What a career that Ken Roczen has had. Not many can say they’ve achieved what he has done. He’s almost won it all but the German is still chasing that AMA 450cc Supercross title to add to his CV. Let’s not forget, he has picked up some serious injuries along the way but is still riding at the very highest level and he’s been doing this since he was 15 years old – an incredible career.
We caught up with Roczen during San Diego press day to discuss a range of topics. You can read, watch or listen below…
GateDrop: Ken, you’ve had a week now to enjoy that podium at Anaheim 1. Did you make any changes coming into San Diego this weekend?
Roczen: Not as of right now. There are a couple of things that I would like to work on, but I have a really good base right now, so I’m just leaving it and kind of playing it by ear when I feel the need to try something. But I am staying in California for the first time in forever this week, so I’ve got the team around. I don’t know, we might tinker with some stuff, but I’m pretty content right now and just want to focus on riding and racing.
GateDrop: Are the tracks different in California? Are they drier, more like what you’re going to be racing?
Roczen: Yeah, for sure. I mean, California is way different, and honestly, I haven’t practiced out here in at least a couple of years, so I haven’t been out here at all, so it’s just kind of nice to have a little bit of a change of scenery, you know, be around some other tracks, and yeah, it’s been a minute.
GateDrop: In WSX, it seemed you were working on suspension, trying to find that comfort level. Did you get that in the month between then and A1, or are you still trying to search for that setting?
Roczen: No, like I said, we have a really good base right now, and yeah, I changed suspension company. I mean, I’m on KYB, but I’m with REP Suspension now with Mark, and we worked together back on KTM days. Before I went to Australia, I had one day with him, and everything just felt a bit foreign to me. It was a different style of dampening, and it just takes time, right? And then we’re in Australia, and going to Abu Dhabi, like there’s no time to take things apart and test, so it kind of was what it was. In December, we just went home, and we haven’t done too much. We just did some really precise changes and it’s been pretty dang solid so far and I’m just in a good position, so like I said, it takes time to get comfortable on a bike, but I feel like at the moment, I really know my motorcycle. It can always be better, and things can be better, but sometimes, you know, when you try working on stuff, you can fix an area, but then create problems in other areas, so I just value what I have right now and we’ll kind of go from there.
GateDrop: How much did WSX and those races help bring the intensity and prepare you for Anaheim 1?
Roczen: I mean, racing is the best practice you can get, right? So coming to Anaheim 1, it kind of just felt like another race, and I mean, the off-season for the other guys have gotten a lot shorter now than it has been in the past, so I’m sure it didn’t feel like they were off the bike or off of racing for that long. But I mean, racing is the best practice you can get.
GateDrop: At the MXoN, I think one of my highlights was you and Jeffrey battling, I think, in all three races. I know the results probably weren’t what you wanted, but the first ten minutes or so, you were up there battling a rival you knew from when you were 15 years old… How was that experience for you to revisit that?
Roczen: Yeah, it was really fun. We were slicing and dicing in the beginning, for sure, but it wasn’t the right time for me. I wasn’t as prepared as I was the year before. I wasn’t riding as much Motocross and coming back from an injury as well, so I wasn’t as comfortable on the bike either. There was just a lot of factors and the track was super gnarly too. It was very, very rutty which is normally right up my alley, but I just wasn’t as good as I was the year before. At the beginning, I always have the explosiveness and know how to ride a motorcycle and can make up for it, so it was just like old times.
GateDrop: The electric start, I think you posted on Instagram you had it, but you don’t have it on this year yet?
Roczen: Yeah, it was tested, it broke and we have not revisited it yet, or it’s not been ready yet to throw it back on.
GateDrop: Finally, this Suzuki, a lot of people doubted Ken Roczen if he could win on the Suzuki but you’ve won, you’ve had podiums… did you think it would go this well when you joined the team?
Roczen: No, you don’t. You can’t look in the future, right? There was a big, big question mark at that point, so it’s just a lot of hard work and dedication and the right people, and it takes time. It really does. We’ve done a lot of moto work since I first jumped on the bike, and actually, finally, this year, I have a factory transmission now. For Suzuki, this is the first time that I’ve had a factory transmission since 2016, so I was on pretty much almost a stock bike before. Obviously, Twisted Development does our motors and I had the motor done up, but for the most part, all the parts were stock, so now having that definitely fixed some areas. Like I said, you’ve got to ride it, get comfortable on it, learn the motorcycle, what does it need, where does it need to be better. It just takes time and just a lot of work, a lot of hours.
GateDrop: You and Jeffrey were so fast, so young, but you’ve also had really major injuries. If you were to go back to being 14, 15 again, you knew what was coming, the pain and the glory and everything, would you still choose the same path in your career now?
GateDrop: I don’t know. That’s a hard question because you don’t know it. For the most, I did all the decisions that I made because I thought it was the right choice for that very moment, and I would do it again. Some of those injuries… sh*t just happens, you know what I mean? You can’t look in the future, so it was what it was, and I don’t think I’ve made that many wrong decisions in my career. I’m satisfied where I’m at, and I’m honestly still trying to work it out, still trying to win.
