what the first meant. 400 bike was exactly the same. Nothing's changed. We were fortunate. We had a friend who asked why we weren't racing the man. And I told him we didn't have the funds. And he had a lucrative farming business at that time. And then he he funded the project. And thank you, Luke. Have you pack house? Pretty much that's what you see here. He said whatever you want to do, let's make it happen and did very fortunate and lucky to have a bike of this caliber. It is so sick. The big red and white Chevy. Yeah, it is super sick, man. Mark, since we already broke the internet, you want to come give us a breakdown of your bike? Yeah. Well, it's gonna be as smooth as James bike. Well, you gotta headlights. So you're already way ahead of these guys. Yeah, worst power. Thanks for blinding me, and I can't see. All right, so we already talked about a little bit about this on the show. But since this will be another post, give us a little bit of a backstory on how this all started and then break down your bike. Yeah, hooligan enduro stuff started by someone calling me and making me do this, even though I didn't really want to. And we ended up building a bike. And my bike. The first one I built wasn't built the best I could and I kept like fucking it up and blowing it up. And literally, I think I blew up two motors, like cooked fully. Like the last one. I had a 10 gauge it blew up at like 360 degrees in the middle of the desert. And then I realized that I needed to build a new bike. So I started from scratch ended up building this beautiful concoction with a lot of help from a really awesome companies. Yeah, totally. But this is kind of what I don't know bread the whole What do you call it? The hooligan racing? enduro stuff. Yeah, my bikes a little bit different than most. I was fortunate enough to get in contact with someone named Carducci who builds like really, really, really high end Sportsters he designed this tank in collaboration with IMS. And that tank is a five gallon tank that's made for Sportsters so I kind of have a cheater tank. I mean the tank is nice you can just bypass the pits yeah it's really slim too. I really liked when the tank is how do you grip right here? You don't you just hold on with your arms Yeah, did you must get so much Arm Pump oh yeah the arm pumps and real nice things go any coach you up with a badass logo? Yeah, these are like my signature seats on all my bikes. Yeah. I mean, that does seem pretty comfy better than motocross. Yeah, so another thing with a Sportster is you get a little bit more suspension with how thick the seat is. I know it sounds a little goofy, but these are definitely saves your ass when you're in the middle of nowhere, and you're rolling every whoop. Yeah, cuz you ain't trying to muscle this thing around. You get tired after doing it once. It looks like pretty, like, I don't wanna say basic moto setup. Yep. 18 rear. When you're 21 Fry, it's just pretty much a dual sport. We'll set up laced up to a stock sporster hub. Yep, we have W give us the excels and 40 hole. Looks like you got some new meats too. Yeah, we're stoked on these. I'm definitely amped on that dude. Yeah. Those are like a normal dirt bike tire too. Right? Yeah. 18 should be enduro tire right there. Yeah. Do you guys run protection inside the tire? I don't run production. I'm not good at that. This might be the first year I'm actually going to use protection. So I've never written bibs before, it's all new to me. Everyone swears by them. And I just put like 16 bead locks on 16 B locks. And it's like $6,000 for set of most beds. Alright, we'll get the boys over here. We'll just talk to them a little bit and then we'll sign off do these things are sick, man, I'd like you just come in through and like starting all this stuff up. It's pretty sweet, dude. All right, boys. Let's come over here by the bike. So I can talk to you guys a little bit. So yeah, go over here. Doug. Cruise over here. If I bring the beers over here where you guys stand over here. Let's be cool, because we can see all Mark's jerseys in the background too. So yeah, we got a bunch of guys commenting in now. So finally. super sick bikes. Man. Super Rad. Yeah, it's just insane. But no. So tell us a little bit about your next races. Right? The mint 400 And for anybody that doesn't know no also does pro rodeo shit. So I feel like that's the advantage right there. Honestly, writing this fucking big ass is probably the reason why I didn't want it last year. Have you finished a man that? No. last year? I've made it 41 Miles is your bike comparable? It's kind of similar to marks like right under got the race X race tech suspension, front and rear. Got the big dog gas tank. I mean I got the smaller motor, which I mean, he says that's whiskey is asking you if anybody's having a second pit for gas. Oh, there you go right there. And then barley rods. These is your animals? Yeah, dude. 100% animals. Like I can guarantee you that I wouldn't even be able to like take this bike to the starting line, let alone finish the race with one of these bad boys. So what's the move then? Just pace yourself. Yeah, I'm going to pace myself last year I damn near I broke something in my wrist or my thumb or something. But like Mark said earlier, I went off that first roller and just sent it way too hard. I had pretty much stopped front suspension. My thumb just snapped backwards and went straight through that. handguard I was like sideways. I'm surprised I even held on and rode out of it. And then the next 41 miles after that. We're just excruciating to like, I can only imagine. kicks my ass out there. But we'll see you guys out there. We got a couple of questions and comments in here. Oh, dude. I don't know. DGN 64 says Doug for the win. He's already claiming. He's already claiming. Oh, dude, that's not that's what Noah did. It was gnarly, dude. And mind you that's 450 pounds on a motorcycle. It's fucking crazy. His whole arm goes through the hand drivers shove your arm his arm look like his arms. Do I'm surprised I'm still have an arm. While dude, holy smokes. That is insane. I can't believe he stayed on the good thing. You're a bowrider I think maybe that gets worse and worse. All right, Doug. So your checks in the mail, by the way? Oh, perfect. Yeah. Let's see here and then. Smallest motor weight savings. Seems like it would be an advantage. Dude, I don't know if that would be an advantage. John Lewis same 800 to 1200. Yeah, it doesn't change anything at threes are actually heavier because the cylinders sidewalls are thicker well, and let's just say if you save 10 pounds on the motor, I feel like it's not going to help you at all. Okay, so for this class, like you can save as much weight as you want on the bike. But guys, I guess don't save on the belly. Okay so it makes no difference just just crashed all the pizza from Costco All right, I'm gonna get a charger from my get a charger for my phone and then we'll continue talking to Doug. The way they do that we're all charged up now. So, all right, Doug. So what's the what's the move for you, man? So you're gonna share the seat with Joey Yeah, sharing this you with Joey? I feel like that's honestly a fantastic idea. Like really is like one of the best ideas I've actually heard all day. Yeah. Tell you about the ATC sports or idea though. That okay. Well look at that picture. Pull it up. Why Doug talks about the plan for him and Joey. Yeah. So yeah. Rich raised his last two years. And he asked me if I wanted to raise it this year. And basically, yeah, I raced and then a couple of times with Ryan Edwards on a 450 x and watching Mark basically just drinking NATO fives on the side of the track. I'm like, dude, these guys are a bunch of idiots. Like, why not just get a dirt bike? Now like me, eat my words. Welcome to the dumpster. But yeah, I raced hooligan flat track. So it's right up my alley. And I know these dudes, so it'll be fun. And yeah, I want to come see one of those hooligan flat tracks actually, it's a good time and this is gonna be a good time to just get a ride. So we already asked like the the other guys like what's your The biggest difference that you feel? I'm gonna ask you the same question between like an enduro like a CRF 450 X compared to that. Everything like everything. So I get Yeah, I guess, technically speaking, the 200 plus pounds, but then every single other thing feels different. Everything. It's unbelievable, like so we got this. I rode this bike before we got this oil tank here. And it felt like I was getting birth. Oh, so it's way skinnier now. So this one made it a little bit more like a dirt bike. But still nothing like do you guys pantry here at all joy. Can you guys paint with your legs? Well, your legs or your legs are also probably up here when dogs are down there. So get up and hold on to here as tight as possible. But you can't compare it It honestly feels like you're a Olympic distance here when you're riding these things and it's just what about going through a corner you just tried and mimic just putting her nuts on the tank stick? Well so like okay, well I'm on a dirt bike you lay the bike over and you carve it as hard as you can I feel like this you'd do it more like a street style corner where you're kind of just like trying to round the corner. Yeah yeah, but as the flat tracking comes into play with these things, too, because you just kind of steer with the rear wheel I feel you don't really lean. So kind of Yeah, I guess that's right. Like you drive you do dry with the rear end like right like you're moving it around that does seem like it would actually help quite a bit because then you're not relying on all the weight on the front. Yeah, so it's just really just finishing the race. I think you win tears race I can only imagine well and then Joe you've already finished it twice like you were saying before what's the night Oh did 100% finished ratio so far? What's What's the stuff that goes through your mind though? Like when you're when you're out there? Because like first of all, it's a feat in itself to be able to do it right. Yeah. And second like you also have a teammate that you gotta give the bike to. So my goal is just steady pace and just go not worry about anybody else not worrying about Paul and ask just steady pace and go and make sure the bike gets back safely to him. I wish more people would think like that because I doubt that you guys think that same thing right? I'm fucking wide open I'm wide open to a point. Yeah, just I want to get the bike to the finish. Yeah, biggest goal and then so now your support mechanism for everybody rich so like what's the what's the communication that you have with the guys and you're just like alright, like what Joey said slow and steady. Are you guys you give them like actual desert racing tips for yeah canticle empathy, like think about your bike don't run out. RS ma you're gonna blow this thing out but yeah, David Van Lloyd said point and pray go steady and Jake Pope 616 said, Yeah, me and Mark are stupid actually so I guess a better question for you guys then is like what's the vibe afterwards like when you feel you need to go just like alright, crack them open party strip clubs? Yeah. Where do we go? No. I mean you're in Vegas you're racing goes this is trying to do a rodeo the same weekend Oh, that's okay angels maybe Angel. Dude that's so crazy and then so like don't walk for three days. Dude, I could only imagine Yeah, so how sore Are you guys? My fucking Okay, so my last minute I led 90 miles and then I thought I had a flat so I kept pulling over and then I realized my whole swing arm was falling off. And mind you so anybody that doesn't know the man 400 is roughly 400 miles. No, it's four miles for trucks. Okay, do you have that? Okay, not as crazy but we do too. Yeah, it's still gnarly so it's two laps loop around Yeah, I was coming around my second loop swingers literally fallen off the bolt came off I realized I zip tied it made it like two miles or just so wouldn't come out of the socket is the whole the whole rear end was completely shifting like seven inches the Hey like it was almost unreadable so I made it like two miles of this pit and these guys are the workers try to call me out. I got baling wire from them. I baling wire my entire swing arm together and made it like another four miles to another pit or the offer of dudes had a bowl shoved the bolts in their mind you this is my third man I was fucking dragging that bike across the finish line. No matter what happens yeah, so I fucking finish that I fucking finally finished the race and made for the bike. I don't know if your swing bike is the Harley look like a Harley swing bike. Because the back end was over here. The front end was over here and it was the funniest the worst part of the track with a half a swinger like that 14 mile sandwich section was when it all happened. Oh so it's just going all over? It was like I was riding like a liquid motorcycle do so frustrated because like I've done this for three fucking years and like I always have something that comes up I electrical problems and I blew up my fucking bike the next year like I was finishing this bike. The bike ran good. It just swinging it was that bike right they got to it. Yeah, maybe. Yeah, I literally like ground up almost a hole all the way through the shock from the tire rubbing it due to that softer trash. It was I made it though. Do you guys ever have to take breaks like in the middle because you're so tired or no, or just like slow down the pace and take a couple deep breaths. I mean when I raised 450 I had like a beard on my Camelback and I'm just kidding. The safety wire I made it into like a keepsake do I didn't have the spacer so I shove this in there and then this was the spacer and then this baling wire, so I kept this forever now. So next time in your party and you bring me my snorkel some duct tape and I'll fix the bike get across the finish line. Alright, so the thing that I think is the most crazy as you guys all convinced James Hill to do this, like told me I don't want to build bikes anymore. I don't and I told him to sell that bike. So I actually heard that the bike was somebody else's no I bought it. I mean like your wife he texts me he goes Shay make it a flat track or a desert thing I go sell it well I wonder what it turned into me and yeah, I like riding with him. He's like we're kind of the same pace so I figured he would be fun to race with on this Yeah, that's what we got. So what you guys have all had like first timers, right? What do you mean? Like you've helped people start like jump into the class or jump on these sports because your first year yeah, but but I feel like as the years go on, though, I feel like okay, he might have got a little bit more love last year because you didn't know as much and then all of a sudden James comes in it's like now you're fucking doing like five bikes that are on the field, including minus six. So like you said competitive advantage, right? Yeah, yeah. AirDog says you got balls of steel James. Do you think Yeah, James doesn't do anything. Well, the figure Yes 50 nuts. Yeah. Good call. I would I would definitely say that everybody has balls of steel some guys more because they've written on these things so much. Ah, do you guys stand up or is like sit down or like Like is it more moto? It does you go you do left cheek sometimes you the right cheek, you kind of lay on the handlebar sometimes, like literally anything that makes something hurt less for a little while. You got to stand up like when you're at the stove cooking your macaroni and cheese. You just got to do some squats. Get ready. You know why the water is boiling? Just do some squats, dude. So I want to understand James like what made you want to even do it? Well, like I said, just riding dual sports and marks on his sports are you know, that he's had over the years? And then I mean, it's just a cool, it's different. You know, like, we've all written dirt bikes. That's super fun. But different is cool in my eyes. Yeah. So watching him use it and use it. Well. It's intriguing, right? It's just like you see your buddy, he's got something you're like, fuck, that looks like fun. So why not get into that. So this bike basically just got finished as you were getting pizza. So the first ride Mark got to take it for a rip just out here in the in the driveway. And I got to see it. And honestly like, well, he's got experience, but it looked like it was like a heavy dirt bike. But it looked like when he led off is when all the problems would start happening. Because all of a sudden it still keeps going. Yeah, I don't know. I miss that. Like getting the beat like that. So to me like if you're if you're coming into a corner or straight away, or a whoop or something, and you don't like, think about what you're doing before you can get yourself in some serious trouble. And as they say, when in doubt, gas it out. I don't know what I saw the momentum that he could. But not in our world. So what we say is it's kind of a shit subject because I can't see like 20 feet in front of me. But in a Harley, you have to spot ahead or else you're fucked. Yeah. So like I said, we're all in this dumpster together. And like you just kind of does it make a difference? If you're big like Joe or no? Big trees call hard. Yeah, well, it makes it I'm gonna go on a whim. He's the most mature though. For sure. So, Scott Baker 123199 said, All guys are raised dirt bikes have balls. We'll see. We'll all agree with that. But I think there's a little bit different aspect of racing on these bikes. That's for sure. It's really undiscovered and describable how to race these things. You just kind of got to build on and maintain Yeah, yes. You got to be stupid. Or fit, dude. I feel like that's the Yeah. But honestly, like, it looks like it's so much fun. Like it really does. And that's why I asked you those questions, James is because whether you make it to the finish or not, you're already having fun with your friends. And then you will have a shitload of fun while you're out there at the track. And, you know, like, this is still a 92 Sportster with the license plate. It's not currently, but you can ride it around the screen as well. 12 o'clock, boys. It was fun. Yeah, you know there's a heavy ass one. Yeah, exactly. So what do you do leading up to it then you we talked about it while the podcast was on a little bit before we killed the internet but you're gonna go out there and try to practice a little bit beforehand because you've seriously had like, maybe point one miles on this road it around this shot two times earlier. So yeah, try to ride it a few times this week and you've worked more bugs out. So it needs a little bit jetting though. That's for him to figure out now. I got Euro dollars made eights we already got to take her so AirDog Aaron can taro said that? If you feel like stop and he'll be your backup. Okay, so bring some gear. Okay, dude. Yeah, I think it's super cool that you guys are doing all this stuff, man. Like I was telling you guys on the beginning of the podcast. I feel like this puts new energy into desert racing specifically, right like back in the day. Baja 1000 started because people wanted to race down the peninsula. Yeah, they didn't have directions. All they had was some will and a truck right and probably a shitload of beer. And then the man 400 kind of started the same way. And now I feel like pulling all of this custom stuff and starting a new little culture is exactly what the culture of off road eight with that being said to take it away from the mint but like to build wealth Yeah, I mean it's kind of put on from this. The pillow guy yeah so say a little bit about that stuff on 1000 That's where we modelled our bike off of them and marks like we took him Mikey all their ideas and made them our own but below they started this for me. Belfry holy Yeah, so did they make it all the way down? Yeah, they finished the race. 1000 miles on a Harley Sportster. Did they do it in in the in the timeframe? I think so. Did you finish? I think they did. They did. Was it a peninsula Runner was a loop. Do you know? It was all the way down? Yeah. Yeah, that's sick. Did you guys are kickass man, I'm talking about Balls of Steel, right. 250 miles a day. You? Really? How do I feel like that is you guys want Oh, so what's happening here? We need to get a couple more sponsors. But that tells you right there like just so once again, like taken away from the myth, but to go to do for those guys that start a race because they're into Harley's. And like, that's their thing. You know, it's a whole nother piece of that. They didn't just go like, Hey, we're gonna go run a Grand Prix for desert bikes. Yeah. They're like, you'll this is what we do. And then everything else follows that. Yeah, pretty large, too. Dude. I think that's so cool, man. So how many guys do you think will start the mint 400 this year? I typically get about 20. Or should I say? Like they said, how many idiots? We'll start them at 400. This year. We typically have about 20 shirts in our class. And typically about five people fish do that's crazy. Did it has the ratio gone up? Through the years? It's kind of bounced around 20 I think? No, no. The finishers, though. Oh, it's the fibers it's about? Really? Yeah. Do that's wow. Oh, this guy is one of them. Honestly, they built they built a vision by the things. I said. Like I always tell everyone like if I should sound like a sewing machine. And if your bike sounds like a sewing machine, that's a good thing. Dude. It looks good, too. Sounds quiet. Jamie will check. Yeah, what's the big do you guys have pit crews and stuff to the handle like the Phillips and everything or like how does all the logistics work? Normally, I build bikes till about the day before the man. And I don't remember anything until we get there. And then I realized that we need to pick her. Yeah, I've actually never been fortunate enough to do that. Luckily, like some of these guys in their friends have helped me. But now one of them's racing with me. So I don't. So now we really need whiskey to step up. So yeah, we all just just just so you know, like we've got some other friends racing dirt bikes at the minute. So so there is going to be our friends out there that'll have some guy. No, no, because he wants to make sure that he's on a good gas date that he needs to suck up now so that he can get the gas when he's out there. If anyone wants to pay for our guests today. I just think it's so cool that you guys are doing it. All right, we're gonna get ready to sign off. You guys got anything else to say? Or any last words? Yeah, thank you know what I mean? I mean, last words, like we might not see you again. We sign our boys. If any of you guys want to get into this, we have an Instagram rescue. But you're racing using Instagram. Yep, you hit me with questions or whatever, I tend to answer most stuff on there. I have a lot of build videos on there, like how to do things. My goal is to spread awareness. Get people into the Harley racing thing, and help you guys get to the races and shit like that. I try my best to do that. But if you have any questions or whatever, hit me up. And that's exactly how side by side racing started. I know we do a lot of side by side stuff. It's cool to see these guys doing other stuff. But all these people are starting to help in fact, DJ in 64 said Chase fuel or 69 will be in in the action to so it sounds like you guys will have some fuels. Man help too. So Alright boys. Thank you. It was yeah, it was nice knowing all you guys. 69 two o'clock Thursday. Training. You're gonna hydrate. Alright guys. Hey, thanks for watching and checking it out. Sorry for all the internet problems. But yeah, always follow the show. Share the show. And have fun. See you guys out the mint 400 later. Thanks for listening to the dirt life show. See you next week.