JULES HAWKINS
What’s your name?
Jules Hawkins
Where are you from?
Temecula, California
Who is(are) your rider(s)?
Talon Hawkins
How long have you been a moto mom?
Twelve years give or take.
Were you into motorcycles before becoming a moto mom?
I used to go to the track and watch Talon’s dad race when we were dating. So since 1992, I have been into racing and supercross. Back when MC was the man! 125s and 250s 🙂
Describe a typical race weekend for you.
It’s all about the prep! The day before we leave, I make sure to pack the right food, drinks and supplements to make the weekend go as smoothly as possible. Every race is different, but we like staying at the track to stay up on what is going on in the schedule because it can change. Talon likes taking the RV so there is a place to get out of the elements between racing. Getting a good nights sleep the night before and a protein-packed breakfast is also key to having an awesome weekend! Then we basically just put it on cruise control and let it roll.
What’s your family’s favorite meal at the track?
Steak, rice and a salad.
Do you have any pre-race rituals or superstitions while spectating?
I ALWAYS have to pat him on the back as he goes from the pits to the line and tell him I love him!! IT’S A MUST! I normally need to be by myself in a corner lol
Most nerve-wracking moment watching your kid(s) race/ride?
When he is killing it and a malfunction happens that is out of his control. It’s part of moto, but it always hurts. My heart just sinks for him.
Favorite part about being at the track?
Our family is together. We are all working towards one common goal. Teamwork!
Favorite and least favorite part about traveling to the races?
FAVORITE: I LOVE driving with my son. I will never regret one moment that we have spent driving across the country together.
LEAST FAVORITE: Having to pick up Caleb and Teegan at the airport in the motorhome....especially Dallas/Fort Worth..... it’s psycho!
Craziest travel story?
We have several, but our first-ever National at Branson takes the cake. Talon was 5 years old. We only had one bike. It was a Cobra 50cc. We didn’t have an RV. We had never raced a National. EVER. We made a smoking deal with a Cowboy roping friend of ours:
For $2000, we got a grey quarter horse named Paco and a 2-week borrow of his Minnie Winnie to travel to Missouri. We loaded up our two dogs, and Teegan, our daughter who was 9 months old and nursing. ROAD TRIP! We had literally never been to the Mid West so this was exciting to say the least. One tidbit of missing information from our friend that we had borrowed the RV from: It had been in an accident a few months prior and it had a bent axel! A flat tire in New Mexico, and two flat tires in Oklahoma... on the way there....we finally got there. Small track, but parked on the river, and got to go to Dolly Partons Stampede Dinner Show, it was awesome! In between practice and race day, a kid from Oklahoma was picking on Talon calling him a girl because of his long hair. "Are you a girl or a boy?" Bullying him. Talon tried to fight back, but some older kid came to his rescue from Alabama and stuck up for Talon. (wish we knew who he was so we could thank that kid to this day!) We knew nothing at this time.......
.....Talon had a Cobra Senior, but was only 5. We didn't know that he had to race in the higher class. To add insult to injury, he practiced well but went down in the first turn in his race and yard saled it. When the flaggers and officials went over to pick him up off the track, pooka shells were scattered all over the place and his neck was burned. The officials were yelling, "Who are the parents!" Why the heck would you let your kid race with Pooka Shells around his neck!?! We were truly out of our element, haha! Caleb raced as well and held it together for the family with a 2nd overall. We still had a blast even with all that had transpired up to this point. Caleb and I argued with each other about spending 40 bucks to dump the septic at the track before we got on the road. He said its 20 at a Pilot and we would wait to dump our two weeks’ worth after we got going.....the story gets better.On the way home, we hit a really strong rainstorm going through Joplin. Being passed left and right by big rigs and finally agreeing that people from California cannot drive in the rain. I was in the back nursing Teegan and all of sudden, BOOM!! It sounded like a grenade went off right beside me. It was SOOOOO Loud! Caleb pulled into a rest stop to access the damage. We blew yet another tire that completely took out the entire septic tank! He turns to me all crazy-eyed and said, "SEEEEEEE, I’m so glad I didn’t spend that forty bucks to dump the shi**er at the track!!!" OMG! This was the trip from hell! Poor guy with the sweetest accent comes to our rescue at 2 am in the morning, and all he says is, "Mam, can you please pull up so I can work on your tank, you have a puddle of sewage where I need to work." We kept rotating tires and limped into Temecula just barely.
You would think that we would never have traveled across the country again for moto, but it was too late, we had caught the bug! WE LOVED IT!
The most important lesson motocross teaches at a young age.
Time management. The only way that these kids can do it all and do it well is with a schedule.
What’s your secret to getting all the dirt stains out of riding gear?
I spray the crap out of it right when he comes off the track with a stain remover, then soak it.
Proudest moment of your career as a moto mom thus far?
We drove to Indian Hills MX in Illinois to do a LL Area Qualifier in 2017. We were doing a loop to stop by a friend’s in Idaho, then hit the Washougal Regional. Just wanted to do something different and check out a new track. We pull in, its pouring rain, we don’t know a single person. It’s just Talon and I. I am the only mom on the line.... pretty funny to say the least. Talon practiced great but the rain was coming down for race day. We ended up needing to change a rear sprocket. I’m like, ok, I got this. Caleb talks me through it on the phone. Talon ends up killing it! When we came back from his last race and we were so stoked on how he did, we were sitting there all proud, then just stared at his rear wheel, and I kid you not, one spacer was all the way forward and the other one was all the way back. His entire wheel was so crooked, that I don’t know how he got around the track without it busting in half from the tension! He got two 1st overalls and WE GOT LUCKY!
What’s your favorite track?
I love Washougal!
Who is your favorite pro racer?
Josh Grant & Jeremy McGrath
What is your favorite genre of music?
Country
What is your favorite movie/tv show?
Yellowstone
What is in your red solo cup?
Water of course! (or wine....pretty much wine)
Any advice for the moto moms of the future?
Be Positive. They don't need to hear the negatives. Trust me, they know! Always make sure you enjoy the sights if you can along the way. We have been so blessed in our motocross travels. France, Hawaii, surfing in Texas, and air-boat rides in the Everglades. ITS BEEN AN AWESOME RIDE! From one Muther Trucker to another,
Cheers!
