Independent AMSOIL Dealer Kevin Arlotti, in his own words.
“Most kids want dirt bikes. Not all kids’ families can afford dirt bikes. So I had BMX bikes. It took until I was 30 years old before I finally got in gear and purchased my first bike. I wish I would have done it sooner, but I’ve been hooked since.
“I eventually did my first race, but it wasn’t a motocross race. The same friends who got me into riding competed in desert racing. Out here in Southern California, races are usually about 80 miles, give or take.
The taste of victory
“In that first race – just going out and winning that race and having that adrenaline rush from it – from that point on, I was chasing that feeling. Probably about three months later I did my second desert race. I really didn’t understand the full experience. When you have a hazard, if you look at it, you’re going to hit it. And that’s what I did. I looked at a rock. I hit it at about 50 or 60 miles an hour. Ended up breaking my C6 and -7 vertebrae in my neck. Landed on my knees, so my femur went through my pelvis.
“After about six months, I had that desire to go out there and race again and enjoy that experience even after that crash.”
“My full-time job, being in law enforcement, there’s a lot of high risk involved in law enforcement. Your focus has to be elevated when you’re going into critical-type incidents, the same thing when you’re racing in motocross or any off-road sports in general. And I found that they really work well together. It allows you to see the bigger picture of what’s going on when there’s a lot of chaos happening.
“A good day at the races is winning. That’s the best day at the races. The second best day is no injuries.
Exhilarating…and exhausting
“I think an outdoor motocross track is probably like walking in the streets of New York. You just feel like everything is on top of you. More reason to get out front. But, when you don’t get that good start and you’re battling in the pack, it’s exhilarating and completely exhausting at the same time.
“There are those who will argue it is the most demanding sport out there in the world. People who haven’t done it will tell you, ‘Well, all you do is go out there and just turn the throttle. How can that be physically demanding?’ I can tell you from being in law enforcement, working out with weights, doing CrossFit stuff, there’s nothing like the muscle exercise workout and fatigue you get from racing a motocross bike.
Four-stroke fanatic
“I’m currently riding a 2016 RM-Z450. For anyone who has experience in the past of riding two-stroke bikes and hasn’t ridden a four-stroke yet, if you turned away from riding, go buy a four-stroke. It makes the average rider seem so much better because of the performance of a modern-day motocross bike.
“When you’re out there on the track, you actually forget about everything.”
“At that point, it’s just you out there, you and the bike. There is no other worry in the world at that time. Add to that jumping through the air where you just have that feeling of weightlessness. You may go from just a couple feet in the air and you may be as high as 15 feet to the bottom of the wheels, kind of just floating through the air. And it’s hard to duplicate, unimaginable, enjoyable. If I could, I would do that every day. That would definitely be a dream for sure.”
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