Joe Kid on a Moto-Bike

My Yamaha Moto-Bike, circa 74?

Never forget your roots, they say… OK, I’m a child of the 70’s, and back then bicycles were as big a part of my life as they are today. We’d always be out riding, building tracks and jumps, and tinkering with our Dragsters, stripping them down to emulate our motocross heroes, with varying results.

All these memories came flooding back on the weekend when I watched Joe Kid on a Stingray, a documentary on the history of BMX. What a great film. It was like looking into my own childhood. The bikes, the riders, the bad hair, it was my life right there on the big screen. Even if you weren’t around in the 70s, or have never ridden a BMX bike, this film is really worth checking out. No hi-tech equipment, no extreme attitudes, just kids riding their bikes and having a blast. Exactly how it should be.

And it seems those guys in the movie weren’t the only ones guilty of shocking 70s fashion crimes, and here’s the awful proof.

Actually, I think I’m lookin’ pretty damn sharp there. Check out those oh-so-tight shorts, matched beautifully with the white and brown floral motif shirt, complemented by the floral motif sissy-bar pad. Look how much bling is adorning my ride though… chrome fenders and chainguard, triple-barrel air horn, 3-speed stick-shift, twin headlights (dunno why I needed those, would never have been riding at night!), chrome front rack, whitewall tyres and white brake and gear cable housing. At one stage I was flying a Jolly Roger flag on the back, too! Then it all got stripped down to nothing, re-sprayed, and thrashed till it died.

Then in about 74 or 75, along came the Yamaha MotoBike. Pimpin, bitchin, stylin! But still I’d tinker with it. I was trying to extract more travel from the twin shocks at the rear by crudely adding those aluminium struts between the top shock mounts and the frame. I think they were probably from some window frames or something, as my dad was in that game at the time. How I never died riding it in that configuration I’ll never know. The fork ‘boots’ were some old plastic piping I found up at the old dump where we used to ride, and I mustn’t have had enough to make two the right length, judging by the pic. The shock struts weren’t on there for long, as I probably realised that they weren’t adding any travel, only increasing the chances of my premature death. Either that or I couldn’t climb aboard the bloody thing without a ladder.

My mate Scotty had one of these bikes as well, and bought another a few years back apparently, which is sitting rusting in his garage today. He proferred this information via email:

Yammys came out 74-76. I had a type A, standard seat, forged lower front forks, yellow. Type B had banana seat, silver looking fork lowers and a crank with 3 spider arms. Type C had banana seat and one piece bmx style cranks. I have a rusty 1975ish MotoBike in the shed, not my original bike picked it up a few years ago. Not totally original, but what is 30 years on? I thought you’d appreciate that piece of crappy trivia…”

Ok, now I’ve embarrassed myself, it’s your turn… let’s see those seminal machines and fashion crimes from your formative cycling years.

Brett

Don't blame me

Next Not Forgotten: Jon Lennard, aka @itburns »

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View Comments

Daccordi Rider says:

Aug 11 2014 at 6:34 pm

I had a Malvern Star Dragster, mid 70's into the 80's. Mine was a budget model, no t-bar shifter but I could get it round a BMX track just fine. I lusted over a Redline or Diamondback but the old dragster just wouldn't die no matter what I did to it. Then I went off to boarding school, we moved and the bike disappeared. Shame really. A quick search of the interwebs doesn't reveal a photo that matches my memory of that bike.
Rom says:

Aug 11 2014 at 11:05 pm

This was my first bike that I got for my 9th birthday. It started life as a purple dragster and later received modifications including low rise handlebars and 28" forks, with optional 20" or 28" front wheel. Poor landing skills off jumps resulted in premature failure of the forks.

I also had the front wheel fail to stay attached to the bike while riding hands free over speed bumps. There was a lovely double row of divots in the road after that.

Come the BMX craze the bike got a rattle can respray and BMX forks, Al bars, Cr-Mo seatpost with colour matched components.
brett says:

Aug 12 2014 at 4:37 am

@american psycho

Here's me in the classic pose circa 1971. I needed the driveway bump to get the front wheel up.

Like the author this bike was modded to a BMX (bars, paint, tires) and ridden until thrashed (head tube split).

We used to make a jump off the dock at Lake Wilderness and practice table-topping into the water. Also many variations of flaming gaps were created (ala Evel Knievel).

Worst crash ever happend when the front wheel ejected mid-air.

This is so archetypal 70s style!
brett says:

Aug 12 2014 at 4:40 am

@Owen

And this... well, let's just say dad has got it goin on fashion wise, he's mixed about five different looks into one and somehow pulls it off. Kinda 'casual deliberate accountant hiker '.
brett says:

Aug 12 2014 at 4:42 am

@Rob

My friends were on more basic stuff and it made me feel not so bad ass but now seeing Brett's ride I'm back to feeling good about myself!

Thanks for the memories @all, sorry I have no images but Brett you get the macho man of the year for the confidence you show in posting what has to be the best of the 70"²s for the pre tween set!

Thanks"½
sthilzy says:

Aug 12 2014 at 5:08 am

Thanks brett for the long trip back down memory lane!

I thought 'sissy bars' were for your sister to hang on to! pic ~1977

Those front guards ended up touching the downtube via the forks copping gutter stops.

I thought my bike was cool until one kid in the court got a Dragster with 3-speed T shift and his was fitted with a speedo! Only got to ride it once thanks to my Dad giving the kid a talk on sharing. I was a awesome ride. Still recall the tic-tic-tic sound when shifted in 3rd.

Funny though, earlier this year I acquired a dragster frame with some rusted chrome bits. One day I'll get around to restoring it.
brett says:

Aug 12 2014 at 5:08 am

@Harminator

A couple of years of scrimping and saving later I coaxed my parents into matching my $150 and went all in for a Supermax cromo. Like this, but with a chain...

Or brakes? Man, that is a sweet looking machine. Kashimax seat, Oakley grips... Tuffs! I had a green Cobra BMX with yellow Tuff IIs, but always lusted after a PK Ripper, OM Flyer or Quad Angle (in team baby blue/brown, naturally). The SE Racing riders always were a bit edgy, even to a 14yo. Watching the movie, I now see that they were more than a bit fucked up (well, the OM anyway).

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KW says:

Aug 12 2014 at 5:21 am

Also not mine, but the first bike I remember was the classic Schwinn Scrambler with the awesome yellow mag wheels. Heavy as all get out, but pretty indestructible. I rode that bike everywhere, jumped it off anything, and crashed it all over the place when I was a kid.

There really isn't much that beats the freedom of a kid on a bike.
Owen says:

Aug 12 2014 at 11:56 am

@brett Well, he was a GC at the time, and my mother assures me he was very hip, so maybe that had something to do with it. General Contractor, don't get your hopes up. I believe I still have that vest. He still dresses casually deliberate, with holey sweaters, old t-shirts, and unkempt hair.
brett says:

Aug 12 2014 at 1:53 pm

@KW

There really isn't much that beats the freedom of a kid on a bike.

Or an adult, for that matter. Maybe if more got on a bike every now and then, they'd be less stressed and not trying to run us over in their cars.