RedM Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Reading that thread about the Vector got me thinking back to my days riding BMX. I had three bikes, all by SKYWAY. One chrome T/A, one white XL T/A and a white Street Styler. Used to race occasionly at the BMX track in Shoreham, West Sussex before attending races further afield. After my early teens I switched to freestyle as my legs just weren't as fast as I needed them to be. Damn, they were good times. Met many of the famous names of the time. Andy Ruffel, Tim March, some of the US riders. Still have an autographed HARO race shirt too. So, tell ya stories. What's the most insane thing you ever did on a BMX, where did you use to ride, all that sort of thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Retro-tastic! We didn't have a BMX track, such things weren't accepted where I used to live, but we made our own in a local wood, huge fun. I had a Skyway Street Styler, another one that I can't remember the name of, it had a cool oval frame and black Skyway mags with neon green stickers and then finally a Raleigh 'Team Raleigh' which was the Andy Rufel bike? EDIT: This one: http://www.dtrcartwright.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Burner/ruffell2.htm http://www.dtrcartwright.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Burner/mkii6.htm (excellent site!) A mate had the Raleigh Burner with the cool gold chrome finish, that weighed a ton. Luckily all the stunt peg and 'bear trap' pedal wounds healed over time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 I have to admit that my first BMX was the Raleigh Ultra Burner. A hideous weighty effort in speckly silver and electric blue. Here's a thing. My two race bikes, one had a longer frame (the XL) and I could jump that far, far higher than the shorter version but I wasn't as fast on it as I was on the the shorter chrome framed bike. Weird. Still, at least I had a choice of bikes to suit the track. Seem to remember trying to jump out of Southsea skatepark over the fence. I might have crashed as I don;t remember if I made it!! We made our own track too. It was in the woods next to Summerlea School in Rustington. A proper blast that was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr keef Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 lol i had a kuwarah lazerlite then a gt performer then a bob haro freestyle bike!!just remember trying a table top,and my nutz bouncing off the cw's!!remember the shamano bear traps and the laid back seat?? i loved them days..i still read the magazines in wh smiths and borders!i think this part of my life comes a very close second to my break dancing days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr keef Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 ohh yea and aboot 2 years ago i seen a GT performer on ebay and a mongoose i was gona bid till the wife hit the roof!i was just gona keep it in the corner of the spare room and mabye try a couple of cherrypickers in the yard! i know i can still do them...theres some things ya just dont loose!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 lol i had a kuwarah lazerlite then a gt performer then a bob haro freestyle bike!!just remember trying a table top,and my nutz bouncing off the cw's!!remember the shamano bear traps and the laid back seat?? i loved them days..i still read the magazines in wh smiths and borders!i think this part of my life comes a very close second to my break dancing days! Didn't Kuwahara make the bike used in E.T? They had a UK team rider called Stuart something. He was a really nice guy. I have an amazing pic of him doing a huge jump that still blows me away. The Shimano pedals were insane. I never had the beartraps, only the trapezoid DX ones. Also went for the Uni Seat and Uni Lite over the laid back seat posts. Didn't need a seat when racing so why carry the excess weight? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr keef Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 yea i know there was a Kuwahara nova too..and remember that film BMX bandits i musta seen that about 50 times,id love to watch it now for a laugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 Ahh, BMX Bandits, feat. Nicole Kidman and the improbably named Angelo D'Angelo. It looks really dated these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPRALOOPY Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 used to live in that place.. i had a haro sport f/f and enough other shit to make your head spin:D those were great days, out at 7 am ride around ALL day and then go home about 9 ish..GREAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr keef Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 I also have fond memories of my mates PK ripper:) if anyone can get me a copy of bmx bandits!!please do so!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nic Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 You have just taken me for a trip down memory lane Martin, I use to be well into BMXing. I had one of those gold Super Burners, with Tuff wheels and then got a custom double top tube frame in chrome, with GT bars the Tuff wheels (off the burner) laid back seat post, etc. Some of the best times in my life were spent on a BMX. I now mountain bike so still use the old tricks I learnt way back then on my BMX, like wheelying one/no handed, bunny hops, etc. Broke my leg, a finger, screwed up by ligaments in my knee (which is still painful:() and gravel rashed probably 50% of my skin off my body I love watching the BMXing on the Xgames, the stuff they do now like double back flips, is just unbelievable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr keef Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 http://www.dtrcartwright.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Burner/jc01.htm id love that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bromy Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Anyone have mushroom handgrips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr keef Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Anyone have mushroom handgrips? haha! we used to get our bright green socks put a hole in and roll them up to the inside of the hand grip!poor bunch we were! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Anyone have mushroom handgrips? Hell yeah, they gave me blisters. If anything this thread has probably made me realise where the modding bug started Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baldy Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 i had a dp freestyler, suntour bear traps! man my shins suffered to those bad boys wot memories,did the shoreham track a few times n the skate park in brighton,also was part of a freestyle display team at the local carnival got in the local paper, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RICHARDA Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Lay back seats, Kashamax wheels, those were the days. I had a Gold super burner but the gold paint was renouned for flaking off so I covered it in paint stripper and uncovered the chrome that lay beneath. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerblu Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 My fav bike back then was a Craig Campbell freestyler bought from a shop near us call Mud Machine, it was light blue with a Redline flight crank, beartraps (to take chunks out of your shin!!) and some white Skyways - the guys in there must have been so pee'd off with us!! we would stand at the counter for most of the day looking at all the accessories!! Remember the MX brakes and having to take them apart and reassemble them the other way round to get the brake cable coming through your stem. Still got my SE Quadangle frame with Landing Gear forks saving that for a rainy day project Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SUPRALOOPY Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 My fav bike back then was a Craig Campbell freestyler bought from a shop near us call Mud Machine, it was light blue with a Redline flight crank, beartraps (to take chunks out of your shin!!) and some white Skyways - the guys in there must have been so pee'd off with us!! we would stand at the counter for most of the day looking at all the accessories!! Remember the MX brakes and having to take them apart and reassemble them the other way round to get the brake cable coming through your stem. Still got my SE Quadangle frame with Landing Gear forks saving that for a rainy day project i ended up with one of those..like a dream come true it was;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 Cor, so many memories. The PK Ripper. That was insane. Anyone remember the welding on that beast? Mushroom grips weren't for me. I had some A'me grips with the little triangles. The revolution that was CW handlebars. Craig Campbell was a hero of mine. He was on the Skyway pro team with Paul Hudson. Hudson's dad had Sussex BMX in Brighton where we spent most of my dads money. Bless him, he even built my first Skyway on Boxing day. Nic, I am in awe of the guys that ride these days and what they can do on a bike. For me though the true pioneer was Matt Hoffman (another Skyway fella). ..and going out all day on my bike, sometimes to skateparks, sometimes to new tracks, sometimes just looking for cool places to ride. Never seemed to eat or drink, never got sunburnt, just rode all day and stacked tyres into towers to jump, doing backhops all the way to the local shops and back. Ultimate memory. The backyard half-pipe, riding to the sounds of Minor Threat and Black Flag and loads of sXe bands and the time I wound up in my neighbours garden avec BMX! The best of days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 Just remembered. Those bendy wheels from DuPont that you could bend in half and they'd snpa right back. ..and the first time I got The Rockwalk perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bromy Posted March 5, 2006 Share Posted March 5, 2006 Remember the myth about putting you mag wheels in the freezer to unbuckle them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedM Posted March 5, 2006 Author Share Posted March 5, 2006 I do. It didn't work. Had to wait f**king days for there to be enough room. First time I've ever demanded veg with my dinner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr keef Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 lol yea great thread!!loved those times...will stay with me for ever..so many good times,i find myself searching for websites now! been out tonight with the lads and told them about the thread,they been talkin about it all night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supragal Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 I used to follow BMX, I was a mountain bike chick but some of my mates had BMX's too. Good mates with Karl Hemsley from the MTB world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.