This is just my opinion but I felt this site has been kinda 80's related, no offense, just wasn't my time period so I figured I'd show the youngsters how it was done in the time of Motomags and REAL downhill tracks, with dust, rocks, ruts, stuff alot of you guys have never seen on a BMX track....
Let's start off with a little jumping, 70's style..

Jump contest, Merritt College, 1975

Airing it out at Merritt College, Oakland Calif. 1975. This was the jump contest after the races.

Goofin' around after the races, Merritt College around 1976.

John Wells(Silver Shield Bike Shop Team) on the berm at Merritt College on his Champion, late 75-early76. No grooming that berm. If you got into those marbles on the inside you were in a world of hurt.

Rancho




Poway track Thom Lund and Greg Lilly (Courtesy Rick Twomey)



Brian Curnell and Rick Courteau



K. Carrasco, Dave Garcia, Mike Manley and me El Centro BMX

Me on the jump after the berm, the shadow tells the tale......

Great Pics from BITD Spike -

I truly wish that I had pics of me and my friends back then...

Got any more???

Oh yeah.......I got alot more.....

My usual mid pack position, Merritt College, around ealy 76 I think.

John Wells, this is the other side of the berm....hey kiddies, look at how rough that track was, the way all tracks were for the most part back then. The only grooming that was done was with our tires.

cool pics, thats some serious air in some of those photos! id would be great fun to ride on one of those style tracks now!

Hey look, dust.....we had it in the 70's, I think the ABA and other orgs. outlawed it in the 80's. Goggles weren't just a fashion statement back then....
Merritt College, 1975. #666 is John Roeder(I think), Dave Scott(Sunshine Bike Shop), #672, Gordon Ferrell and # 1 John Wells.

Now, THATS what Im talkin' about! Great pics. Thanks for posting. Got more??

Thaz teh stuff!!1!

These are the pics and the bikes that I love and that make me want to go ride!!! Look at all of those mags!

Please please please keep 'em coming!!!

How about some Saddleback, me off the "Clinton" jump, just not the "Clinton" style, May 1975

This is the jump that is after Bonzai, really cool jump. The frame is a custom made Schwinn made by Pete Harrigan of Silver Shield with top and bottom off of a 10spd. The bike was about 2" longer. I eventually broke it. May 1975.

Thanks for sharing. Good stuff need more.

True old school photos. Nice job. Going to have to dig through the boxes of photos and see If I can find something too. Thank you.

This is gonna sound kinda snobbish but lets keep this topic in the 1974-1978 era, there are plenty of 80's race topics on here, I'm just trying to "represent", as the young kids say, us guys who raced in the very under appreciated dinosaur era of BMX.

Spike, those pics are awesome...thank you for posting them! Keep'em coming if you got more!

Tony

Hey Spike, I know you got lots of these pics. It's good to see them.
This is why I'm building my monoshock with motomags. True old school.
Bring it on.

YEAH BABY! I can dig it! The first track I raced on in Hawaii was built on an old garbage dump at Kewalo Basin. Came with broken glass and all. Post more pics if you got them. Very cool shots.

Jeremy

Spike,

Those pics showing jumping and landing on flat ground on 35 lb. bikes and completely ungroomed tracks takes me back to the mid-70s as it it were yesterday.

Goggles, mudholes, and dirt clod fights at the races. You won't find that on any tracks past about 1982. Heck, you can't even FIND a dirt clod on today's manicured tracks.

Thanks for the pics. Keep 'em coming.

Richard Vogt
bmxmountainbiker

I don't know what I enjoyed more? The pictures or no pictures of Hutches.

Actually the downhill berm looks really sweet. Please post more.

Goofin' around at WSA after the races at Saddleback, May 1975. No $3000.00 cranks here boy!

My original Champion around 1977/78 at Carroll's Ranch/Rheem Valley, I still have it though it doesn't look nearly as good, dig the quick release front radial spoked front wheel.

More goofin' after the races....

thanks guy! i'never tire of seeing those pics!
mike

More jump contest fun, my knees hurt just thinking about the landing.....

Since I showed my Champ from BITD, here is my A&A that I used right up until I got the Champ. I don't know why John Wells is on it but this is the only pic of it not in motion. 1976ish.

Racing at Merritt College, around 75/76.

Ben,

How long do you think a Hutch would have lasted jumping with Motomags like that???? ROTFLMAO!!! Also, a Hutch would have made our Pinto race team travel cars look TERRIBLE! All that chrome would totally clash with the rust/paint combo...

Click to view attachment


Richard Vogt
bmxmountainbiker

P.S. Spike, those Redline forks on your A&A look SWEET!

Awesome stuff guys. The formula back then was more substance than style. Keep it "real" as the kids say today.

The Hutch would have cracked it's pants...


Next few pics courtesy Rick Twomey and Mel Stoutsenberger







Three shot sequence at Rancho (77-78)

See all those rocks and the dust....THAT was BMX. All these high dollar frames and parts that everybody's paying silly money for probably wouldn't have lasted more than a couple races at Yarnell, Saddleback, Rancho or Merritt........light ain't ALWAYS right...

Merritt, 75/76


John Wells on the same jump as above hitting it the other way. 1975.

Nothing says 70s like a nice paperplate numberplate

JB98x

I raced in the 70's and early 80's, as well as today. I don't remember the tracks in the 80's being much smoother than the 70's. Spike, dude, lighten up "kiddies". Granted tracks have progressed into finely groomed works of art, and I for one would love to see a couple of good ol flat turns and clips outlawed, but change will happen like it or not. I still enjoy being on the track just as much now as I did then, maybe more because I'm still doing it at 44. Speaking of Moto mags I didn't see any on your Champ, there ya go evolution BMX style. Racers quit using Moto mags because they were heavy, they were guaranteed to crack any frame, and freewheels took over. I remember fully decked out FMF's or Race Inc's with Phil, Campy or similar high end parts going for 500 to 600 bucks. At 70's prices that would even things out for what racers pay today. Have you seen the Olympic track? Smooth as glass or not, that thing certainly has the capability to crack a frame.

No...actually YOU should lighten up, I'm only messin' around, YOU took it personally, nobody else did. For the record, the only thing on my Champ as pictured above that is aluminum is the rims and front hub, everything else is steel, never had Campy, Phil or any of those high end parts, couldn't afford them and I NEVER used a freewheel or hand brakes. Also, I ended up ruining the rear Motomag I had.

Yamaha Gold Cup, Santa Clara Calif, 1974

Awesome Pics... I love it!

Cheez – Many of us old guys look back with fond memories. I would far prefer riding a rocky track than the sterile tracks of today. Maybe you are the anomaly that at 44 can ride a NS track consistently and fast. 99 44/100% of the other guys who could eventually fucked themselves up. NS is wonderful. But Isn’t this a site for senile guys to look backwards?

I'm going with Spike and you are taking this a bit too serious. Good luck in Bejing and with the factory ride! I can only dream of the 30K a year a factory BMX Pro makes today!

love the old pics!!
thanks for sharing!!

Yarnell, May 1975, jersey sponsored by Silver Shield.

This has been seen before but I like this pic, taken at some little track at someone's house who used to hold races there. 77/78ish.

Great pics spike. I love 'em so much I spent this afternoon bouncin around on my monoshock.
Thanks.
I love it.

Carrolls Ranch/Rheem Valley 77ish. It was drizzling that day.

The 'Freight train". Frame built and used by Pete Harrigan of Silver Shield until I bought it. Obviously a heavily modified Schwinn frame. I eventually broke it.

You old timers act like all us 80s boys did was ride on a race track. Race tracks were only riden approx 3 days a week. The other 4 days I was riding trails that were every bit as gnarly as those tracks in your photos. Id also put my race bike (nora cup GT) up against any of those bikes yall rode, strengthwise. Those one piece cranks of the 70s are no match to the strength of my flights. And lets not forget that our bikes weighed less allowing us to get everybit as much air as yall did on those tanks, and most likely more!


great photos btw

John Wells on one of the first Champions, late 1975, Merritt College.