# Who raced BMX in the 80s ?



## AJ10 (10 mo ago)

I wish I had kept some of that stuff, bikes , bars , pads, parts, number plate. Geez, I was just searching around and realize I gave away or yard saled about 10-15k back in the 90s for next to nothing. ☹

Admin edit: Add photo for feature


----------



## MaX-D (May 13, 2020)

I raced a Laguna GT with Skyway mags from 83-86. My bike got stolen ending my racing career. It was fun while it lasted. 
This was a coaster brake bike.
Sent from my SM-G991U using Tapatalk


----------



## upstateSC-rider (Dec 25, 2003)

Used to race a CW Racing 'Z' framed bike and freestyled on a Mongoose with a rear coaster brake, great for flat-land tricks. Kept that bike until the 2000's when I gave it to my friend that had a kid, about 8 years old. Saw it laying in his yard then stolen a couple of months later. Didn't even think about it until I saw the prices a couple of years ago. 
Think my brother still has his Hutch Trickstar.


----------



## AJ10 (10 mo ago)

All I have is 1 trophy from Howard County Md 1983. Had a bunch that didn't survive all the moves over the years. All we have is memories now.
I raced a Thruster and Robinson. Wanted a Hutch so bad but mom wouldn't do it. Glad she didn't now, because I'd really be upset.


----------



## Slowandfat (Jan 4, 2020)

I raced in the 80's. Still have my Hutch Pro Racer. Got the itch again in the late 90's and raced my Parkpre cruiser. I still might get the itch again, at 51!


----------



## Slowandfat (Jan 4, 2020)

Sorry my pics are so big! I have no computer skills...


----------



## joecx (Aug 17, 2013)

How abut early '70's? Probably one of the first semi organized racing I did was in a dirt lot on Arrow Highway in Azusa,Ca


----------



## johnbev (Aug 14, 2011)

AJ10 said:


> All I have is 1 trophy from Howard County Md 1983. Had a bunch that didn't survive all the moves over the years. All we have is memories now.
> I raced a Thruster and Robinson. Wanted a Hutch so bad but mom wouldn't do it. Glad she didn't now, because I'd really be upset.


----------



## johnbev (Aug 14, 2011)

I also raced BMX in Maryland in the late 70s and early 80s. My brother and I started a track, and we loved racing and riding, on our bikes all day. Good training ground for MTB.


----------



## knl2stl (Jan 7, 2011)

Slowandfat said:


> I raced in the 80's. Still have my Hutch Pro Racer. Got the itch again in the late 90's and raced my Parkpre cruiser. I still might get the itch again, at 51!
> View attachment 1981052
> View attachment 1981051


My cousin's kid's kid is currently racing my old Hutch pro racer. GT fork with Redline stem.


----------



## knl2stl (Jan 7, 2011)

Not a race, but here is the Hutch, maybe '84 or '85 in action with the official jersey.


----------



## Zguitar71 (Nov 8, 2020)

I don’t have any thing but memories of my BMX days. I do have some shin scars from the pedals still, those seam to last a lifetime. I did have a moment in the early 2000s when I wanted to go back to my roots and I bought a Balance Killer B 24. I still have it but it needs a little work. It is a killer bike to cruse around town with.


----------



## sharpendjay (Sep 8, 2020)

I raced mid 70's as a kid, the hot **** was Dan Gurney, Webco, redline forks and we wore goofy scott masks and goggles. I never thought about how easy mtbing was for me until I watched my adult friends who never had that experience really struggle with learning skills and fear.


----------



## knl2stl (Jan 7, 2011)

I had a Webco before the GT, which was before the Hutch. A BMX background makes certain things natural, but no way am I going to do now what I did then.


----------



## noosa2 (May 20, 2004)

Raced from about 78-85. Kept riding flatland until about 91.


----------



## MTB_Ohana (Jun 30, 2021)

Raced at Carlsbad Raceway in San Diego CA. I will see if I can find some pictures.


----------



## Crockpot2001 (Nov 2, 2004)

Raced a lot in the 80's but just was not often a winner, that's for sure. I was obsessed but could not get to the races as often as I should have due to uninterested parents and that nobody in the area shared my passion. Finally a neighbor got deep into it and his mom was a real gem of support. 

I rode a thruster 20" then got a more appropriatly sized Schwinn Predator that I stickered with CW stickers like a dumbass. In the early 2000's a started again and did fairly well due to extreme fitness as a road racer. I favored longer tracks  I had a custom built Thursday made in Pocotelo, ID. I've also had a BLKMKT BMX frame and then a new Gary Turner 29er. All have been sold as I just don't have that kind of time. Fun memories.


----------



## TwiceHorn (Jun 18, 2014)

sharpendjay said:


> View attachment 1981067
> 
> I raced mid 70's as a kid, the hot **** was Dan Gurney, Webco, redline forks and we wore goofy scott masks and goggles. I never thought about how easy mtbing was for me until I watched my adult friends who never had that experience really struggle with learning skills and fear.


I'm kind of between you and the rest of these guys and fall into the latter category.

The "bike progression" in my neighborhood was from some form of 20"-24" wheel Schwinn Sting Ray to a "10-speed," and the 10-speed came right before bikes became kind of uncool. Right at the 10-speed point, a number of friends got Redlines and Mongeese, but there was no racing or BMX "culture." Just a bunch of ringmeat kids doing "sweet jumps." I myself surrendered to the craze with a Sting Ray Jr. with knobbies, a 10-speed seat and motocross bars. But I didn't ride it long enough to learn much.


----------



## Blatant (Apr 13, 2005)

Yep, started in the late ’70s and into the 1980s in Maryland. Came back to it in the late 1990s racing cruiser in Arizona. Still pretty big out here and a lot of those guys never stopped. Go watch the speed of the 45 and over cruiser class at a local race. It’s nuts.


----------



## BansheeRune (Nov 27, 2011)

joecx said:


> How abut early '70's? Probably one of the first semi organized racing I did was in a dirt lot on Arrow Highway in Azusa,Ca


This ^^^

Damn, good times!

BMX Museum is also a good place to reminisce on the early BMX stuff.


----------



## jimPacNW (Feb 26, 2013)

(late 70s) I really wanted to, but there was nothing nearby and very little information available. I remember a moment, when I was about 13, when I saw motocross racing on the tv, and the big berms were really impressive, I almost immediately hauled a shovel up to the vacant trails area and started building a berm. I rode and dug there a lot until the drivers license came along, which seems to be a common theme. 
There was supposed to be a bmx track about an hour away, my mom even drove me around once looking for it, but no success.
I mowed a lot of lawns, saved up to buy a 'good' bike, but I didn't really know anyone who knew anything about bikes and I was steered toward the Schwinn dealer, and ended up with a Scrambler 36-36 (spoke count or weight?, - both I think).
I was never much of a sprinter, so I wouldn't have done well racing. Thankfully my story is not wholly pathetic; we did have a couple of small motorbikes and miles of trails starting just about 1/8 mile from the house. I credit all those hours on crappy suspension motorcycles with my (limited & local, but continuing) mountain bike racing success, which started in my early 20s.


----------



## SlipperyToad (Aug 18, 2010)

I started on a Stingray Jr with a standard saddle, no fenders, and some dirtish tires and then got a redline in the mid 80s. Wish I still had those bikes, especially the Schwinn with the triple top tube. We actually found one that was all original several years ago. I spent hours polishing up the chrome and repacking all the bearings to give it to our niece as a birthday present. I'm an old dad with little ones and just hit the bike shop a couple weeks ago to find something to take to the local bike/skate park with the kids. I'm now the owner of a baby blue Cult with a 30 year gap between it and my last BMX bike. They haven't changed much in 30 years... smaller chainring for street riding, fatter tires that's about it. First time I pulled up to try a manual I came straight off the back... luckily I got my feet down before I was on my butt. It's going to take a bit of time to get used to how quick you have to be with adjustments. I'm afraid 29" wheels and suspension have made me soft.


----------



## Crankout (Jun 16, 2010)

A neighbor of mine collected old BMX gear, primarily bikes. Seems like a pretty hot market for it.


----------



## OldSchoolMBer (May 25, 2013)

I had no idea there was a market for old BMX stuff but it stands to reason. As boomers aged they collected various things from their youth. Now it's the X'ers turn to start doing the same


----------



## knl2stl (Jan 7, 2011)

Mongoose recently made a limited run of the Supergoose and the California Special. I myself was a Roger Decoster guy before I built up the Webco.


----------



## NeoYeti Clyde (Dec 17, 2020)

Here is my Cycle Pro. I wish I could find those Oakley grips!! Not long after this photo I snapped the frame in half (I was a big kid). Replaced it with a Team Schwinn which was a much better frame but ended having my rear Tuff Wheel stolen when I was a sophomore in high school pretty much ending my BMX days. I was very disappointed the first time I rode a Mtn bike -- couldn't bunny hop it and didn't like having all my weight on the front tire. (still don't and am really tempted to get a SE Fast Flyer 29er and throw a fork/mtn bike tires on it!)


----------



## ridgewaydomg123 (Oct 14, 2014)

One of many bikes I went through at the time. CW bars, Uni Seat, Z Rims!


----------



## RIZONRACER (9 mo ago)

I began racing BMX in the mid '80s (actually started in Germany), moved to Rockville, MD in the late '80's and rode for Rockville BMX. I too competed at Howard County BMX in Maryland. I continued racing well into my adult years and only stopped competing in October, 2020.


----------



## AJ10 (10 mo ago)




----------



## AJ10 (10 mo ago)

RIZONRACER said:


> View attachment 1981167
> View attachment 1981168
> View attachment 1981169
> View attachment 1981170
> ...


Did you know Kenny Allen ? He was one of the nicest guys I ever known. I remember his son also. I'd love to find some old archives from back then.


----------



## CRM6 (Apr 7, 2021)

I did in the 70’s. Raced a couple times at a motocross track in Eastern Ohio.
Graco MX 500 as she sits today.









What it looked like new…


----------



## .WestCoastHucker. (Jan 14, 2004)

1986 Winter Nationals


----------



## Pushes up hills (May 22, 2006)

I didn't race BMX, but I do have plenty of BMX/freestyle memories.
For context, I grew up poor in the rural western NC mountains in that little corner next to TN and VA. We had 3 tv channels, and I was raised by my grandparents who were the last of the frontier generation...literally growing up in the "cabin in the woods". They had little time for things like my aspirations with bikes.

My elementary school library had copies of _BMX Action_ and _BMX Plus_. The first time I picked these up, I was blown away. In particular, what turns out to be the May, 1987 edition of BMX+ had a test of the Mongoose Californian that became a lust object for some time. Even though I knew it was unlikely I'd ever own one. That same issue contained a test of the General RL Osborn pro, and in time, I'd switch from wanting a BMX bike to wanting some sort of flatland ready ride. Strange, considering I lived a mile or two from any pavement.

In time, I was able to save up enough to send off for a CW California flyer, like this one...










(Not my actual bike).
It was send a money order to an add in the back of a magazine and wait in those days. And wait. And wait. Don't recall what happened, but I want to say it took a few months for that bike to show up finally. It was awesome...and I tried my best, but lawnmowers and tail whips are hard enough on pavement, let alone on my gravel road...not that It would have mattered.
By the time this all happened, I was in high school, and other things were occupying my time. Then Kevin Jones showed up and started doing **** I knew I could never do, and like many, it all kind of fell by the wayside. A few years later, my younger brother borrowed the bike, and some years after that, I inquired about it to mom, and she told me it has been hauled to the dump after wasting away under a tree for a few years.

Still...those early magazines gave a poor, sheltered kid some glimpse into the outside world, especially that place called California where everyone is beautiful, the sun always shines, and the cool kids freestyle all day for the cameras.

Good memories from when life was much simpler...

(*EDIT*: didn't realize this was in the 50+ section. You'll have to cut me some slack...I'm only a year away.)


----------



## upstateSC-rider (Dec 25, 2003)

RIZONRACER said:


> I began racing BMX in the mid '80s (actually started in Germany), moved to Rockville, MD in the late '80's and rode for Rockville BMX. I too competed at Howard County BMX in Maryland. I continued racing well into my adult years and only stopped competing in October, 2020.


Very cool.
Wasn't Rockville the East Coast epicenter of all things BMX?


----------



## r-rocket (Jun 23, 2014)

I raced a 1984 Haro Sport until I threw enough newspapers into people's hedges to buy a Free Agent Limo. 

It was a case of truth in advertising, because I suddenly began to win races. I won a 3 foot tall trophy that I drug all through college, because my mom wouldn't let me leave it at her house.


----------



## 69tr6r (Mar 27, 2007)

I raced BMX at Indian Ledge Park in Trumbull, CT in the early 80's. It had the acronym TRACK, which I think was Trumbull Racing Association Cycling Kids?

Anyway, I had saved all my birthday, xmas and any odd job money I could scrounge in order to buy a Diamondback Harry Leary Turbo. Same deal as one of the earlier posts - send a money order in the mail and wait. That bike was awesome! I wish I hadn't sold it in the mid 90's becuase it was mint! I kept it in the house and always cleaned it. 

I wasn't very good, and the 12 year old class was stacked with riders, but I did manage to make 3 main events my entire "career". There were usually about 30-40 riders in my class, so you had to do well in your heat races to make a Main since they only took 8 riders total. That meant you automatically got a trophy since they awarded them for all places in the Main, 1-8th. I have a 6th place and two 8th places. I think 2 guys must have fallen in the main for me to get a 6th, lol! Good times.


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

Somewhere in the boxes of my crap from my mom's house is a little ABA medal for making it into the top 50 in MD one year.


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

upstateSC-rider said:


> Very cool.
> Wasn't Rockville the East Coast epicenter of all things BMX?


We had a lot of tracks in the area, but I don't know if I'd call it that. The ABA held the East Coast Nationals in Vineland NJ in 1980.
Tropies all got broken over the years, but I kept the plates off them. Got 3rd place.


----------



## RIZONRACER (9 mo ago)

Yes, I did know the Allen family. Kenny ran Howard Co. BMX. His son, Neal, raced in the pro class. The other son Billy, who became the track builder for USA BMX (previously the ABA), I would run into on occasion when I raced nationals and would communicate with through Facebook.

This is my only remaining trophy from Howard County BMX (the nameplate and all of the other decorations have fallen off of it). It is still the largest trophy that I have won in my 25 years of BMX















(I won the Gold Cup race in 1986). It stands 47.25" tall. That's me on the far right holding it. This trophy has special significance for me (probably why it is my only remaining trophy from Howard Co.) because I had to over come my fear of jumping the doubles on the second straight (I crashed badly the first time that I tried them and was fearful of jumping them after that). I wanted to win that big trophy so badly that I went to the track, on a day that no one was there (except my brother and my mom, who drove us), and decided that I would not leave until I successfully jumped them. I got up enough courage, pedaled my ass off, and sailed over them like it was no big deal. I was so excited for having made the jump that on a second jump, I threw in a tabletop (unfortunately, I no longer have that photo). When race day came, I knew that no one was going to beat me and sure enough, I won.


----------



## RIZONRACER (9 mo ago)

For those that don't know, Rockville BMX was a Mecca for all things BMX related. The shop advertised in BMX Action, which was the major BMX magazine in the 80's. Riding for the shop was my dream, so when my mom was reassigned to Washington, D.C., she moved us to Rockville so that my brother and I could be close to the shop. Rockville BMX was a stopping point for all of the factory freestyle teams (like GT Bikes). The shows would be huge with hundreds of kids. When I first started going to the shop, now famous Hollywood director, Spike Jonze, worked there. He used to work on customer bikes and do other stuff.


----------



## RIZONRACER (9 mo ago)

Picts from one of the GT freestyle shows:


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

My memory isn't as good as it used to be- too many hits to the head. If still remember correctly, when I was racing he didn't have a shop yet, brought a trailer to the tracks.

My mom sometimes volunteered in the concession stand at Rockville.


----------



## Tall BMX'r (Jan 11, 2021)

I raced in the early 70's. Robison Ranch / Escape Country and Orange, CA. Second from the right.


----------



## noosa2 (May 20, 2004)




----------



## r-rocket (Jun 23, 2014)

RIZONRACER said:


> For those that don't know, Rockville BMX was a Mecca for all things BMX related. The shop advertised in BMX Action, which was the major BMX magazine in the 80's. Riding for the shop was my dream, so when my mom was reassigned to Washington, D.C., she moved us to Rockville so that my brother and I could be close to the shop. Rockville BMX was a stopping point for all of the factory freestyle teams (like GT Bikes). The shows would be huge with hundreds of kids. When I first started going to the shop, now famous Hollywood director, Spike Jonze, worked there. He used to work on customer bikes and do other stuff.
> View attachment 1981299
> View attachment 1981300
> View attachment 1981307


Rockville was awesome! 

They said don't send cash, but sending a check meant I had to get permission from my mom and get her to write a check. So I would mail them a bunch of 5's and 1's with the order form and a note saying sorry for the cash, begging them to send it anyway. I'd get my parts with my change taped to the parts. 

Cool guys.


----------



## BobFro (11 mo ago)

I grew up down the street from Red Devil in Union City and started BMX racing at Baylands Raceway in Fremont around '82. Here's a few pics from BMX Action from the time.. Brian Patterson just won the ABA championship and Bob Osborn came to Red Devil for a photo shoot with the Pattersons. I think it was a Tuesday morning as they were trying to avoid the locals but we were there as always! We insisted we get a pic in the mag and he obliged  I'm on the far left.


----------



## BobFro (11 mo ago)

BMX Action photo shoot at Red Devil, Union City, Ca.


----------



## shred79 (Jul 21, 2018)

Jag world's 1979 indy









Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk


----------



## bcriverjunky (Jul 8, 2014)

Got my ass kicked by John Tomac on a regular basis at Waterford Oaks.


----------



## AJ10 (10 mo ago)

I wonder if I can get my 50 year old brother and neighbor to lay down n the street and let me try and bunny-hop them today.


----------



## smartyiak (Apr 29, 2009)

shred79 said:


> Jag world's 1979 indy
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 I was there…7yr old expert!

Here I am around the same time. I think it’s Elkhart, IN (#51)


----------



## Tall BMX'r (Jan 11, 2021)

It was Evil Knievel for me. Plywood gap jumps on the street. Just keep pedaling faster, marking where you land and moving them farther apart. Then get all your friends to lay down in between them. My mom seemed okay with that, but once we started lighting a fire between the ramps we got shut down!


----------



## AJ10 (10 mo ago)

Tall BMX'r said:


> It was Evil Knievel for me. Plywood gap jumps on the street. Just keep pedaling faster, marking where you land and moving them farther apart. Then get all your friends to lay down in between them. My mom seemed okay with that, but once we started lighting a fire between the ramps we got shut down!


It was Evil for me also. The plywood and cinder blocks. I'd pray it would stay together before hitting it. I held the neighbor hood record of 25 ft on my Murray with bent crank arms. When did people start wearing helmets?


----------



## BobFro (11 mo ago)

smartyiak said:


> I was there…7yr old expert!
> 
> Here I am around the same time. I think it’s Elkhart, IN (#51)
> View attachment 1981598


Jofa chin protection and Hutch stars on your jersey. Love the vintange pics!


----------



## knl2stl (Jan 7, 2011)

AJ10 said:


> I wonder if I can get my 50 year old brother and neighbor to lay down n the street and let me try and bunny-hop them today.


Only counts if head to toe.


----------



## Tall BMX'r (Jan 11, 2021)

I remember pedaling with bent pedals, then riding someone else's bike with straight pedals thinking theirs felt funny.


----------



## mtbbiker (Apr 8, 2004)

My 1st BMX bike was a Mongoose, then a polished aluminum Hutch and my brother had a PK Ripper. Fun days for sure

We’d race on Weds and weekends. Lived on 15arces and had start ramp/gate and bmx course right on the property. I just wished my parents would have taken more pictures. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## upstateSC-rider (Dec 25, 2003)

A great shop near me is a MX/BMX/Skate shop, true one-stop shopping. Took a couple of pics of some customer projects he's working on, the Quadangle was especially cool.























Sent from my IN2017 using Tapatalk


----------



## CRM6 (Apr 7, 2021)

I drooled over this bike in every issue of BMXA!


----------



## TwoTone (Jul 5, 2011)

I wish I never sold my Race Inc.


----------



## BobFro (11 mo ago)

I still have one old BMX bike.. CW mini 24" with Skyway Tuff Wheels:


----------

