bmxultra.com: Tell us about SX.
Bill:
Wow that is a pretty good question, I guess it is the all encompassing
one as well. Supercross is a neat little frame, fork, bar and crank company
out of the US. This year will be our 15th year.
bmxultra.com: Where are you based?
Bill: We are based out of a small shop in the Santa Clarita
valley in Southern California, it is a great place to be as there are
2 great local tracks, and plenty of open space for trails, much like the
South Bay used to be back in the day.
bmxultra.com: What is your position at SX?
Bill: Hmm, my position, I guess you could say head designer,
sales, part time shipping, bill collector, marketing, janitor etc... there
are only the 5 of us here, and we all do many jobs. I started Supercross
15 years ago and still remain the sole owner.
bmxultra.com: What made you want to start SX?
Bill: Well, I never had the plan that one day I was going
to have my own bike company, never thought of it. I started working in
the Industry when I was 13 years old, Scot (Breithaupt) knew my situation
at home and offered me a job stickering frames at SE. I started by stickering
frames and boxing them, then got to pull orders, then when I turned 16
they let me drive the van to the powdercoaters and heat treat and eventually
they let me on the phones to start handling sales. When things got rough
over there at SE before it went underground in the mid eighties, Bill
Galloway offered me a job at GT, so I went to work for GT, it was right
at that time that I had started my first little company called TECH and
the reason that we started it was that there was a need for custom leathers
for a lot of the riders. I was still racing back then, and it became a
situation where riders needed custom pants, and I approached Aero about
doing some sales for them at the time, as I wanted to raise some extra
cash and fill a void, and they did not want to add a sales guy or marketing
guy, but was willing to do custom pants for me under my own brand so we
started TECH. Well I kept that running on the side while I was at GT,
and while I was at GT, Tommy Brackens was let go, and he wanted a hand
at getting Brackens going, so I helped him with that. So I was happy and
content working at GT, and doing TECH on the side. Well after a little
while, I did not like the way things were going over there so I quit and
took a job at Vision. The day I started at Vision I got called back to
GT and was handed the Robinson division to run, so I was super happy!!
Well things got weird over there again, Gary and I always got along great,
but Rich and I didn't see eye to eye on business. I was worried about
the rider and he was worried about the $$, I guess that is why GT grew
so huge and I am still so small, but anyway Turnell Henry was a good friend
of mine and he had just bought a bike shop and wanted me to come run it
for him, and TECH was getting larger and was becoming a conflict of interest
with DYNO so I left to run the shop for Tuni and make TECH grow larger.
Those were some great years. Well anyway I am getting a little long winded
now, but while we were running TECH, we had a few great riders, Brian
Lopes, Kiyomi Waller, Glan Pavlosky and Billy Harrison, riding for TECH
as our factory team, and no one wanted to give them bikes, so I worked
with SE to try to get some customs done, and that is when we designed
the Assasin, and SE was just having a real tough time of things, and we
needed to get the guys on some bikes and needed a way to pay for the racing.
Billy Harrison and I came up with this idea that we would buy all these
Boss frames that Elf had made and had been stuck with, we figured we would
market them under a name, and help pay for the racing. Well, we picked
up a few of the frames, and we quickly found out why they were rejected
so we scrapped that idea, and we had always wanted to do a real strong
frame that was still good for racing and after video tapping a bunch of
gate starts behind the shop, you could see that the average frame back
then, would flex so bad you would get a 1/4" of chain sag just by
pressuring the gate, so I sat down and drew up a few frame designs on
how to fix that problem without adding a ton of weight and presto SUPERCROSS
was born.
bmxultra.com: Do you still race or ride?
Bill: I haven't raced for years, but I still ride as
much as I can, the business takes up all the time to train to be competitive
as a racer, but the riding I can do that as much as I want, whenever I
want and have it be for fun, now my son Lincoln is 10 now and wants to
start racing, so if that happens, I will have a reason to take the time
to train and will have to start racing again. It is cool watching him
want to race now, and it is great the way the guys want to help him out,
Randy, Jan, Mikey Day and Bubba Harris are all willing to help him with
his training, so I appreciate that.
bmxultra.com: You have 4 kids including a new baby, how do you
manage to juggle everything and find time for a normal family life?
Bill: I am going to be 34 this year, and still
try to get out and ride as much as I can, and now the kids are old enough
to go riding now as well, well except the littlest one obviously, he is
only 4 weeks today.
How do I manage to juggle, hmm... lack of sleep :)
bmxultra.com: In Australia in the mid 90's at least there where
a ton of SX frames floating around and then it all came to a stand still
and you didn't hear much about SX. What have you been doing since?
Bill:
Hmm, the biggest thing is distribution, and we had a few different
distributors doing things with us. We have not had a distributor in Australia
since 1997 so I guess that is why it ran dry. I would like to work something
out with a new one, but I want to make sure it is going to be a good distributor
who will properly service the consumer and dealer channel in Australia.
We also took a little break here in the U.S., we had a partner that was
a manufacturing shop that took a little bit of our money, had a distributor
here in the U.S. file bankruptcy and made it a little tough to keep moving.
At that point all of the big guys, like Trek, Giant, Specialized were
getting in there, so with all my money gone, I decided to take a small
break, I have still kept small frame production going, but did it on the
side, since then I have been working as a Art Director and have been working
with a few bands, doing websites, merchandising, album covers, etc...
I still do that on the side now.
bmxultra.com: What bands have you worked with?
Bill: Man that is a long list, I can't name them all,
but I can tell you that my favorite ones to work with are Fugazi, The
Chili Peppers, Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro and the Dead Kennedys. Dirty
from the Dead Kennedy's and I actually have our own little record label
thing starting up for his new band Peligro, and we are working with Shabo
of System of a Down on a side project and a few other little fun things.
bmxultra.com: Did you ever get to meet the bands that you have
worked for?
Bill: Yes all of them, and I am proud to say that many
of them have become great friends and are like a part of the family.
bmxultra.com: Do any of your musician friends
ride an SX?
Bill: As far as musicians that ride, DH from the Dead
Kennedys has a Dirt Devil, and G-Rock from Peligro has a DEVO cruiser
and Fez just called today saying that Mike Ness from Social D wants a
new ride.
Brandon Cruz from Dr.No and the Dead Kennedy's actually rides a Huffy
Dirt Jump bike because he thinks Cory Nastazio is cool.
bmxultra.com: What music do you listen to?
Bill:
Wow what do I listen to, hmm, let me grab the stack here. On
top I have Sonic Youth - Murray Street, Fugazi - The Argument, Tool -
Anema (everyone needs this album), Modest Mouse, Jeff Buckley, Seven Dust,
Nirvana, Mudhoney, Sunny Day Real Estate, Porno For Pyros, DEVO, Portishead,
Dead Kennedys, Pailhead, PJ Harvey, Smashing Pumpkins, Chili Peppers,
Janes Addiction, Fishbone and a few other mixed CD's of some demo stuff.
This is all stuff we have had playing this week in the office.
bmxultra.com: What do you think of Neil Young?
Bill: Neil Young Harvest Moon!!!! Great Album, great
pioneer for the freedom of actual thinking. I haven't listened to him
or Crosby in quite some time, guess I need to go and re-visit that.
bmxultra.com: How's the team going?
Bill: The team is going great. We have never been a big
one for over the top number one riders, our teams have always been more
about the guys who go to the races because they love to race and love
to have fun. If they win that is great, but their main reason for being
there is to have fun and show off the product. Randy Roberts and Jan Baltzersen
are in my opinion 2 of the most underrated and hardest working Pro's out
there. Last year Our AA Pro Tim Kneip got a #4 ABA Pro Cruiser plate,
which is great, and I get a few e-mails here and there about Timmy, but
the mail, phone calls and such I receive on Jan and Randy is crazy!! No
discredit to Timmy, but those guys are in my opinion what BMX is all about,
they go to the track, and help the local kids, they ride the local trails,
build the local trails, help build the local tracks, they talk to the
kids at the races, sign autographs, offer training help, gearing help,
etc. I have people e-mail and call all the time, that want to know when
they will be out by them again, they want to know what bike they are riding
as they want to be just like them. That is going to help the sport of
BMX in a big way by keeping the kids excited about being a part of BMX.
Neither of them are the ones that someone is betting on to win the next
AA Pro race, but they are always in the hunt to be in the show, and they
always have the time for the kids.
bmxultra.com: Do you often receive resumes for sponsorship?
Bill: Every day we get at least 2 or 3.
bmxultra.com: What would you tell someone looking for sponsorship?
Bill: It varies, I try to handle each one for what it
is, but it gets hard sometimes. There's not enough hours in the day.
bmxultra.com: You have a big involvement in old school bmxing
with the replica frames, how did you get involved in that?
Bill: Wow, that is a wild project. I have been
involved in BMX since I was a little kid I am dating myself but I was
at my local trails back in 1976. So I have a pretty deep history in BMX,
well a friend of mine Todd Britton who is a former editor of BMX Plus
wanted to start building a retro frame. He wanted an Old JMC frame but
with the new angles and lengths. Well there was someone on an old website
oldschoolbmx.com ( now it is vintagebmx.com a great place to learn the
history of BMX ) that said they would build them for him, so everyone
waited and waited, and when this guy couldn't come through I offered to
help. So that is it a few proto types and things later presto there is
a new school/ old school frame for people to ride. It is fun, it helps
people remember where the sport came from while keeping them able to ride.
That is one thing I am pretty into is remembering where you came from,
and what the sport was. I don't think people need to live there, but remembering
the past can help solve problems of the future.
bmxultra.com: Are there any legal issues with building the replicas?
Bill: Not that I am aware of, Jim Melton , knows about
the JMC retro projects and I am giving Scot Breithaupt a Quad retro project,
so I think we are fine. None of it was done to make a profit, but more
to pay homage.
bmxultra.com: Do you know Jim and Scot well?
Bill: I don't know Jim well at all, but I like to think
that Scot is one of my oldest friends in BMX. My first true BMX frame
was a Mild Steel FMF that Scot sold me for like 5 bucks at a local jumping
spot when I was 8, because he thought I was going to kill myself on the
piece o'c*ap I was on. He later gave me a chance to be on his team, and
then to work for his company. I am honored to say that I have known Scot
as long as I have. My current favorite bike is Scot's old OM Flyer that
was given to me a few years ago. It is a custom one that Scot rode back
in 81 or so.
bmxultra.com: Who would you say is the most influential BMXer
on the track right now? 
Bill:
Right now if I have to name one I would have to say Mikey Day,
that kid is great. He and the rest of the new breed Pro's I think can
help take BMX to the next level. The ones I see doing the best are Mikey
and Bubba. They are not only fast on the track, but great with the kids,
they sign autographs, they offer advice, but they also look the pro part,
and have the skills to back it up. I think the new breed of riders coming
up are going to be great. You have riders like Jason Rogers who besides
being the man in ABA Amateur racing has a full team that he helps train
and manage the "Tuesday Night Kids". Jarret Kolich has the same
thing going on at his track. These guys are serious about trying to take
BMX to the next level by helping their local riders. Bubba and Mikey have
been traveling the country doing clinics for over 10 years, riders like
this are what is going to help BMX get to the next level.
bmxultra.com: Where do you see bmx in 5 years?
Bill: Hopefully BMX will progress out of it's rut and
take over as it has done in the past. People say BMX doesn't progress,
but I think it has changed a ton from the early day's. Freestyle, Dirt
Jumping, they are all progressions of BMX, they get big for a bit and
then it all comes back to BMX, your friends, your bike, some dirt. It
is what it is all about.
bmxultra.com: If you could make one change in BMX what would it
be?
Bill: I couldn't just make one change, it is a cycle
of things. In a perfect world I would have magazines that give coverage
to the riders amateur and Pro and help create hero's that kids aspire
to be like. There would be a total of 10 Pro nationals and a Grand National,
that way the Pro's would show up at a few larger publicized races with
higher payouts, and television coverage. That way it makes it easier for
the sponsors, and the media to help create the hero persona, and helps
to give the Pro's what they are worth. I would also have the local tracks
be more involved with the riders and have the kids racing their locals
once or twice a week. Family picnics and BBQ's to keep the familys more
involved. Once a week swap meets where riders can sell and trade product.
Give it more focus on the local races, and then of course have the pro
appearances and clinic tour come through before the local national so
that the kids get that extra bit of last minute training and get to meet
the big superstar pros. I don't know, I may be dreaming, but I would like
to see it more focused on the local level like the soccer or baseball
programs are, and then have the big "Show" races where the Pro's
get the extra coverage and exposure. I think that would be good for BMX.
bmxultra.com: We know about the SX frames, can you tell us a
bit about the forks, handlebars and cranks?
Bill:
What we are trying to do with our products is have them so if
you didn't have a sponsor and money was no object, our parts would be
the ones you would want to buy. The Forks are great, they are a seamless
4130 cro-mo that has post twels, heat treat and stress relevement. They
only weigh 26 ounces, but are stronger than most jumping forks and at
26 ounces they are a lb lighter than a cro-mo regular race fork and a
few ounces lighter than an alumilite. The Bars have the same treatment,
so Light and Strong, and the cranks, whoa, wait until you see the new
ones. You will be stoked.
bmxultra.com: What's the best way you have found to test new frame
dimensions and designs?
Bill: The best way we have found is by giving it to the
riders and having them test it, luckily on most of the frames we are not
having to change geometry much, we have been pretty lucky and everyone
really seems to like the way that it rides. Currently we are doing a little
redo on the cruiser tightening up the back end a bit, had quite a few
people ask for a shorter rear than the 16" we have had so we are
going to give it a try.
bmxultra.com: Do you build custom frames to order?
Bill: We used to try to do that, but it gets to be real
difficult, as people change their minds, and stuff, it also gets to be
real expensive to tear down a set up for production and do a one off custom
frame, when you look at the time involved and what we could be doing otherwise,
it makes it a $1,000 frame or more each time we do a custom, so no we
try to stay away from that.
bmxultra.com: A couple of years ago GT dominated
the BMX market until they went bust along with Schwinn, is it easier for
the smaller manufacturers to make sales now?
Bill: I would not say easier, as the trust in the BMX
market went away when GT did, it really hurt a lot of peoples programs.
I am starting to see the programs come back, but it is still too new to
see.
bmxultra.com: Would you say that Supercross has a cult following?
Bill: I think all small brands have a cult following,
but I do love talking to riders that have ridden Supercross's since the
early 90's and won't ride anything else, that makes me feel like we have
done our job right.
bmxultra.com: The original frame design must have really worked
for you, I think the UL is the first frame I have seen from SX that has
strayed from the original design, what made you change?
Bill: Yeah that original design was very good
for us, the reason we strayed is that it is hard to get people to believe
in a concept, we still do the DEVO and EVO with the traditional rear end
design. The new UL uses some real cool post weld heat treatment and a
good lug design that keeps the rear nice and stiff still.
bmxultra.com: You played with Carbon fibre for a while, what lessons
did you learn from that?
Bill: What did I learn, hmm don't let a dirt jumper
ride a race frame :). No Carbon is fun, and we were the first one to introduce
it to the BMX of the 80's. There are still a few people out there riding
them, but there are very very few of them that were ever made.
bmxultra.com: Is carbon really suitable for BMX?
Bill: Carbon is a real cool material, and it has it's
place in things, the problem is that it does have catostrophic failures,
where when it goes it goes, there is no second chance. It is a great material
for certain things, but after what we learned we have stayed away.
bmxultra.com: What's the funniest warranty claim story you have?
Bill: Luckily we do not have many warranty claims, In
the 15 years we have been doing Supercross we have only had about 8 frames
ever returned and they were all pretty straight up that they hit a huge
jump or something and that they bent thier forks folded a wheel and cracked
the frame type of deal. No one has ever tried to pull a fast one on us,
luckily.
bmxultra.com: How important do you think the web is for BMX in
general?
Bill:
How important, wow that is a tough question. It is a form of
media so I think it is great, but the problems with it are many as well
as it's assets. It is great for the masses to be able to research and
learn so much so quickly. It's a huge resource. But the problem is that
it needs to be used properly. Too many people take it as gospel, and it
is not hard fact on everything, alot of disinformation is up there as
well.
bmxultra.com: Do you think that the disinformation on the web
can make or break a manufacturer?
Bill: Yes.
bmxultra.com: How important is it for a smaller
BMX manufacturer?
Bill: It is invaluable. The quick response, the interactivity
with our consumers the immediacy of the press releases are great.
bmxultra.com: What websites do you visit?
Bill: I don't have much time to really visit that many
sites, and I have to say that many of them do not offer the proper information.
I do use it as a resource guide, where I check ababmx.com for points,
BMXmania, BMXUltra and BMXtreme for news, vintagebmx.com is a great site
for bmx history. I also check my darn computer sites, you know got to
keep the machine running properly for getting the work done.
bmxultra.com: As a web guru are you critical of every website
that you visit?
Bill: I don't know if I would call myself a guru, but
I do keep busy. I am not critical on sites unless they just hurt my eyes,
you never know what they were going after on them, so...... I do like
looking at sites for inspiration though, never know when you will get
an idea.
bmxultra.com: The SX site is due for a 2003 update, what can people
expect to see on your site in the near future?
Bill: Yeah the SX site is way past time for
an update. I have to be honest, it actually gets the least amount of time
dedicated to it out of anything, but I have been playing with a few ideas
to give it a major facelift for 2003.
bmxultra.com: Where can people buy SX frames and accessories?
Bill: Any bike shop that carries BMX stuff can get it
for you.
bmxultra.com: Which countries do you export to currently?
Bill: Japan, England, France and Canada, we
would like to get back into Australia and New Zealand.
bmxultra.com: If someone wants to distribute SX, who would they
contact?
Bill: They should contact us here at Supercross or Dirtbike Distribution.
Our e-mail is sales@supercrossbmx.com
and the phone is 661-250-1032 or fax at 661-250-1786.
