Fox Racing Friday | The Comp 2 Boot and the RJ Thinker Ad

Fox Racing Friday | The Comp 2 Boot and Rick Johnson’s Thinker Ad

Presented by Fox Racing

In 1985, Fox Racing signed a young Rick Johnson to wear their riding apparel, and the rider acquisition was executed entirely by Pete Fox, who was only 15 years old at the time. “I knew that we needed a top racer to take Fox to the next level,” he said. “Rick Johnson was that guy in my eyes. I spoke to my dad about it and got his approval, then got on a plane by myself and flew down to visit Rick myself at 15 years old. We signed him in 1995 and created the Rick Johnson signature line of gear when he was still on Team Yamaha.  Everyone knows that he signed with Team Honda in 1986 and absolutely blew up. That was a big turning point for Fox as a brand, too.”

in 1986, Fox launched the Comp2 motocross boot, which was designed in house but manufactured in Italy by Alpinestars. The boot was the first of several Fox Racing boots to be made by the factory in Asolo, Italy, and it was well-received thanks to its sleek design and good looks. Breaking in the boots was a daunting task as the full-grain leather required some time to soften up, but they were super comfortable after a few rides and they lasted a long time. The lower cam-lock buckle was revolutionary at the time because it utilized leverage to provide a much snugger fit than the Velcro or pull tabs of that era. They cost a whopping $175.

By 1998, RJ was larger than life, having won the Supercross, and 250 and 500 National Championships since signing with Team Honda. “At the time, I was in the best shape of my life and Pete Fox had a wild idea for a boot ad,” said Johnson. “I wasn’t sure what I was getting into. I literally had just wrapped up the 500cc National Championship at Washougal, and I flew straight to San Francisco to do this Fox photoshoot. So we drive through town and arrive at the place where we are shooting, and I see this rock sitting there, and then a printout of the Rodin’s “The Thinker” sculpture, and I thought, ‘Oh man.’

“So I had to go into the restroom and shave my legs clean and get all smooth. The next problem was the hard-lined tan I had on my arms and legs from all the cycling in the sun. So a makeup artist had to put makeup all on the left side of my body to blend the color of my skin.”

“That ad was polarizing. People either loved or hated it. I was a pretty hardcore Christian guy and people were saying that we were promoting pornography or Satanism. But on the other hand, there were chicks that loved it! Pete was inspired to do the ad because of the muscularity of my legs, but a lot of it was just genetics and training, My calves were big thanks to genetics, but I did some training that made my quad muscles big. By today’s training standards I think what I did may not be viewed as smart, but for me it made sense at the time. One of the toughest things about racing is going from sitting to standing so many times per lap, so I figured that if I could build my leg muscles up it would be an advantage. The area around El Cajon where I lived was very hilly, so I would climb them on my road bicycle, but I would only do it standing up.”

What do you think of the 1988 ad of RJ? Would a nude ad featuring say, Adam Cianciarulo, fly today? Comment below!

Editorial Fox Product Spotlight of the Week

Fox V3 Helmet featuring Fluid Inside

Price: $499.99

The Details

Introduced last month, the all-new Fox V3 Helmet boasts a wealth of new design and safety features that make it stand out from other premium off-road motorcycle helmets. At the heart of the new helmet is an all-new MCT (multi-composite technology) shell that comes in four shell sizes, and is paired with a Varizorb EPS liner, which features multi-density foam to help disperse impact energy more efficiently thanks to its cone-shaped injected design. To address the dangers of rotational impacts, Fluid Inside technology is incorporated into the inside of the helmet, between the EPS and comfort liner. The fluid pods are designed to mimic the cerebral fluid that protects your brain from coming into contact with the inside of your skull, offering both linear and rotational impact dampening. In total, seven Fluid Inside pods are spread throughout the helmet to help disperse impacts in a crash. Another unique feature of the new V3 helmet is its two-piece construction. While the main shell is traditional in design, the entire eyeport and chinbar is a separate piece, dubbed The Cage. Made of composite materials, the piece is designed to offer impact energy management than a traditional one-piece design. The entire helmet is extensively vented, with massive ports that are protected by injected mesh screens. Finally, Fox’s patented MVRS magnetic visor system is incorporated. Designed to detach on impact in the event of a crash, the system helps guard against snagging on the ground and mitigate external rotational forces.

SML Says

The all-new V3 definitely looks unlike any other motocross helmet. In fact, it looks much like the Rampage Pro Carbon mountain bike helmet we’ve come to love. What do we think of the new moto helmet, though? Having given it a thorough and complete test (unfortunately?) by suffering a massive crash in it on our first day of riding in it, we can confidently give it a two thumbs up review. 

But let’s get to our pre-crash impressions, first! The new V3 fits very well, and we encountered none of the pressure points that we initially suspected that we might from the Fluid Inside pods. Instead, the helmet slips on nicely and has a soft, luxurious feel inside against your head and face. Unlike the previous V3, the new helmet has a deeper fit, and the chin bar offers plenty of clearance for your face. The previous V3’s chinbar felt close to our face and had a much different feel. We love the fit of the new helmet, and it offers a great field of vision and accepts all goggles well, even the current trend of oversized goggles from other manufacturers.

Ventilation is amazing in the V3, as air flows through the massive vents and cools your head. On cold days, we found ourselves actually cold inside the V3! As one might expect, more sound reaches your ears due to the generous venting, but that is something that only takes a few laps to grow accustomed to.

The MVRS visor is not adjustable, but the height of the visor seems just right for the majority of riders who will race in it. Trail riders might wish for a lower setting, but the standard location is proper! The MVRS is more sturdy than it was on earlier helmets, and it takes quite an impact to dislodge the visor. But, we can state from experience that it does indeed detach on impact.

The crash we had in the new V3 was pretty significant. (Switch to a first-person account, here.) An overdose of throttle in a dry, slick corner sent me into a violent high-side, and I slapped my head onto the hard-packed SoCal dirt with such force, that it rendered me kookoo for the better part of an hour. A trip to the ER for a CT scan revealed no bruising, bleeding, or swelling of my brain, and I was released with a clean bill of health and a prescription for pain killers. Initially, I was bummed out about suffering a mild concussion in the new helmet, but a few days later I connected with Mark Finley from Fox Racing and got to take a look at my crash-damaged lid. The damage done to the helmet made it obvious that the impact it protected me from was pretty damned big. Having more helmet-smashing experience than I’d like to admit, I can honestly say that the V3 likely saved my life, and I would have suffered a mild concussion at best in any helmet I could have been wearing. The brunt of the impact was in the right forehead area, and the EPS was compressed to the point that it cracked. The Cage eyeport and chinbar was completely intact, proving that the two-piece design is indeed sturdy enough to protect against big impacts.

Would I ride and race in the new Fox Racing V3 again? Absolutely. Learn more about the helmet in the video below, and see my crash-damaged V3 in the video beneath it.

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