As I sit there on the start line talking to Harvey about a game plan, I get hit with a feeling that can only be described as déjà vu, only slightly differently.
I could have sworn I was in the exact same position 30 years ago as Harvey is right now, just with me on the bike and my dad trying to impart some last-minute drops of racing wisdom, which no doubt went in one ear and out the other.
Photography by Rennie Scaysbrook
Harvey is more astute than I am at taking advice—if he doesn’t like you or the subject matter, you’ve got next to no chance of getting your idea to stick—but thankfully, he likes me and realizes I know a thing or two about motorcycle racing.
Harvey has been riding the 2026 Husqvarna TC 65 for the last six months thanks to the generosity of Andy, Chris and John at Husqvarna/KTM USA—a bike that has taken pride of place in the garage and one I constantly find myself gawking at; such is my jealousy. It’s the best-looking bike in the garage, regardless of whether it’s standing next to a BMW 1000 RR or a Kawasaki Electrode.
Harvey’s motocross skills have gradually improved over the past half year. He loves a challenge, and getting behind the gate for a mass-start motocross race is one of the most mentally demanding things you can do, at least in my opinion.
You’ve got to modulate not just the bike but also your mind. Letting the clutch out a fraction of a second too early will send you flying into your gate, which can’t drop because it’s wedged on top of your front wheel. Locking the handlebars with someone at speed could send you careering over the front of the bike and leave you in serious pain, just as the wrong body position and speed on the jump takeoff could send you over the ’bars in almost Superman fashion—that last one, Harvey nearly did—twice.
The TC 65 takes it all in its stride, however. Compared to what I had as a kid, this bike is literally Malcolm Stewart’s bike shrunk into a two-stroke 65, and the equipment on it is second to none. It soaks up all the jumps, track bumps, erratic throttle inputs and braking faux pas with ease, which is a relief to me as Harvey can concentrate more on his riding than any worries about the machine.
Practice goes relatively well. The Lake Elsinore track is the closest thing we have to a home race, and Harvey’s done a million laps around there during other practice days, but it’s only a few laps of warmup before he’s pulled off the track and told the races have started.
The Mini Rippers crew we are currently riding with has over 40 individual race classes for bikes up to 65cc, and I personally think they could have combined at least half of them so the kids get to race with someone, rather than having so many races with just three or so kids on the gate.
Harvey’s 65cc class is race 42 and is the most subscribed event with 13 kids on the grid, some quick, some not so much, but all are ready to have a proper go.
Finally, the time comes.
Harvey grabs his gate position, but it takes a little while to get him fired up, we’ve been waiting ages, and in a few seconds, it’ll be go time. A couple of positive affirmations, a few fist bumps to the chest later, and he’s got the look in his eyes of a real racer. It’s enough to make an old man proud.
Come the gate drop, Harvey gets a respectable start and lands in fifth going into turn one, but it’s quickly apparent the top four are several stages ahead in their riding development. A gap soon balloons, and one kid on a GasGas who fluffed his start rips past Harvey into fifth on the third lap, though the gap to the top four is too big to close.
It’s hard not to be one of those “dirt-bike dads,” yelling instructions at Harvey from the side of the track. I can see Harvey’s made several mistakes that he really shouldn’t have, but he’s ultra-new to this racing thing, and I want him to enjoy himself.
He crosses the line a distant fifth, happy but not ecstatic with how he rode. He knows he could have, and probably should have, done better, but as we sit down for a post-race debrief, he quickly identifies what he needs to work on, and we’ve built a practice plan for next time we ride.
That’s all that matters to me. I don’t care where he finishes, but if he’s analytical about his race, his own performance, and what he can improve upon, I’m all good.
Motocross is a metaphor for life: most of the time, it’ll never go your way, but sometimes, it does, and that’s when it’s sweet.
We’re not a participation-trophy family. To win, you have to outrun everyone else, and a phony ribbon for 14th place means nothing. Harvey understands that, and because he’s got the TC 65 underneath him, he knows he has the equipment; he just has to work on himself.
I’m proud of how he approached the meeting. He kept the bike upright, learned a few things and is ready to go again.
I’m guessing there’ll be plenty more dusty SoCal afternoons in my near future.CN
Click here to read the Harvey Goes Racing in the Cycle News Digital Edition Magazine.
