The Crusty Dudes

Motocross didn’t ask for a revolution. Dana Nicholson and Jon Freeman arrived with cameras and started one. Jon came from surf and snowboard films; Dana was a professional snowboarder and master instigator. Together, they built a simple formula: outrageous riding, hard parties, comedy, fireworks and personality, captured on VHS.

With Brian Manley helping them enter the closed motocross world, they filmed McGrath, Emig, Ryno, J-Bone and their friends play riding at Reche Canyon, Glamis and Dumont. Race videos showed laps and sponsor logos. Dana and Jon wanted what happened after the helmets came off: jokes, rivalries, crashes, parties and enormous natural jumps.

They also helped create and spread nicknames and “characters,” bringing a dangerous punk-rock attitude to a corporate sport. When motorcycle dealers passed on the first Crusty Demons of Dirt, Jon sold it through snowboard, skate and surf distributors. Fans wore out the tapes. Only after outsiders made Crusty a hit did the motorcycle industry dip a toe in.

In MOTO NINETIES, the Crusty Guys light the fuse beneath freestyle. They gave the misfits a screen, turned play riding into a movement and proved motocross could become bigger by breaking nearly every rule protecting it.