Did many here race when they were young?

[GMC]

Another one that suffered from the ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ syndrome.
When I was young we were so poor that when I went to school I couldn’t afford to pay attention.
I blame my sister & 3 older brothers for bleeding my parents dry before I was born. Not that we really went without, but Santa never left a minibike under the tree for me.
My first bike Dad paid for, an old road bike, CB 250, that came in several boxes. Cost $50.00 from memory. Took me a year to learn how to put it together.
A neighbor down the road made Moccasins and a couple of my older brothers worked for him at some stage. When they moved on I inherited the job, working the clicker press cutting out pieces and punching holes. It was piece work so the harder you worked the more you made.
Eventually made enough to buy a real bike, a secondhand MX125A.
They were good days, I used to ride it to work through the property next door, then cross the road. My MX track was on the way so it was 5 or 10 laps after school, shoot off to work then 5 or 10 laps on the way home.
It wasn’t unusual for me to go to school with a hundred dollars in my pocket after payday. Seemed to have more ready cash in those days that what I do now
Eventually saved enough to buy my 3rd bike, a brand new DT400D.
Such a shame it turned out to be such a lemon.
I even stayed on making moccasins and used to work after hours after a day at my sheetmetal apprenticeship. It was actually better money than a first year apprentice but I could see there was no future in it.

[JADERD]

im one of the Y gen younger ones.

wasnt born till 83 when all of the nice twin shock stuff was over.

learned to ride at 12 on the bike im currently doing up, only one ive ever had, though ridden others over the years. Dad bought it brand new back in 75, Kawasaki F11B (250 ) its done 9300km & now being resto'd and altered a little to my tastes

me and most of my mates seem to like older things....work give me a car so my other hobby is a toyota corolla AE82 twincam....something about oldschool mechanics that is simple, to the point makes you feel more at one with the car / road with feedback etc....i dunno i just love them

The twincam is great and its niche is flying through the twisty stuff with great poise and handling.....as for the F11 its still to be determined, though from reading old hop up articles and dirt bike tests etc is was not a bad bike and is commonly underrated by many.

This forum has been brilliant for advice and ideas.

cheers

[jerry]

Geoff your story moved me to tears. I thought I had it tough! Cheers J

[Anthony]

I was about 13 or 14 when I got my first job at a petrol station after school.
A mate came round on a clapped out old XR75 which had no kick starter, but I was in awe and saved my money to buy a new bike.
I had no idea about bikes but went to Elizabeth St in Melbourne where all the bike shops were and saw an RM50T and decide to buy that based purely on how it looked and it's price ($600 I think).
After riding that for a while at the Epping track (W&DMBC), I realised I needed a bigger bike to race so I set my sights on a YZ80H.
It had just come out and another member at Epping gave my a ride of his bike and I couldn't believe the power.
So after I had saved up again, I sold the RM and bought the YZ. (It was $800 I think)
I started racing at Epping mainly and rode the H for a few of years until I traded up to a YZ80K when it came out.
When I turned 18, I bought the only second hand MX bike I ever raced from a mate, a CR125RD.

I was totally self funded, including maintenance which I learned by following workshop manuals and getting help and tips from the mechanics at the petrol station.
My dad was happy to drive me to tracks towing the bike trailer and he never charged me for fuel.(probably because he had a company car )

[RM500man]

Never raced,but unlike some, my parents were more smart than poor
Now spending way too much money relieving my youth, spent lusting after all those pretty linkage bikes,that I could only read about in Motocross action back in the day.
Whilst I dont mind a  bit of cyber racing as well getting out on the bike is the best/funnest thing I do with my clothes on.

[smed]

I have two older brothers who are 8 & 10 years older than me, in the late 70's between the two of them they had about 20 odd bikes,mostly aggy's & stepthrus but in amongst them were a couple of Bultaco trials & enduro bikes & a Maico mx'er, all of ten years old me was often found sitting on one of the bikes (not the Bulty's or the Maico, I'd get the crap beaten outa me by my big bros if i so much as touched one of them!) making brap brap noises & changing endless gears & twisting the throttle like there was no tommorow. Soon enough i went to see my first race meeting at the local track & was wide eyed & hooked on the sights sounds & smells, A bunch of XR75's all lined up behind the rubber band start, Bell motostar's,Leather's,Rossi boots,Body armour. F***ing cool!
To be continued, gotta go back to work!

[Curly3]

Born 1960, dragged around to what seemed like a race meeting or event just about every weekend as my father sponsored various riders including my brother.
First ride at 4 on a minibike my father built for the Chimp's in the Sole Bros Circus.
Not long after that scored a new Z50, what followed after that were numerous step thru's and an A100 Suzuki, SL70 and a brand new TM75.
Apart from sneaking out onto the tracks at lunch time, didn't race ( no juniors then ) but was allowed to compete at varios clubkharna type events in slalom and chase me charlie's.
Virtually went from the TM75 to my brothers 2Valve Jawa at 15, that made the freckle pucker.
Rode at NSW Speedway Riders Assoc club days and won C, B and A grade events over the next 2 years.
Came to leave school at 16 and had a contract offered in England 2nd Division and really wanted to go over to join my brother who was riding at Oxford at the time.
At the suggestion ( read insistance ) of my father I started an apprenticeship and couldn't wait to get my racing license at 17.
I lasted 2 and a bit meetings at the Sydney Showground before taking on the concrete and my Speedway carreer virtually ended there & then.
Rode again after 2 years but didn't have the strength or movement in my right arm that is needed to ride a Speedway bike properly so I gave it away and rode a bit of Short Circuit for a while but I'd lost my nerve so gave it all away totally.
Only to make a comeback last year after nearly 30 years away and I'm loving it.

[crash n bern]

I wanted a bike bad when I was ten but it was no go.  My parents bought me a new BSA meteor air rifle for x mas on the condition I never asked for a bike again. I broke the deal after I got the air rifle.  Some of the neighbor hood kids used to buzz the streets on mini bikes. I yearned.

One day my uncle invited us over. My dad and him were mates before they got married and shared a keen interest in home brewing. Drinking the home brew was probably more to the point.  He had just bought my cousins a couple of Yamaha 60's and took us all down to the Greensborough quarry where there were hundreds of people screaming around on bikes.  My dad had such a ball he went out the next week and bought me an SL70.

I never raced, as buying the bike was his only input into my hobby.  He did take me fishing a lot and I became quite a skilled angler, not to mention a crack shot with the old BSA.

I found an abandoned apple orchard close to home were lots of other kids were riding, we called it the Lewis road bike track and spent all my spare time riding there with a great bunch of young blokes.  Most were older than me and were good role models. They were great days.

[lama]

het GMC didn/t a bloke write a song about not getting a bike for christmas [hey santa wheres my f#$cking bike

[smed]

Part 2. My drooling over XR75's at the racetrack didn't go unnoticed by big bro No1,He brought me a secondhand K1 XR75 for my birthday as a suprise,was i a lucky little bugger or what! That poor little bike got flogged for the next couple of years,along the way the engine was transplanted into a YZ80E frame for a short time until the rear shock cacked itself on full extension & stayed there,I did not have any dough so the donk was put back where it belonged in the honda frame, I also set it on fire when the engine backfired through the carby & caught the pod filter alight,burned comprehensively from the rear of the fuel tank everything forwards,I tried putting the fire out with a hose but the hose came up a couple of feet short of the bike & the pressure was very low,I ended up on my hands & knees throwing sand on it ,all the while bawling my eyes out but not wanting to go too close coz i thought shes gonna blow at any minute! I repaired it with a second bike i got out of the trading post,for some reason that now eludes me i swapped it for a MR175 that belonged to my sisters boyfriend.
When i got my first job i was able to save & buy a new 1983 KX80,I told my old man i was gonna race & he hit the roof, he said there was no way he would sign the papers,I waited till he was away & i was living with my nan for a while so i got her to sign me up & i was away,My pa would take me out to the racetrack in his 1966 Valiant Safari wagon towing a rusty old trailer,one meeting nan came as well & after the moto she gave me a good dressing down in front of my mates because my kidney belt had come loose & was flapping behind me & as she said putting off the other riders,how embaressment!  But i didn't care coz i was finally racing. When i won my first trophy a couple of years later my old man was proud as punch & even took it to work to show his mates, Geez that was over 25 years ago & i have since raced 125's,250's,& modern four bangers in mx,enduros,supermoto & roadracing & still loving every minute

[Bioflex]

Many thanks for everyone that is sharing their stories.
I suppose this is a good example of the realities of bike ownership that I have always misunderstood a little.

Being a young fella and reading magazines, you get the idea that 90% of bikes riders (or at least racers) are rich kids with parents who throw endless amounts of money at them. Seriously, the amount some spend on one kid for a season alone could be a years worth of mortgage repayments for many people.

What this thread has made me realise is that the people represented in magazines are the minority, and the large majority (at least in the past but no doubt now also) are hard working people with a passion who get away with older, borrowed machines, people who scrimp and save from meet to meet and probably miss many in between.

I have always believed that the harder you work for something and the less is 'given' the more you tend to appreciate it. The fact that so many here are still into bikes is no doubt testament to that "passion" which was developed as the bike iteslf and keeping it running was such a part of the lifestyle.

[Mod1]

A good VMX thread and read. 
Thank you,Bioflex.

[Rosco86]

Started in the early 70s riding an SL70 at the Bill Patterson Honda rallies at Ray Owen "Wallan" Back then the $300 to buy new was affordable as times were economically good for many. My Dad made me earn about $50 stacking vegetable boxes and cleaning at the local greengrocers. He was a sales Rep for AMACO and it was selling like rocket fuel. (Maybe something to do with the advent of the V8) Progressed through KTM, Elsinore to Maicos (Rex Wolfenden gave a young sub juior a test ride and I was hooked.) Raced till about 76 but buying a maico at the start of a season for $1000 and selling at the end for $500 became too difficult. Bought a good 2 valve Jawa and went racing speeway. Bugger me the 4 valve evolution happened. But the 2 valve and the wessie mark 1 kept me going round for a few years into the 80s when marriage and house took centre stage nd isposable cash. Interesting how varied the riders socio-economics situatios were back then. Ron Dinsdale a western suburbs boy tough as nails and when talent was reognised was well sponsored. Grant Cramer probably very much your classic Aussie "mid" family. Again talent recognised, brothers good results obviously also helped as Grant had an absolute beast of an SL70 from Cycleworld in Parahan. Andy Horne very much on the well to do side and always had the best bits. Roger lamberts Dad had him race bikes I hought we uncompetitive believing it would make him a better rider in the long term. Chris Kelly fom Altona was assisted  greatly by his uncle who raced speedway carsut definetly battled in the early years. Regetted selling him my SL70 and it just seemed to go much quicker with him on it. Chris Oldfield very much your average Aussie (except everyone had a pommy accent)who lived in the sticks of Mooralbark so his family could afford a new home. Russel Bergmier was a good old country boy. Like the Chasemores they had beig earthmoving concerns but I'd imagine it what would be termed assest rich, but no money that can afford to be wasted. So basically there was the good the bad and the ugly or the rich, the average and the battler all racing. Basically the family has to be the main sponsor initially and for most "always." (The names mentioned above are my perceptions of guys I knew and raced against. Perceptions are one persons internal opinion. What I consider a battler will be viewed different to someone who has less.) Is today any different. In eneral probably need the dollars but, in my times in Mackay I have seen kids into MX, a couple whose Dads have big dollars due to Construction companies and another whose family who seem to be permanently on welfare. So it may depend on where you want to still spend your bucks?
Rosco 86

[Hardex]

all of ten years old me was often found sitting on one of the bikes (not the Bulty's or the Maico, I'd get the crap beaten outa me by my big bros if i so much as touched one of them!) making brap brap noises & changing endless gears & twisting the throttle like there was no tommorow.

Smed you have nailed it I think we all started like this .I sat on my dads BSA scramble bike as a 10 year old doing the same thing and then when my daughter turned 2, I sat her on my KTM and started it up and gave it a rev and to my regret she hasn't been back in the shed since DOH

[Anthony]

Many thanks for everyone that is sharing their stories.
I suppose this is a good example of the realities of bike ownership that I have always misunderstood a little.

Being a young fella and reading magazines, you get the idea that 90% of bikes riders (or at least racers) are rich kids with parents who throw endless amounts of money at them. Seriously, the amount some spend on one kid for a season alone could be a years worth of mortgage repayments for many people.

What this thread has made me realise is that the people represented in magazines are the minority, and the large majority (at least in the past but no doubt now also) are hard working people with a passion who get away with older, borrowed machines, people who scrimp and save from meet to meet and probably miss many in between.

I have always believed that the harder you work for something and the less is 'given' the more you tend to appreciate it. The fact that so many here are still into bikes is no doubt testament to that "passion" which was developed as the bike iteslf and keeping it running was such a part of the lifestyle.

When i was racing, there was always a couple of guys who had a new bike every year who's parents obviously were supporting their hobby.
Most of the field were supporting themselves though, and even those that were getting results and had earned some sponsorship from a bike shop, were still paying for most of it out of their own pocket.
I often wonder whether those guys that had everything given to them got the same thrill when they rode as the rest of us did.

When I was racing there was a young kid who was so fast, Chris Hill.
He was only about 8 years old so he obviously was being supported by his old man.
Where is he now?
I heard he retired at 16 from the bikes.
Was it just his old man pushing him while he perhaps didn't enjoy it even though he had an incredible gift at such a young age?