This was the first Supercross my dad took me to. I still have Polaroids of it. I was 5-6yrs old. I still have a couple of memories of it & will never forget it.
During this era, the top 6 in any final were multiple National Champions. Ward, Bailey, O'Mara, Barnett, Johnson, Hannah... it was the best era of Moto Cross.
Yep, I was just looking at the main even starting line up, (starting at min 28:58), and count nine champions on the line, almost 50%. opps, Lechien did not win a championship until 1985 (125 nats), I believe. 8 champs on the line. RC cleaned that all up during his career. :)
I agree that was a great era but the Ricky Carmichael ,Jeremy McGrath,James Stewart , Ryan dungy and Ryan villapoto era was pretty awesome also. Hopefully we'll we are in the process of building a new era. So far it's been a goose egg
David Bailey.....on those works Honda’s....he was like a time traveler from the future or an alien from a superior civilization, here to cherry pick against mere humans! That...AND he was so cool and stylish. Team Honda were just amazing at that time, O’Mara, Bailey and Hannah (!)....the three most stylish, fastest and most forward thinking riders of the era.... good grief! Glover, Ward, Johnson, Lechein....my God those were great times in the sport.
Oh wow it has been a long time, I remember these guys, David Bailey was my favorite racer. I remember his dad had that mobile motocross training school. Was advertised in a edition of Motocross Action magazine. They had the school up here in Indiana at the Dunes. Those were the days, would re-live them and back on my ol' 79 YZ 100! Memory lane can be awesome!
My first MX bike, a 1978 YZ 100 that I bought making $1.00/hr at 14 years old. That was the second bike I bought on my own making $1.00/hr, (1976 Kawasaki KD 125 was my first at 12 years old). Yea, those were the days. A kid can't afford a bike anymore, and all our old trails are grown in.
Few riders are known for their gear as much as their championships & Jeff Ward's white Sinisalo gear is right up there. Always on point. Not to be outdone, I believe Glover wore the infamous pink JT gear later on in the 1984 season.
We started selling Sinisalo gear after this.. I was the only guy in the shop that wore them.. As nobody else did at the time. Just to be different. I never believed in free advertising either but it was good stuff.. They come a long ways since 1981. Not bad for a Finnish company....
How on earth did this production crew put Johnny O's picture in place of David Bailey's? David's dad designed virtually all of the courses back then! Not to mention it is easy enough to see Johnny O's face in both his hat and his helmet. Great video. Thanks for the upload.
Team Tam was based out of Las Vegas , when they broke up my friend John Collings bought Alan Kings bike and kept it at my house ...it was a Good Bike !
Compare this the corporate run super cross we have nowadays. I will take the riders and the tracks from the past any day. The current riders can't even talk when being interviewed, it is like IQs went down twenty points.
I believe this is a result of kids being groomed to be pros from age 5. Back then it seems like the riders had more life experience and were more articulate. David Bailey in particular was really sharp. Jeff Ward was also groomed but riders had a lot more responsibilities back then compared to now, when most racers just have to train and race.
Ricky Ryan, the only privateer to win a SX race, 1986. I started taking my son to Hollister in 1994. Ricky was the fastest pro, usually and Stapleton, Volland's, Rodney Smith, Holland, many other pros would race. Ricky rode at my track in the Santa. Cruz mountains in the late 90's, he married in 98 and that was that
I used to race at Baylands in Fremont early 80's..every week Sean McConn would go 1-1 in the 125 and 250 race..then Rick Ryan stated to race there and McConn finished 2-2..true story!
It's funny: Clint Hardick. Just imagine how it would be with that name. He's at the sperm bank waiting room, and the lady calls him and asks, "Are you ready to make a deposit". He says, "I was born ready!"
the similarities between jeff ward and ricky Carmichael are uncanny. both red headed, freckled, little short 5ft6" dudes. both riding factory kawasakis. both wearing the #4 plate. both guys if you don't know who they are and run into them on the street would be the most modest and soft spoken dudes that you would never expect to be able to do what they could do on a track. and both dudes absolutely vicious competitors that would annihilate you on a motocross track. both guys at one time were without a doubt the fastest riders on the planet. but there is truly only 1 g.o.a.t. (and I don't mean brecker_)
Yes he is the greatest of all time only racer to ever win all FOUR championships..... Then there was the guy who was the only to win all 3 titles in the same year.... and then you got the guy with winningest record.. ..decisions..
Iv watched a bunch of these old supercross races from 80 thru 86 and havent seen magoo in any of em.he must have been on the mend or something.i know he didnt care for sx but i know he rode some of em
Do you have the very end of this broadcast when they showed highlights with an awesome audio track on top? I remember that to this day, and pretty sure it was on this Atlanta SX, perhaps the year after though. Please let me know! Thx.
I skipped straight to the ending hoping to see also! The o'show punching the air while changing colors! It was so cool. Omara won everything that year. Song"riders in the night"? Something like that..
You can have 2 straights in a row with out a jump. You don't have to enter whoop sections at 50 mph. Today's tracks are boring, (too fast, dangerous, predictable, don't separate the talent), compared to these older tracks IMO. I will start watching the FIM world MX rounds that start pretty soon, (to break up the monotony of SX), but not the "s#*t hole" rounds.
Robert Clint ... Yeah the Honda CR's were the best bikes back then, they won a bunch of races back then... I have a 1984 CR250 that I'm about to restore
40 degrees and he said it's good weather. I'm surprised to see ANYBODY in the stands. Now it's a billion and half dollar monstrosity with enough video boards to make you dizzy
