Old school BMX. Who grew up in the 80's?

[mullie29]

List of bikes raced..... JMC
GT
Hutch, (sponsored)
Free Agent,(sponsored)
MCS
Schwinn
Boss, 20 and cruiser, (sponsored)

Started racing in 1978 and raced till I was 29, blew out my knee on the starting gate at the local track getting ready to go to the ABA Grands in OKC. Will never forget the friendships I made through the years. If I had a kid I would steer him in the direction to race BMX, it teaches you to lose gracefully and enjoy the victory of winning.

[Rdjr]

Mongoose Pro Californian. Went for a swim in a public pool, finished up, bike was gone. Best BMX I've ever owned. Some broke scumbag must've liked it too.

[isaacbm]

This thread brings back so many memories. I can't believe I never broke a bone in the 80's! I remember one time when the handle bar screws came lose in the middle of a jump attempt. I went over the front and had tread marks on my forehead.

We had this old abandoned apartment foundation that never go poured. It was dug out and then the developer went bankrupt and just left the hole there. Would never fly these days but to us, it was the best thing ever. About 5 feet deep. Some days we'd jump all day in that hole. Others, we'd literally pick teams and have rock fights! There were two huge piles of dirt and clay on either side of the pit and we'd get behind them and throw rocks at each other till one team cried uncle. Could go for hours.

We'd also play tag on bikes where you had to knock another guy off his and that made him it!

The stupid things I did on a bike....

Had a mongoose for a couple years and some kind of kuhahara but I don't remember which. Maybe all the rocks to the head gave me memory loss....

[lumberman2462]

I had a Mongoose which was quite a step up from my original Huffy. Thems were the days.....then I discovered golf.

[OpusX20]

My younger brother raced and was pretty good as a kid. We had a whole room dedicated to his trophies. I never had any interest in racing, (even though I loved riding my Diamondback on the streets) but I would often go to the track to hang out. At one point I was giving him a hard time about how easy BMXing was compared to football and golf (my high school sports). He made some wise crack, so I grabbed his bike and helmet and headed to the track for a practice run to show him how stupid this "sport" was. I got in my starting lane and they dropped the rail (or whatever the thing is that keeps you in the "chute") and went flying down the ramp. I came to the first hill and as I came down I ended up going head first over the handle bars. I only had some minor scratches and a little dirt in the mouth. But, the damaged ego was infinitely more painful. That was over 20 years ago, and my brother still brings it up.

And even though I wasn't a BMX racer, I will fight to the death anyone who doesn't think RAD was a fantastic movie. Lori Laughlin was awesome then. Is awesome now.

[bscinstnct]

[quote name='isaacbm' timestamp='1400824891' post='9352251']
This thread brings back so many memories. I can't believe I never broke a bone in the 80's! I remember one time when the handle bar screws came lose in the middle of a jump attempt. I went over the front and had tread marks on my forehead.

We had this old abandoned apartment foundation that never go poured. It was dug out and then the developer went bankrupt and just left the hole there. Would never fly these days but to us, it was the best thing ever. About 5 feet deep. Some days we'd jump all day in that hole. Others, we'd literally pick teams and have rock fights! There were two huge piles of dirt and clay on either side of the pit and we'd get behind them and throw rocks at each other till one team cried uncle. Could go for hours.

We'd also play tag on bikes where you had to knock another guy off his and that made him it!

The stupid things I did on a bike....

Had a mongoose for a couple years and some kind of kuhahara but I don't remember which. Maybe all the rocks to the head gave me memory loss....
[/quote]

Ok, that's scary.

Stupid jumps nearly resulting in death. Rock fights. Mongoose.

Parallel universe.

Or did everyone do the same thing in the 80s?

[1iron]

You know your a Vintage BMX guy, when you think of Oakley as a grip company not a sunglass company.
I loved the Oakley II. We would sandpaper new ones smooth.

[Thug Hunter]

My neighbor in Houston was a well known rider, Sasha Martin, RIP. I owned a Skyway, Redline, CW and GT throughout my younger years. The Skyway was a super light setup for racing. CW was for freestyle and the Redline was my cruiser. The GT was all stock with nothing special. It, along with a friends Hutch and another friends PK Ripper, were stolen while we ran into Schwinn one day. It devastated us since we were all about 12 years old.

[Drewmun]

Had a light blue Super Stroker. Rat traps, still have the shin scars to prove it.

[Chad Collins]

[quote name='rockinar' timestamp='1398813246' post='9199095']
I still have my 1984 Diamondback Harry Leary Turbo. This is just the frame/forks. I have the rest of the bike in a box somewhere. I think I have the complete bike. Except for the spokes for the rims. Rest of the bike is OG. Anyone else here ride BMX in the early 80's?
[/quote]

Diamondback was top of the line back in the day! You were a local hero if you had one of those in my town! This brought back memories wow

[Doc420]

I think at one time or another I had a Hutch, Redline, and a Diamondback. By the way I was king of the rock fights among other things.

[Swingem]

Started BMXing back in the early 70's. All we had were stripped down Schwinn Stingrays. Saved my paper route money and bought a Webco frame and some Moto Mags, it was sweet Used to ride at a place called Calabazas Creek in San Jose, Ca. There would be 40 or 50 kids there every day after school, and more during the summer. No organization and no adults, Just a bunch of kids doing their BMX thing. I guess the place got pretty famous because I recently read that they were going to develop it, and the local community and 3 generations of BMXers protested & and got it preserved as a BMX park.

[Chad Collins]

Does anyone remember rims that you would put in the freezer if they were bent? I am 37 but I can remember people talking about this back in the 80s. I never saw it happen and I dont know what bike had rims like this. I remember I had a Freedom bike. The Freedom 2 was God awful ugly

[Bitz22]

ACS Z-Rims. I don't know if it ever worked.

[Motley]

This is an awesome thread! I'm an 80s guy, best time of my life. I used race a little, and some freestyling too.

I had Torker, man that thing was tricked out. I loved the two tubes on top. I had the sealed bearings in the wheels and cranks.

I still have scars on my shins. Me and my friends used to ride like 30min each way just to go to the best places for hills. I remember jumping and doing table tops. Man that was so much fun.

[Motley]

[quote name='Bitz22' timestamp='1401806645' post='9420991']
ACS Z-Rims. I don't know if it ever worked.
[/quote]

My buddy had the Z rims, he used to land sideways on jumps. And bent the Z rims way out of wack. He had to take them off.

[Motley]

I remember we had this guy, he was a trick rider he was sponsered and made money, best in the state here. His name was Jumpin Joe Hendrix. He used to have shows at local bike shops, on the halfpipe.

There was an empty lot near my house. We stole some lumber from a construction site, and built a halfpipe next to my house. Man that was so fun. I used to clear the top, and nobody else could get as high as I did. Then they made us tear it down, we were all so bummed.

[kylesilk]

Used to ride freestyle in the 80's. That was the best. Rode with Kevin Jones at a contest in Fort Worth. He is to flatland riding as Ben Hogan is to golf.

[i*windows]

yep still have the scars to prove it.

[Slangin It]

Glory Days...

[Leary_turbo]

Im an old bmx addict. Especially my Harry Leary Turbos !

[Leary_turbo]

Cleaning out the old bike room

[Leary_turbo]

My favorite 84 Turbo

[Leary_turbo]

For Rockinar...

[fore_life]

this thread is great!

[ritz0019]

[quote name='Imp' timestamp='1398860486' post='9202257']
*raises hand*

Had an old Haro Freestyler that I got in 82 (the 1st year Haro started making them).

My knees have never been the same. Then again, I was like 145 lbs then, now I'm about 235.

--kC
[/quote]

I had a Haro as well from about age 10-14. That brings back some great memories. Someone stole it & I was crushed. We had some great trails in the woods near my house growing up that were awesome. One of them even had a huge U-shaped at the bottom of the trail that made a natural ramp. Ditto on the knees. My buddies & I were way too daring for our skill level which led to some Rob Dyrdek "Ridiculousness" moments for us. That accounts for some good scars on the knees & elbows.

[hogan234]

Anyone familiar with Schwinn Yo Scooters from the '80s? I have one that's well used, but all original. I got it to ride with my kids, but don't know much about it.

[Pstar1978]

This is an awesome thread and it brings back memories. This one time I had the cahones that I can build a ramp and fly. I took my friends bike, went down to the corner and hit it full speed. I actually flew in the air to cover my neighbors house width wise and I'll never forget it. My friend was pissed that I damaged his bike, but it was well worth it. Anyone remember the Huffy knock off that looked like a Dyno? I actually tried to steal one but I was unsuccessful at doing so. Now if I catch someone doing that, I'll beak their neck. Lol.

[Bob Cat]

Back in the mid 70's, Webco was king in Orlando. I know there's a DiamondBack, but I seem to remember a Black Diamond as well?

 

I remember a family of kids down there that raced BMX that were quite good. They even had BMX races with sidecars.

 

Skateboarding was my thing back then. Made a board of oak and mahogany in shop class with a kick tail. Still have it. Tracker trucks and green Kryptonites. Remember "stoker" wheels? Sims, Gull Wing, FreeFormer, Bennett, Skateboarder magazine...

[hogan234]

Back in the mid 70's, Webco was king in Orlando. I know there's a DiamondBack, but I seem to remember a Black Diamond as well?

 

I remember a family of kids down there that raced BMX that were quite good. They even had BMX races with sidecars.

 

Skateboarding was my thing back then. Made a board of oak and mahogany in shop class with a kick tail. Still have it. Tracker trucks and green Kryptonites. Remember "stoker" wheels? Sims, Gull Wing, FreeFormer, Bennett, Skateboarder magazine...

 

I used to have a G&S board with Tracker trucks and blue 70mm Kryptonites.