Great early MX riders

Ahh, a little dose of pre-mix racing fuel in the tank and just sniff the air, mmmmmmm, remember it well.

 

My God, nothing like pushing down to the starting line, warming up the bike, sizing up the competition. Exciting, the air filled with 2 stroke sound and smell... I hope those days are not behind me. That is goooood stuff.

 

I remember the way the spectators looked at me and a few other riders that would walk the track before practice. I also remember the difference that discovering something about the track surface might really help with. It would usually give us several different lines through each corner. Then going back as the mechanic pushed the bike to the line and we got to try it for the first time. Sometimes the lines worked and sometimes they did NOT......I really miss the excitement of getting ready for the ride. Sometimes it was as much fun as the racing was......Sometimes, but not very often. And looking down the starting line seeing the other riders inching forward, hitting and blipping the throttle, setting the rear tire in its groove, hands on the bars with a finger or two grasping the clutch lever........Oh man, do I miss that........

 

Here are some more photos of the early pioneers. Arguably the real pioneer of American MX was Torsten Hallman. In 1966 Edison Dye wanted to start Husqvarna Motorcycles into the US and brought over 3 time world champion Torsten Hallman for 8 races. He won all 8, 4 of which were MX. The next year Edison brought in six more riders including Roger Decoster and Joel Robert.

1. Torsten Hallman book cover
2. Torsten Hallman with Yamaha that he rode to win the first World Grand Prix points in 1971.
3. Torsten Hallman autograph photo. World champion '62, '63, 66 and '67
4. Torsten Hallman in the mid 60's
5. Torsten Hallman with lever-shock Husqvarna
6.Rolf Tibblin 250 world champion in '62 and '63.
7. Heiki Mikkola, 250 world champ in '76 and 500 world champ in '79.
8. Bengt Aberg, 500 world champ in '69 and '70 on a Husky
9. Roger Decoster beginning the Carlsbad downhill
10. MX excitement, I mean, starting line
11. John Desoto.......
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The first time I met DeCoster I had to tell him how much I respected him and the guys from his era, and that they were "real men". Two 45 plus 2 motos on air cooled low tech iron is impressive to me all day long. Modern bikes are so easy to ride, and are so perfect right out of the showroom.
Some pics, bikes considered to be antiques now:
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Damn, I love 2 strokes. At one point, I owned a Yamaha Vee Four. This was a V4, 500cc, 2 stoke that wasn't completely legal in the US. Great Gawd Awlmighty! That sumofagum could really run.

Dale

 

45 minutes plus 2 laps. I remember them well. When we had little suspension travel it would pump your forearms so much that they would pump up to the point that your hands would actually lock on the grips at the end of the moto and until you really got into shape. You are right about the old bikes being harder to ride. I rode one of the newer showroom stock bikes a couple of years ago that was so easy to ride I could not believe it. It was also much higher tech than the old factory bikes we rode. It is just like the new crotch rockets could run circles around the factory bikes of just 5 years ago. Amazing.

I wonder how good the old riders would have been on the new bikes. Can you imagine Torsten Hallman, Adolf Weil or DeCoster on the new bikes. Or John Desoto. I bet they could have put some of the new hotshots on the trailer.............

1. Me on the KX250 at the Carlsbad downhill in the early 70's. Look at the fork and rear shock travel distance.......
2. Adolf Weil working on his Maico in the pits.
3. Torsten Hallman in action.......
4. Torsten Hallman on old lever action fork Husqvarna.
5. John Desoto-The Hawaiian
6. "The King", Roger Decoster....
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I think this would be considered an antique also.

1976 Kawasaki KX250A
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I wish I had a picture but don't. I had a 1973 Yamaha SC500. 2-stroke with hellacious power and a trip hammer power band like the most peaky 125. Rounded out by excess weight and an awful suspension. I used to desert race it at 100MPH and still wake up at night thanking God I'm not there anymore. It was crazy fast with agility of a SCUD missle.

 

Recall Greeves, Sachs/DKW w/leading link forks. Cool on a Husky - Ceriani shocks up front, too?

 

Let me help you out here.
Voted #7 on the 10 worst dirt bikes of all time. Shook its steering head like a wet dog coming out of a pool of water and bounced the rear like it was on hinges. Liked to seize up regularly and detonated badly. I think the only thing it did right was not leak around the gas cap......:>)
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Thanks for the tortuous memory and photograph. I started laughing. I forgot about the reliability. The terror of riding it made you welcome when it was seized up. I used to buy pistons by the 6 pack and got so refined at changing them I could swap a new piston, rings and wrist pin in about 45 minutes.

I also forgot about its love of the high speed wobbles. Out of no where it would just start shaking its head faster and faster. Scary to think others are worse. Do you have the list?

 

He was Dave DeSpain's "Last call" of the evening. He's promoting a DVD that just came out on the New Orleans Supercross circa 1975. Dang if I can't remember the name of it. Maybe its mentioned on Speed's link to DeSpain's show.

In the early 1970s, Florida tracks hosted the Winter-Am series for touring pros. Had Rich Thorwalden & his family come to the house for dinner. These guys were racing for the passion of it, certainly not for the money. No hotel money, just affordable campgrounds.

Having a 175 Ossa at the time, I was a big Barry Higgins fan.

Surprised no one has mentioned Joel Robert! (Jo-el Row-bear).

KevFla

 

Joel Robert was incredible. To your point, I did some practice laps with Mark Blackwell right after he signed with Husky. He was so smooth and so fast in the open class I'm still amazed. That was in Lafayette, Colorado which is about as far from fame as you can get.

Which brings back and early Husky memory. My Husky 250 was 1 up and three down. Pee'd lots of premix out the Amal carb and had a countershaft sprocket that wasn't keyed so it would spin on the output shaft if not on there just right. The bike required Loctite Red by the pint.

 

I can't believe I left him off the list. He is mentioned in another MX thread I did a while back. He was so popular when he was riding for Suzuki in the World Championship series that people would actually go out on the track and lay down in front of other riders sometimes to attempt to give him more of an edge. He did not need more of an edge.



1. Joel Robert about 1971
2. Rich Thorwaldson 1973 or 1974
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I raced with Rich (Thorwaldson) back in the days I got to ride for Kawa. He was a super guy. My contract gave me two practice bikes, two race bikes, 125 and 250, a box truck for hauling them, driver/mechanic, expenses and got to keep my winnings with a very small stipend to help out. You had to love it to do it. I had another job that had me working from 7am to 4pm Monday through Friday and off on Saturday and Sundays. I could work out and practice everyday during week and leave on Friday evenings for the tracks. If it was very far, the truck would leave on Thursday and I would fly out to meet it. If within 500 miles or so I would ride out with it on Fridays.........
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Rich was a veteran motorcycle racer by the early 70's. He had experience flat tracking, MX and then on to road racing. He had a very successful career in the 70's and when he left MX he started Thor Racing and provided swingarms for most of the professional teams at the time. Rich had a road racing accident in 2004 and passed away on Sunday, June 20, 2004. He was 54 at the time. His friends all miss him........

Below are some shots of his multi-faceted career and his love for family.


1. Close up of Rich
2. Young Rich as a flat tracker
3. Rich during the mid 70's riding MX.
4. Rich as road racer
5. Rich and son Richard Jr. on a Maico
6. Rich and family at the races..........
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Some more photos of Joel Robert, ex-world champion.

1. Joel Robert sideways, a view common to many riders he had passed....
2. Joel tearing it up.......like normal
3. Joel as world champion
4. Joel and Roger D.
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This thread made my day!!! I raced in the late 1960's through about 1976 (I quit about the time of the early stages of long travel suspensions). I was never very good but had some fun, won a bunch of trophies (I never raced for money) that are still stashed in my mothers attic (I hope), and rode some cool bikes. Sadly, all my pictures are buried somewhere (probably with my trophies) but I wanted to include the list of bikes I owned and raced (not in order because I can't remember!)

1. Hodaka 100 (Big chrome tank and red frame, was that called the Super Rat?)
2. CZ 125 (yes a 125. Slow as Christmas. If I remember correctly, the 125 was built on the 250 frame and bottom end). This thing had a twin plug head, the old steel coffin tank (with the polished steel band down the center) and that great (?!) CZ transmission with about 4 inches of shift travel between gears. The upside to that transmission was during a hand on helmet start. On a CZ, you could just hold the throttle open and jam it into gear (who needs a clutch?) Also, the carb (was it Jikov or something like that?) that H. Ford turned down for the Model T as it was archaic even then. I put a 34 Mikuni on it and a Bassani pipe and I'm certain it had atleast 15 HP (sadly, because it was built on 250cc parts, it was still about 20HP shy).
3. Honda Elsinore 125: The most fun I ever had racing. This was one of the original silver tank Elsinores, it weighed about 175 pounds and you could literally grab the tank with your knees and move the bike anywhere you wanted to go.
4. Maico 250: This wasn't an "AW" (Adolf Weil), it had a big yellow tank (with a red stripe diagonal across it) and was an early long travel bike which meant Koni shocks mounted half way up the swing arm. Also this bike didn't have the accordian covers on the forks. Without a doubt, the best handling, easiest to ride MX bike ever. Undersquare engine, loads of torque, and I prayed for rain every time I raced it. The oriental bikes of the time (YZ250, etc...) were so fast but you had to have reflexes of a cat to race them in sloppy conditions.
5. Yamaha YZ250: One of the early silver tank (with the straps holding it on). This bike took 10 years off my life, it scared me constantly. Powerband like a 125 Elsinore, just twice as much of it, and very little handling. I got the aformentioned Maico after this Yamaha and it (the Maico) was like riding (driving) a Rolls.

In closing, thanks for jarring me into remembering some of this fun time in life. I'll jump in this thread a little later, I have to tell a story about riding a friends Suzuki TM400 (yes, that grand orange tanked wonder).

Jimmy

 

Cool, where did you race? Maybe I raced at one of the races you did.

Rode a orange tank TM400? And you survived the pogo stick suspension? Talk about torque.............It could jumpstart the Earth to begin spinning again if it ever stopped.

 

James,
I raced all around the southeast (NC,SC,VA,GA). Closest I got to your level was racing the support class at the Trans AMA (Road Atlanta), the year Adolf Weil won all the races on essentially a stock Maico 400 (I think it was 1973). Oh yeah, I didn't finish last! However, last was in sight!!!

Since this thread was about great riders and not my rides of the era, here's my list, in no particular order:

Joel Robert
Malcolm Smith
Brad Lackey
Jim Weinert
Jim Pomeroy
Adolf Weil
Jaroslav Falta (had to get a long time CZer in there!)
Heikki Mikkola (sic?)
All the Martys

Funny the stuff I remembered as I was writing this. There was this guy here in Charlotte from Ireland or someplace like that (back in the early 1970's) named Gordon Bowden. He worked for the local Yamaha store and was a great MX rider, smooth as glass and very quick. I never raced against him (he rode pro class) so I got to watch him alot. There was a pack of great riders around here back then, one of my favorites was a guy named Jim Rymer (sic?), he rode, very quickly I might add...an AJS!

Finally, a good friend of mine had a Suzuki TM400 (Orange tank). Wasn't the official name of the bike the TM400 Cyclone? Anyway, Vernon and I were out at an old abandanded MX track on Nations Ford Rd. here in Charlotte, Vernon with the TM400 and I think I had the CZ at the time. So, I take the Suzuki around the track (gingerly), the reputation of the TM was already mythical. I'm going through some whoops in 3rd gear and the back end of this thing starts going everywhere. I believe this particular TM had the much sought after hinge between the gas tank and the seat. So, through some miracle, this bike does NOT swap ends and I make through the rest of my ONE and only lap ever on a TM400. The amazing thing was that Vernon had no fear of the bike and could ride it like it was a Maico, craziest thing I've ever seen.

James, thanks again for the re-kindling of these great memories. I'll check in often to this thread, I'm sure everyone has a lifetime of good benchracing to catch up on!

Jimmy

PS. Someone mentioned the "smell" of 2 strokes back then. That made me smile, that sweet smell of Castrol bean oil when I first started and then Bel-Ray and stuff like that later.

 

I think I have photos of all the guys you name in threads here somewhere. John Desoto is the one I remember saying about the TM400, yes Cyclone, being the worlds hardest to ride MX bike of all time and the one that could restart the Earth to turning with its torque. That thing would throw you from side to side until the rear tire passed you and you ended up doing a famous "Flying W".

I raced mostly areas close to Texas except for a few trips to California, Ohio, Louisiana and Atlanta. I raced out of the Kawasaki Central region and rode just select races. I did not get to follow the whole tour, just the ones that encompassed Central. I did not get to ride in a same moto with Adolf Weil but did get to mix it up with a few other riders who were National champs at the time or went on to be Champion. Raced with Gary Jones, Kent Howerton, Marty Tripes, Tony Distefano, Marty Smith, Brad Lackey, Rich Thorwaldson, Jim Weinert and Pierre Karsmakers. And, of course, my friend and MX school teacher, Wyman Priddy. They all smoked me. Only a couple of top ten finishes.

Like some of the riders you name, not all the really good riders got a factory ride and had to ride privateer and limit their involvement due to the cost of following the circuit. I remember Danny Weir from west Texas who could hang with any of them on his near stock Honda Elsinore 250. Also Jody Foust from Fort Worth on a CZ and Donnie Ward from Odessa, Texas on a Maico. He went on to ride for the Honda factory enduro team. Danny got some help from Western Kawasaki, a local dealer, who were able to get him a Weinert frame and factory support on the engines. He was really smooth and could beat anyone he faced in the Texas area but had to limit where he raced. He finished top ten in the Superdome one year. He represented the US one year in an attempt to bring MX to Mexico and joined 4 other US riders who raced 4 races in Mexico against the Mexico team. He won two of those races, broke in one and finished I believe 4th in the other. If he had ever gotten full factory support I believe he could have been one of those who came out as pioneers in early MX.

1. Brad Lackey at Lake Whitney in 1970
2. Adolf Weil in 1970
3. Decoster at Carlsbad
4. Jody Weisel in the center of the photo racing at Mossier Valley in Euless, Texas in the early 70's. I am on his inside at the apex of the turn on the KX250 Kawasaki with the white stripe on the tank. My friend Danny Weir is eyeing the opening between Jody and myself and is about to pass us before the next turn. He is on a 250 Elsinore just behind Jody....
5. CZ 1965
6. Adolf Weil working on his own bike.
7. Your old ride, Hodaka Super Rat
8. Bring back memories of looking down the line......
9. Hakan Carlqvist 1979 250 World Champion.
10. My KX250 race ready.....
11.Heikki Mikkola
12. Jaroslav Falta CZ
13. Texas rider Steve Stackable
14. Vlastimil Valek
15. Me taking the line on Rony Distefano at the 1973 Lake Whitney Nationals
16. Me taking the Carlsbad downhill
17. Marty Tripes pressing a CR125 Honda
18. TM400 Orange tank
19. Dangerous bike TM400
20. TM400 using torque to shower a real rooster tail
21. MX, the cleanest sport around.
22. Wyman Priddy riding a berm.......
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And Wyman teaching the correct way to miss a berm.....And he walked away.....
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Both my collarbones just cracked in response to that picture. The photo of those Yamaha 500's at the top of the page reminded me of something. The rims with the ridges in them, you know, the ridges that would fill with mud and make a front wheel weigh as much as the front forks. My CZ125 had those rims, I swear after some mud races (good old North Carolina red clay), I think that CZ weighed 300 pounds. I personally kept quarter car washes around NC in business for years!

Jimmy

 

Akronts? Think a "mud-less" version showed early-70's some time. DIDs were another early ridge-free alt.