Healy not the first MX'er down this road...

Bigfoot
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Bigfoot
Edited Date/Time 1/27/2012 6:25pm
....and sadly, he likely won't be the last. There have been other top (or near the top) riders who have gotten caught up in the dark side. Some names that most of you know have been busted for drugs and/or related charges. Some have served time too.



Compared to the rush of winning a moto, clearing a triple or making a tight pass, what else in day to day life can provide anywhere near that kind of adrenaline rush? Perhaps that very "special something" that pros have, that need for a thrill, that willingness to push beyond the normal safety zone is what makes them possibly more susceptible to being pulled into the world of drugs and addiction.



Leichien is the highest profile rider to get caught up in all this. Today he has his poop-in-a-group, but sadly, he didn't get there until long after his best years of racing were behind him.



I only met Healy once, back when he was on his game. He seemed like a nice enough guy then. I've seen other riders that I've known and admired go this route, hit bottom and come back as viable, healthy people. For his sake and for the sake of his family, I hope that Healy is able to do the same.



Bigfoot
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DanDunes818
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DanDunes818 9/18/2009 10:51pm
9/18/2009 10:51pm Edited Date/Time 9/18/2009 11:07pm
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke can. Overall though I think motocross racers pale in comparison to a lot of sports when it comes to athletes going down the wrong road. The family enviorment we all grow up in at the tracks is an awesome deterrent from the criminal/drug lifestyle and why I'm so addament about raising my children around mx. I remember back in the day there was no way I would do anything to risk being able to race. My dad made it very clear if I ever got caught stealing,doing drugs or anything like that the bikes would be sold faster than I could say please don't and I believed him. I just sat here and tried to think of riders that did drugs or got arrested and other than the Dogger and Fro I couldn't come up with anything and Fro was just puffing a little herb on a weekend off at the lake. I'm very proud to be involved in a sport where getting in trouble with the law is the exception not the rule.
Dropbear
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Dropbear 9/19/2009 3:10am
9/19/2009 3:10am
Great sport. No team to rely on so to do any good you have to be fit , focussed and prepared - both body and machine.

Like a few beers after the race though, then the real bench racing starts!

Nightmare for all concerned in Healey's fuck up.
Blake
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Blake 9/19/2009 11:11am
9/19/2009 11:11am
Didn't know that about Sommo.

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TG130
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TG130 9/19/2009 12:36pm
9/19/2009 12:36pm
DanDunes818 wrote:
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke...
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke can. Overall though I think motocross racers pale in comparison to a lot of sports when it comes to athletes going down the wrong road. The family enviorment we all grow up in at the tracks is an awesome deterrent from the criminal/drug lifestyle and why I'm so addament about raising my children around mx. I remember back in the day there was no way I would do anything to risk being able to race. My dad made it very clear if I ever got caught stealing,doing drugs or anything like that the bikes would be sold faster than I could say please don't and I believed him. I just sat here and tried to think of riders that did drugs or got arrested and other than the Dogger and Fro I couldn't come up with anything and Fro was just puffing a little herb on a weekend off at the lake. I'm very proud to be involved in a sport where getting in trouble with the law is the exception not the rule.
There's been more than a few riders that were known for puffing a little herb over the years. The difference is that these guys never let things get out of hand and never got into the harder stuff.
Bigfoot
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Bigfoot 9/19/2009 2:29pm
9/19/2009 2:29pm
DanDunes818 wrote:
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke...
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke can. Overall though I think motocross racers pale in comparison to a lot of sports when it comes to athletes going down the wrong road. The family enviorment we all grow up in at the tracks is an awesome deterrent from the criminal/drug lifestyle and why I'm so addament about raising my children around mx. I remember back in the day there was no way I would do anything to risk being able to race. My dad made it very clear if I ever got caught stealing,doing drugs or anything like that the bikes would be sold faster than I could say please don't and I believed him. I just sat here and tried to think of riders that did drugs or got arrested and other than the Dogger and Fro I couldn't come up with anything and Fro was just puffing a little herb on a weekend off at the lake. I'm very proud to be involved in a sport where getting in trouble with the law is the exception not the rule.
TG130 wrote:
There's been more than a few riders that were known for puffing a little herb over the years. The difference is that these guys never let...
There's been more than a few riders that were known for puffing a little herb over the years. The difference is that these guys never let things get out of hand and never got into the harder stuff.
Oh man, how different it was to take a walk through the pits at a national after the races back in the 70's! A fair number of privateers could be seen openly having a puff, while some major stars at least tried to be a bit more secretive....more than one box van smelled a little different on Sunday afternoons!

At the 1977 Anaheim Supercross a couple of low-digit AMA numbered riders were seen sort of hiding behind the "Big A" casually passing a J BEFORE the main! Different time, different world.

Bigfoot
flapper
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flapper 9/19/2009 2:45pm
9/19/2009 2:45pm
DanDunes818 wrote:
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke...
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke can. Overall though I think motocross racers pale in comparison to a lot of sports when it comes to athletes going down the wrong road. The family enviorment we all grow up in at the tracks is an awesome deterrent from the criminal/drug lifestyle and why I'm so addament about raising my children around mx. I remember back in the day there was no way I would do anything to risk being able to race. My dad made it very clear if I ever got caught stealing,doing drugs or anything like that the bikes would be sold faster than I could say please don't and I believed him. I just sat here and tried to think of riders that did drugs or got arrested and other than the Dogger and Fro I couldn't come up with anything and Fro was just puffing a little herb on a weekend off at the lake. I'm very proud to be involved in a sport where getting in trouble with the law is the exception not the rule.
Just FYI Emig was not arrested for smoking pot,the pipe was not his he just had it in his pocket.He was arrested for having paraphanalia.
4QSA.
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4QSA. 9/19/2009 3:03pm
9/19/2009 3:03pm
is that why emig stutters Woohoo
DanDunes818
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DanDunes818 9/19/2009 3:28pm
9/19/2009 3:28pm
DanDunes818 wrote:
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke...
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke can. Overall though I think motocross racers pale in comparison to a lot of sports when it comes to athletes going down the wrong road. The family enviorment we all grow up in at the tracks is an awesome deterrent from the criminal/drug lifestyle and why I'm so addament about raising my children around mx. I remember back in the day there was no way I would do anything to risk being able to race. My dad made it very clear if I ever got caught stealing,doing drugs or anything like that the bikes would be sold faster than I could say please don't and I believed him. I just sat here and tried to think of riders that did drugs or got arrested and other than the Dogger and Fro I couldn't come up with anything and Fro was just puffing a little herb on a weekend off at the lake. I'm very proud to be involved in a sport where getting in trouble with the law is the exception not the rule.
flapper wrote:
Just FYI Emig was not arrested for smoking pot,the pipe was not his he just had it in his pocket.He was arrested for having paraphanalia.
FYI Jeff Emig was not just arrested for the pipe. Not that I hold anything against him for what are silly charges but yes he was actually arrested on 3 charges total. Paraphanalia,Possesion of marijuana and public consumption of alchol. He was only convicted of the paraphanalia charge after he did a plea bargain agreement with the Lake Havasu prosecuting authoritiesand the other 2 charges were dropped. Here's a detailed report. http://www.motorcycledaily.com/emig2.html

And FYI I'm a huge fan of Fros to this day and thought the whole thing was silly.
DanDunes818
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DanDunes818 9/19/2009 3:32pm
9/19/2009 3:32pm Edited Date/Time 9/19/2009 6:24pm
stumpjumper wrote:
Did'nt RJ Get busted at customs for pot?
I'm not sure if my stories are getting crossed but I'm pretty/95% sure that was Lechien when he went to Japan for a race w/Bailey and Omara. If I remember the story right they were all 3 held by custom authorities for awhile and Bailey was rightfully pretty pissed at the dogger.
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stumpjumper 9/19/2009 4:58pm
9/19/2009 4:58pm
I'm not bagging on him ,Just remember something happened with him of that nature!
Wolfman
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Wolfman 9/19/2009 6:04pm
9/19/2009 6:04pm
stumpjumper wrote:
I'm not bagging on him ,Just remember something happened with him of that nature!
It was Ronnie Lechien. Lost his honda ride because of it.
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UpTiTe 9/19/2009 8:20pm
9/19/2009 8:20pm
stumpjumper wrote:
I'm not bagging on him ,Just remember something happened with him of that nature!
Wolfman wrote:
It was Ronnie Lechien. Lost his honda ride because of it.
he didnt lose his Honda ride, just his last Honda paycheck, and the porche his dad got him. He had already signed with kawi when that happened.
TG130
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TG130 9/19/2009 9:16pm
9/19/2009 9:16pm
DanDunes818 wrote:
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke...
Do you guys remember when Jeff Emig got arrested in Lake Havasu smoking pot out in public with make shift pipe made out of a coke can. Overall though I think motocross racers pale in comparison to a lot of sports when it comes to athletes going down the wrong road. The family enviorment we all grow up in at the tracks is an awesome deterrent from the criminal/drug lifestyle and why I'm so addament about raising my children around mx. I remember back in the day there was no way I would do anything to risk being able to race. My dad made it very clear if I ever got caught stealing,doing drugs or anything like that the bikes would be sold faster than I could say please don't and I believed him. I just sat here and tried to think of riders that did drugs or got arrested and other than the Dogger and Fro I couldn't come up with anything and Fro was just puffing a little herb on a weekend off at the lake. I'm very proud to be involved in a sport where getting in trouble with the law is the exception not the rule.
TG130 wrote:
There's been more than a few riders that were known for puffing a little herb over the years. The difference is that these guys never let...
There's been more than a few riders that were known for puffing a little herb over the years. The difference is that these guys never let things get out of hand and never got into the harder stuff.
Bigfoot wrote:
Oh man, how different it was to take a walk through the pits at a national after the races back in the 70's! A fair number...
Oh man, how different it was to take a walk through the pits at a national after the races back in the 70's! A fair number of privateers could be seen openly having a puff, while some major stars at least tried to be a bit more secretive....more than one box van smelled a little different on Sunday afternoons!

At the 1977 Anaheim Supercross a couple of low-digit AMA numbered riders were seen sort of hiding behind the "Big A" casually passing a J BEFORE the main! Different time, different world.

Bigfoot
Yeah, the good ol' 70's. Remember Stackable used to have a pot leaf painted openly on his helmet ? Could you imagine the outrage if someone did that today ? But then, weren't there some riders sponsored by a rolling paper company a few years ago ?

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Zacka 161
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Zacka 161 9/20/2009 4:16am
9/20/2009 4:16am
Former Australian Champion Kim Ashlkanazi (i think he raced in america and got third ish in regional superx champs in the mid nineties) got caught up in drugs in England.

he went to jail for a number of years, only got out early this year, moved back to Australia and got straight back on the bike. At 36 years of age he's aiming to become the oldest Australian Motocross Champion. Not sure if he will do it but in his first race back in a state championship round he placed third in the pro 450 class. not bad considering the winner on the day was Matt Moss (Jakes Brother).

An Australian Magazine (ADCool did an in depth interview which was an eye opener to what goes on behind the scene at the highest level of sport in some countries.
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KAWboy14 9/20/2009 5:55am
9/20/2009 5:55am
drugs are a world problem not just moto
Bigfoot
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Bigfoot 9/20/2009 7:46am
9/20/2009 7:46am
TG130 wrote:
There's been more than a few riders that were known for puffing a little herb over the years. The difference is that these guys never let...
There's been more than a few riders that were known for puffing a little herb over the years. The difference is that these guys never let things get out of hand and never got into the harder stuff.
Bigfoot wrote:
Oh man, how different it was to take a walk through the pits at a national after the races back in the 70's! A fair number...
Oh man, how different it was to take a walk through the pits at a national after the races back in the 70's! A fair number of privateers could be seen openly having a puff, while some major stars at least tried to be a bit more secretive....more than one box van smelled a little different on Sunday afternoons!

At the 1977 Anaheim Supercross a couple of low-digit AMA numbered riders were seen sort of hiding behind the "Big A" casually passing a J BEFORE the main! Different time, different world.

Bigfoot
TG130 wrote:
Yeah, the good ol' 70's. Remember Stackable used to have a pot leaf painted openly on his helmet ? Could you imagine the outrage if someone...
Yeah, the good ol' 70's. Remember Stackable used to have a pot leaf painted openly on his helmet ? Could you imagine the outrage if someone did that today ? But then, weren't there some riders sponsored by a rolling paper company a few years ago ?
Stackable's leaf wasn't just painted on...it was an actual leaf clear-coated over. So technically, he was "in possession" during the motos!
YZKEN250
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YZKEN250 9/20/2009 7:55am
9/20/2009 7:55am
Zacka 161 wrote:
Former Australian Champion Kim Ashlkanazi (i think he raced in america and got third ish in regional superx champs in the mid nineties) got caught up...
Former Australian Champion Kim Ashlkanazi (i think he raced in america and got third ish in regional superx champs in the mid nineties) got caught up in drugs in England.

he went to jail for a number of years, only got out early this year, moved back to Australia and got straight back on the bike. At 36 years of age he's aiming to become the oldest Australian Motocross Champion. Not sure if he will do it but in his first race back in a state championship round he placed third in the pro 450 class. not bad considering the winner on the day was Matt Moss (Jakes Brother).

An Australian Magazine (ADCool did an in depth interview which was an eye opener to what goes on behind the scene at the highest level of sport in some countries.
This was in RacerX mag a little while ago.

Post a reply to: Healy not the first MX'er down this road...