A Red line Pro line with all the best stuff could still get close to 6 bills

richard, your number 8 answer is the best one! seriously.
mike

...Goodyear Eagle on the front and a Carlisle Aggressor on the back was the hot set up.

... EVERYBODY used Schwinn/Ashtabula goosenecks.

...you don't EVEN know what a Comp 2 tire looks like.

...anodized/colored parts weren't around.

...the ONLY pedals were rattraps.

...nobody used 3pc cranks.

Good one, Spikey... I left one off:

The three main bike color combinations at the track were nickel, silver and black or black, nickel and silver, or silver, black and nickel...

Richard Vogt
bmxmountainbiker

....tires were black and ONLY black.

....when your heros were MX guys, in my case all the Swedish MX guys that were fast at the time, 74-76, Hakan Andersson, Ake Jonsson, Torleif Hansen, Bengt Aberg, Christer Hammargren and Arne Kring.(most guys here might not even know/remember these names)

....Rick's Bike Shop Team was the ONLY team(as far as I was concerned).

....you actually wore goggles for their intended purpose...i.e....over your eyes instead on top of you helmet...I NEVER understood the on top of the helmet thing.

spike, i put them up on my helmet in case the wind picked up, i could just put them over my eyes......ya know what? forget that. i just wanted to look cool like scott clark. lol
mike

I remember those guys. I had a Husky CR250 Bengt Aberg replica

You forgot one Spike, probably the best of the bunch Heikki Mikkola

Then theres more guys from across the pond, Gaston Rahier, Harry Everts, Pierre Karsmakers, Joel Robert, Gunnar Lindstrom, .....................can't forget Big Rodger D

What about Americans, Jimmy Wienert, Brad Lackey, Tony DiStefano, Steve Stackable, Marty Smith, Kent Howerton, Gary Semics, Danny LaPorte, Jim Pomeroy, Rick Burgett, Bob Hannah, Broc Glover, Brian Myerscough, Mike Bell, Marty Tripes, ...................................

You can remember seeing Jeff Ward racing a bike on friday and then seeing hin on his XR-75 at Indian Dunes on saturday racing the mini track by the snack bar.
What about Russ Darnell Team Husky?? He lived around the corner from me.

forgot heikki mikkola.

this thread reminds me of the opening scene of "on any sunday"

"Heikki Mikkola"

He wasn't Swedish....from Finland.

I don't discount Decoster et al nor any US guys, the Swedes were just fast AND cool looking. I was a big Lackey fan.

No BS, how did I forget that little snob, raced against him at Beeline MX park, he acted like his shizit didn't stink. Can't deny he was good. He had to be to get that XR75 to keep up with the YZ 80s that rulled the 80cc class. Ward DNFed that day, tiny stroker go "BOOM"



OS BMX talk has tendancy to do that since BMX can tie itself to the movie



Heikki Mikkola, the "Flying Finn" I kinda lump all Scandinavian types together

fast AND cool looking, + they had the Swedish Bikini Team

When your first bike was a 1975 Yamaha motobike.
The first race was at a motocross track"Big Berm" in Maryland. Where they let us run on a down hill section of the track. People thought it was funny seeing bicycles on a motocross track. They thought it was a bunch of kids goofing off. Look at BMX now! Wow, that was 33 years ago!

...your first out of state race was on part of a real motocross track. true story.
mike

...you called the bike shop where you just bought your first anodized wheels to tell them the brake pads were wearing the finish off, reply; ah, thats what happens....

Your an old VBMX'er you know what n2o stands for.

Funny thread. I thought I was old, but I think some of you raced with Moses!

Your a riot, Fred Garvin is that as in Fred Garvin, male prostitute from SNL, Fred Garvin?

Funny story - speaking of old timers.

I have been wearing Vans for 30 years. Mostly B/W checked slip ons, but sometimes I will shake things up and get the red/white ones. My 6 year old son also now wears Vans and especially likes us to both wear them at the same time. Growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, checkered Vans were certainly not as common as in SoCal, and not very accepted. Then Fast Times at Ridgemont High came out and all of a sudden I was the coolest guy at the school because I had been wearing them for years!

A few months back the family was enjoying some wings at Hooters and a girl came up and complimented my son on in his shoes. She said she had a pair just like them. Then she saw that I also had a pair of slip on Vans and thought that was really cool too.

She said Vans are all the rage now with the kids and she actually has two pairs.

I asked her how old she was and she said 17, which means she was born in 1990! I had already graduated from college by then.

I said I have been wearing Vans since 1978! I also told here I have Vans older than her!

She was shocked and amazed!

I just got a pair for my 4 year old daughter now too! Pink/White Checked!

Thanks, I'll be here all week. Don't forget to try the veal.
Yes, one in the same

"Heikki Mikkola"

He wasn't Swedish....from Finland.

I don't discount Decoster et al nor any US guys, the Swedes were just fast AND cool looking. I was a big Lackey fan.


Spike,

you may remember this shot from the Trans AMA in Sears Point 1977?
How many can you name?

I believe #5 was Billy "Sugarbear" Grossi? With Marty Smith on the Honda..

First off, that is Banzai Hill, Saddleback.

24 Brad Lackey
5 Billy Grossi
1 Jimmy Weinert
2 Pierre Karsmakers
106 Gerrit Wolsink
104 Roger Decoster
46 Rex Staten?
110 Graham Noyce
26 I wanna say Gary Semis but I don think it's him.
23 Gaylon Moiser
6 Tony Distefeno
39 Bob Hannah
143 Akira Watanabe...I think
18 Ron Turner?
109 Adolf Weil
21 Tommy Croft
139 an Italian rider I think.

you got a scar from a bob reedy.
and you thought bobareedy was one word
at least i did.
dion

26 I wanna say Gary Semis but I don think it's him.

It should be Semics.....I think 26 might be Terry Clark?????

When you show up in Rockford and can't figure out why some old bald guy is wearing an orange and blue jersey with Harry Leary's name on the back of it.

Huh???

....Oh?.....

....OHHHHHhhh....

Oh.


~~~sigh~~~

Who's Harry Leary?

Now that is old school...

Richard Vogt
bmxmountainbiker

P.S. Spike, I saw a Schwerma-welded Champion frame last week... built up with Campy stuff and old-style 7b rims and Speedo pads... took me back to '76 like it was yesterday... beautiful welds, beautiful bike... made my day, let me tell you...

I think Champions are very underrated, most don't really care about them because they aren't seen much and nobody famous rode them except Brent Patterson and he only raced his for a bit once he started showing up in magazines. Never saw a Schwerma made Champ broken either.

You remember at one time people hated cruisers and thought "that was not BMX"

Changstar

Fred Garvin Male Prostitute

Wow, so...are you motocross fan?

I can't remember that many members of my family...and their names are easy to spell!

1) You remember who Charlie Gnarly is
2) You raced in the UBR
3) You raced for a Schwinn bike shop because you wanted top of the line
4) You remember hand operated wooden gates
5) Tracks were downhill
6) You were interviewed for BMX by THAT'S INCREDIBLE
7) You remember colored tires coming out
8) You wore REAL leathers
9) You know that the BMX bikes in E.T. are Kuwahara
10) You turned by using the one-footed flat-trackin' method and gained position

One More:

You remember plastic/nylon 2 finger trigger style brake levers

Stashin a pack of cigs between the frame gussets of an old Mongoose, they fit perfect!

Leathers?!
I had to wear Sears Tuff Skins with the patch on the knees and an orange Hot Wheels race track around my waist for a belt!

1.Your 20"er that you rolled up to the chalk boxes drawn in the dirt for your first race had a plastic gas tank, and motorcycle handlebars., and a 16" rear wheel. But it had a pie plate with a number so that made you an official racer-man.
2. They said "Riders ready, pedals ready, GO!"
3. The bmx track doubled as a used tire dump.
4. Coca-cola was the official between moto sports drink
5. pit bikes were strange chopper things with about 5 pairs of forks welded together to get the front tire out there.
6. Frame pads and visors had snaps.
7. visors and pads that were installed more than once had duct tape
8. You were nervous at every bike inspection they would find something unfixable.
9. There were moguls, water pits, drop offs, and rocks to worry about.
10. The strongest rider usually won, smoothness didnt seem to start paying off till the 80's.
11. No one thought it was odd if some people were wearing sport coats and ties
12. Most everyone over the age of 20 had a cigar lit up.
13. 50/50 tickets were as important as the race itself
14. If a guy had wicked cool see through wheel covers on the bike, he already won, ya cant compete with that kind of awsomeness.
well, you get the idea....

HOT WHEELS BELT

The little tabs that held the track together always came apart when trying it as a belt!!

You still call aluminum 3 piece cranks "cotterless cranks".

I haden't heard that in about 30 years.

When you use the term "Goose Neck" for a stem and people look at you like your talking about the ending dinner to the Movie A Christmas Story.

You snap your headtube off on Friday jumping off curbs get it all taped up by Saturday night and try to convince your Dad to take you racing on Sunday. True story.

Using beer/soda cans and duct tape to fix stripped out neck/bars.... Kept them from moving for a couple jumps anyway.

you can't seem to get the "2.125-front-1.75-back " rhyme out of your head...

you're idea of a great friday night was ironing your torker jersey... couldn't be wrinkled around powder puffs

Racing on a downhill part of a motocross track using their rubber band to start when there was no such thing as nbl or aba.

Was there a track like that near the burgh? Love to see some pics!

Yes, mxer746,but unfortunately I have no photos of that era.It was only for a short time before the north park track opened.

you remember when Oakley only made googles (1 Kind), grips(2 kinds) and a wing for your arm

wore Gators

used a Terry Cable

knew the difference between a "Bronco" and a "Bunnyhop"

..you remember when 2.125 tires were used front AND back.


...you don't understand what the big deal is about Hutch, Profile, VDC et al.

You remember the Carlisle Aggressor was specifically made for the rear only

You and your bike rode to the races in the back of the truck.

Optional extra credit if your parents made you sit down when they got on the highway.