Topic: On Any Sunday

[dave500]

this blokes gone now,he became an alcoholic and died,he was a funny guy,generous and freindly,his nickname was bongo rip.

[ChuckG750f1]

i rode a bike through that train tunnel,its at castlemaine victoria,i was the only one that did,man its 1.5 kays long and curves also pitch black,we had no idea of the timetable or anything!pretty dumb

I gotta remember never to follow you down an unknown road Dave.

[dave500]

we always had tow ropes tied to the bars,i could take you on the best tracks,we used to get maps from a hiking shop.

dig my red shorts!!

im using my mates tt600 to tow logs back to camp for the fire,that black fairmont had a 351W nine inch and beefed up C4,it was a great powerfull tow/cruiser.

my 253 cid got smokey so i rebuilt a 308 out to 312,its still in the car and still pulls a mid14 quarter!gotta have a powerfull tow car!

our one and only encounter with snow,you can jam that #$%* up your arse!



checking out a map here,we got lost alot,we carried a little two stroke oil so when we found a gas station we could refuel.

[dave500]

yeah so we did a little dirt bike riding,yep,i fell in love with bikes aswell dhall


my mates ford fairmont was a great tow car,it went the same towing three bikes and all the  gear as it did by itself,it didnt seem to hamper its accelleration.


it was nice inside with its fake wood grain,it had factory tee bar and console,it also had great out of the hole power with the 3:00 to 1 rear end.

[dhall57]

What years were most of these pics taken? I think OAS got a lot of people riding and excitied about motorcycles.

[dave500]

early and mid 80s,off road bikes and mini bikes sort off took off here about the mid 70s,,not sure about your regulations but to ride on crown land we had full road registered bikes and licenses,a lot of guys didnt though,i had removed indicators and the headlight filament would always vibrate to death anyway,we never saw cops or forrest rangers or the like,when we had to buzz into a town to refuel we got wierd looks,coverd in dust or mud,my mate took most of those shots,he had a neat compact olympus 35mm camera,it seemed tiny and had self timer aswell,back then it was like,,whoa ive only got two more shots left so ill save them in case something good happens,that it200 was my mates he bought it new,as soon as it was run in he got the 250cc kit,man it flew and was uncrashable,we had some serious spills though,i never broke a bone but got some good bruises and deep cuts, some guys got hurt bad,not bad odds considering the miles we did and the #$%* we did,i only broke a bone for the first time at work a few years ago and ive skidded my arse on tarmac and dirt!

[dhall57]

Most of my trail and off road riding was done in the early to mid 70's. Wish I had some pics. We had a rock quarry right near our house and it was great for riding. They didn't have a chance of catching us,but got ran off a lot of times by security. Another place called the power lines had miles and miles of trails. It had a hill climb that was pretty wicked, like the one on OAS only smaller of course.

[dave500]

in the mid 70s i was in a mini bike club in the suburbs,they had a track and it was great,no competions or anything,it was a great place for kids,all sorts of bikes were there,,there was old small road bikes stripped down,im sure there was a benly or a dream?home made mini bikes with pull start etc,i remember a hodaka super rat,a few honda dax or ct/st 70s,the honda xr75 and the yammy yz80a was the hot bike to have and there were more than a few of them,along with the dt60 mini enduro,they flew i rode one once,i had an sl100 then the more exciting and superiour xr75,this was where i learned to steer with the rear wheel,ive only had two road bikes,a mid 80s honda vf750 v4 and cb 500/550s!i like the 500s for the old handling that suits my riding style,,if im fanging through twisties i still lift my leg and point it forward i cant stop doing it,id never be a knee slider its just not natural!!i must look like a dick?

[ChuckG750f1]

Dave-The pics are awesome!  My dirt riding was in the early '70s and none of us ever brought a camera.  I grew up on Long Island and there was a large area of undeveloped land that had been excavated for fill.  We put our bikes in a van and drove there to ride on Saturdays.   A lot of guys rode there until it got closed down for development.  I have not trail ridden on 2 wheels since, except for my 600 ft "driveway" upstate.  I have 2 Polaris 4 wheelers now for trails and I don't bounce when I hit the ground like I use to.  Watched OAS last night. -Chuck

[dave500]

yeah lets all thank dhall for the interest again chuckG, dirt riding,its the most fun you can have on two wheels without getting naked or some#$%* like that?even now i can trip on something and not fall down?i think it does you good to ride dirt?if we had digital cameras like we do now there would be more photos of better quality,,but i like those old out of focus ones as much as the clear ones,my mate over the street has an old crusty yammy TY250 thats not run in years,i had it running for him years ago though,im keen to see if he will part with it now,hes had it forever though and its very sentimental to him,,id only fix it up,,ride it around for six months and sell it though,,they werent a reallly good bike like an IT or YZ!ill make this the last one!this shot dosent do those blocks in that railway bridge justice,they are huge!

[dhall57]

Other than being in OAS Steve McQueen did a lot of other things on 2 wheels. At one time he was one of the higher ranked amateur riders in the US. Here he is doing a nice little commercial for Honda sometime in the 70's. Man those were the days.
Steve Mc Queen riding a Honda CR250M Elsinore

[ChuckG750f1]

dhall-That Honda Promo was great, I never saw that before.  Long Live Harvey Mushman! -Chuck

[CycleRanger]

Great photos Dave!  Good times!

[faux fiddy]

Dad took me to see it in the theater , I must have been all of seven years old if that. What a guy, I sure miss having him around to do cool stuff with.

[dave500]

lets not let this thread die if we can help it?anyone else have old dirt bike/trail riding photos they can scan and post?no matter how out of focus or black and white,most of the older guys here ill bet have grown up riding on dirt?the lack of cameras in those days you could pocket and use on trail rides was the limiting factor.,whos got any shots at all?come on please post them up!

[dave500]

ok ill post another one,i had these already scanned,so ignore that dude in the ford xb coupe(mad max had one of these!)i moved to townsville and swapped my it250 that was souped up and flew and steered like your an expert for this pig xr600,,i thought it would be better suited to the flat open hot terrain there,,man these have to be the most #$%*ty handlers out there?the engine was ok etc,it had that super duper digital instrument cluster,,man what a dissapointment this barge was!i swapped a fully sorted full out race two stroke you couldnt crash if you tried for a pig,power slides were not an option,,it had stupid 23 and 17 inch wheels and a too short wheel base,,in the day guys raved about these,,they mustve been dreamers?or just liked the power,it had heaps alright,,a yammy tt600 was far the superiour bike against these pigs!i sold it after about two months for a slight profit and bought my first road bike,,a vf750v4.

[Markcb750]

Other than being in OAS Steve McQueen did a lot of other things on 2 wheels. At one time he was one of the higher ranked amateur riders in the US. Here he is doing a nice little commercial for Honda sometime in the 70's. Man those were the days.
Steve Mc Queen riding a Honda CR250M Elsinore

I just bought 2 copies on DVD, sent one to my friend while he recovers from knee replacement surgery, one for me!

[dave500]

HA! theres always one more,,dig my helmet and jacket,thats an SL 100,i always wanted an SL 350 but in the day they were too big for me!i had an xr75 after this and it was faster and an easy rider,,i went on to two strokes after that,,any serious of road bike has to be two stroke,,i know the modern four strokes are #$%* hot etc,,it seems smog laws have hit that area aswell?

[MoMo]

Cool photos Dave, my dirt bike riding experience was almost extensive as yours, every Sunday we would trailer the bikes somewhere and ride all day.  Rode enduros for many years, never was all that good but I sure enjoyed it. Most all of the areas where we rode are now closed down and if an area is open one has to have a fully street legal, registered bike, and I wouldn't be surprised if 2 strokes are personna non wanted .  I have ridden in state parks, ski resorts, wildlife refuges, national forests(no one bothered you back then but those areas were not legal to ride in,and no one could catch us if they tried).  I do not have any photos, kind of surprising because I was an avid photographer.   Check out my list of past dirt bikes....Larry

[dhall57]

Hey Dave, Always liked Honda's SL line of bikes. Really liked the SL350 but a little big and heavy for me also to handle on the trails. But the 1971 SL175 I got fit me like a glove and was dependable and tough as nails. Great little off road bike. In the 70's 2 strokes trail bikes were hot. So in 1975 I traded my mint 1974 CB360 in on a 1975 Honda Elsinore MR250 2 stroke. Very torque-e bike but couldn't keep plugs in it(fouled them out constantly). This bike put a bad taste in my mouth for the ring-a ding 2 stoke and never got another. Traded the Elsinore in on a 1976 CB550. Very nice bike and now 36 years later I wish I had held on to that one.
    I've posted this pic in another thread before. But here I am on the 71 SL175 not long after getting it. Man it's hard to believe this was over 40 years ago.

[SGTBob]

HA! theres always one more,,dig my helmet and jacket,thats an SL 100,i always wanted an SL 350 but in the day they were too big for me!i had an xr75 after this and it was faster and an easy rider,,i went on to two strokes after that,,any serious of road bike has to be two stroke,,i know the modern four strokes are #$%* hot etc,,it seems smog laws have hit that area aswell?

That helmet is just way too cool Dave!!!   

[scottly]

Circa 1975; Ex-MX CZ 250, blasting up one of the hill-climbs near Mud Lake.

[dave500]

wow a varied list of bikes momo.

[MoMo]

wow a varied list of bikes momo.

I was one that always had to have something different than what every one else had.  My favorite was the KTM but a friend had a 175 Jackpiner that was my all time favorite...Larry

[dave500]

a couple of years since this threads been active but an old mate of mine in Victoria has suddenly emailed me some scanned photos,heres a good old one,theres my trusty DT400 ready to rooster tail,and in the foreground is a mates brand new RD250LC he rode up,we conned him into riding it along the main fire trails then he followed us down some #$%*ty for a road bike ones,he got all mud jammed in the fenders and turned back,fair enough,thats my old HR holden ute with the orange plastic on the roof rack,paid 150 bucks for that with a dead 161 and put a 50 dollar 186 into it and front power disc brakes,drove it for years.