Ask ten people how 1993 world champion Kevin Schwantz got the number 34 and you’ll get about as many answers as there are digits.

The most popular version goes like this: Yoshimura still had number plates left over from when Wes Cooley Jr. raced for the California-based team, and when Schwantz came along, he simply took Cooley’s number. Simple. Convenient. Maybe even true.

But here’s the thing—Schwantz was never the kind of rider who lost sleep over numbers. Plenty of racers are wired that way. He wasn’t. In his Pro-Am days he ran whatever was on hand, including 43 on his absolutely wicked-fast Yamaha RZ350.

There’s also the dirt track angle. Schwantz raced the stuff semi-regularly, often on Yamaha 650 twin-based machines that wore the number 34—not by choice, but because they belonged to his uncle, Darryl Hurst. Hurst was a serious player in the old Camel Pro wars, running Yamahas out of his Texas dealership, and 34 was his number.

So maybe the truth is less myth and more mix: a little Yoshimura hand-me-down, a little family history, and a rider who didn’t care enough to argue with either.

What we do know for sure? When Schwantz stepped away from Grand Prix racing, his number went with him. Thirty-four was retired—making him the first rider to be given that honor, and at the time, a club of one. Not bad for a number he may never have chosen in the first place.