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May 10, 2002
Hi Eric,
I handled and raced the Harley Davidson 250-MX while it was under engineering control, and we did fairly well. As soon
as Dick O'Brian (racing director) took over he changed everything. I wanted to put disc brakes on the front wheel, place the
fuel tank under the seat and air-box where the tank was. OB said none of this stuff would work. OB took a sort of "I told
you it wouldn't work" attitude and the project never really did enjoy the fame it could have.
Not Staten's fault, he was only doing his job.
The bike was really more capable of winning than the results showed. We were prepared to install 11" travel front and
rear but that never got to happen. To make matters worse they eventually turned production over to the Italians. Anyway it
was just another sad story for H-D engineering to justify their need to continue to make obsolete motorcycles and enjoy it!
Thanks, Rex Marsee
 June 4, 2002
Hi Eric,
My name is "Bible" Bob Nielsen. I have a great ROCKET REX story. Around I believe it was 1973 or 74 I was racing
my Suzuki TM-125 which by the way had white Maico fenders on it as I am a Maico fan but love my Suzuki's. I was racing at
Escape Country in Orange County California. Between moto's I was watching I believe it was in the open class and Rex Staten
was on a 400 Maico. He was lapping everyone so he stood up on the seat of his Maico and wheelied around the track standing
up on his seat and going off jumps, down drop off's and around corners. It was unbelievable!
Thanks for your website, "Bible" Bob
November, 2003
Hey Eric,
I recently shared with a friend of mine, a former 125 Pro from the early 80's, the discussion about riding styles from
the days of yore. He shared with me an encounter he had with Rex Staten in the mid 90's. He ran into Staten at one of the
SoCal tracks on a practice day. Staten had unloaded his bike and proceeded to a portion of the facility where riders would
warm up. Staten then poste two orange road cones about 50' apart and proceeded to execute acceleration/braking drills for
about 15 minutes. My buddy asked him if he was testing new brakes, gearing as certainly the need to work on the basics wasn't
in order for someone of his skill level. Staten retorted that the most important facet of MX, or any racing, was the riders
ability to out brake the other guy and come in as fast as conditions would allow. The single best drill was for a rider, any
skill level, to dedicate each riding session to brake drills. Come in fast, and brake aggressively, yet smoothly. Jumping
technique, line selection, type of bike and equipment were all secondary to being able to always attack the corners. It was
in his words "The single most efficient means of practicing for a race". This was about the same time Staten was making a
foray into desert racing. He did well there, by either winning outright or crashing and banging up the bike. In any event,
Staten's opinion has been shared by others.
Thanks, Bill Duke
December, 2003
Eric,
I have a Rex Staten story, actually several. I remember when they first installed
the forward falling starting gate at Saddleback. A weekend or two after the new gate was installed, on a Saddleback Saturday
raceday, Rex lined up about 30 feet or so behind everyone else and when the sign turned sideways he got on the gas and hit
the gate in 3rd gear as it was falling! Rex hole shot the field by about 20 yards. Saddleback soon changed the rules to thwart
Rex.
Rick Salazar
December, 2003
In a phone conversation with Nick Bradjavich, former owner/operator of 395 Cycle Park in
Adelanto, CA., Nick shared this other side of the Rocket with me in a very tense situation.
It was sometime in 1975, I was out at the track one saturday morning waiting for Rex to show up
for a morning practice, he had the track to himself and we would call the ambulance service out for him in case there was
an accident and they were also there waiting. I was over at the water tank checking the water level and fixing a couple things
when all of a sudden while reaching for a faucet, there looking me straight in the eyes was a huge rattlesnake! I froze...That
thing must have been 7 feet long and as big around as my arm! The snake was starting to move toward my boot and I just stood
there like a tree not knowing what to do next. All I knew was that snake had total control of my immediate future. Then I
noticed Rex's van coming through the gate into the pit area and luckily he turned toward me probably wondering why I was in
such a precarious position. Rex and a buddy pulled up with a big "hello Nick, what the hell's going on?" I didn't say a word.
Rex said "Oh hell, your in some trouble here man, hold on, i'll take care of this". Im thinking to myself, if Rex can take
care of this snake as well as he takes out other riders, im in good hands. Rex threw a big rock right at the head of that
snake and proceeded to pounce more rocks until it lay limp. I gasped and neary fainted in the morning heat over all this excitement,
but finally relieved I realized I would see another day. The next thing I see is Rex pulling out his pocket knife and his
buddy while holding that damn snake on the ground, Rex the cowboy of motocross began cutting the head off that snake! Unbelievable
and I'd say one crazy SOB! They took that poor mutilated snake and threw it in a ditch and buried it. They laughed it off
and I thanked Rex for his bravery. Nothing to it Nick, lets go practice...
January, 2004
Hey Eric,
I was 16 in 1974,
and raced Saddleback, Carlsbad, Escape Country and some of the local tracks almost every weekend. I saw Rex race all the time.
Rex was one of the most aggressive riders ever. He once took out a nationally ranked racer (whos name elludes me right now),
causing the rider to DNF, and I remember the guy throwing rocks at Rex everytime Rex rode past him! BTW, Saddleback soon turned
the gate around to fall backwards and added the concrete pad.
Rick Salazar
April, 2004
Eric,
Did Staten ever comment
about the time he beat up Vic Allen on TV during the first ever airing of the 500 USGP? I still grin thinking about it. Arrogant
Euro pilot challenges former golden gloves boxer to duke it out on the side of the road. WHAMMO!
Im not sure if he
competed on any local golden glove circuit, but he did have some "ring experience." As for the tit for tat with Vic Allen,
that occurred at the '75 Carlsbad USGP which was aired for the first time on ABC. MX's first chance to make a statement as
a legitimate sport and be recognized much like it was in Europe was nearly thwarted when Staten and Allen collided. Maybe
Allen said something while Staten retorted with his fist, while the whole TV audience viewed. Ole Vic was no match for Staten!
Bill Duke
June 23, 2004
Hi Eric,
I raced motocross in Southern California in my youth during the 1971-1975
time frame. Of all the many awesome racers I was privileged to see ride, my personal favorites were Roger DeCoster, Joel Robert,
Bad Brad Lackey, Gary Jones and the ROCKET. The one I got to see ride the most was Rex, due to him racing almost every weekend
at Saddleback Park in SoCal where I raced as a Junior.
I went up to him only once between races and asked him about
his workout routine back then, but he was a hero to me for sure. I've never been a person who looked for or had a need for
heroes, but these men earned their place in my mind as the greats of that era.
Rex was truly in a class by himself.
I've heard him called crazy, a maniac, out of control and too rough. To me, yes he was a bit of all that, but also I think
he was way ahead of his time.
I remember this time at one of the Trans Am's at Saddleback in 1973 or 74 I think, Rex
had not gotten a very good start and was in the middle of the pack on the first lap as they came around to where a good friend
of mine and I seated ourselves. This was a group of some of the best riders from Europe and America. But the Euro boys were
still dominating the sport at that time. There was this downhill to an uphill jump section that led into a steep left hand
downhill into the tree section at the lowest part of the track. After the leaders came by over that jump, there was Rex, off
the graded track, way up alongside the snow fence trying to pass the whole pack in a group, and then diving straight down
into the left hander from the top of that hill! It was totally rough and unimproved there. I had never seen anyone try something
like that before. My friend and I just turned to each other with our jaws open. Unbelievable!
The other memory that
I want to share was on part of the track that led to that section I just described. There was an uphill that had been carved
right through the hillside so there were dirt walls on both sides. At the very top of this hill, the track turned about 30degrees
to the right and started right back downhill into the section in the last paragraph. Rex was riding a 400 Maico and came to
the top of this very tricky turn in a full-on wheelie. The handlebars were pushed into his waist as he was leaning way out
over the front wheel with his right leg stretched straight out next to the front hub. The bike was leaning to the right as
he took that turn utilizing about a small 2 inch berm that the rear tire only hit as he made the transition from the uphill
to the downhill in this awesome wheelie! It was something that I'm sure my attempt to describe falls short of what it was
actually like to see. Again, something I had never seen anyone else do!
Rex was an amazing rider to watch and marvel
at. He left these and many other impressions firmly burned into my memory. The motocross world was and is a better place thanks
to The ROCKET blazing new trails...
Giles Nelson
February 4, 2005
Hi Eric,
Thanks for
your reply and trying to get me in touch with Rex. As a young fella i spent many a day after school with Rex in his garage
working on bikes and best of all going on test rides. Rex had no kids at the time and took me under his wing like his son.
He gave me my first moto-cross bike and all the kit that goes with it - you can imagine what that meant to a young boy! I
had everything from caps to Yamaha shirts, all of the top of the range. I was the envy of my mates at school. Rex always had
heaps of time to take me to moto-cross meetings and practice runs. He would often sit me on the tank of the bike and jump
the doubles and get some mean air, it was just the tops for me.
Rex then left South Africa and went back to the USA
and i carried on riding up to the 125 class before I broke both my arms at the age of 18 and could no longer race. I
am forever greatful to Rex for the experience he gave and would love to get back in touch with him. Your help is greatly appreciated.
Regards,
Brad Leggott
June 1, 2005
Bob Hannah says, "its not fair
to take points from a guy when the rulebook doesnt state that as a rule. You cant have Jesus come down and take points away
after the race!" said the Hurricane. And as far as his racing days are concerned, Hannah said the takeout was all part of
it. "Rex Staten, that dude wasnt only big, but mean. I didnt want to piss him off. He came up to me and said, 'You want me
to take anybody out for ya today?' We were both on Yamaha's, and I almost had the championship wrapped up"
Quoted from
Racer-X Online
August 22, 2005
Hi Eric, I haven't talked to Rex in a long time. Please pass on my best regards, Rex always treated Dan and I great!
Excellent job on the web site! I'm sure many of Rex's fans are as tickled as I am to see this web site attributed to one of
the hardest working and most colorful racers ever. As you mentioned, the Rex many people didn't know about was the genuine
sweet-heart of a guy that Rex was. When my son Brad was severely injured, Rex shared with me many of the moments that they
had shared together and I appreciate that to this day. Tom White, White Brothers
August 24, 2005
Eric,
It's nice to see your web site for Rex. here's a story for you about Rex, this
one is called the last day Rex wore a open face helmet! It was around 1973 and we were at Carlsbad, Rex was ridding for American
Motocross riding Maico's in the 250 and 500 classes. Stu Peters (CMC) had a broken leg then from Snake river's race, Rex had
beaten Moiser, Eirsted, Clark and all the others in the first 250 moto. In the first 500 moto he had John De Soto
(CZ black framed sand cast radial 400) to battle with. On the last lap Rex went for the pass on the BIG down hill and ended
up flying over the metal reinforced snow fence and planting his face on a sprinkler head! De Soto won the moto, Rex left in
the helicopter. I was on the line for the second 250 Pro moto when Stu got a call on his walkie talkie that Rex
was on his way back to the track (in the helicopter) and was going to race the second 250 moto. He raced in someones street
Bell Star helmet, he won moto 2 and when the 500's lined up for their second moto Rex was there too! He not only raced
but he passed De Soto in the same spot that he had crashed in moto-1 and won moto-2 just for bragging rites!
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