The 70’s

Kenny Banyan wrote:

WOW!😎

sumdood wrote:

Is there a better smell ?

Is there a better smell ?

Kenny Banyan wrote:

The best ……and there was never a doubt when you smelled that as to who was running it. If they made a deodorant I’d be wearing...

The best ……and there was never a doubt when you smelled that as to who was running it. If they made a deodorant I’d be wearing it!😂

sumdood wrote:

Is there a better smell ?

Is there a better smell ?

Kenny Banyan wrote:

The best ……and there was never a doubt when you smelled that as to who was running it. If they made a deodorant I’d be wearing...

The best ……and there was never a doubt when you smelled that as to who was running it. If they made a deodorant I’d be wearing it!😂

G-man wrote:

Dave v3.0 wrote:

G-man wrote:

Dave v3.0 wrote:

The first race I ever attended.    

The first race I ever attended.

 

Bearuno wrote:

This is what I made of a Yamaha MotoBike:1975, if I recall correctly. Might have been '76?I lived at the base of the Blue Mountains.So, I...

This is what I made of a Yamaha MotoBike:

1975, if I recall correctly. Might have been '76?

I lived at the base of the Blue Mountains.

So, I had a the escarpment right behind me.

And, I was a Down Hiller by nature. Still am - I regularly put away the crutches, put my walking stick in my CB, put on my Knee Braces, Tape my shoulders,  fit my Thumb and Wrist braces, and, terrorize the kids on the Runs. And, take a minimum of pain killers, after it. Most of the DH runs here that the MTBers use now, are directly related to what I made. 

I Had a MotoBike - it was just so bloody crap.

I Had an RM125. That had the Kayaba Gas Shocks - with something near 4" of travel in themselves.  

I was already making 'things' - I'd started cutting and shutting at around 12. I was 15 /16 at that time.

I worked out a way to convert the 3" (?) travel spring forks, to 6.5" of travel, while Doubling the fork bush depth, and , Making them a Linked Air Fork. I eventually made them into Damper Rod forks, too - as the original steel lower forks certainly were not.

The Cantilever / Monoshock set up, gave me 7 / 7.5" at the rear.

I'd already made the Yamaha frame into a Monoshock, and went to my first BMX race  next to Macquarie University / Marsfield, and, destroyed all the other racers.

 But, that frame was already starting to fail.

So, I had a month until the next race, and I went onwards with my Aluminium Beam (Rectangular Box Section) Frame that I'd been working on.  I'd learned to TIG weld, I machined it all up, and finished it. Well, not quite at this Photos time - I hadn't finished the Full Aluminium Swingarm. That was done the week after the second race, so, I used the OEM steel arm, with my bolt on Alloy Upper Triangle. You can see the Yellow SA  / Chainstays in that picture. 

2nd BMX race = Destroyed the other racers, again. Start straight was a mild Downhill, the rest, went back upwards. I was, Very Bloody Strong in those days. 

The company / people running the races, and importing Mongoose / BMX Products, eventually got me onto the 'Geese', and, got me to start making Hard Tail BMX frames for them - the Quicksilvers. At first, they were blatant copies of Mongoose ( NOT my idea, I hated that sort of rip-off : and they wondered why they eventually lost the distributorship???) then, finally, they adopted my own designs, thank goodness. 

I've still got the frame hanging up, but, when I got onto the 'normal' BMX bikes, it became purely my Local DHer. As the company was the Fox distributor, I fitted a Fox Airshock to it. That and the Kayaba (I remember the shock complete with spring, cost $35 AUD) are  in a cabinet, somewhere near my welding table. Eventually, I converted it to a Sidehack - the Big Beam being perfect for a mount face, and, torsionally resistant. I modified the top shock mounts to be the front 'hack mounts. I've intended to re-do them, and get it fully back together, but, it's yet another project I need to get back to. I 've got the front wheel somewhere, as it was a Wide Hub set up. And, as an aside, 16" Knobbies , that were then the std fitment on XR75s etc, fitted onto 20" BMX wheels - and the front end stuck like the proverbial to a blanket!

Dave v3.0 wrote:

The first race I ever attended.    

The first race I ever attended.

 

mumbles wrote:

This reminds me of when I started racing in 1972. In NC from 1972 -75 I could go to a race, pay $3 at the gate...

This reminds me of when I started racing in 1972. In NC from 1972 -75 I could go to a race, pay $3 at the gate (included my entry fee), ride my two races and if I won my class (which I usually always got top three) I would make $20, 2nd $15 and 3rd $10. Gas was 49 cents. It was amazing back then.

I really miss those days.

 

Dave v3.0 wrote:

The first race I ever attended.    

The first race I ever attended.

 

mumbles wrote:

This reminds me of when I started racing in 1972. In NC from 1972 -75 I could go to a race, pay $3 at the gate...

This reminds me of when I started racing in 1972. In NC from 1972 -75 I could go to a race, pay $3 at the gate (included my entry fee), ride my two races and if I won my class (which I usually always got top three) I would make $20, 2nd $15 and 3rd $10. Gas was 49 cents. It was amazing back then.

I really miss those days.

 

Dave v3.0 wrote:

Same.At one time I had kept some race records and I think in 1975 I made somewhere in the high $800 range in purse money for...

Same.

At one time I had kept some race records and I think in 1975 I made somewhere in the high $800 range in purse money for the year.  Mostly $20/25 at a time.🤣 That actually wasn't a bad income for a 15 year old kid at the time.

 

mumbles wrote:

This reminds me of when I started racing in 1972. In NC from 1972 -75 I could go to a race, pay $3 at the gate...

This reminds me of when I started racing in 1972. In NC from 1972 -75 I could go to a race, pay $3 at the gate (included my entry fee), ride my two races and if I won my class (which I usually always got top three) I would make $20, 2nd $15 and 3rd $10. Gas was 49 cents. It was amazing back then.

I really miss those days.

 

Dave v3.0 wrote:

Same.At one time I had kept some race records and I think in 1975 I made somewhere in the high $800 range in purse money for...

Same.

At one time I had kept some race records and I think in 1975 I made somewhere in the high $800 range in purse money for the year.  Mostly $20/25 at a time.🤣 That actually wasn't a bad income for a 15 year old kid at the time.

 

oldnescVet wrote:

1974, Boston cycles was paying 75$ for 1st 50$ for 2nd and 25 for 3rd. It didn’t take long to pay for that Yamaha 100. Oh...

1974, Boston cycles was paying 75$ for 1st 50$ for 2nd and 25 for 3rd. It didn’t take long to pay for that Yamaha 100. Oh and of course that awesome Boston cycles jersey.  Not bad for a 14 year old making 1.65/hr digging trees at a nursery during the week.