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Oct 22, 2010
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Scott SoCal said:
Ok, I'll date myself.

I grew up in the same program at Yamaha Motor Corp with RJ (1979 -1980), Waaaaay before Honda was ever in the picture. I knew Ricky when he wore braces. Remember the term "El Cajon Zone"? (Burnworth, Glover, Johnson, et al).

Saturday Saddleback? Yep, from about 1978 onward.

I used to train with Brian Myerscough although I have not seen him since... 1986 maybe? Raced with Bailey, Glover, O'Mara, Ward, Hannah, Johnson, LaPorte, Chandler (RIP), Cantaloupi, Dubach (teamate), Beier (teamate), Eric Eaton (teamate) from Washington State..... and a bunch of guys I can't even remember.

SoCal CMC, Saddleback, Carlsbad, Golden State Series... SuperX, Nationals... years and years and years of it.

The good news is I can still walk and ride my bike (cycle).

Awesome man, tell us more.....


I rode/raced [Cat 6 level] Maicos, Huskys and Bultacos back in the stone age. Hell, I never even owned a Japanese bike till a Kawasaki in the late 80's. I grew up on Dirt Bike magazine and MXA.

Hit so feking hard in 1991 I burst a blood vessel in my brain, coded on the way to the ER, spent a week in ICU and 8 years recovering. I was racing again 4 months after the crash though. My balance still $ucks though.......

Was headed back to race [Vets] this beast last summer till I got sucked back into bicycles......

378250526.jpg
 
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redtreviso said:
and now,, just look at you.. Spend time with Hannah with the Klan in Idaho?

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Nope (you really try my patience with your BS).

BH was in the twilight of his career when I was coming up.

I have some pilot buddies who know him well. I guess he's a bit of a Germaphobe (freakish...) A good pilot tho.... he's friends with Damon Bradshaw (whom I don't know) from what I hear.
 
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Clearly Unstable said:
Awesome man, tell us more.....


I rode/raced [Cat 6 level] Maicos, Huskys and Bultacos back in the stone age. Hell, I never even owned a Japanese bike till a Kawasaki in the late 80's. I grew up on Dirt Bike magazine and MXA.

Hit so feking hard in 1991 I burst a blood vessel in my brain, coded on the way to the ER, spent a week in ICU and 8 years recovering. I was racing again 4 months after the crash though. My balance still $ucks though.......

Was headed back to race [Vets] this beast last summer till I got sucked back into bicycles......

378250526.jpg

When I retired (1987)... that was it for me. I had been riding since i was 7 years old, racing sine I was 13.

How does a heroin addict stop? Not just by doing heroin on the weekends...

I have not ridden a dirt bike since I stopped. Can't do it.
 
May 23, 2010
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Scott SoCal said:
Ok, I'll date myself.

I grew up in the same program at Yamaha Motor Corp with RJ (1979 -1980), Waaaaay before Honda was ever in the picture. I knew Ricky when he wore braces. Remember the term "El Cajon Zone"? (Burnworth, Glover, Johnson, et al).

Saturday Saddleback? Yep, from about 1978 onward.

I used to train with Brian Myerscough although I have not seen him since... 1986 maybe? Raced with Bailey, Glover, O'Mara, Ward, Hannah, Johnson, LaPorte, Chandler (RIP), Cantaloupi, Dubach (teamate), Beier (teamate), Eric Eaton (teamate) from Washington State..... and a bunch of guys I can't even remember.

SoCal CMC, Saddleback, Carlsbad, Golden State Series... SuperX, Nationals... years and years and years of it.

The good news is I can still walk and ride my bike (cycle).

The El Cajon Zone.. The "too cool gotta go" bunch.. What a change for Ricky Johnson to try to un-dooshbag himself at Honda..

I can still cycle..my leg is a bit crooked..challenging cleat issues..one ACL is gone in the same leg..and its my good leg now..I have no talent but I practiced a lot..I quit in 86...rode bicycles..Mx'd some more in 94 95 96. ACL in 94 , huge crisis of confidence..Won a race in 96 (o35) though , got sick quit..I'd be out there tomorrow if someone would drop a CR500af on me.
 
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redtreviso said:
The El Cajon Zone.. The "too cool gotta go" bunch.. What a change for Ricky Johnson to try to un-dooshbag himself at Honda..

I can still cycle..my leg is a bit crooked..challenging cleat issues..one ACL is gone in the same leg..and its my good leg now..I have no talent but I practiced a lot..I quit in 86...rode bicycles..Mx'd some more in 94 95 96. ACL in 94 , huge crisis of confidence..Won a race in 96 (o35) though , got sick quit..I'd be out there tomorrow if someone would drop a CR500af on me.

Well, Honda's were just better back then. They had more money too. Can't blame RJ for that.

Do you remember his most famous nickname (on the back of his JT 'leathers')?

HINT: This nickname has a 'twist' due to a severe injury RJ suffered in 1983.
 
May 23, 2010
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Scott SoCal said:
Nope (you really try my patience with your BS).

BH was in the twilight of his career when I was coming up.

I have some pilot buddies who know him well. I guess he's a bit of a Germaphobe (freakish...) A good pilot tho.... he's friends with Damon Bradshaw (whom I don't know) from what I hear.

awww your poor patience..pretty obnoxious isn't it? to hannity up any subject?

Hannah still hates everyone..It was amusing once..Now his new home is conservatism..I'd rather be stuck having a conversation with Steve Wise.
 
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redtreviso said:
awww your poor patience..pretty obnoxious isn't it? to hannity up any subject?

Hannah still hates everyone..It was amusing once..Now his new home is conservatism..I'd rather be stuck having a conversation with Steve Wise.

Ok. Once again, nice chatting with you.
 
May 23, 2010
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Scott SoCal said:
Well, Honda's were just better back then. They had more money too. Can't blame RJ for that.

Do you remember his most famous nickname (on the back of his JT 'leathers')?

HINT: This nickname has a 'twist' due to a severe injury RJ suffered in 1983.

"too hip" I think..Those were kind of dark years for mx.. Glover and Johnson in particular..and Yamaha..Honda sure wanted a different image. I don't know what was more phony. RJ surely put on a new PR angle. After Bailey got hurt I saw lots of people quit or redefine their priorities..I think the pro scene changed then too..The track owners around here seemed to get more interested in dire consequences type obstacles just when the riders wanted to live to ride another day..
 
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redtreviso said:
"too hip" I think..Those were kind of dark years for mx.. Glover and Johnson in particular..and Yamaha..Honda sure wanted a different image. I don't know what was more phony. RJ surely put on a new PR angle. After Bailey got hurt I saw lots of people quit or redefine their priorities..I think the pro scene changed then too..The track owners around here seemed to get more interested in dire consequences type obstacles just when the riders wanted to live to ride another day..

Too Hip is correct. He crashed in '83 separating his hip... and became 'One Hip' for a short time.

Bailey getting hurt was the beginning of the end for me.
 
May 23, 2010
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Scott SoCal said:
Too Hip is correct. He crashed in '83 separating his hip... and became 'One Hip' for a short time.

Bailey getting hurt was the beginning of the end for me.

I started riding bicycles because of David Bailey..I think I read that he rode 80miles a day and then did 4 motos..I didn't ride much until after I broke my leg though....I bet the racers the next year were cut by a forth.(remember semis in sx?).I don't remember if chandler was hurt before that or after, that was different though...If David Bailey can get hurt------. There was a guy named Roy Shellenburger that raced where I did and he got landed on at Daytona a few years later and broke his back. He wrote an open letter in cycle news to his mother thanking her for taking him back into her home....That broke my $$s
He was past his prime and I knew some others ready to quit that got hurt permanently..
 
May 17, 2010
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I was at the Livermore Trans-Am race when DeCoster's forks broke off. I was at Hangtown 76 when the Hurricane won his first national on the OW Yamaha with the radiator mounted behind the number plate. And being a NorCal guy I remember seeing Magoo at all of the local races when he was an up and coming phenom.
Present day. In the 250 class we have Eli Tomac. If anyone knows who his dad is that is definitely a bicycling connection.
BTW, I took this nick right when Chandler passed. Major props to '82 500 world champion Brad Lackey for all that he did to help Magoo prior to his passing.
 
May 23, 2010
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magoo34 said:
I was at the Livermore Trans-Am race when DeCoster's forks broke off. I was at Hangtown 76 when the Hurricane won his first national on the OW Yamaha with the radiator mounted behind the number plate. And being a NorCal guy I remember seeing Magoo at all of the local races when he was an up and coming phenom.
Present day. In the 250 class we have Eli Tomac. If anyone knows who his dad is that is definitely a bicycling connection.
BTW, I took this nick right when Chandler passed. Major props to '82 500 world champion Brad Lackey for all that he did to help Magoo prior to his passing.

I was at Lake Whitney in 74 or 75 for the Trans Am..Adolf Weil won..Muddy..DeCoster had about 5 japanese mechanics.. Between motos they took the forks apart , replaced the shocks and the pipe..put a new piston in. New tires of course.. Looked like lots of things were only used less than 1 hour. Top American was the big thing back then.. Yay Marty Smith got 7th place!!!! etc

Tomac had the fastest lap in the lites last saturday..
 
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magoo34 said:
I was at the Livermore Trans-Am race when DeCoster's forks broke off. I was at Hangtown 76 when the Hurricane won his first national on the OW Yamaha with the radiator mounted behind the number plate. And being a NorCal guy I remember seeing Magoo at all of the local races when he was an up and coming phenom.
Present day. In the 250 class we have Eli Tomac. If anyone knows who his dad is that is definitely a bicycling connection.
BTW, I took this nick right when Chandler passed. Major props to '82 500 world champion Brad Lackey for all that he did to help Magoo prior to his passing.


That's funny. The first pro MX race I ever spectated was the Trans-Am at Saddleback in 1976. After a brief battle with Billy Grossi at the beginning of both motos DeCoster checked out and just smoked everyone.

Danny LaPorte won the 'support' class (250cc).

If I wasn't hooked before, I certainly was after that.
 
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redtreviso said:
I was at Lake Whitney in 74 or 75 for the Trans Am..Adolf Weil won..Muddy..DeCoster had about 5 japanese mechanics.. Between motos they took the forks apart , replaced the shocks and the pipe..put a new piston in. New tires of course.. Looked like lots of things were only used less than 1 hour. Top American was the big thing back then.. Yay Marty Smith got 7th place!!!! etc

Tomac had the fastest lap in the lites last saturday..

The Lites Main was very a good race. Thrilling for the first 12 laps or so.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n97_ssMAo0
 
May 23, 2010
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Oh yea mountain bike dude..that's a cool shock you got there..I've never seen anything like it..Mountain bikes have given so much high technology to the world..sigh

DSC05490.364182533.jpg
 
May 17, 2010
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I remember when the Fox brothers opened their first tiny shop on McGlincey lane is Campbell, CA. They were making trick stuff for CZ's and the like. Maybe 73-74?
 
May 23, 2010
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magoo34 said:
I remember when the Fox brothers opened their first tiny shop on McGlincey lane is Campbell, CA. They were making trick stuff for CZ's and the like. Maybe 73-74?

I don't know about fox, but I remember some finned shock bodies that were being made before anything got forward mounted with the bodies upside down.
Maybe they weren't even bodies but just a set of fins that fit over the bottom of the shock. I think there was a CZ shop along the lines of Wheelsmith Maico.
I don't remember.
 
May 24, 2010
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magoo34 said:
I remember when the Fox brothers opened their first tiny shop on McGlincey lane is Campbell, CA. They were making trick stuff for CZ's and the like. Maybe 73-74?

My old man had a 68 250 twin port CZ many moons ago which he bought a very early, recon'd set of Fox Air Shocks, from memory they were great at the start of a race but as they warmed the action became harsher and harsher. Interesting thread this has become, I remember having a huge poster of Brad Lackey on a 500cc Honda flying out of the Gravity Cavity at Unadilla, adorned my wall for years that did.

I also remember listening to one of the US riders riding 250 GPs in the mid to late 70's comparing Unadilla to a track in Scotland at Kilmartin in Argyll. The hills at Kilmartin were almost vertical in parts and the racing was incredible. Unfortunately the German rider Willi Bauer was paralysed after crashing from one of those jumps.
 
May 23, 2010
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Siriuscat said:
My old man had a 68 250 twin port CZ many moons ago which he bought a very early, recon'd set of Fox Air Shocks, from memory they were great at the start of a race but as they warmed the action became harsher and harsher. Interesting thread this has become, I remember having a huge poster of Brad Lackey on a 500cc Honda flying out of the Gravity Cavity at Unadilla, adorned my wall for years that did.

I also remember listening to one of the US riders riding 250 GPs in the mid to late 70's comparing Unadilla to a track in Scotland at Kilmartin in Argyll. The hills at Kilmartin were almost vertical in parts and the racing was incredible. Unfortunately the German rider Willi Bauer was paralysed after crashing from one of those jumps.

I didn't know Willi Bauer was paralyzed. The list is long I'm afraid..I've noticed this year that many of the sx riders have stopped wearing those neck braces..Almost the whole field had them last year..
 
Oct 22, 2010
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I don't even see how people can ride today what with all the "protective" gear/braces they're wearing. Damm boots today have as much feel as a pair of ski boots...........

I remember moving the shocks forward on my Bultaco Pursang following an article in either Dirt Bike or Motocross Action magazine. Until I got some Fox shocks the stock shocks would fade in 1 minute. Can you say endo?
 
May 24, 2010
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Stiff feckin boots cost me my ACL first time.

We had been laying out our circuit for the Scottish Champs round earlyish 80s. I had my trials boots on, though not as stiff as MX boots they are stiff enough to cause damage. Had a hurl on my mates splitting new KX250 and I'd done about three or four laps and came into a VERY tight left hand hairpin caught my toes and instead of my ankle flexing my knee twisted round far too many degrees, ACL popped!! Bike was fast as .... though!!
 
May 17, 2010
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I owned a 1974 Yamaha YZ250A. In 1976 when the long travel craze wasin full bloom I had a fellow by the name of Keith Bontrager (who was working out of the Protopype shop in Campbell) do a very nice lay down job on the rear shocks to bump the rear travel up to seven inches.

Little did I know that those first YZ's would be highly sought after when the vintage scene got wound up. I do not know what the market is now but I had heard that nice original bikes were fetching 8-10K with the more rare
360 versions going for 10-12K.
 
May 23, 2010
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magoo34 said:
I owned a 1974 Yamaha YZ250A. In 1976 when the long travel craze wasin full bloom I had a fellow by the name of Keith Bontrager (who was working out of the Protopype shop in Campbell) do a very nice lay down job on the rear shocks to bump the rear travel up to seven inches.

Little did I know that those first YZ's would be highly sought after when the vintage scene got wound up. I do not know what the market is now but I had heard that nice original bikes were fetching 8-10K with the more rare
360 versions going for 10-12K.

Do you remember when the early YZs had the airbox on top of the back fender?
I've never seen a vintage yz with that setup but a bunch of them around 73 were like that.
 
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magoo34 said:
I owned a 1974 Yamaha YZ250A. In 1976 when the long travel craze wasin full bloom I had a fellow by the name of Keith Bontrager (who was working out of the Protopype shop in Campbell) do a very nice lay down job on the rear shocks to bump the rear travel up to seven inches.

Little did I know that those first YZ's would be highly sought after when the vintage scene got wound up. I do not know what the market is now but I had heard that nice original bikes were fetching 8-10K with the more rare
360 versions going for 10-12K.


Great story about Bontrager.

It's kind of strange. I knew Jim Felt when he was Johnny O'Mara's mechanic. Sheesh, now look at him...
 

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