OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => General Discussion => Topic started by: Hoony on January 22, 2016, 12:50:54 pm
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going though some stuff the other day and found my trophy for my first Open race. i had done 1 or 2 club Mx's back in very late 70's (1979 i think).
for me it was the Hotly contested (3 rider ;) ) 1982 Kinkuna Festival "Fourstroke class" hosted by the Lakes Entrance Club in Victoria. i never really had a desire to race at all before this meeting but as my mates were going i got a Licence and entered on my 1980 Yamaha TT250G "the first one" ( it was an evil handling slow bloody thing looking back now). anyway i went 1st, dnf (mechanical failure), 1st for 2nd place overall on what was a great track and one of my all time favorites.
That was it i was hooked!
for the next 12 years i did every race meeting i could in MX, enduro's, dirt track, MX sidecar (passenger on Norton 850 & Yamaha 880 twins and rider on KTM540), Desert races, Speedway solo (Weslake Mk IV). Then i bought a house had a few lean years out of racing but still rode and then a come back to VMX in 2003.
I have met life long mates in this sport and had the best time ever. would do it all again in a flash.
What is your experience.
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I raced "mini bikes" for quite a few years - a CR125 Red Devil until 16 - then had a go at seniors on a 250 in 78 - couldn't of timed it better for the bike ;D Raced at Sandford in Tassie and was shite scared coz all these blokes were serious and not the local bike club. Well made some serious passes, had an absolute ball and finished mid pack against all these more experienced guys!!! Kept racing until 82 when we moved interstate - have been on and off in VMX (because of work) for 11 years now and love it with a passion.
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ravenswood mx track 1980 on a borrowed RM125s held a firm grip on second last place. had one more mx after that (it was more of an xc at Benalla) and realised I wasn't any good so gave it away until 1983 when I went enduro riding...Now were talkin, ended up with a gold medal at the bert flood event in 1985
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I can't remember exactly which qualified as my first "Open" race.
Was it the "Orchy 500" at Failford Park - always hot early Jan?
Orange "Fruit Drink" was as close to "energy drink" as we got in the 1980's
(Why, oh why didn't I "invent" Red Bull?? :-[
I do remember clearly the Sydney SX in 1981- the first at the show ground I believe. One of my early open meetings. I wish I had a picture. Just one!
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Port Augusta 1978 40 deg c, drank milk threw up in my helmet got 3rd and won a dollar
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1969 at Christmas Hills, Bultaco 125, Hartwell Club, my Father who is in his 90's remembers that I fell off in every race, not much has changed... ::)
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Pearcedale I think it was run by Frankston MCC. Hot and dusty. TM 125 C grade. I remember riding through irrigation ditches I think they were. I think I finished midfield in all my races. I just remember the thrill of the start and going for the first corner. J
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I Agree Jerry that run to the first corner is what its all about to me, what a rush as everyone sorts themselves out.
Imagine a race meeting where you only do the first 4 corners of a track then line up to do it again 3 more times straight after that.
it's what an adrenaline junkie needs ;)
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My first race (club day, not open event) was on a YZ80D.
Wide eyed newbie, lined up bar to bar behind the big rubber band start.
Slightly uphill, into a right hander, Lake Macquarie.
Remember it like, er, other "firsts" in a young mans life. ???
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My first, 1975 Frankston Open meeting at Ballarto Rd (Carrum Downs, Vic), TM125L in Sub Juniors (then 14 to 16 yo).
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I Agree Jerry that run to the first corner is what its all about to me, what a rush as everyone sorts themselves out.
Imagine a race meeting where you only do the first 4 corners of a track then line up to do it again 3 more times straight after that.
it's what an adrenaline junkie needs ;)
that's an enduro right there, 4,568 first corners.....
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Ballarto Rd in 75 John I think you and I must have been at the same event.J
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Was the open meeting in January at Failford Park know as Summer cross ???
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Now I think about it my first ever race was a "Mini Bike Carnival" at the old Box Hill Gasworks in about 1973. Mixture of gravel and concrete. I remember my race number was 69 and I got a second and won a pair of goggles. J
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My first meeting in AU was the night MX in Avalon . Was quite a buzz to run under lights and race against pairings I never met before . Sure Hoony would remember that one .
Yep sure do, and it was a Night MX (not supercross) i rode that one too. was it 1982? i seem to think i saw leisk and Mike Landman on 1981 CR's 125 and 250RB models? maybe my memory is going it was many Beers ago !
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1970 Bill Patterson rally at Wallan on a SL70. 1972 first race Sub Juniors 14-16 yrs at Barrabool on a KTM Sachs 125. Graduated to Opens at Ballarto Rd Frankston track 1974 on a Maico 250 and also swung for Russell Bergmier on his dad's 500cc Triumph Wasp. Gee wish I could do 4 practices 3 solo races and 3 sidecar races today. (3 laps sees me out) Looks like a few of us were at Ballarto Rd that day.
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First ever MX. 1973 or 74 at a place called Jackson Farm in Wainuiomata just outside Wellington, NZ.
Any other Kiwis remember Jackson Farm?
It was the first school boy MX in the area. I raced my Suzuki TS90MX and holeshot the first race then worked my way to the back.
The only difference in my riding style now is I no longer get the holeshot, the rest is the same
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First round of the Kiwi vmx series at Fielding in 2010. Never raced prior to that as I was a trials rider all through my 20s & 30s, now I'm lucky to get more than 1 trial in a year due to work but have done every round of the series since bar 2
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if we go back to the very 1st race ever it was Honda minibike club @ Cavan on a deltec grass grub and carby fell off put it back on and finished the race
I remember the start vividly with the sound of 2/ and 4/ industrial engines reving and smokein rubber band start, some kid tangled in the rubber band (his reward for jumping the start) roaring down the straight into the 1st corner dust, mud and bikes everywhere pached in like sardines all on 5 inch wheels and no suspension on the rear, they were the days!
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My first meeting in AU was the night MX in Avalon . Was quite a buzz to run under lights and race against pairings I never met before . Sure Hoony would remember that one .
Yep sure do, and it was a Night MX (not supercross) i rode that one too. was it 1982? i seem to think i saw leisk and Mike Landman on 1981 CR's 125 and 250RB models? maybe my memory is going it was many Beers ago !
that was my 1st supercross in 1981 rode the RM250X and YZ465H it was so cold you could see steam rise of the rider as the hit the apex on the main jump
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I Agree Jerry that run to the first corner is what its all about to me, what a rush as everyone sorts themselves out.
Imagine a race meeting where you only do the first 4 corners of a track then line up to do it again 3 more times straight after that.
it's what an adrenaline junkie needs ;)
For me too, even now 30+yrs on. I have a brother-in-law that was a good jockey (Caulfield Cup winner) and he shares the same rush when the gates close and the starter mounts the podium....that's what we're there for, the 5sec card and I step on the plate.
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I was a slow learner and never did the minibike thing.
My first race was a club day in 76 but it wasn’t until 79 that I rode in my first open event which was the Mallee Rally
81 would be my first open Enduro
After riding the 81 & 82 Enduro series I was a bit disillusioned with keeping my KLX running for a whole day at a time then near the end of 82 I saw an ad in the Trading post for a 82 CR 250; will trade.
So I handed over $150 and my KLX and was now ready for my MX career.
After many years of practice, club MX and trailriding I turned up to Barrabool at the start of 83 for my first Open MX
Bugger me if there wasn’t a forking huge set of doubles on the track
wasn’t ready for that.
I sat and watched how others were doing it and even the bloody sidecars were clearing it.
Disillusioned I went back to trailriding for a couple of years.
Started a competition comeback in 85 and rode my first Four Day in 86
Remember at riders briefing the feeling of awe at being involved in something so big so didn’t really hear anything they were saying :o
Retired serious competition at the end of 88 due to some health issues but would go on to ride my first Open Trial at Glenmaggie in either 89 or 90
Ironically I rode Traralgon open MX in 90 just to be sociable and had my best finish which was around 7th or 8th in C grade
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"and he shares the same rush when the gates close and the starter mounts the podium...."
I rekon he is just poohing himself wondering what the horse will do next!! bloody gee gee's
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First ever MX. 1973 or 74 at a place called Jackson Farm in Wainuiomata just outside Wellington, NZ.
Any other Kiwis remember Jackson Farm?
It was the first school boy MX in the area. I raced my Suzuki TS90MX and holeshot the first race then worked my way to the back.
The only difference in my riding style now is I no longer get the holeshot, the rest is the same
Hey Brent I was at that very same race at Jacksons farm in 74, I was 13. My Dad, me, my brother and mate next door piled into Mums trusty Kingswood 4 abreast on the bench seat, no seat belts. Yamaha JT1 60 in the back with the seat removed. Never forget the smell of dripping fuel all the way there and back from Otaki. Mum said never again! I remember the Coleman boys on their fancy TM75's and me on my mini enduro with trials tyres. don't know how, but i managed 2 firsts and a second. My next race after that was 40 years later last year on a TM250 but now the finishing positions are reversed :-\ - small world.
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August 14, 1977 14 yrs old at a club day at Ravenswood, YZ80D. Mum sewed a yellow stripe down the leg of a pair of dads old leathers and I used all my saved up pocket money to buy a new Nova helmet complete with Barrafauldi goggles. fair dinkum I thought I was as cool as cat shit !! An intercentre at Ravenswood on September 1977 was a huge meeting. Full pits and a full grid of mini's, holy shit. I can still recall shitting myself on the start line. Bill Dixon was the starter, ( still is). My first open meeting was a VMBA Vic championship at Barrabool in 1979. YZ80E. I have a notebook with all the races I competed in, what I rode and where I finished from 1977 till about 15 years ago. Cant remember why I stopped filling it in, how dumb am I