Marty Moates Dead

What a shame. He lives in my town and I used to see him all the time at local watering holes. He had an old, slammed Impala with Baaaad Boy on the plate.



He was one of the original thumper riders long before the current 4 stroke boom.

Yeah, I saw him on an Ossa back in the day. He was one year older than me. That means when I was riding a crappy RT3, he was on the latest and greatest Phantom.



Depresson kills. It hits the adrenalin freeks worse, you get old, the body don't work that good anymore, and you might eat it bad a few times late in life, get kinda crippled up.



Same thing happened to my Uncle. It's the people left behind who feel the pain. Check out Thumpertalk for some pretty raw stuff. Even a purported suicide note, with a pic of Moates on a YZ above it.

I went to the USGP at Carlsbad when I was about 13 or 14. That would be '77 or '78.



Hurricane Hannah, Magoo Chandler on two strokes and Moates thumping by on a four stroke.



I didn't know him but it was pretty common to see him around North San Diego County.

I met him when I worked at No Fear. A really nice guy, and the article was correct. He would say hello, and be kind to anyone he met. I cannot say the same for a lot of the new MX guys I have met, but the old school guys are still cool.