BMX Action July 1982

I will just come out and say it, I freaking love this cover. Classic BMX shot from Bob Osborn. To bad the rest of the magazine was kind of weak. I can't knock it too hard, they where giving the Murray X20c six and half pages of coverage in this issue. The rest of the issue seemed to suffer from it. Old Bob must have really been trying to get all of Murray's advertising money. All in all though, rather bland issue.

I guess I still liked it due to the fact that I had one of those Murray bikes. And to tell the truth, it was a pretty cool bike. Nice little build for the price. Real Dia Compe brakes, nice Array rims, ACS hubs, Elina seat. Murray did a good job with the component specs. Helped also that they had it covered in stickers with all the cool key words. "Full Chrome Moly." "Track Certified." "Team" I would like to see the sales numbers of these bikes from 1982 and 1983. I am sure it was crazy high.

I wonder if that is the same bank from the cover shot? Nice little trick of camera angle. Even if it was, at 12 years old, I didn't really care. I just wanted one of those number plates.

Good old cruiser class. The 24's looked so big and clunky from around this time. It is really cool how the geometry has changed and that class has gotten so fast. Pro cruiser is scary to watch sometimes, guys are crazy fast on these bikes. Jeff Bottema;s green forks stood out real well at the race track, eh, they didn't need that color to stand out. They did that on their own.

Tales from the "messy" workbench.

Most of the time I try and keep a pretty clean and organized workbench. But that is not always the case when things just kinda happen. Garage sales, blown hot tub motors, multiply bike projects, broken toy trucks, there is always something going on. It is quite a chore to keep it clean and somewhat organized. The messiness is what brought on this "Tales from the workbench" post. From chaos comes order, or something like that.

One thing that I truly hate is working on brakes. It can be one of the most irritating things ever. Especially the 990 brakes that have been so popular with BMX bikes for the past couple of decades. Stringing and setting those cables is such a pain in the ass. One thing I have kept on hand for doing brakes is my trusty Hozan C-356 "forth hand" tool. This thing is a life saver. Pulling cables and setting hanger position is so easy with this thing. Really good also for installing zip ties extra tight. A must have for any workbench.

Good old shiny Hozan C-356. I have had you forever, and you even still have the original spring. You rule. Yes, that is Fry back there missing a head.

Another thing I have to have is a good set of tire levers. None of these plastic, break all the time cheap ones. Hell no. The only way to go is a good metal set. These are so good for taking off tight tires on high walled rims. Plus you won't have to worry about losing an eye when you snap a plastic one. I think these are called Steel Core by Soma. I picked them up here. Rivendell site.

Lots of times there is some kind of project that I am working on so there is always random parts on the workbench. I am getting ready to start a build of a King bike that I have been meaning to get going. Here is one of the second generation stems that where produced for King Bikes. The Tie Fighter is keeping guard over it.

Another shot of the same stem. These where good looking stems. Much better than the first run that where a huge block of aluminum. Much cleaner looking stem. This was right before the switch over to 1 1/8" stem made their way into BMX.

Take a spin, lay in the cool grass.

Some days it is just best to go for a spin and lay in some cool grass. Then, repeat.


going for a spin from edward koenning on Vimeo.

Bmx Plus March 1983

Lots of goodies in this issue. Great cover shot of Greg Hill with enough seat post sticking out that it needed two stickers. Still classic style from one of the era's faster racers. 

You know it is going to be a good issue when they have a section dedicated to just crashes and they used this their lead off image. Such a great capture. I looked at it and all all thought of was "Wow. One piece cranks." I am such a bike dork.

This is the section that sparked my interest in freestyle. There was something cool about seeing these guys doing stuff on a bike that I could probably do. And the fact that I didn't need to go to a BMX track to ride was a big plus. What I would give to have those slides today. Would make some really nice posters. Dig that picture of Fiola at Lakewood Skatepark.

Another page from the same article. It looks like that full pipe air is not going to turn out well for Jeff Watson. Knowing how big that pipe was, that landing could not have been nice. Although, those spongy old Tuff 1's probably absorbed most to the shock from the landing.

Doctor Who--The Hungry Earth trailer.

Here are some updated pictures. The first is an old Silurian. The second has what appears to be a new Silurian on the left and a Sea Devil on the right.

Doctor Who-Amy's Choice trailer and new clips.

This episode looks really good, in a creepy, not wanting to fall asleep kind of way.

Random links for the week.

Just a few random links and videos from the week. 

Paul Dateh top 40 mashup.

Ben Ward has been posting about this place for a while now. I need to try it out. MMMMMMMMMMMMMM Doughnuts.

The Empire Strikes Back original trailer. Wow! I really freaked out when I was little and this came out. Then Burger King had previews for the movie and their special Star Wars glasses. Double wow!

And this one has been making the rounds today. Slayer goes to church.