VMX issue 36

[firko]

Marc...Each to his own mate but speaking as an enthusiast and not as a 'journo' I'm 100% certain that VMX has got the mix right. Like most of us, I have my likes and dislikes but would be bored shitless reading about the same old same old all of the time. I honestly can't comprehend why folks wouldn't be interested to learn about facets of our sports past that we previously had no knowledge of. The Van Tech, Hercules and Sprite pieces were to me, truly interesting and enlightening. There are only so many red Hondas, yellow Suzukis or White Yamahas one can write about before they all start to look and sound the same. There is nothing wrong with those bikes, in fact they're brilliant pieces of our sports overall makeup, however, most of us know about them because they were common fodder. Van Techs, Carabelas, Hercules and Sprites however aren't heard of as much and therefore the average Joe knows little about them. The major reason for VMXs existance is to educate us about our sports history and these less than common bikes contributed as much to that history as much as the more common bikes. I've been researching and writing a largish piece on the history of the German Adler factory and Gus Priems superb '57 Adler MX reproduction for next issue. The research has been enlightening to say the least. Unfortunately Marc, you won't appreciate the beauty of Gus's creation or the rich history of the factory that inspired it because if you were disinterested in similar stuff in #36, you'll be equally disapointed in #37 for the very same reasons. Encouragingly, a solid majority of the readership love the eclectic mix, going by the number of vintage punters we talk to and by the feedback the mag receives. 

wish I'd been able to style it like Joey Petz when I was his age.Pretty Cool!

   
 I recieved the following email from my old friend Mike Middleton in California. Mike raced his BSA Metisse here at the '92 Ravenswood Nats, along with Marsh Runyon and his Harley monster.
Mark,

   Just had to write you about the latest VMX #36.  That young mans picture on page 19 is a good friend of mine, Joey Petz.  I was really shocked, happy, surprised to this this article about the Van Tech bikes.  In 1966 the little Honda shop that sponsored myself and a friend of mine bought a Van Tech frame for the shops S90 Honda.  Me, being the larger, taller of the two sponsored riders, I didn't get to race it but a couple times.  Pretty neat!

   When my mag arrived last week I immediately called Joey and took it over to show him.  He was amazed!  He was the MAN to beat in the lightweight class in the early 60S.  Joey was only 13 or 14 years old.  Back then young kids his age didn't race like they do now.  His competition was from adults.  One of them was Wayne Sumner.  They hated having a punk kid kick their ass.

   Joey is now getting in contact with VMX office to get a couple of mags sent his way.

   Happy Holidays, don't eat to much,

                      mike

         

[Marc.com]

Hi Firko,

I have a Cheney BSA and building Rickman BSA so defintiely look forward to articles on the old pommy sluggers. In fact I am slathering at anything with a NEB clutch and gearbox, also the workmanship on the Brit race bikes is often amazing.

Must be an exotic small bore 2 stroke aversion....blame it on being the former owner of a Tas taka that came standard with the ability to shift directly from top gear to first. 

[jimg1au]

I also like to read about the backyard bikes and small little factorys in europe and usa.AUSTRALIA has some history in the motocycle world as well.sid willis built his bike in his back yard took it to the ile of man and beat the factoy velos.i used to frequent his workshop in the late 60s early 70s eveything home made.who remembers the baylis outfit hondas sid made the pistons for them.his calander was not like everybody elses calander it was based around batherst bike races.his year started after that weekend.i also used to work after school at spoked wheel repairs when len ledbrooke (The origional owner) had a shop in my home town oatley sydney south.all the top riders used to come in and get different wheels made.my job was every monday make spoke sets for the sydney showground vincent side cars.they would destroy a rear wheel every sat night.so to me the little known bike is just as interesting as the big name brands.
just my 2 cents worth

[Marc.com]

What a grouse world it must have been  where you could by a kit for an ol' dunger and transform it into something that'd actually win a race or be something that you could just be proud of. color]

what like the HL500 or Cheney BSA  I am all for kits for old Dungers

[jimson]

I think its a bit like Hollywood when you go out and buy a purpose built race bike its all their done and made up some one else has done the hard yards for you.  world war 1 and 2 used road bikes pulled down and made to be used in very rough terrain and up until the late 60s early 70s people used what they could to just get out there and ride/race its all about having a go  jimson

[Marc.com]

if you are a DVD guy I just got the "Golden Years of Motrocross" awesome.

[ted]

I am a subscriber and i think the mag is great the way it is...but pleeeeease can we drop the term "folks"

Seeing as its an Aussie mag stick to "people, mob, wankers, drongos" etc. Nobody says folks here. It sounds even funnier in a bike mag than it did when George W referred to the Iraq people as " Them folks over there "
Or is the circulation so large in North America that you have to throw in these words.

PS: And don`t dare to try and fit MOM in anywhere..haha

[JC]

Basically I think there's only 3 things wrong w VMX mag: 

It doesn't come often enough; its not thick enough; & it tempts me to spend $$ I can ill-afford.

Pls take that as 3 compliments Ken & co.

I've treasured it since isse # 1, got every issue & I pore over them often & cherish them. A fascinating record of our sport & its histroy, in quality colour.

I love articles on bikes I know little/nothing about & the low-volume stuff.  Never had much interest in VanTechs in the day but I loved that article. Likewise the article on the GS125/7. And I enjoyed the couple of how-to articles a few issues ago.

Some issues are better than others of course & nothing's perfect but the mag is almost like the mortar that holds VMX together. Its surely been a key tool in promoting VMX. Where would CD be w'out it?

Its broadened my horizons considerably & I already tho't variety was the spice of life & of VMX.

Part of its appeal is in appreciating other guys interest & efforts (back in the day, or in restoring), & extending one's horizons.

I also get Classic Dirt Bike & enjoy it too, but VMX is a cut (or two) above it.

The only part I find aggravating, is the agonising 3mth 'drought' till the next one!

Roll on VMX mag. Viva VMX mag!

[AjayVMX]

Thanks for the nice comments JC.

You might be surprised to find out that we can't believe how quickly 3 months passes! 

[Wombat]

if you are a DVD guy I just got the "Golden Years of Motrocross" awesome.

I'm interested - what years/era does it cover?
Where from and how much pls?

[oldyzman]

TO: VMX MAG OWNERS / WORKERS AND OPERATORS ,
I hope you guys are turning a bit of a profit because you' deserve it. If you are not, and you are workin for luv then keep it coming anyway because I think it is great, Top quality print and presentation. Good read too.
Brett

[VMX247]

Bit of trivia for ya ted  
Etymology
The Modern English word "folk", derives from Old English "folc" meaning "common people", "men", "tribe" or "multitude". The Old English noun itself came from Proto-Germanic "*fulka" which perhaps originally referred to a "host of warriors". Compare Old Norse "folk" meaning "people" but more so "army" or "detachment", German "Gefolge" (host), and Lithuanian "pulkas" meaning "crowd". The latter is considered to be an early Lithuanian loanword from Germanic origin, cf. Belarusian "?" - "po?k" meaning regiment and German "Pulk" for a group of persons standing together.
The word became colloquialized (usually in the plural "folks") in English in the sense "people", and was considered unelegant by the beginning of the 19th century. It re-entered academic English through the invention of the word folklore in 1846 by the antiquarian William J. Thoms (1803-85) as an Anglo-Saxonism. This word revived folk in a modern sense of "of the common people, whose culture is handed down orally", and opened up a flood of compound formations, eg. folk art (1921), folk-hero (1899), folk-medicine (1898), folk-tale (1891), folk-song (1847), folk-dance (1912). Folk-music is from 1889; in reference to the branch of modern popular music (originally associated with Greenwich Village in New York City) it dates from 1958. It is also regional music.

[4RoBs]

The Old English noun itself came from Proto-Germanic "*fulka" which perhaps originally referred to a "host of warriors".

As in "hundreds of the fulkas", "big fulkas" or "mother fulkas". 

[090]

Gees, that hot weather is frying your brains.

[squirtmoto]

What the Fulk!