What do you think it is?Not what you personally wish you had, but for bmx as a whole? STR-1 would be up there, except I don't think anyone's found one....Off the top of my head, I'm thinking maybe Tim's looptail RedLine?

Even despite the disclaimer of not listing what you wish you had, it still comes down to ones opinion, wouldn't it?

You really need to define "significant" for a half decent answer... "important , or of consequence" is one of the definitions in my dictionary.

Any bike that raced at the first B.U.M.S track meetings
would be of consequence , as a lot of other "stuff" evolved out of the first ever organized BMX races.



A 26/24 Quadangle with Bottemas on it ?

It's like an STR-1 , rare & desirable to some , rather than actually being significant.

I'd consider DX pedals as being significant , it all depends on viewpoint & interpretation. Any manufactured BMX component that has survived 25 years of misuse , abuse & is still asking for more could be classed as being significant.

Your opening a big can of worms with a question like this....

JB

DC's Kawasaki... I know where it is

How about a reasonably priced 25 yr. old side hack ! I never owned one but would love to. Sorry this is my opinion. Not an answer of Significance ! How about my personal 1st raced JAG. You find it I'll buy it.

JU-6

Of course there is no RIGHT answer....it's all just opinions, don't overthink the question. The STR 1 is like the "white whale" in a way..... nobody has one that I know of (which disqualifies it from my original question ) and it's the father of all quads...and 25 years later is still as cool as ever. Think along the lines of King Tuts tomb, the Titanic, or like Indiana Jones looking for Jesus' cup! Of course they're not significant to everyone, but overall you have to appreciate the find!

I believe someone out there has an STR-1....and they know exactly what it is. I'll also guess he is smart enough not to come on here showing it off.

That being said.....Anyone that owns the Rad soundtrack or movie poster thinks they own the most significant piece of collectable BMX.

This 20inch frame bike is a part of local Oz BMX legend.



Only 3 that I know of were produced , same double downtube design but diffrent wheel base & geometry in each frame. This one is stamped BBR1 June 1980 , I also got BBR2 off the builder @ the same time , late 1981 or 2.
The number 2 frame is now in the safe hands of another collector here , thanks to this forum.
The long wheelbase downhill racing BB3 frame is still missing in action. These 20 inch frames never went into production by Competition Developement/Quicksilver in Australia.
Quicksilver did make complete 24 & 26 inch versions of these double downtube bikes in 1981 or 2 , you may occasionally see pix of them around , but they are now considered _rare_ The original BBR frame maker was happy to refer to them as Quicksilvers , but I was told to never refer to the 20 inch BBR frames as Quicksilvers , they were Bradley Brother's Racing frames.
This bike has alway had air in the tires & been ridden since I put it together all those years ago....
The driveline will soon have sealed bearings all thru it , including the pinchless flite cranks , pedals & wheels.
The center pull brakes will be fitted without welding or damaging the frame in any way.



This bike is not a "survivor" , it's an evolver , my favourite old school bike & piece of local Oz BMX history & mystery.

When you know you have scored a rare frame from day 1 (with a racing pedigree/history) , you keep a close eye on it , no matter how much crap life throws at you over the years.It will be looking sweet for it's 26th birthday this year , I might even send the original builder a photo of it,
he's still making custom mountain bike frames here I believe....

JB

Hands down, it is DC's Kawasaki.

I actually almost bought it from him years ago but I just couldn't visualize myself owning it and I felt very uncomfortable trying to make an offer to him for it. I'm glad it ended up where it did, in the hands of a guy that truly seems to love these old bikes and was so involved in the early bmx scene.
It still seems like a magical bike to me and I would love to see it in person but in my mind it is always flying in those old black and white pictures.

My personal vote is for my '77 CBR prototype factory team bike. It is definitely a dream come true for me. I saw this bike in a magazine as a 12 year old kid. To have it sitting in my garage is still bizarre to me. It was their test mule and has more one-off parts than any bike I've ever seen.

Spicoli has nailed the correct.

I have to go with that harry leary JMC. Its tim that cares for it right ?

I wish I had Jeff Bottemas Dg with the gusset cut part way out. I would need the hand made bars he used, then I would build it up just he had in 1977.

He told me it was still around. I thought I would get it a few years ago for Rockford. The last communciation we had was that he was sending it to me.

After some of his personal items recently surfaced, I doubt we will ever see it. It be even better to have him surface...

Thats a pretty wild frame design...cool!!

Brian Lewis' hairbrush?

Stu's helmet from 75 with rubber chicken?

Greg Hills helmet with football mouthguard?

OM's white Mercedes?

The SE Bus?


This is a really fun topic. it could be any one thing to just about any of us.

For me it is a split between JP's loop in Tim's care or Dave's Kawasaki in Reilley's lair.

I wonder what ever happened to the frames Marvin Church Sr. built?

I still have my JU-6. but, I wish I still had my 75 Redline and my Marroon Stroker.

Most significant...hmmm.

Ben! the king of DG coolness!

Yes, let's hope we hear from Jeff Bottema!

Us Jeff's got to stick together you know...

Either Tim's loop RL or JU's JU6!

lol ,,i was at evansville for the nbl grands,,,,,,when scot rode the 26/24(raced) well ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

I think the first set of Flight cranks would be pretty significant. They started the 3 piece crank revolution. To me anyway.

Hmmmm,

Significant to BMX - Scot Breithaupt, we wouldn't be here otherwise.

Significant to ME - My 1st place trophy from my very 1st meet.

Of course there's 100+ significant (to me) parts, but that's from a different angle ;-)

Marty.

OK... I'll ask--what's a JU6?

TIMS ??

Before there was the "PK" (Perry Kramer), there was the "JU6" (Jeff Utterback)....

Awesome history, SE is BMX if you ask me..

The STR-1 and the JU6 , definetly 2 of the "holy grails"...

I think that belongs (or used to) to Jeff Venekamp. Mine before the build up...

Its the pinnecle of SE Racing history, the begining, the original seed.

that jersey OM is wearing looks familiar!

Not sure if any are in collector's hands, but Oz's cameras / pictures were pretty influential in spreading the "coolness" of BMX around the world.

that JU- and BD- shot is from my lineup...

Would a Nomura factory jersey be considered significant?

Wow, that is cool. Thanks for the eduction.

Mouse & Keyboard + VBMX= Most significant item in collectors hands!

Tim, what's the difference (if any) between the JU-6 and the BD-III?

And I'm guessing BD stands for Breithaupt Developments?

The BD-III is the Breithaupt Design Three and was basically an Early Mini Ripper. I'll scan some photos of my younger Brother's later and post them.

How about memoriblilia from the 'first organized race' kind of like a 'rookie card' for BMX, no?

post 'em if you got 'em..


My guess, whatever the 'holy grail' is, you can find it on VBMX

THE Bus.

Does the 'BUS' still exist? If so, does anyone know where it is?

Nobody knows about the bus...Tim was trying to find it last year. The first Redline crank or tubular fork would be pretty significant....anyone have those? How about that SE 24/26? Someone have that?

how rare are the SE DB-4's?? had a friend who raced one here in MN...(DEREK BROWN-4)it's a smaller frame.

Hey Sean...Shan had a dark blue DB-iv (or mini Ripper).. very small


pretty rare.....btw, where is Shan's Black GT pro?

I see you guys like SEs, (that's a bike I've never heard of) and so I'm not in your corner here... so to me the most significant item in collectors hands that they don't want to part with are tires.

Heck, that's the last thing I'd sell.

JU, you will be delighted to know that my Brian Lewis replica Stroker was originally maroon!
No one is going to mention the TW? I guess I just did.

Poor JU, coming in second to Lewis yet again. I bet it started as a JU replica and Towne decided that it would be cooler to build a Lewis repica

totally. I started the build and spent a lot of dough for Campy cranks on Ebay. They showed up, I opened the box and said to myself "Self, Jeff Utterback is going to make fun of you if you put 3 piece cranks on another Utterback replica--let's go Lewis with this one". Several phone calls to Brian confirmed that this was the way to go. He told me so every thirty seconds or so.

MADmanRAN wrote:

"Would a Nomura factory jersey be considered significant? "

How about a factory 24" Nomura frame?

i read Turbo's choice of the word "significant" to mean "important".. ie. a major milestone or sport-changing development.

i'd vote Bicycle Motocross Action #1 as the most significant bmx item out there. even if Lewis is on the cover and carries one in his back pocket everywhere he goes.

close 2nd: alloy rims. once they started replacing the heavy duty steel rims there was no turning back. "lighten the bike" became the mantra.

[ February 22, 2006, 08:40 AM: Message edited by: TIM ]

yeah, I got off track by page 3 I guess. I second Tim's nomination. Issue #1 is it, hands down.

I'd cast my vote for any Tuf Neck or the diamond-shaped frames as most significant.
While not uncommon, Tuf Necks were a simple solution to a big problem - stripping bars and slipping bars. They increased safety, looked cool, and were tough as nails.
The early Mongeese and Redlines stand out as an innovation in frame geometry. Straight lines and rigid - bye, bye Schwinn Stingrays.

Yeah but...

If you don't mind me quoting my own stuff, consider this:

...in 1963 Schwinn introduced the Sting-Ray, its motorcycle-like appearance unmistakable...

The steering geometry of the Sting-Ray, combined with the short wheelbase and 20-inch wheels, resulted in surprisingly good handling characteristics. Doing wheelies and riding dirt trails in vacant lots soon became popular.

In the late 1960's motorcycle motocross came to the United States. European racers like Roger DeCoster and Joel Robert became heroes to kids across America…and the handling characteristics and motorcycle-like appearance of the Schwinn Sting-Ray took on a whole new meaning.

On July 10, 1969, some kids in the Santa Monica vicinity of West Los Angeles, California, not being old enough to race motorcycles like their motocross idols, decided that racing bicycles in the dirt might be almost as much fun. So they rode their Sting-Rays over to nearby Palms Park and convinced park attendant Ron Mackler to help them organize some races.

I submit that the Schwinn Sting-Ray made it all possible and is the single most significant item of BMX history.

Nevertheless, I must say that Tim and Scott Towne are very discerning dudes and have marvelous taste.

I AGREE OZ.......on all accounts

You got a little something on your nose.


j/k