I remember being a 14 year old paperboy with a CR 125. I remember seeing the DG catalog and just dreaming of all of the stuff I could do with my bike if I could ever afford the parts. Stuff dreams are made of.
I had a 1978 Yamaha YZ80 with a DG gold anodized mono-shock swingarm, gold anodized high compression head, ported cylinder, and pipe. It was and still is in my mind the trickest bike I have owned. It looked so cool and ran even better.
I was 14yrs. old racing the 125 class then, the 250 class on a Bultaco in 75, with CMC Carlsbad and Saddleback....I remember the onslaught of 125 Elsinores and remember "Norris Roberts" sponsored riders. A great time to be involved in motocross besides seeing legends rise to the top, Marty Smith, Broc Glover, Mike Bell, Tim Lunde, Mark Tyer, Dave Taylor....remember Harry Klem as well. He built the CZ for Rex Staten for the 75 USGP....I could go on and on but if you didn't live motocross in the decade of 1970 you missed the best era...by far the greatest show on earth....miss those days....hard to understand Harlow's self admittedly being non nostalgic about those years....I still smell the dirt and exhaust and sounds I bleed for those days....got to also mention the best time of my life with both my Dad and Mom being part of the riding/racing days R.I.P. to you both 🙏
You probably remember the Saddleback Saturdays. At times the pro/exp class had an all star cast. Roger DeCoster, Brad Lackey, Hannah, Broc Glover, Warren Reid, Marty Tripes, Jimmy Weinert, Gary Semics, Gaylon Moiser, Gerrit Wolsink, Rich Eierstedt, plus the fast locals. Great times. It was also quite normal to see DeCoster, Gerrit Wolsink, Rich Thorawaldson, out testing on a Wednesday. I gotten yelled at by DeCoster many times on a those days.
I was a kid in 1979 with an RM80N. I had some money saved up and my father/uncle took us to Anaheim/Disneyland for spring break. Heck with Mikey...I busted my dad's b_lls until he took me to DG. I was in a full leg cast from a practice accident, hobbled in and Gary Harlow talked with me and my brother for at least an hour. I already had a terry kit and Fox Shox. He saw my budget and I hobbled out with a swingarm, gears, chain, tensioner. It made a huge difference when I was on the mend. I hope to always remember that day, that trip.
And a pair of Sidi boots!! The 70's was definitely the golden age of motorcross racing, and like all other forms of racing in the 70's it'll never be the same, the racers nowadays aren't allowed to have any kind of personality, there's an official statement they're supposed to recite at the end of a race and any deviation from it and they lose their ride, and it's such a shame because the riders used to be as entertaining as the races, back when Playboys ruled the world.
When Kevin said he ended up leading off the start at Mammoth and then off the "gnarly downhill", he wasn't kidding. I rode Mammoth in '95 when it was still close to the form he is referring to and the downhill after the star truly was gnarly. Just a blip off the top and you were AIRBORN! -- and you better hope you didn't give it a blip and a half or you were landing flat-bottom, 100-feet down into a 90 degree right to the INSIDE of those trees that are still there today. I know because I did just that and somehow lived to tell about it hahaha! I'm not exactly sure when they did it but they have completely pussified that section since then, leveling-off the downhill and going to the outside of the trees. I guess it's safe for 6-year olds now tho... Anyway, DG was the sh!t when I was a kid. That close-up of the rider with the DG/YAMAHA on his visor gave me chills because, while I had not a single DG part anywhere on my XR75 and a crappy, red metal flake helmet and a bent-up black visor, I had to have DG stickers in the same place on either side and a Honda sticker in the middle. Thanks for this :)
Great interview Shane. DG was the main reason I painted my son’s first helmet yellow and blue and then his race bike yellow. Btw you are getting better with each podcast 💪🤙
Nicely done! I was a teen in DG’s hay day. The blue and yellow gear was the best. I saw Mike Bell at Saddleback a couple times, he always won. Dave Taylor a MXA test rider, fast and great style. Chris Heisser was their mini guy riding a very tricked out RM80 every kid would drivel over. Good times. I had the older yellow DG Jersey with blue logos, blue and yellow pants. Painted my helmet like theirs.
DG was the shit to this young teen BITD. Wanted that gold head for my 79’ YZ100F SO bad. Funny thing was when I started working at the local Yamaha shop the mechanics said “it’ll make your bike run hotter, save your money”. ( I didn’t have any money). If I could have one thing it would be the gold anodized swingarm. To this day I absolutely love anything gold anodized on a dirt scooter😎
What a great video ! Thanks for posting this. I'm 64 now and remember my teen yrs in the 70's well. This brings back many memories. In the mid 70's and 80's I used to buy a new dirt bike every year with my holiday pay from work. I tried MX racing but I sucked at it. I'm a short guy so don't have the long legs needed. So I went sports car racing and won two championships and set two track records in the late 1977 & 1982. Qualified to go to the nationals in 1982. I was definitely a better car racer. Now as a senior I own 3 Honda FL350 dune buggies. One of them has a DG pipe on it.
@@AzTurboMini In 1982 I raced a GT3 Datsun 510 (our championship car). It did 153 mph at Seatle International Raceway. In 1991 I bought a Formula Atlantic car that we converted to an enclosed cockpit ASR (A sports racer) that had a 12A periferal port rotary engine. Later we put a 13B periferal port in it. I sold it in 2001. I got old. Side note: I see your screen name -- Turbo Mini. Back in the late 70's the mini cooper S cars were hilarious and fast. Every time they went around the hairpin at Westwood Raceway the rear inside tire would lift due to chassis flex. It looked like a dog taking a pee -- Baahahahaha
In the mid 70’s I had a DG BMX Bicycle..Candy Apple Red Frame and white Redline Forks coupled with redline vbar handlebars..That was trick back then..We lived in NW New Jersey in the 70’s surrounded by farms,rivers, motocross tracks and BMX tracks..I would get Motocross Action,Minicycle and BMX Action magazines showing California and all those DG products..We all loved DG from the parts to apparel they had it down..Thank you for the great memories
Thanks that was pretty cool. You dont get to hear that much about DG just bit and pieces and wondering what was real and what was just speculation or story. It was nice to have it all in one spot and accurate. Thanks, Dan...
I raced high school motocross and raced Klein’s son. He beat me because I crashed a couple times, but I remember seeing his Jersey “Klemm” and tried to catch him. Saddleback had a HSMX track in the back, smaller track but fun. Saw Mike Bell riding his 400 as a new factory rider in 1978. Mike was my hero.
@@motofevermedia1 it was short lived for me, end of 78 my dad got transferred to Northern California, hated it… I was kicking, scratching and biting the whole way. My poor mom!
the story of JT Racing would also be interesting to me. They had the coolest gear, and then they were gone - at least from MX gear. I think they ended up in paintball gear, and I think they still make some parts ... but I don't know if that is still the same company continuously, or if it is so sort of reformed iteration ...
@tecdive8045 yeah they are heavily involved in paintball and they did try to make a comeback into moto around 2015 and had some pretty cool gear but nothing like before.
Awesome to recall this stuff, my son got into a battle with MC at Elsinore gp in the vintage class , luckily he got 2nd in250 and below. My other son held the #1 plate on cr500 for a few years after we dialed in that monster
very interesting. I remember being impressed by DG - just before I was old enough to start buying their stuff. It seems like they had a cool looking boot that I almost bought - but ended up with AXO's instead ...
I had a DG pipe , cylinder and head with a larger mikuni carburetor on my 74 Elsinore 125 that I raced high school motocross on . Ran really good. Have a different one now that I built for my son to race d37 vintage on .
I ordered my Tiger Torquer pipe and Mini-Digger out of that very ad !....and then waited over a week for the UPS Man to show up since there was no ''INTERNET" back then!
I first saw Bob Hannah in late 1975 on a Suzuki RM250. He was crazy fast, feet off the pegs fast. He rode only Suzukis, and after running the nationals, Suzuki offered him a test rider role. He didn't want to be a test rider and signed with Yamaha. I never saw Hannah on a Honda or Kawasaki in the mid 70s. The pipes that DG built was the best at the time. The Honda CR125 had a on/off switch for a power band, the DG pipe fixed that, making the bike much easier to ride fast.
I bought and restored a 83 honda cr250. My oem pipe and silencer was in bad shape. Bought a new set from DG and the fitment was pretty bad. The chamber rubbed the left radiator,had to make a dent in it?? And honda oem had a separate mid pipe ,DG did not,theres did not fit to good lots of tension on the back muffler to subframe mount?? If the original people sold the company,WHO was responsible for this bad fitment??? The gas lines started before 76 as i was 10 years old. The 70s and 80s were peak for our sport. Glad i grew up in that era,today its really not the same sport,Its kinda like WHO doesnt have a dirt bike.
@Steve-kp9wy sorry to hear you had a bad experience. Sounds like you bought a modern day pipe and silencer from them. Everything from the original DG pretty much stopped in the early 80s
Had a job before school delivering newspapers as well . After school and weekends I poured concrete or pushed a broom at riverside cycle salvage, you would be surprised how well a 125 runs with a 175 cylinder and head . March afb had a track that I rode to with armed guards securing it ,more like tt track
I remember Ted Brady on a minicycle. He won everything at the World Mini Grand Prix at Escape Country. He beat Scott Burnworth and R&D Racing that weekend.
Way back in the day there was a machine shop that,made the cylinder heads in corona ca I was very fortunate to know these folks that owned and ran their shop...had heads made that,weren't offered back then for my model bike
@@motofevermedia1 the slipon exhausts mainly, sometimes paired with a matched pipe and they made the 2 strokes absolutely sound amazing and inspired confidence
Back around 1976 Dan Hangslaben (spelling ?) came to Minnesota to start a company with Burnsville Honda, called PDI. They had Marty Smith ride one of their bikes at Red Bud.
This is a great interview! I would love to know if all the cylinder head molds were thrown away in the trash. it seems like if he had the molds to make the swing arms and the cylinder heads there could be a good small business of production of some of those items. That would’ve been a great question to him. In other words, could you reproduce some of those items from back in the day.
I raced on the DG BMX team in 76-77 started high School kind of lost interest in the racing sold my bike to one of my brother's friends for $50 that was a mistake sure I wish I had it now, let somebody borrow my DG helmet and never got it back, last thing I ever had was a DG t-shirt that lasted for about 10 years lol that would be cool if DG made to come back and then Saddleback Park opened up again! I know I'm just dreamin
@@AzTurboMini there was basani and wasn't there t&m my friends all had XR75s and they all would get t&m pipes sounded pretty good The neighbors would b**** about the noise and they would put socks on the end of the pipe to make it quieter but it would burn it off within a few minutes so that was funny also
Actually it was closer to 1975. The Honda CR125 can out in 1974, so I doubt they were building parts and porting heads before the bike we showroom floors. On the other hand, I had a 1975 CR125 Red stripe. I put a DG pipe on it with a 34 Mikuni carb, and had the head milled. No porting. That bike was so fast, you could miss a shift and still be first to the turn. LOL.
Liked them back in the days racing, I mashed my buddies pipe cr500 and we weren't rich. The DG pipe I got him was top notch, and priced right, the others like pro circuit, psi, ect. Were to pricey
I bought a DG expansion pipe for my 88'kdx 200 over a year ago.. it shipped over to australia but fedex didnt deliver it and instead sent it back to DG usa.. i sent few emails to DG , they said they would look into it to help me get the pipe back and after months of waiting my last email was ignored and i still havent gotten my exhaust..
On the snowmobile end, never seen and good power for the money. Except on the 1996 polaris xcr600 reed engine. Its a 3 cylinder engine with oem triple pipes, we tried 5 or 6 different sets of pipes on the dyno. BUT THE DG SILENCER WAS 3 INDIVIDUAL SILENCERS ALL HOOKED TOGETHER, AND IT MAD MORE HP THAN ALL THE FULL AFTERMARKET PIPES AND BROUGHT THE RPM'S DOWN!!! Best AFTERMARKET set up triple pipes not even close... stock they said 8500rpm's and 120hp.. it wasn't!! It was only 96hp stock. Out of everything stock pipes with a DG SILENCER it made 128hp at 8200rpm's so on sleds that was the best DG product available. On motocross bikes i had many different good ones on many different bikes ....
@@motofevermedia1 I know I bought a cylinder head for 2 stroke but can not remember for what bike, had the book for years from DG Also got lost of stickers and put them everywhere, I want to say I got a pipe that fit a xr75 too just can not remember, wish I still had that book
I had a DG 20" bmx bike I wish I still had today. Wasn't paying attention at a little league game I was playing and it was stolen right in front of me without Noticing anything.
FMF survived because the founder could actually build the product himself. DG relied on others to do all the actual work and development, so they couldn't survive without them.
@@motofevermedia1 A far funnier bit in the story was when the son recounted the story of the pile of cylinders. I found it hilarious that the guy who was turning out the product was fired because he wasn't also doing all the paperwork and shipping duties as well. One guy provided all the knowledge and skills, the other provided money. The skill and knowledge guy is always the most important of the partners.
My friend had a 79 yz80 with everything DG even the swing arm . Man it looks so trick with the gold head and DG parts . Sadly it was kind of a dog with zero low end .
Bob Hannah Yamaha Broc Glover Yamaha Calling Suzuki first wrong Yamaha ✅️ predictable someone who rode Honda would say every brand except Yamaha Bob Hurricane 🌀Hannah Factory Yamaha Legend in them day even a factory Yamaha wasn't worth anywhere near the money Honda would spend triple the amount of $$$$ Honda reputation buy great riders from other teams not much has changed..
