Metal Mulisha

You read the story, now here’s the video…enjoy.

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I’m sure you’ve already seen it on every web site out there…Robbie Maddison is going for a crazy step up to step down jump on New Years Eve in Las Vegas! Last year Maddo jumped the length of a football field! This year Maddo will break more records at the “Red Bull: New Year. No Limits.” event that will be live on ESPN in front of the Paris Casino.

You can bet your ass that all the Mulisha will be out there cheering on Maddo and partyin’ hard!

If you are trying to figure out what Maddo is actually going for, well, you’re not alone. It’s pretty damn crazy to visualize, so here is an artists rendering of the jump. Hope this helps!

This weekend meet Brian Deegan at the Temecula (Saturday) or Carlsbad (Sunday) Verizon Wireless locations! 10 winners will win a day at Deegan’s compound to hang out for a day, BBQ, watch the guys ride and get free swag! Not bad at all. You don’t want to miss this! And you might as well go to both stores since they are so close to each other!

Directions to Temecula Verizon Store

Directions to Carlsbad Verizon Store

Just because he has a real job and doesn’t get to hang out much with the crew doesn’t mean shit–Justin Homan is still riding a lot, learning new trick and rocking Mulisha hard while holding it down in the North West!

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In 1999 Metal Mulisha became “official,” but by no means was that the beginning. Brian Deegan was living the Mulisha lifestyle and writing its history long before the Metal Mulisha was even a thought. Our friend Erik Johnson recently sent over this story he wrote for Racer X and looks back on an old Cycle News story he also wrote just after Deegan’s infamous 1997 LA Supercross Ghost Ride. It’s a great story and goes perfect as 2009 will represent the Metal Mulisha’s Decade of Domination, and our first ad to kick off 2009 (below) is the one and only shot we could find of the ghost ride.

Also, check back soon because we found some old video footage that we are putting together from that night.

Ghost Rider: “What I did was for Entertainment”
By Eric Johnson

The Metal Mulisha Compound circa 2007

How many people can say that?” asked Brian Deegan, standing in his trophy room deep within side the Metal Mulisha Compound, holding a medal in his left hand and a trophy in his right. “How many riders can say they’ve won an X Games Gold Medal and a 125cc Supercross first place trophy?”

“Nobody I can think of,” I replied. “Man, I remember the night you won that race in the Coliseum in ’97,” I went on. “You had just passed [Robbie] Reynard. I was standing in the infield and was so close to you in one corner; I could have reached out and shoved your shoulder.”

The night Deegan and I were reflecting back on was Saturday, January 18, 1997. After getting a mid-pack start, Team Moto XXX privateer Brian Deegan methodically picked off riders in a spirited charge t the front of the filed. With just a few laps remaining, Deegan passed leader Robbie Reynard (a full-on factory rider) and charged towards the checkered flag. Upon reaching it, he jumped off the back of his RM125 and ghosted the Suzuki over the finish line. The 50,000 fans on hand that chilly night went berserk.

It would be the last race the then empty pocketed privateer would ever win. For within two years, Brian Deegan was a full-time freestyle motocross pilot, and arguably, the most popular in the world.
“Hey, remember when we did that column in Cycle News about the ghost riding incident?” I asked Deegan, a few members of the Mulisha listening in. “Yeah I do, do you still have it?”

“I think I do,” I replied. Thus upon arriving back home in Orange County, California later that evening, I started digging through my huge stack of Cycle News back issues. Fingers smeared in old ink, I finally found it.

View from the Fence. By Eric Johnson. Page 59. Cycle News. February 5, 1997 - “I’ve always told myself that if I won a race, I was going to do something totally different – something that no one else has ever done,” declared Brian Deegan to the nearly 50,000 spellbound spectators sitting in the Los Angels Coliseum grandstands.

Just a few moments earlier, Deegan, a true to life, dyed-in-the-wool privateer, had jettisoned off the back of his of his nearly bone-stock Suzuki RM125 and ghosted it over the L.A. finish-line jump. The bewildered crowd roared in approval. In fact, the 20 big-time 250cc riders I was standing among behind the starting gate when the move went down all began jumping up and down and screaming in support as well. It was certainly a move that will go down in the folklore book of supercross.

However, that said, Brian Deegan’s well-deserved night of glory ended up being an evening of mixed emotions. A double-edged sword, if you will. After basking in the glory of victory and climbing down from the top step of the podium, Deegan was approached by an AMA official who immediately informed him that he was being fined $1000 for dangerous riding and for his mechanic running out onto the course.

At the time, Deegan let it go. He shook his head and said, “Fine.” However, once he arrived back at his well-worn box van and thought the matter over, he felt that he was not completely in the wrong with his actions; he believed he had been sent a mixed message by the AMA.

“Duke Finch was the one who came over and talked to me,” said Deegan over the telephone on the Wednesday morning after the incident. “He kept saying to me, ‘I’m sorry I have to do this, I don’t really want to, but we have to because we can’t let people do this kind of thing.’ Duke told me that they didn’t like what I did because I could have hurt someone. However once I thought about it, I believe that basically they are trying to make an example out of me, and I don’t think it’s fair. I think they’re afraid to make an example out of one of the factory guys, because those guys are always doing this type of thing. However, the factory teams are paying the bills to the AMA, and we’re just a privateer team, so they can do what they want to us because we don’t have any power, you know?”

While it can certainly be argued that Deegan’s self-described “punk rock” move was in fact dangerous, he does have a point about the double standard that appears to exist at times on the AMA Supercross circuit between the big-four factory teams and the much-maligned privateer group.

“They fined me $500 for dangerous riding and endangerment of their flagman, and the other $500 fine came from when my mechanic [Kenny Watson] ran out onto the track,” Deegan said. ‘I mean [Jeremy] McGrath’s mechanic has run out onto the track a bunch of times, and what about the time Stanton’s mechanic ran out on the track when he won the Supercross Championship? (Note: Jeff Stanton was met with open arms – on the track – by his mechanic immediately after winning the 1992 AMA Supercross Championship).

“Also, how many warnings have they given [Jeff] Emig kicking people or pushing them, or I heard [Mike] LaRocco launched his bike in the tunnel onto someone, and nothing happens to those guys – that is not endangering someone? They are sending a mixed message. Those guys are intentionally trying to endanger someone. What I did was for entertainment.

“What they did was fine me $1000,” Deegan said. “I’ve never even heard of a rider being fined $1000 – factory or not – for fighting, or anything in front of people. What happens when people are fighting on the track? That endangers the rider and everyone. What I did the crowd totally loved and probably made all the people come back and watch another race. All I did was try and pump the crowd, and now they’re trying to make an example out of me, and I can’t do anything about it – and it took $1000 out of a privateer’s pocket. I have to pay my own way to get to the races.”

It’s hard to say who is right in this situation. While Deegan – seemingly with the best of intentions – did take a chance and pull a “that’s entertainment” move out of his bag of tricks, the potential was there for someone to be hurt by the flying yellow Suzuki. However, it can also be argued that the AMA may have some down a little too hard on the Nebraska-based privateer.

“At the time we didn’t even argue it – we figured we would just pay the money,” Deegan said. “We know this was going to be huge exposure for me and all the privateers. Now all of this in just another blow to all of us. They see that the AMA isn’t afraid to take half of my prize money. I don’t want to burn the AMA. They have gone out of their way for me before, but they don’t stand up for the privateers. I don’t want to sound like a whiner, but the AMA has to back up the privateers. I mean I didn’t even get a warning or anything.”

Despite all the high drama of probation, fines, rule infractions and finger pointing, no one can dispute the fact that Deegan was dazzling in his Coliseum victory. Arguably the most impressive fact to come out of Saturday’s festivities, Deegan is the first true American privateer since Mike Brown in 1994 to win an AMA 125cc Supercross. And in an era where the high-dollar factory teams are pledging huge financial resources and technical support in this supposedly “entry level” class, Deegan should be quite proud of his accomplishment.

“I bought my own bike,” Deegan said. “I mean I went down and paid $4000 for it. I’m a true privateer and I won.”

So, even after all the fallout and bickering, was the brilliant – and spooky – ghost rider move worth it?

“So far, every single person I’ve talked to – and my phone has been ringing off the hook – thought it was the coolest thing they had ever seen,” Deegan said. “Like I had McGrath say to me, “That took a lot of courage and it totally fired me up.”

High praise from a high source.

“What I did that night, - I mean I have always been a little wild and I’m not one of those guys who is going to let myself be bossed around by the factories,” Deegan said. “I’m not afraid to do what I want to do. I want to be who I want to be. It’s not a theory of causing trouble, but a theory about being myself.”

And what do the detractors who feel that he may have crossed the line (no pun intended) and put the safety of the trackside people in jeopardy?

“Yeah, at the time I thought, “I hope the bike doesn’t hit anyone when I let it go,’” Deegan said ruefully. “But I figured we were racing for the lead and no one is going to be on the track anyway. Who is going to be on the track when I’m the first guy coming across the finish line and there are 20-some guys behind me?

“What can they say to a guy who is out there making the crowd go nuts? How can they come down on him?”

Just added new wallpapers of Lusk, Garland and Potter…go steal them now!

2 years old. No training wheels. Crashing and getting up unphased. Tearing up the compound on his quad. It’s in his blood!

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Over the weekend on Saturday night, Deegan, Garland, Lusk, and Wes put on an amazing show at the Rick Johnson Off-Road GP. Deegan was racing his #38 Pro Lite truck and killed it! He pulled a typical Deegan move on the start, cutting in super low on a banked turn, jumping into second place. He was in hot pursuit of the leader Casey Currie the entire race, but came up just short. Deegan was stoked on his second place finish and after the race he dusted the crowd with donuts and they loved it!

Garland and Wes saved the day by putting on a last minute FMX demo. The crowd was more pumped on their show than the racing!

Damn, there has been a lot of shit going on lately and I don’t even know where to start. I get so much stuff sent in from all the guys, whether it’s Deegan with photos of his kids, Potter and Fitzpatrick with stories of drunken debauchery, sales guys wanting to sell tee shirts to the masses, Fluffer (who happens to be the new Mulisha Marketing Director (congrats buddy!)) always having random junk to pump up, keeping up with all the goods on EXPN, Osiris, etnies and more–holy shart! If we posted everything as it comes in this site would be a mess! So here ya go, a random week-ending mashup of everything Metal Mulisha from the last few weeks or so…I think.

First up, the Third Annual Chris Ackerman Poker Tournament! The first couple years of this event went off big with FMX demos, Baja 1000 drawings and all sorts of activities revolving around the tournament. This year, unfortunately, due to some last minute scheduling problems it was a last minute kind of deal. The poker tournament had a good turnout and we had some really cool items up for auction, some that will be on eBay as well…we will give you links to them soon.

A few weeks back Potter and Fitzpatrick got into some mess. We were going to keep it under wraps, but I figured it was alright to let people know since Potter started calling and giving me shit because photos weren’t on the site yet, so here it is. Potter and Fitz were out tearing up the town, jumping from bar to bar, driving fast and taking chances in Jimmy’s mom’s car–standard shit for these two. Well, Jimmy got squirrely and whiskey throttled his mom’s ride right through some unsuspecting person’s garage! What’s that huge crack in the windshield from you ask? That is from Potter’s hard ass head! Luckily everyone was just fine and safe–except of course Jimmy’s driving record and insurance rate–those are fucked!

I know a lot of you are into tattoos, just look at the Metal Mulisha Tattoo Gallery! That’s why it is no wonder that Deegan, Twitch, Faisst and the guys were just featured in the November issue of Inked Magazine. Check it out on newsstands now.

Shameless product promotion. Buy our shit!

We told you about the 777 Fest demo that Deegan was at with Lusk, Garland, Fitz and others riding the ramp-to-ramp demo. Here are a couple photos and go to the Mulisha MySpace page to check a video from the event that someone posted in the comments.

Who’s that kid Deegan is holding to the right? It’s another kid named after him…little Deegan!

Hmm, what else?

Faisst just got surgery a couple days ago on his knee. They repaired his ACL and meniscus. Faisst will be out for a while, but you can bet when he returns he will come out swinging!

X Games Dubai got canceled. Not sure why, but no one is going anymore.

Oh, speaking of MySpace, we also have a Mulisha Facebook page. And a YouTube. And a new site called FastClips. Check ‘em.

Election day was on Tuesday. Deegan sent in this photo of a Prop 8 protester that showed up on his property to show his moves on a scooter. Turns out he was pro scooter rider Lamar LeCock. I don’t think his protests worked very well, but his moves were legit!

Here’s something you will probably (hopefully) never see again. Deegan charging a quad around the track! haha. Or is he cross training for a new X Games event? You will have to wait and see…jk!

Halloween! Honestly, is there any holiday better than Halloween? You have a built in excuse to look like an idiot, and every chick dresses up like a hot little ho. Amazing. Potter threw a Halloween party at his house–check what the guys were rocking.

Fluffer’s birthday was a couple days before Halloween and he had a rager at his San Clemente compound. The night was a blurr, and this pic pretty much sums up the night. Happy Birthday Fluffy.

If you haven’t checked out the team page for a while then now is the time. We’ve updated some contest results and stats on the guys’ pages, but the biggest addition is the music section with Machine Head! More Mulisha bands are coming soon so stay on the look out!

Ever since the Baja 500 earlier this year, Jeff the OX has been full Baja guy. The Ox is down there right now bush whacking it and pre-running for the Baja 1000 next week. Ox is teamed up with Grant Steele and Max Eddie for the 629 mile loop from Ensenada, through Baja, and back to Ensenada. Oh yeah, and they will be the first bike off the start line! We’ll post coverage after the race!

There’s a killer new super kicker hip jump at Deegan’s house…and we posted a huge photo gallery fully of upside down whip awesomeness.

Ok, that’s about it. That should hold you over for at least a little bit!