Dirt Bike History 101

Old school Checkers MC members are saying tonight that this is Al Rogers NOT George Walker. Regardless of who it is, to be a Checker means that he was well above the average desert racer at some point in his racing.

Dirt bike history ? you pass if you know what this is

50's Maico?

This is a late 50 early 60 maico.
The bike in the snow has a ILO engine Hoffmann tank and a frame made by a local frame builder. That was in the nederlands. near Arnhem

Cool stuff Craig, I will mark the photo as Al Rogers.

I'm just glad I've still got old friends still around who can remember. The George Walker stuff really hit home as I had totally forgotten about George, the link I was given really got to me, seeing him on the Kawi Bighorn, what a fuggn' pig and how he put up with it to do so well was quite a feat, 350cc rotary valve "Enduro".

Farmall


How about a DOT

He already said it was a custom build (a ILO engine Hoffmann tank and a frame made by a local frame builder), so being a "Devoid Of Trouble" aka DOT is right out.

I thought that whole caption went with the second picture. Didn't read carefully.


You get 5 bonus points for knowing what DOT stands for.

Devoid Of Trouble.....?

Don in Nipomo

1960's BSA MX team with Jeff Smith and crew.

Chuck Minert, Dave Aldana among others.

So Aldana is #3, and #16 is Gene Romero? #3 and #1 below?

Today I had a great conversation with my dad, a great trip down memory lane. He told me of the 1959 Pikes Peak Snow Run. He was in the Air Force in Colorado and was adventuring all over the Rockies on Triumphs and AJS's. The race was on New Years Day, it was 20 below and it was a push to 14,000' in the snow. Dad finished first in the 650-B class aboard a Triumph 650. He did not reach the summit due to ice building up on his carburetor and air cleaner. Frequent ice chipping with a screwdriver was required to keep going. Dad was a badass. A link to the March, 1959 American Motorcyclist covering the event:

http://books.google.com/books?id=Yf...0CE0Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=steve malatin&f=false

The rest of the issue is cool as well with coverage of the Big Bear enduro won by Bud Ekins. Dad eventually got out of the service and returned home to Scranton, PA to open a Triumph dealer. CZ's and Yamahas eventually replaced the Triumphs as dirt bikes. My brother (GastonGagne) and I were born into riding, starting at age 6. Dad didn't offer us a choice. I am grateful for everything he has given me that has made this particular thread meaningful and wonderful for me.
Thanks for reading
Piston

The movie Alice's restaurant has a team of dirt bike riders, some say Bob Dylan is on one of the Triumph's. I wish I kept all my old rides. saw that old Arlo Guttherie movie his Dad plays his dad in the movie Woody... I have to see it again. Moto Sport 250 missed the most, friend had the Elsanor...

Motosport 250s, you mean like these:



These are mine.

Very nice 2 250s, how do you like those tires?

They are mostly urban bikes and because of that the Pirellis work real well, not particularly cheap tires though. I got these bikes, 1 with full knobs and the other still had the original tires on it. Knobs on the street are basically like permanently being on a washboard road with bad brakes, and the original tires on the other bike were pretty much tree bark wrapped around the rim.

The extent of the off road these bikes have done since they were redone is pretty much been limited to quasi paved roads and alleys so I can't comment much there. However as far as stickiness in the canyons the tires were like night and day, putting progressive springs with adjustable preload in the forks was another big improvement, fork brace another, and once I put the Works shocks on them the bikes really felt complete. It was amazing how much more attached the bikes felt. The tires were more than simply slapping new rubber on though, I went up to a 1.85 rim in front (from stock 1.6) and a 3.00 rim in the back (up from the original 2.15), The rims are NOS D.I.Ds with stainless spokes, rebuilt hubs and brakes. Rear tire is a tight fit, so no chain guard is possible and in fact the rim is offset about 1/4" toward the chain side to clear everything. It is a 140/80/18 rear and 90/90/21 in front.

I built the bikes for 90% pavement and the occasional fire road, so I got what I wanted in that sense. My test run while building the bikes is a 10 mile run, with about 150 turns, and lots of deteriorating pavement and I'd guess about 800-1000 ft elevation change. I'm building a new engine with a wider ratio gear box as the stock 250 gear box, once you step down the rear sprocket for decent top end, puts the trans gearing all too crowded at the top. There is a little slop still in the triples once the tapered bearings settled in that I need to fix and that so far is probably the only thing that is keeping it from dragging pegs in the turns.

In my opinion this was the last year of the true CZ World MX Championships. Here's the logo. For the history of dirt bikes.

those were and are such good looking bikes. not having a dealer in town in the 70's we never gave honda the time of day, if it wasn't a kaw/suz/yamaha then it was a honda and as far as we were concerned geek bike. the 70's honda's never cease to amaze me as far as their lines and look. great bikes. I'd kill for a nice SL100...