Here is one of my first bmx bikes, 1979 PK Ripper. I still have this bike in my garage. Here is a pic when I was a kid at El Mirage jumping the pucker bushes. 9 years old. I am an avid collector and I belong to the BMX Society. BMX is my stress reliever. I used to race in Downey, Bellflower, Fontana, Corona, Riverside/4 paws, coal canyon, Mammoth, Bishop, Idaho and then got into motocross and everything that had an engine in it.
I'm in the ABA. Never raced. I go on practice night and ride with my boy. This year I'll race. I got a sweet redline cruiser.
Im nearly 50 and way too fat anymore to race but i did ride my OM Flyer today I just recently found this Pic from 1979 or 1980. LRS I bet those JMC forks are hard to come by now I used to break them pretty regularly, I finally gave up and switched to a tube fork.
I did when my brother gave me his old bmx bike but I quit when I saw a guy land on his chin, skin his face all to shit, and everyone told him he was lucky. I quit because any sport where youare lucky to get in an accident and for the rest of your life, have horrible scarring, and everyone calls you lucky is a really bad idea.
They are out there, but pricey..lol I busted my fair share, and tossed them in the trash silly me!...
Me and my 2 brothers raced for years back in the later 70's early 80's near Pittsburgh Pa at North Park in the summer then when it got cold out there was an indoor track at South Park. Those were some awesome times,Dad was a boilermaker by trade (local 154) and was working a ton but when Sunday came the station wagon was loaded up with three bikes ,5 kids(unless some neighbors came then more ) spare parts and food. I had a lite weight mini Powerlite ( 13lbs race ready) which I still have, my older brother ran a full size Powerlite which he still has and my brother between us raced a DG which he still has till this day. Just goes to show how much fun it was to still have them complete 30 years later....Jim
I raced in the early 80's... last couple years I've been mountain biking a bit. I still can't do the gears thing so I ride a single speed, more of a cruiser than a mountain bike really. And I've been building some trails on my property... And there is a social group for skaters and bmx'ers. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?groupid=88
Did freestyling on the ground and the quarter and half pipe and won some competitions in the mid 80s on my GT performer with the accessories of the time. My Mom still has the bike in her basement.
I never raced but did a fare share of street riding and an occasional ramp session. I had a Free Agent limo that took me a few months to build. Bought the frame and forks and then pieced it together with what I thought was the best of whatever parts I bought to assemble it. Ive tried riding it again and it doesnt ride like it used to. I gave it to my son last year and his friends thought it was lame until he told them I built it piece by piece and then it became the coolest bike at school. Im glad I kept it to pass it down
wow, talk about time warp, lol. had a mongoose i bought new around '84, that thing was tits! never raced, but we got hooked on 'free-style' riding. had a ton of fun bombing around on that thing. spent a ton of hours in the driveway trying to learn new tricks to do on it. wish i still had it, folks gave it away on me, left it at 'home' after i moved out, few years later they gave it to a neighbor kid as they thought i was too old/big to be riding that 'little' bike anymore, lol.
WTF--------------anybody got a 49 BMX with a flathead, baby moons and a pair of fuzzy dice?????????WTFFFFFFFFF
Believe it, or not, there is a very strong tie to tradional hot rods here. You fellas might not be aware that BMX Products and Mongoose bicycles were founded by a gentleman named Skip Hess. Here's one of his cars...
Id did back when it was invented by guys like my friends and I ….. we built are own because about all you could buy was tires ... im talkin 1973 - 4 We laced rear rims on front hubs - small crank sprockets from 10 speeds - bars - grips - fenders from the motorcycle shop
Ed, that's awesome & I was previously unaware! Too old, fat, tall, etc for 20" bikes of any sort but I can appreciate their beauty of form & functionality.
That's why there are both 24" and 26" cruisers and even mountain bikes. I've been riding a single speed 29" mountain bike and I'm not that tall.
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