OzVMX Forum
Clubroom => General Discussion => Topic started by: DJRacing on December 03, 2008, 08:06:16 pm
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After reading a few threads and talks with different people the question of what makes VMX; VMX? The why am I in vmx and what does it mean to me question is a thoughtful reminder of why we do this.
I know why I like vmx, and although the racing of our machines is one aspect that I aspire to do with my limited ability, but it is only one aspect of the sport. I can sit and look at a vmx bike for hours, now I dont know if thats good or bad but it is just something I like doing.
Restoring an old pile of rusted crap is another highlight for me. To be able to give life to something that should've been thrown out with yesterdays newspaper is the ultimate for me. Will at least until race day.
What else does vmx mean to me?
The Greatest era of time in Motocross, when the pace of evolution and experimentation was tops. When at just a glance you knew which make and model bike you were looking at.
To capture that time, that look, that sense of feeling again is to me, VMX. But to have world wide friends all doing the same thing creating a huge network is just amazing, and to relive this by-gone era again with like-minded people just makes this sport(I dont think it is a sport, but more a life style) a better a great exprience than just having an old bike.
To me VMX isnt just about the racing of old vintage motocross bikes, its the whole concept of an era.
What does it mean to you........?
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Bit less TV :)
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Bit less TV :)
Did you say VD ??
Oh thats right, you havnt given Vallie your last name yet,, and I bet you thought I meant something else... ;D
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DJ - you have captured what it means to me in what you have said. I spend hours looking at my resto plotting what to do next, learning how top use a spray gun again etc etc and on it goes. Possibly a mid life crisis for me, but I make no excuses for that.
There are a few aspects to it for me (in no particular order).
1) Bringing an absolute heap of crap back from the dead to as good as or better (noguchi) than new.
2) The thrill of opening up the big 465.
3) Learning to ride a gain after 20 years off dirt bikes.
4) The anticipation of what the current resto is going to be like to ride.
5) The hunt for that special part, especially the last 30 seconds on ebay (curses on you E74 and chubbs 69 whoever you are ;D ;D - we are both going to have half an NOS YZ80H :D :D) and
6) Learning all the skills required to do the resto.
I have imensely enjoyed my journey so far. I look forward to starting racing and honing skills that are undoubtedly limited on a dirt bike.
The saddest part for me is that we can't save them all from the dump :'(
The best part about the whole thing for me though is the friends I have made on here that love the same silly old bikes as me. I look forward to catching up with those blokes and a few new friends at CD6.
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good sides
1) building a mean race out of a heap i dont know about anyone else but the worse the bike i start with the more i wanna fix it :D seriously the time in the shed is always fun
2)once finishing a bike replacing all the stock bits you looked soo hard for with the tricker bits you are looking even harder for
3)the thrill of the hunt finding the bits is half the battle
4) cracking the throttle on a 70s two smoke
5)castor 2 stroke oil ;D (and av gas shhhhh ;))
6) stiiting on the gates with 10-30 other old two somkes making more smoke than 100 cars in a traffic jam
7)the race the older bikes reliy so much more on the riders skill than anything else to go fast
8)occaionly winning a race ;D
bad sides
1)empty beer fridge :D
2)washing the bike after a race :D
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Good on you caps, I forgot to mention the smell of castor 2 stroke. More expensive but worth every cent ;)
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not soo good for the wales but youve gotta indulge sometimes :D
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Heavy weight sidecars !!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) Mix the roar of single, twin ,triple and four cylinder behemoths two and four strokes with the scents, sights and sweaty terror!
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right on about the dump thing to 250h i try to save as many as i can but i gotta draw the line sometimes :(
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Yeah, I'm gunna save a whale by harpooning a Jap ;)
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go two for one we'll reverse the problem 2 japs for every wale :D
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Heavy weight sidecars !!!!!!!!!!!!! ;) Mix the roar of single, twin ,triple and four cylinder behemoths two and four strokes with the scents, sights and sweaty terror!
Tim please no Sidecar terror :D
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Yeah Tim, we are already scared enough ;D ;D
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fuel smell,oily hands,knocked knuckles,talking people,heart pumping,good lines,cute flaggies,sore muscles,running bike,empty esky,empty jerry can,smelly riding gear,ear to ear grins ,clean bikes,full belly, soft bed...................
must of been vmx ;D
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I can mess with my old bikes for untold hours and still never get sick of piecing them together. I do however get sick of messing with the same bike hence I keep adding, bit like a jigsaw, once you've done it it's time for another. Every bike has a story and maybe a little history, some were never popular and others were like rectums with everyone having one ::) some start as bare frames and others came in boxes, very few were puchased outright as going concerns and the ones that were I'd purchased new and kept them what seems like forever. The 70's and early 80's for me were gold 8) I can't help but try to keep the feeling alive and this is the most fun way I know how ;)
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It's something I grew up with, my old man rode and he taught me young how to ride. Money was also tight and he taught how to repair equipment and to take proper care of it. Modern bikes leave me cold, overpriced junk, if they break you can't fix them trackside and most people I know can't use all that suspension. VMX bikes ride and run because of what the owner has put into them. When I ride another person's VMX machine I can tell that the bike has it's own personality but a new Honda or KTM they all feel the same. Owning a VMX also puts me in an elite group of professionals that rival the SAS and Green
Berets in phyiscal toughness, Many try but few master the technique of straddling a spanish bike and kick starting with their left foot. The mx battlefields of the past are littered with the defeated souls who got the hole shot, stalled the their steed and lost because the had to dismount and kick with their right foot. ;D
P.S. I'm not really handicapped, I'm just in it for the parking.
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I can mess with my old bikes for untold hours and still never get sick of piecing them together. I do however get sick of messing with the same bike hence I keep adding, bit like a jigsaw, once you've done it it's time for another. Every bike has a story and maybe a little history, some were never popular and others were like rectums with everyone having one ::) some start as bare frames and others came in boxes, very few were puchased outright as going concerns and the ones that were I'd purchased new and kept them what seems like forever. The 70's and early 80's for me were gold 8) I can't help but try to keep the feeling alive and this is the most fun way I know how ;)
I'll pay that!
I know I'm repeating a lot of people, but:
1. Taking "junk", and turning it into a rideable bike again. Turning it into a race-worthy bike is even better. There's a whole lot to this: its a statement against consumerism, it's about saving something that was once somebody's pride and joy, knowing that you've preserved a bit of history, and its the simple pleasure of making a seemingly unrelated pile of parts do 'something' useful.
2. Racing something that I've built - proving whether I've done a good job or a bad one.
3. Friends.
4. Racing as hard as you can, but not having any delusions of becoming the next world champ, so the racing is clean.
5. Sensible tracks to race on.
6. Arguing on the internet! ;D
At 32, I don't have a history of racing/riding the older era bikes when they were new (only the later pre-85 bikes start to push the emotional buttons), but than again, I've owned my DT250 since I was 14, so I do have a history there.
6.
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WOW!
just about everything all you lot have already said and,
we had our practice/AGM at BMCC on sunday just gone and during the practise session a few of us swapped a few bikes around {thanks fella's! you know who you are}, had a go on some later model bikes and some more powerful bikes and it was a real hoot to jump from one to the other and a real eye opener to experience the technology changes when doing so.
another thing i really enjoy is hangin a round the pits and listening/getting involved in all the bullshit banter that goes along with this fine sport of ours.
top stuff!
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reliving your youth again...thats how it is for me.... :)
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How about living a dream that was not fulfilled as a youth....thats what VMX is to me.
Along with having good times with like minded people.
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"Just living the dream man, just living the dream."- A quote from the "Wedding Crashers" I think. I loved the bikes as a 10 year old kid onwards and haven't stopped. From 74 to 84 was a golden period in our sport- for me anyway; and still is!
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HI Guys,
You know the part I used to love the most. It happened four times a year, when the postie would deliver that white, padded plastic envelope with the VMX sticker on the front.
The days prior were agony, wondering why others had theirs and the Sydney deliveries always seemed to be last.
I haven't had that same feeling for a few years now, it's not the same when you know whats in the mag beforehand.
Not really complaining, but they were great days.
VMX42
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YOU SHOULD BE SCARED TIM FJ1100 MOTOR IS GOING TO FIT IN THE WASP INSTEAD OF 650 YAMAHA YEH 120HP. GOOD POINTS VANDY BUT NONE WANTED TO GET ON THE SIDE! COWARDS