I noticed alot of people/racers around 1980 or so started wearing goggles on the helmet visor-(obviously to protect the precious Haro bubble visor)hmmm...strange trend and kinda goofy as I am looking back now. Yes I did it as well but I dont recall why??? Who started this?? I assume it was a contingency thing for people who never wore goggles but wanted to get paid???

It was to help make your helmet fit tighter..

and here I was just about sure it was to distract from the SE "WingThing"? I didnt need any help with a tighter helmet..my head was too big before the googs' on visor scandals! 7 7/8" helmet...

I herd that Rob Tracy used to wear a "10 gallon" Cowboy Hat under his helmet!

I think it was the same guy who started the Moon Boot trend.

What made NO sense was when freestylers like Woody Itson took this trend as far as 1986!! There wasnt even dirt/dust involved to warrent the use of goggles, lol.

Guilty as charged, I'm afraid.

I don't know why I didn't wear them, maybe I just forgot to pull them down.

That was circa '82-'83...

lets see how far back we can find a goggles on visor photo...the one I started with at the top with the orange Scott's on my helmet is 1981. So, I know it was done way before me-a Minnesota kid-. I just KNOW someone from Cali did it first...cmon...who's the guilty one??

Good question.

I mean, really who REALLY needed to wear goggles all the time when you raced?

Generally I think that goggles became fashion accessories rather than critical racing gear.
Also, the sponsorship factor meant that racers needed to have their 'product' visible, therefore putting them over the visor was a good trade-off.

I remember leading a race that went into our track's 'pro section' which had a knarly first jump that had a straight-off end - I kept going (as in sommersaulting) over it and crashed.
At the time I had my Scott goggles on the top of my visor and I trashed them as I landed on the top of my helmet

When I got some Oakleys later I was weary of having them over my visor after that incident...

i looked through the vol 1 number 1 issue of BMX Plus and found absolutely nobody doing this in 1977. So, I think we can safely start looking at mag covers from 78 and on for clues to who is the originator.

If I remember right it started with the MX guy's first, if a 30 mph dirtclod came flying at you from someones rear knobby you'd want to be wearing goggles, when you're waiting at the staging area or after a race you'd just stretch them up on your visor ready to use "at will" rather than have to carry them around in your hand or on your bars all day.... it worked for Bmx too back in the day when there were loose dirt tracks...Seems like you can get away without goggles now on the modern hardpacked track design...still looks cool though.

It was done in the mid-70's too, there just might not be any pics. Maybe by the 80's ya might have not needed goggles but in the mid to late 70's they were a good idea, especially on the dusty downhill tracks or any track with a mud hole/water crossing.

Goggles were extremely important at the Indy indoor World Championships in 1981. Heck they didn't even race on dirt and they still needed them.

I had a Oakley's on my helmet for quite some time. (Mid-late '80s). It was nice to have the option to use them if I needed, but as it turns out, I rarely ever had to.
I never really thought about it being trendy, or stylish, it was just a good place to put/store them.

Should I be embarased? Heheh!

Iceman

Ice dont be embareassed. We are all slaves to fashion. I had a killer Scotts gradient tint set that I actually used maybe twice. Once for sure at Woodward. The other time I think was at Howard county.

The real mystery is why "leg gaiters" crossed over from MX to Bmx for a year and then "Boom"...became yesterdays news quick!!...i'm still scratching my head on that one?? They were good for blocking mud on MX boots but Bmx??..shows you how the fads started taking over race functionality at that point..I stand accused for the crime myself.


[ January 14, 2007, 08:05 PM: Message edited by: nitrotwang ]

Nice Vans

When I started doing practice at our local track regularly Oct 05',
I wore the googles on top of my helmet.
No one had any idea what the hell I was doing. Hahaha!
Danny Meadows (team manager Avent/ Bombshell) said "Googles above the visor screams 80's".

The way the newer helmets are designed,
it's a little difficult for the googles not to slip off.

[ January 15, 2007, 10:23 AM: Message edited by: JohnnyJohnson OMAS DirtSlinger ]

Johnny---
SHow up with "leg gaiters" on next time

I think the trend is very old.

Here's a pic of Siegfried Schitzenhausen in 1942 on the Yugoslav circuit in between motos...

lol

Johnny.......when did you start wearing gOOgles? I thought you were wearing goggles?

Is this what you were wearing?

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j139/Hin...11/Googlead.jpg

[ January 15, 2007, 06:12 PM: Message edited by: HinkDog411 ]

quote:

---

lets see how far back we can find a goggles on visor photo.

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Issue Number One of the Mighty BMXA. That's Breithaupt piloting and Bobby Encinas monkeying, goggles on the visor:


BMXA Issue Number Two. Not to be outdone by the big boys, 13 Novice Gabby Leon gets first place at the NBA Vegas Nats wearing his whole dang Scott face mask on his visor!