Grant Langston in action in the 2010 AMA Supercross series. His season would end prematurely when he took a huge crash at Daytona.
Throughout his career as a professional dirt bike motorcycle racer,
Grant Langston has seen his share of highs and lows both on and off the racetrack. He has been one of the few racers that have achieved the sheer variety of racing championships and titles. He’s conquered the 125cc World Championship, both the East and West 125c AMA Supercross and Motocross series, AMA Supermoto Unlimited and most recently an AMA Motocross Championship in ’07.
The lows came soon after when his son, Devon, was diagnosed with autism. More bad news came when he began having vision problems which eventually would be identified as a melanoma in his left eye. Not only did this compromise his career but his life if untreated. In the years since, Cool G is on the road to recovery and even raced Supercross this year under the J-Law racing banner until a humongous crash at Daytona prematurely ended his season.
At the end of this summer he officially announced his retirement but still managed to race a few international events including the recently held Bercy Supercross (find out more in the
2010 Bercy Supercross Results). In addition to his Southern California-based Langston Motorsports dealership, he has formed the Langston Racing Academy in which he’ll coach persons looking to become better at the sport that has given him so much over the years.
We recently had the opportunity to talk with Langston at Milestone Motocross Park where he was a guest of Yamaha for the 2011 Yamaha YZ two-stroke press event. In our conversation we talked about a range of different subjects and we have divided it into a three-part interview that will be coming out in anticipation to the start off the 2011 AMA Supercross season in Anaheim, California on January 8, 2011.
WHAT HE’S BEEN UP TO:
We got to chance to catch up with Grant Langston at Southern California’s Milestone Motocross Park. Stay tuned for Part 2 and 3 in the upcoming weeks.
The last couple months pretty much I was doing some riding because I did some overseas races I went to Sweden the weekend of Pala (final 2010 Lucas Oil AMA Motocross round) and did Bercy (big French international supercross race). So I was doing a bit of riding. Then I got hurt in Bercy. So the last three of four weeks I’ve been relaxing I haven’t ridden until today [2011 Yamaha YZ125 and YZ250 Ride Day at Milestone Motocross Park in Riverside, California]. Just a lot of things… I guess what’s the word? Downsizing at home. Getting rid of old toys, real-estate, and property and just simplifying life.
The easiest way to put it is transitioning from a professional motocross racer who’s travelled around the world—who’s never had a normal life to being a normal family guy at home. But it’s been good. I’m now at that point where I’m getting that itch because I’m a little bit bored. Unfortunately with our industry being down our business is surviving but it’s not like we’re killing it... I don’t think anyone is. I’ve been doing a bit of coaching at people’s request. I want to try and pursue that more. For one I enjoy it bring same out to the track. I think I’m very good at identifying issues and explaining them to kids in simple way. I’m getting good feedback from kids and parents that have enjoyed it so I want to pursue that more.
As far as the riding end goes I just do it for fun now. I’m very much a fair weather rider now [laughs]. If it rains guys are like ‘you want to go out and ride’ I’m like you know I have to prep the bike I don’t want to go out and ruin it just to go ride [smiles]. I’ll go ride in the hills with friends on weekends. Really just sort of transitioning from an athlete to a normal human being. That has taken a fair amount of time. You know dumb things like cleaning the closets out. Obviously with people know that I’ve retired I’ve never had some many request for gear and helmets and memorabilia stuff. I’m trying to figure out what I have and who I owe what to.
Just lots of little things—things you tend to put off. It’s been fun not having to wake up and have a schedule and doing a bunch of things. Spending time with the family is one of the most important things and I can do that now. Definitely I want to keep myself busy. I’m the type of person where I have to do something. I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I’d like to get into a position where I can be as busy as I want to be and still be involved in racing.
SOME OF HIS POSSESSIONS HE’S SELLING OFF:
Grant Langston has sold off his Yamaha R6 sportbike but would like to pick-up a Star cruiser this spring.
My motorhome, my F-250, some Yamaha Waverunners, a Rhino—a lot of that stuff I had because when I was in Florida I had 50 acres where my property was and I lived on a lake. So a lot of those toys were handy. I kept a couple of things like my Yamaha Superjet—I don’t think I could part with that thing and you can’t even buy them in California. I leave it out at my dad’s house on the lake in Elsinore [California]. During the week is a good time to go in the winter because there are no water police because you can do whatever you want without getting in trouble. (For a few moments Grant and I digress about how awesome stand-up jet skiing is and how bad-ass the newer ’08 Superjet hull is. Check out our
Kawasaki Jet Ski Motocross Training Crossover to discover some similarities between the sports.)
I kept a little Yamaha Raptor quad for my kids and the TT-R50 too. But I sold my R6. I had so much stuff that all it did was collect dust. Maybe when summertime rolls around I’ll pick-up a Star cruiser. They have a nice range of cruisers and I can get a fair price on one [smiles]. I just wanted to get everything that makes sense and just kind of start over again because from a financial stand point I had to do that. I didn’t want to be broke in a couple of years.
DO YOU STILL OWN YOUR FLORIDA PROPERTY:
I have the Florida property. [Ryan] Villopoto has a lease on it right now until the end of the year. I have a couple people who are interested in buying it. If I was in Florida I’d keep it because it would be a great place to do camps. I have it so nicely set-up but I don’t have any reason to be down there. Everything for me is out here, my family, my business, the motocross industry. I had equipment like a Caterpillar wheel loader, a water truck, a skid steer, a tractor I have all that stuff. The cool thing is I didn’t really owe much money on anything either. I’m going keep my Superjet for the summertime and my dirt bike for winters and then when spring comes around I’ll be riding my Star cruiser on the weekends with my friends.
HOW BERCY SUPERCROSS WENT DOWN THIS YEAR:
Grant Langston still finds time to help out his long-time sponsor Yamaha at industry events.
Yamaha Europe always helped me out a lot. Yamaha helps all of its riders. When its guys come out here to the U.S. for Motocross de Nations, Yamaha USA rolls out the red carpet and vice versa. They bring a mechanic, tools, spares, a bike and everything. My wife and I went over. The track was like riding on bubble gum. It was really sticky and rutted. I made a little mistake the first night. I wasn’t able to triple out of a turn. I had to abort at the last second. [Gregory] Aranda (French supercross racer) was right behind me. It just caught him off guard. He assumed I was going to go for it. He went for it and realized I wasn’t and he landed straight in the back of me and I dislocated my pelvis. That’s why I haven’t ridden until today because I’ve been too sore. It was a bit of a bummer because it was on Friday night. I tried to ride Saturday but I was just too sore. Where his wheel hit me it tore cartilage between my ribs. It was just tender. Not like agony I couldn’t bend over and tie my shoe laces so I knew I wasn’t going to be able to ride.
That was a bummer to go out in that sense but in my mind that solidified the reasons why I don’t have that burning desire to go racing anymore. I love the sport, the industry, I love being around it, I love watching it. But there are so many kids that don’t have the distractions that I have. I’m not blaming my family don’t take this the wrong way. But when I was 18 all I did was ride and watch racing videos in the evening. My goal was to beat those guys that were on top and I did that. And now I feel like it’s full circle. All these kids are the ones trying to beat me and I just know in my heart that I can’t put what I use to. I have distractions, I have other things. Between the cancer in my eye and waking up on Mondays and not being able to walk or icing this and that. It takes the fun out of it when you’re struggling. Then financially getting a decent deal right now is tough. If I was a team manager and had a choice between me and another kid who’s the same speed as me I’d take the 18-year-old.
I don’t want to keep pushing my luck either. I’ve had a good time and do to my circumstances my prime has come and gone. Some people say you’re only 28 but I have a bad knee, a bad ankle. I just can’t do the things I use to do. I can’t wake up every day and go and ride. I can’t when I’m done riding go run because I can barely walk. You just get to that point. And knowing what I use to put into it and what I can put into it now. I don’t want to go roll around in 10th. I’m a multi-time champ. I feel like that means something and I’ve made a decision with my family and loved ones.
That Daytona crash didn’t help either. I’ve had a lot of crashes but that one sacred my whole family and seeing how sacred they were. From that day on I think I starting thinking... my dad even said to me, “It’s not a macho thing you get to a point one day where you’ll start thinking about the consequences and that’s your mind telling you hey man maybe it’s time.” I starting thinking about those things, my family and just life—the rest of life.
And after getting cancer in my eye—it wasn’t a big deal like I almost died or I was on my death bed and just barely pulled through but the potential was there and had I not have caught it, yeah, I might not be here talking to you. When you have those types of experiences, you sit down and think about what’s important. And I thought I want to simply life. I’m selling my house. It’s too big, I don’t like it. When I was a kid I came from no money so I always
Grant Langston in action at Millville in '07. He would go on to win the AMA Motocross Championship that year.
wanted a cool car, a big house and all these things. Now that I was able to afford it and bought all those things [sighs]… when you have enough money to be comfortable you’re great. But when you have a fair bit of money life becomes complicated. Because you have all these things and multiple properties and you don’t realize that you’re creating so much stress and problems for yourself. Now I’m like I just want a nice single story with a pool and an entertainment area with some grass so the kids and dogs can play on and go to work Monday through Friday and kick back on weekends. I like watching racing and football on TV. Two years ago I hated sitting at home on the couch on Sundays. I felt like I should be out doing something. But things have changed and I’m just enjoying the time at home and just moving into a new chapter of life...
Stay tuned for Part 2 of our exclusive interview with Langston next week.
