Gday, I have been on the silent sidelines of this great forum for quite a long time now and thought I would finally put pen to paper (in keyboard form!) and share with whoever wants to listen to my personal dribble on what I think is great about the old moto-x scene in general.
I am 51, so I grew up (in Lower Plenty, Vic.) with having been lucky enough to own a YZ80D as my first bike when I was 13 (secondhand). Got a YZ80E next (secondhand again), then got as a surprise 15th birthday present a YZ80H! To this day it was the ducks nuts!! (I have a fully restored one sitting on a custom made stand in my mancave, thanks to Brett Sawyer's immaculate resto skills………)
My older brother and sister all rode bikes, I remember going to Peter Stevens Yamaha with my brother one day and he bought one of Mike Landman’s YZ400E/F year old bikes. It was brutally quick back in its day.
I played a lot of squash at the Lower Plenty Squash Centre as a young teenager and I became good friends with a very nice lady behind the service counter, Bev Rhodes. She was telling me how good her son Robin was on a bike and this is how I became to be a big fan of Robin Rhodes. He was sponsored by Grimshaw Suzuki and he was always knocking on the factory door’s race teams to get a ride but just never quite got there. I used to go a lot of the races in Victoria and interstate with Robin and his mum and dad over the next 3-4 years and loved the whole atmosphere and vibe of the mid 80-s MotoX scene. This was when Gally was still the man to beat with Leisky his apprentice fastly advancing and Ray Goof Vandenberg and co. snapping at their heels. Robin finished a best of 7th overall one year in Mister MotoX and I was one of his biggest fans. (Even though I was a YZ man!) I could tell many a story about all the goings on back then but I know a lot of you guys from that era would also have a heap of good memories from then too.
I bought a few new bikes all from K&J Thomas in Whittlesea over the years until I moved up to Darwin. I got to know Trevor Thomas a little bit (through going to the race rounds) and at one stage he was a factory Honda rider, but I don’t think he quite got to the same levels as Leisky and co. but he was bloody quick, and a nice bloke too. 99% of the racers back then were top blokes and very approachable. The bikes were trick as too! How I’d love to get hold of an 82-83 RM465 now and add it to my collection in recognition of Robin Rhodes talented riding and demeanour from a golden era.
Even though I have always been a YZ man, my favourite race bike was my 93 CR250 Honda! I raced a 92,93 and 94 CR250 whilst I lived in Darwin, mainly in enduro’s. I was a pretty average rider but these bikes made me go and look a little faster!! I have a fully restored 93 sitting in my man cave………..
I got out of the whole MX scene when I moved down to Perth from Darwin in mid-94. However I felt naked without a bike when I first moved here and ended up buying a brand new 97 KTM 250EXC a couple of years later. I rode it literally once round the block and parked it up in my lounge room for 18 months as a piece of furniture, before selling it for a bit more than what I paid for it!
With work commitments (and fast cars!) taking up my time, I have been out of the scene up till about 4 years ago where I built myself a mancave and decided that it needed some mementoes of my life up to now. I have a heap of Ford memorabilia and a few old motorbike trophies etc. lying around, so I decided to obtain bikes I have previously owned or have a vested interest in. As of this day I currently have in the mancave a YZ80H, YZ80D, YZ80K, YZ125J, YZ465G, Honda CR250 ’93 and an XL75 (77 Model). I also have an 85 VMax (full powerboost model) with a genuine 5100 miles on it from new. Cheers for now, Colin
