Old School 1980's BMX's

[Candellara]

As per title - anyone got any?

Really surprised at how collectable these are and the prices they fetch.

What did you have in the 80's?

[anonymous-user]

No. Have you seen a middle aged man ride a BMX?

[stepaway]

I’ve got a few tucked away up in the loft and a few out in the shed amongst the rest of my bikes 🙄

My straight stay PK Ripper still gets the odd ride out round the park.

[Candellara]

wormus said:

No. Have you seen a middle aged man ride a BMX?

No, but a lot of middle age guys seem to collect these. I was thinking of building a retro 80's BMX for the children.

It seems that prices range from around £500 to £7000 for the rarer models

[Candellara]

When I was about 12, I remember being terribly jealous of one of my mates who had an original Kuwahara ET edition

I guess it's a bit like classic cycling for youngsters. If you're 12 and riding an expensive retro BMX - it's pretty cool?

Edited by Candellara on Thursday 28th March 19:18

[wildoliver]

I had an sci scorpion. God I wish I still had it.

[Candellara]

wildoliver said:

I had an sci scorpion. God I wish I still had it.

Not come across that before but there's plenty of pics on bmxmuseum.com

Top brands of the day were Haro, Skyway, Redline,Diamondback, Kuwahara, Hutch and the infamous Raleigh Burners :-) Restored or original versions cost a bomb now - a bit like Raleigh Choppers

[keith2.2]

in keeping with the theme - Anyone remember BMX Beat?

Early days of Matt Hoffman rocking the 'Jammin Salmon' as being about the most out there trick on the ramps, and a guy called Mike Cameron on the flatland stuff.

I was always fascinated by flatland, and always fancied a Specialized Hemi MX for some reason.

And yet, I never did own a BMX - I went straight to MTBs.

I was going to post a pic of the Fatboy Hemi MX, in blue, to show how cool it looks. I googled it to find a pic. It looks terribile

[6th Gear]

Check out the Monza Bicycle Club.

They are producing some cool retro style BMX bikes. They also offer 24” frame size.

https://instagram.com/monzabicycleclub?utm_source=...

[HTP99]

All my mates had BMX's, I was never allowed one, I had to have a "proper" bike!

[griffter]

I had a BH California with cheap mag wheels then a mongoose Grand Prix. Back then mongoose were a brand in their own right.
Fast forward 30 years and when going to view a Boxster a few years ago the vendor (a dealer) had a couple of retro BMXs as display pieces on the wall of the showroom. It brought back so many memories! I went home and dug out my Skyway trick stand I’d had fitted to the mongoose, and had somehow kept through leaving home, university and several house moves: https://images.app.goo.gl/EMy1kuZpTLVn9Euq5

I let it go on eBay far too cheap...

I’d love to buy and build a nostalgic BMX but as with classic cars “barn finds” seem to be all the money. Guess I’ll have to keep checking the skips!

[griffter]

stepaway said:

I’ve got a few tucked away up in the loft and a few out in the shed amongst the rest of my bikes ??

My straight stay PK Ripper still gets the odd ride out round the park.

The PK Ripper - my aspiration then and now!

[splodge s4]

Here we go, theres lots of us, some collect & polish, some buy & sell, some ride them like they should be ridden. I do a bit of all of it. Im thankful to still have my ET that i had for Christmas in 83, its hung on the wall with the original owners manual & receipt from purchase. To ride I have a Haro DMC, to pose about an 86 Reline prostyler or an 84 Haro Master. To the pub I have a 24inch master. I recently sold an 89 master, 85 trick star & an 85 sport to fund a Giant propel adv pro disc that cost 4k, have to admit I ride road more than BMX now but still love an hour at the skatepark showing the young uns how to do a cherrypicker & an endo!

[robinh73]

I loved BMX back in the day and always wanted a Kuwahara Laser Lite. Would still one now. I also had a huge soft spot for the Skyway TA and they recently did a re-release of these and even though I registered, I never got one. I did however build this about 5 years ago, loved it and was going to start racing, but the motorbike racing got in the way.

[Yell_M3]

I raced a mongoose super goose 3 back in the 80s. Was quite surprised at the prices they're fetching these days. Wish I'd kept it. However no chance I'd be riding one now!

[trails]

wormus said:

No. Have you seen a middle aged man ride a BMX?

47 in August and still ride...lots of us still do; it's fun.

Old school BMXs are terrible wobbly weak things with awful geometry. Best place for them is on a wall.

Haro did release a Master with updated geometry and materials though.

Edited by trails on Friday 29th March 16:43

[andySC]

Loved 80’s BMX’s. Started with a boggo Raleigh Burner in 1983, this weighed about the same as a Transit van but I loved it. Splashed all my birthday money customising it with a layback seat post, MX QR brakes, CW bars & some bear traps. Polishing a turd really. Saved half of the cost of a Firebird Freestyler frame and my dad stumped up the rest, I transferred the good bits over and garnished it with some super flexy Z-rims and a “spider” crank (were these made by Sugino?) .It got nicked eventually but at that time I’d moved onto fancy trainers and Farahs so no tears were shed.

A mate of mine still has a SE Racing Quadangle put away and a few Burners, one being the newish reissues from a few years ago.

[LeMansNut]

I had a Curtis BMX back in the late 80s, near enough like the one in the pic (my Skyway Tuff IIs were blue lol)

[anonymous-user]

trails said:

47 in August and still ride...lots of us still do; it's fun.

Old school BMXs are terrible wobbly weak things with awful geometry. Best place for them is on a wall.

Haro did release a Master with updated geometry and materials though.

Edited by trails on Friday 29th March 16:43

Fair play. When I was about 12 I went down a railway embankment on my mate’s Raleigh (burner?) over an improvised jump. Crashed spectacularly onto tarmac, ripping the arm out of my Harrington. Didn’t break anything but hit my head and have never been right since.

I also have similar tales about Grifters and later, Motor X bikes.

Wouldn’t do it now, old guys don’t bounce.

[Candellara]

Brilliant and hats off to splodge

So, if I want to build a Kuwahara ET or Skyway TA, where do I start? I guess getting hold of a suitable frame is a bit of a challenge although I notice there are a couple of KZ1 frames available in the US for about $500

Is it quite a challenge to find original parts?