True Australian and New Zealand VMX Legends.

[Tim754]

As an observer of VMX since pre 1990 I have been thinking about  Oz and NZ VMXers that could be top of the all time Honours List in my opinion.
Riding on forever.
Geoff Eldridge.
Ray Ryan
Andy Caldecott

Mark Firkin   Really do I need to explain...
Brian Clarke  A total gentleman and the a staggeringly fast old style straight back rider for years and years. Special mention his sons Tony,Peter and Noel. what a family.
John Boag  What planet misplaced this friendly ,humble ,grinning, unbelievably fast and efficient racer?! and if you have seen his ..umm rough...racing machines well................

Please add your pleasant thoughts. Cheers Tim

[Hoony]

Some from many years ago

Ray Fisher
Ken Rumble

[E74]

Johnny Cross

[Wombat]

Stephen Gall; a lifetime spent in the sport.
After all these years he's still involved in many ways .

[VMX247]

I did a google search for VMX Legends and it came up AjayVMX?
Also, what about this Magoo person???
Everyone in over 55's WA VMX class,then I can't get blamed for forgotting someone.
Andrew Mcdonald (I know he is a VMX photographer)
Jack McDonnell and all his passengers
Bill McDermott and all his passengers
My husband 
and many more

[AjayVMX]

Eeek!  That's scary...   and wrong. 

My vote goes for (in no particular order of importance):

Stephen Gall
Anthony Gunter
Per Klintland
Jeff Leisk
Geoff Worrall
Beetle Bailey
Hans Applegren
The Flood Brothers
Mike Landman
Graeme Smythe
Mark Pace
Glenn Bell
John Behrens

[firko]

Jeez Tim..I don't know about me being a legend but thank you anyway. If you are talking VMX legends which I think you were, there is only one living legend and that's John Boag. If you're talking Aussie motocross legends which the guys seem to think you are, my vote goes to the great Roy East. That bloke blazed the trail for every Aussie who ever got on a 'plane to race overseas. He was  a great racer but more importantly he was a gentle and humble man. 1964/65 World 500 Champ Jeff Smith once told me that Easty was one of the toughest privateers he ever raced against and that if he wasn't an Aussie he would have got a works ride and then really show the world how good he was.
Unfortunately the Brit factories only hired Brits in those days and Roy missed out on the dream ride despite beating the factory riders on a regular basis.

* I have to agree with your take on the Clarke family Tim. They are not only fast but are truly nice folks. Brian has done more for VMX than just about anybody else in Victoria or the rest of Australia. He has single handedly organised three Vintage Nats at Ravenswood and they've all been rippers.

[dave king]

To most euros there is only one oz mx legend......   Jeff Leisk.....   He tamed a RC500 on europes GP circus.....Respect.  He should have been a world 500cc Champion no question.

[TM BILL]

To most euros there is only one oz mx legend......   Jeff Leisk.....   He tamed a RC500 on europes GP circus.....Respect.  He should have been a world 500cc Champion no question.

I thought this thread was about VMX legends 

In NZ the following are true VMX legends

Syd Harrison RIP
Bill Mcleod    RIP
Barry Senn   RIP
Hugh Anderson
Tim Gibbes
Morley Shirriffs
Peter Ploen
Murray Anderson
Wayne (weazal) Marshall
Mark (Cocky) Meadows

[eno]

  Then there's the Kiwi vintage good bastards award:

left to right - Daza, Cocky, DJ Racing, TMBill, CZeno...how did we do it? & who'll be next 

[Doc]

Some who's not been named yet but also needs to be included is Don Newell and Vern Grayson. Both legends and an inspiration to this day 

[firko]

There are a lot of blokes whom I regard as VMX legends but as I said in my earlier post, John Boag encompasses the true spirit of what our sport is about. He's a racer beyond reproach but still has that collector mentality that even the slowest among us posess. Doc picked a couple of good choices in Don Newell and Vern Grayson . Both of these great blokes were and still are serious racers as well as working hard behind the scene to make it all possible for others. Vern was poorly treated by some of his fellow racers and MA and it left him pursuing other pursuits these days and Don has had the burden of his dear Marie being so ill in recent times but he still turns up at just about every big East coast event. I'm proud to call both of them friends.

We can't forget the fantastic kickstart that Geoff Eldridge gave our sport. I went to him with an idea and he grabbed the concept with both hands and gave much more magazine space that we ever deserved thereby putting the vintage motocross message into the mainstream. He genuinely loved the VMX movement and the folks involved. When he died I not only lost a dear mate but the sport lost its best and most enthusiastic voice. Ray Ryan picked up the batten after GE died and took our sport to a new level with the amazing VMX magazine. Ray single handedly legitimised our sport and created the "one nation" VMX global village by making the magazine internationally focused rather than being centred on only Australia. Thankfully Rays vision has been carried on by Ken, Ajay and Jeff with the maintaining of VMX's quality and philosophy.

I think Tims original list is pretty spot on (bar my inclusion of course!). The great contributions made by these early "legends" is reflected in the great sport/hobby we all enjoy today.
 

[VMX247]

Found this article by Ray Ryan
Heeps of words and not many photos,very different from todays articles
This Southern Cross event was run again on sunday,this event must be over 30 years old now.

[VMX247]

page 2

[VMX247]

page 3 from ADB  Jan 1978