RADBMX.CO.UK
Old School BMX 1980 - 1988 => Old School Freestyle (frame stands and kickturns galore!) => Topic started by: hotdog on June 18, 2011, 08:16 PM
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In the summer of 1982 my much loved Sentinel Scorpion SX met an untimely end under the wheels of my mates dad's car whilst he was reversing out of his drive. With no hope of an insurance claim, my older brother came to the rescue with a loan of £300 for a new bike. :coolsmiley: With that, I picked up the phone and placed a custom order with Surrey Skateboards for a Ball Burnished PK Ripper complete with blue coaster Skyways,Renthal Bars and Maxy Cross cranks.... Christmas had come early! :smitten:
For the next 2 years I rode that bike everyday religiously,practicing & perfecting tricks that I'd seen in each new issue of the bible that was Bicycle Motocross Action. Here's a snapshot of an unforgettable part of my youth,something most of you reading this will,no doubt,relate to.
Early 1/4 pipe kickturn,decked out in Sidi motocross pants,Vans & Oakley "almost an unfair advantage" shirt.
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0447.jpg)
The 'Old Faithful.' Note the homemade camo lever & seat covers.
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0465.jpg)
A couple of covert night missions to a local building site and we soon had our own trick ramp ;)
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0451.jpg)
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0453-1.jpg)
A ghostly ramp 540
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0459.jpg)
Pretty soon,Alan Woods had me helping those new Torker boys out at the Liverpool Garden show.
Vertical re-entry on a super-sketchy quarter pipe & astro turf run-up!
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0445.jpg)
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0443.jpg)
The pros n' cons of Renthal handlebars ;D
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0463-1.jpg)
Eventually the trick ramp was turned into the decking for this little puppy.
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0471.jpg)
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0474.jpg)
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pukka pics :daumenhoch: remember so well rippers with tuff in the rear and spoke up front, proper skatepark bike before any freestyle frame came out
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top pics mate, love the one of the mangled renthals..bet you ragged your knackers when they went :D
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Cool pics 8)
The ramp on your drive looks safe as fook ....... not :LolLolLolLol:
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Nice Pic's!!!
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Very cool pics . :daumenhoch: Those Torker tops always looked cool bitd .
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Cool pics 8)
The ramp on your drive looks safe as fook ....... not :LolLolLolLol:
Eh, that ramp was built by The Federation of Master Builders ! ;D
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Love old pictures, wish i taken more BITD :daumenhoch:
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Cool pics 8)
The ramp on your drive looks safe as fook ....... not :LolLolLolLol:
Eh, that ramp was built by The Federation of Master Builders ! ;D
:LolLolLolLol: When i think back to some of the ramps we built and im sure the ones other Radsters built it's a surprise so many of us are still here :D
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brill pics hotdog your original bike looks very similar to the one you built recently, i got those renthals on all 3 of my pk's :D :shocked: ;D, were they the superstrongs or superlites as the strongs which all mine are , are really thick tubing but the lites are a much thinner gauge , like the coaster brake on the pk i thought about doing that on one of mine , who says rippers are race bikes they can freestyle as well :daumenhoch:
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brill pics hotdog your original bike looks very similar to the one you built recently, i got those renthals on all 3 of my pk's :D :shocked: ;D, were they the superstrongs or superlites as the strongs which all mine are , are really thick tubing but the lites are a much thinner gauge , like the coaster brake on the pk i thought about doing that on one of mine , who says rippers are race bikes they can freestyle as well :daumenhoch:
Didn't realise that Renthal did a Superlite handlebar. I think mine were the thicker gauge. Freestyle bikes hadn't really been 'invented' so we just ran knobblies on race bikes with tuffs or zeds. RL & Mike Buff were the major influences back then along with Bob Haro plus some early magazine features on the likes of Fiola and Jeff Watson. It was around '81/82 that I bought the Action Now magazine video from Don Shoemaker in the States,got it converted to vhs pal format and first saw real footage of Bob Haro and Jeff Watson. Now that was a FOOKIN' FREAKOUT!
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Great pics , thanks for sharing :daumenhoch:
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I hope you made yourself to lay-back seatposts out of them mangled bars? :LolLolLolLol:
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was the coaster brake no problem on the ramps ands quarterpipes i always imagined landing with the coster brake on
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was the coaster brake no problem on the ramps ands quarterpipes i always imagined landing with the coster brake on
after a few hops and jumps you got used t landing with your leading foot down so as not to put the brake on, is that makes any sense :LolLolLolLol:
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awesome pictures..........great little read that :daumenhoch:
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great pics fella.and some great proper old school ramp building :) :daumenhoch:
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Thanks for the comments. The trick ramp was a lot sturdier than it looks. The half-pipe actually came from Southport Skatepark via the top of the hill at Chorley BMX track.
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Any pics of your Scorpion pre-running over?
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Any pics of your Scorpion pre-running over?
Here you go....
What's the first thing you do when you get your first bmx?
You put on your brothers Bell Moto 3 and test her out into the imaginary berms!
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0482-2.jpg)
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0480-2.jpg)
One of the first tricks to learn (note the Suntour Holeshot 2-speed derailleur)
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0484-2.jpg)
or maybe not ;D
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0478-1.jpg)
A year later and the derailleur has been ditched
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/oo34/snapbacknarler/CSC_0486-2.jpg)
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Excellent stuff, I love Scorpion's as it was my first BMX BITD too ...
Me on mine...
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/g114/martycoughlin/MCSipsonBMXTrack.jpg)
My mate Darren on his...
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/g114/martycoughlin/DNSipsonBMXTrack.jpg)
Another mate Grant Foster (now in a German AC/DC cover band!) racing my brother (I think, it's hard to tell in the pic!)...
(http://www.radbmx.co.uk/archive/albums/g114/martycoughlin/GFSipsonBMXTrack.jpg)
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They must have sold quite a few Scorpion/Exploders. There was a lad that lived 'round the corner and he had the TX model. There's something a bit special about all these old photos,something 'pure & innocent'. I love the way you're all sporting the 2-tone Vans! :4_17_5:
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Fookin cool pics 8)
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There's something a bit special about all these old photos,something 'pure & innocent'.
i've thought that myself.
whether its the old camera quality i dont know but modern pic's aint no where near as good to look at.
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Wow, really enjoyed your thread. :smitten: :smitten:
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Top,top pics as always Hotdog :smitten:
I'd have killed for that bike of yours back then >:D :smitten:
Funny enough my Renthals went in exactly the same place ,,and yes I did make a layback out them :D ( made me laugh when Bullseye asked that ;D )
PK Rippers have always played a versatile part in the early years being both a racing and freestyle bike
being the choice of Craig Campbell, Carlo Griggs and Mat Hoffman at some point of their careers 8)
Funny people asking the question about coasters and ramps ,, because like most people I've always used my back brake when aerialling creates less weight makes you go higher ;) ( rotating mass ;) :daumenhoch:)
Plus trick ramp tricks like a Wilton are easy as it doesn't matter which side you had for your rear lever .
Doesn't mean I like coasters as they do take some getting used to ,, Sweetbeats says they're the devil's work :LolLolLolLol:
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Cooooool :coolsmiley:
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still think the red and yellow exploders are the best looking bmx ever, i had to settle on the black one as all the red ones had been sold, and i also think they landed on our shores in liverpool as they all got sold up north..
them yellow painted steel rims on the blue scorpion are dam near impossible to find now, they were like a araya 7B, but wider....
:daumenhoch:
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Awesome pics buddy..... goodtimes for sure :4_17_5:
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I love the colour of that old Metro in the background. Great pics. Must dig some out.
Oh and if you want old looking pics get Hipstamatic app on iphone.
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Great pic's 8)