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SHAUN BUTLER TEAMS UP WITH KHE
Mar 18, 2003
by James Ayres
Goldie posing with his new ride. (No, we're not making up that name. Keep reading—Shaun will tell you what's up.)
Dirt jumping legend Shaun Butler is now on KHE. For those of you new to the scene, Shaun was on S&M for a long, long time and was one of the early builders out at Sheep Hills. From what we hear, a signature part line is in the works. Keep your eyes open for signature bars, forks, and seats, with a signature frame to follow…We tracked Shaun down and asked him about the deal. Here's what he had to say:
How long were you on S&M?
From March of 1993; that's when I talked to Chris for the first time and he said he was coming out with the Challenger frame, so from '93 to 2002…so like 8-9 years.
How did the KHE deal work out?
Rob (Smart, President of Smartbomb Entertainment) was pretty much responsible for the whole thing; Thomas from KHE kind of followed up on me over the years, and at the same time my manager was looking around searching for a good sponsor for me and somehow they ran into each other. KHE has been super cool ever since we hooked that up.
How long have you been on?
I signed with them in March, but we've been talking for three or four months now. It was up in the air for me who I was going to get sponsored by or if I was even going to get a sponsor again. I was willing to pay for it all myself or do what I had to do, so this is just a blessing that it's happening.
What have you been up to lately?
I didn't want to compete for a while; I wanted to drop out of the scene and just bring it back to me and my bike and see if I still have that love for it. I wasn't appreciating riding or traveling, being on TV…I didn't feel like I was being a good role model for kids, I didn't know what I was doing, so I felt like I needed to take a step out so I could find out if I still had the love for riding, or if I should go and do something else. Sure enough, I realized I still loved riding; it's something I'll always be doing, and now I'm even ready to do contests again. I just needed a break and some time to re-direct everything towards the kids…get out a little more positive vibe…
Do you think it will take you awhile to catch back up?
That's a good question; I feel like I've continued on from where I left off. All the tricks that I used to do, as soon as my mind is focused on it, it only takes me a minute to relearn them. I've never lost them and I've never stayed off my bike, so it's just a matter of going and doing it. Pretty much all I had to relearn were my truckdrivers and stuff. The eight years I've been riding I was never able to do a tailwhip so I've just learned them and now I'm getting comfortable with them. I'm going to be learning backflip stuff soon, which is something I wouldn't expect that I'd be able to do. I've lost a lot of my little pre-set tricks, but I've gained better tricks…I feel that I'm a way better rider now than I was when I had all these good things coming to me.
Are results important to you?
I have no care in the world about ever making it to the X Games or the Gravity Games again, or getting invited somewhere. All I want to do is go out there, show my face, ride my bike, and give my appreciation and love back to the sport. I could come in last all year long and that would make me just as happy.
I don't know who these guys are, but that's Goldie down front (keep reading, you'll understand the Goldie thing when you get to the bottom).
Do you know what contests you're going to yet?
Not yet; actually I'm going to try and go to the local ones now so I can try and figure out my travel arrangements. Right now I'll probably do the Venice Beach and Huntington Beach contests (part of the Core Tour), and just some random ones. At the same time I'm doing my own invitationals, so I'm going to be working on that, hopefully getting some riders to go to those. I'm planning on having two more of those this year; the next one will be in Bellflower (California). I don't know when, but probably within a couple of months. Right now everything is where it needs to be. All that's lacking is a little more time on my bike. But since I've got a family now and I work part time, I'm just getting my bike sponsor again, I don't have all the time necessarily that I need to be the best rider I can be at this point in time. I think as things develop with KHE, I'll be able to have a lot more time on my bike. I have no idea where it will take me, I just know that I have the will and the know-how. I know that I'm always going to be riding.
Are you just going to ride dirt or are you going to do street stuff also?
Whatever comes my way; I see myself sticking with the dirt, maybe hitting a couple of races…I even see myself maybe even showing up at a mountain bike contest for the heck of it because there's all sorts of free money there. Why not? You may even see me surfing. I do everything, even golf a little bit. I'm just doing it all, everything I can right now. Everything's fun to me.
How much input will you have on your signature stuff?
It's still being designed, but the frame should be coming out towards the end of this year, or early next year. I'm designing every last bit of it. The only difference with KHE, in the European countries, they've got a market for the internal gyro, which has a really huge head tube on it. It's not very popular here in the US, so it will be interesting to see how the kids take to it.
What's up with "Goldie?
That's my real name; everybody thinks it's a nickname because it's so farfetched. Goldie is my real name; my middle name is Le Shaun, so I took part of my middle name when I was younger because I got tired of being made fun of and ran by Shaun ever since the fifth grade, so Goldie Le Shaun Butler. I actually got an award for the most unusual name when I was like three years old. There's a picture of me sitting on a pony with a little red ribbon…it's pretty funny (laughter).
Goals?
To be able to throw a tailwhip before the last set of a section; it isn't too much of a goal for anybody, but for me, that's one of my goals, which I'm sure I'll do. Maybe one of my goals will be a backflip this year, but I keep saying too much about it and I don't want people to expect one of those out of me. These are just my own personal goals that I'd like to do. I'd also like to make sure that I set up two more Butler invitations this year and make sure that all my sponsors are secure so that I can stay with them and end out the rest of my career with what they have and the people who are willing to back me up. I just want to show my appreciation back to them.
Thanks?
My family, God, all my past sponsors, TSA Clothing, Bell, Dan's Comp, KHE Bikes, Fox gear, Spy, Smartbomb Entertainment, Tioga, Dia-Tech, Apollo backpacks, Dibbs calling cards, and all my fans.
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