Brian Deegan is a professional dirt bike rider, a professional race car driver and one of the founders of Metal Mulisha, aka The General.

He’s well known for his epic stunt work, having been the first-ever competitor to do a 360 twist (not backflip) in any competition. This became known as the “Mulisha Twist.”

Frontaer did the research to put together the essentials of what Brian does today, where he lives, his house, tattoos, race number and choices in life. Let’s begin.

Brian Deegan Early Life

Brian was born in Omaha, Nebraska and feel in love with dirt bikes by age 10. Sadly, by age 12 his parents were divorced and he developed an aggressive attitude. This is likely the driving force behind his success.

By age 17, had won his fair share of titles in motocross and supercross. He was a weapon on a 125 and his skills caught the attention of corporate sponsors. This was a combination of straight of pursuits paired with his rebellious nature.

His love for dirt bikes at an early age has inspired his son Haiden Deegan and his daughter Hailee Deegan to also move into the sport of competitive racing. His son is into motocross while his daughter is a competitive racer.

Crazy, right? 10 years old and Haiden Deegan (aka Dangerboy Deegan) is out there pulling backflips on his dirt bike. Call up the fun police!

Motocross Career

Brian was the hotshot to look out for earlier in the century. If you rode a dirt bike, then you knew Brian Deegan’s name. Everyone, from MX and enduro riders, to the ADV crowd, knew his name. From the found cover of magazines to gracing the television screens of every motocross event in the country, he was ‘the guy’ whose crazy nature captivated us.

While he’s made many wins on on the race track and has built a successful business (Metal Mulisha is worth millions), this certainly hasn’t come easy. He’s going through some tough crashes and surgeries to repair some nasty damages to what we may have thought was an indestructible body.

It’s during this time that Brian Deegan’s net worth increased substantially. He’s worth around $10,000,000 US dollars today and that number continues to increase year on year. This is due to his business interests predominantly.

What Happened to Brian Deegan?

Some say that he died, which isn’t true. Nor has he been arrested. He’s just not as popular as he used to be and has prefered to race trucks and motorcycles casually.

Today, Brian Deegan continues to compete in offroad racing in 4-wheels. His competitive nature shines behind the steering wheel as he continues to race in the Global RallyCross Championships in North America.

In addition, he continues to build and promote the Metal Mulisha brand to his loyal and enthusiastic followers on Instagram, while being a coach, father and husband to his wife and kids. He hasn’t retired, and still rides dirt bikes recreationally, but can’t keep up with the younger kids out there on the motocross tracks anymore, understandably.

Brian essentially built the freestyle motocross industry. Before then, it was just simply racing. One dude’s passion and persistence has built an entire industry and has motivated troubled kids to let their aggression out through the throttle.

Brian Deegan will always be known as the guy who pushed way past the limits. He’s an inspiration to the 1% of riders who’ll be out there behind the handlebars every weekend instead of binge-watching another YouTube video.

In a society that rewards those who wrap themselves in cotton-wool, it’s good to see there are still some dudes will actually get out there.

Ryan Villopoto has certainly built himself a reputation in the world of competitive motocross and supercross racing.

As a competitor in the AMA Motocross Championships from 2005 up until 2014, he pushed harder and harder in every race that he entered.

While he’s retired from the AMA series, he still competes in other races. Yep – he hasn’t given up on the roar of that 2-stroke weapon between his legs.

Ryan Villopoto Early Life

Ryan was brought up by his dad Dan Villopoto who sadly passed away in late 2018 due to a massive heart attack. Dan was a massive motocross addict who had to sacrifice a lot to allow his son to prosper in the sport of competitive racing. Even Ryan’s grandfather was deeply involved with the sport.

As a young rider, Ryan was on his junior motocross tracks early and riding around including jumping and stunt work. The twist of that throttle at an early age is certainly addictive.

Ryan pushed and pushed, often putting schoolwork aside for racing competitively. As a teenager, he won his fair share of titles.

Retirement from Motocross Racing

Ryan Villopoto retired from MX racing at the age of 26 due to a severe crash in April 2015. This left him with a nasty back injury and a very sore tailbone.

Yet today, he still continues to ride recreationally as well as professionally. He hasn’t gone anywhere – there are just other up and coming stars into the sport.

His net worth isn’t as strong as other competitors, sitting at just $5,000,000. Yet that’s certainly enough to retire comfortably in his early 30’s. That’s a result of more than 44 supercross wins.

Today he rides almost daily around his own motocross track while coaching others into the sport. Check out this WR450F project that he’s working on:

Our Thoughts

Ryan has earned a reputation in the sport for actually focusing on the prize. He’s sacrificed a lot and has been through his fair deal of hardship both on and off the track.

It’s that resilience that gets riders through the toughest of times. In a world of cotton wool, it’s refreshing to see someone making it happen, instead of hiding behind the computer screen.

Ricky Brabec has recently become a legend in North America for several very cool records. What are they exactly?

Ricky Brabec won the motorcycle division of the 2020 Dakar Rally. This is the first time in history that a rider from the United States of America has won the Dakar on a bike. Ricky won the race using a heavily modified Honda CRF450 Rally which also broke KTM’s 18-year streak of back-to-back championships.

Unfortunately, during the same race, Paulo Gonçalves passed away. Australian Toby Price was first on the scene and stayed with Paulo for 90 minutes until help had arrived. The race was suspended the following day for motorcycles given the emotional nature of the race.

Ricky Brabec Growing Up

Ricky absolutely loved dirt bikes and raced competitively from an early age. As with many dirt bike racers, he was into motocross as a kid. While he had some interest in the bitumen, it was the dirt that really gave him the thrills.

He’s competed in many races including the Baja1000 with some losses and wins. These races made him hungry for more and thus, he started competing in the Dakar.

As a Dakar Rally Competitor

Ricky competed while under the age of 30. This makes him one of the youngest-age riders into the race. Most riders are 35+ and have raced multiple times.

Despite its reputation as a gruelling event and the toughest motorcycle race in the world, riders keep coming back again and again. It’s not just tough on the body but the mind too, as riders are required to use a manual race chart and keep an eye out for key waypoints. Unsurprisingly, some riders routinely get lost along the route.

Ricky happened to be 1 of 5 Honda riders entered in that year. Honda has a fully kitted out race team with a truck that carries all their gear between the stages. This includes completely new engines that can be swapped out in the evenings while the competitors sleep. That is – just a few hours sleep, as some races begin as early as 4am!

Did we say it’s grueling already?

Participating in the Dakar is no small feat and Ricky had to pass qualifications. Given that he was representing Honda, he really had to be up to standards mentally and physically. There is a strong component of diet and exercise that comes forth to create a rider who’s tough and can ride out (mind the pun) the tough 2 weeks.

Given that the United States had never won a Dakar and Ricky had previously retired from 3 Dakar Rally’s, they were stocked to have won. Needless to say that both the country and Honda praised this champion for going all the way, and had actually scored wins on 2 stages of this rally too.

Better yet – they took the crown away from KTM who had somewhat owned the Rally for almost 2 decades. Go Honda!

The Future of Ricky’s Career

We can forsee Ricky entering the Dakar in 2021 though we’re not as ambitious like Honda may be. Did they simply get a fluke has Honda been stretching themselves to really own the Dakar? Only in late January will we know for sure.

This post has no commercial intention other than to pay tribute to Andy Caldecott; one of Australia’s best offroad enduro champions.

Andy Caldecott Overview

Andy was born and bred in Keith which is near Adelaide in South Australia. As a kid, he rode frequently and loved being behind the handlebars and likely more than being in the classroom.

Keith happens to have extensive offroad tracks and one of the best dirt bike riding areas near Adelaide. The entire region lends itself to scrub and mallee riding, and Caldecott was extremely passionate about the sport. This is why he operated a motorcycle shop while loving the offroad racing atmosphere.

After a lot of training, he began entering numerous dirt bike races. After a few years he was into the Australian Safari Rally and won 4 consecutive races from 2000 to 2003.

He then entered the Dakar Rally. In 2004 he didn’t finish, though in 2005 he did come in 6th position. Remember this is a global race with the best riders in the world, which represents an excellent result. Even finishing the gruelling Dakar is a mission in itself.

Andy Caldecott’s Dakar Crash

On Andy’s 3rd entry into the prestigious Dakar Rally, he, unfortunately, crashed on the 9th stage and died from a neck injury. This was a special stage on the way to Kiffa from Nouakchott and represents death #23 after almost 30 years of racing.

Interestingly enough, prior to heading over for the Dakar Rally, he was actually discussing the death of another rider, Fabrizio Meoni. This was in the previous year in 2005.

The news of his death shock not just his hometown of Keith but the entire country. Just about every dirt bike rider knew of Andy as he represented Australia in what is still the toughest race on earth. Letters of consolidences poured in as did a long-term capital investment fun to support his surviving wife Tracey and their 2 children.

In addition, a large memorial was opened in Keith on the 14th of August, 2011. This is known quite simply as the Andy Caldecott Memorial.

Some years later in 2015, Motorcycling SA Inc actually inducted Andy into the Motorcycling SA Hall of Fame. You can actually find some of Andy’s bikes on display at the National Motor Museum in Birdwood if you’re ever near Adelaide.

Going Forward

The Dakar Rally is a dangerous race at high speeds. It’s an ever-present danger despite the soft sand conditions. Even recently, Paulo Gonçalves passed away while attempting to achieving his dream of winning the Dakar Rally. He had reached 2nd place in 2015 which is a remarkable achievement in itself.