10 Most Controversial Motocross Riders Of All Time
3. John Roeder
In 1979 a privateer Supercross rider named John Roeder caused massive upset when he became the first person to successfully claim a works bike. In 1976 the AMA invoked a claiming rule, putting a set price on every machine in a race, and allowing privateers to literally claim for, and purchase the bike for said price. This has caused the factories some hassle, but they had never actually had to give up a machine, until the opening round of the 1979 national series in Sacramento, California. Due to the fact that at the opening round all competitors had to qualify, Roeder was in the same qualifying heat as factory Honda rider Marty Tripes. At the end of the day, Roeder put in a claim for Tripes Honda. All of the factory teams also put in claims in an attempt to keep the bike with Honda, a total of 11 claims were made on the bike. In this case, a lottery determined who took the bike. Chips with numbers one to 11 were drawn from the bag, and whoever took the number one chip would take it. Roeder went first and drew the number one chip, winning the bike! Instead of riding it, he gave the machine to Cycle magazine. This was the first real look into top factory machinery. The claiming rule was suspended in the following weeks and was never re-instated.
