Gold Digger
GOLD DIGGER
American FLYERS
Bubba's big trophy
IF YOU DON'T KNOW IT BY now, James "Bubba" Stewart is the real deal. At age 19, he's the winningest 125cc rider in AMA motocross history. This year, he jumped up to the big bikes and won third time out on his Kawasaki KX250 at the Dallas Supercross, setting a little history in the process by becoming the first African-American to win an SX.
These are good times for Stewart and his close-knit family, who scrimped to buy Bubba his first minibike and travel the sportsman MX circuit. Eleven amateur titles led to a factory Kawi gig and a yearly haul rumored to be approaching $5 mil. What to give someone with that much jingle, someone who already has a shiny red Ferrari sitting in the garage?
How about a tricked-tothe-gills KLX110 dipped in honest-to-engagement-ring 24-carat gold plate?
That’s exactly what Two Brothers Racing, one of Stewart’s sponsors and a powerhouse in adult mini MX racing, did in commemoration of Bubba’s allconquering 2004 season.
“It’s a trophy he can ride,” says Joel Albrecht, Two Brothers R&D manager, noting that beneath all that bling is a fully functioning motorcycle.
“The coolest thing I’ve ever seen,” pronounced a genuinely abashed Stewart after taking a quick ride, though the KFX has since been retired to a granite stand in his home.
The bike took three months to complete, most of the time consumed by polishing, plating and piecing together, with a parts and labor tab running upward of $25,000. Two Brothers says this is the only one they’ll ever build.
Meanwhile, Bubba goes right on winning. Reportedly, he’s already being wooed by several NASCAR teams.
Can you gold-plate a Chevy Monte Carlo or Ford Taurus? Maybe someone should alert Fort Knox...
Ryan Dudek
