1970's
1972 Raleigh Chopper England's answer to the Schwinn Stingrays and Krates was the Chopper made by Raleigh. The all original orange version features "Arrow wedge" frame with console 3 speed stick shift connected to a Sturmy Archer 3-speed internal rear hub as well as a large padded banana seat with the warning, "this bicycle is not constructed to carry passengers" - yeah right, and no wheelies either!
1974 Raleigh Commando The Raleigh Commando was released by Raleigh in 1974 as a scaled down follow up to the original Raleigh Chopper. It has 18” wheels and a frame design that looks suspiciously similar to the Raleigh compact travel and fold up bikes, which preceded it. Equipped with a Sturmy Archer 3 speed hub and caliper brakes, the Commando was a pretty deluxe little kids bike, which was produced for only a short period of time.
1974 Deelite Death Star Lowrider Fred Deely Cycles located in Vancouver, Canada produced various bike models including this banana seat model. This bike is a full custom with raked head tube, filled tank, custom upholstered seat with dingleballs, springer fork with spring replaced with skateboard cushions, Star Wars theme airbrush graphics by Virus and flints installed in the pedal blocks for sparking action. A well-balanced lowrider, the Death Star actually wheelies good.
1974 Norco Husky Husky is a good name for this suspended twin top tube frame. This bike was originally equipped with front suspension as well, but has been modified and fitted with Ashtabula blade forks. The rattle can resto is completed with Lester aluminum mags and tractor grip tires. Anyone planning to lift this roller should consider wearing a hernia belt, just in case.
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1975 BRC Cheech Wizard Lowrider The now defunct Boyes and Rosser Co. was located in Vancouver, Canada and made this banana seat bike in the mid-70's. Fully customized, the BRC features extended tank and stay fills with Vaughn Bode Cheech Wizard graphics applied by Virus. Re-fitted with a 26 inch springer fork and 16 inch front wheel, the Wizard sports a 20 inch rear slick, rare ram's horn bars with foam grips, flashing bar lights and tall extension sissy bar attached to crushed velvet banana seat.
1974 Yamaha Moto-Bike From the mid-60's forward, kids started modifying their banana seat bikes to be like motocross motorcycles. In 1974 Yamaha introduced the Moto-bike bicycle motocross and sponsored several high profile BMX riders. This is the "A" model, which is full suspension heavy duty and heavy weight bike. It looks just like a motorcycle that kids can pedal. There were some changes made in the "B" and "C" model Moto-Bikes including fenders and bench seats added and eventually a 1 pcs. crank added to the "C" model.
1975 Kawasaki BX 200 Motocross Taking their lead from Yamaha, Kawasaki introduced their own bicycle motocross ride in 1975. The early use of aluminum frame with unusual tubing shapes was the forerunner to the F.M.F., Race Inc., S.E. Racing and other alloy frames to follow. Although it appears to be a full suspension, in fact only the frame is suspended while the forks are faux suspension and are actually rigid. While somewhat lighter than the Yamaha, this is still a heavy duty, heavy weight ride, which only hints at some of the light tech BMXs to come.
1974 Benny Moto-Cross Benny was an imported brand sold in Canada & this example is a custom build with box handlebars, rectangular number plate, Brentwood speedometer, four bolt stem, heavy steel rims with fat gauge spokes, tractor grip tires, 3 pcs. cottered cranks and a very rare Honda motocross seat. The rigid Triple Crown forks and clip on plastic take complete this one of a kind custom MX bike.
1974 BRC Motoross Rigid MX This bike is one step away from a standard banana seat bike with added gusseting in the front end as well as the rear stays. Heavy duty knobby tires are mounted to plated steel box rims with thick gauge spokes and it's equipped with box type MX handlebars and the early Winners Circle grips. One notable improvement on this bike is the movement to a four bolt stem instead of the more standard single bolt bike stem, which prevents bars from slipping on impact landings.
1974 BRC Full Suspension MX Early on, in the 70's, there were several BMX companies toying with full suspension including Matthews and Panda. This Boyes and Rosser Company shocker is said to be a copy of the Panda Full Suspension. The plastic components generally shattered and fell off within the first week of riding, particularly in colder climates.
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1975 Bandito The Bandito is a mid 70’s motocross bicycle with a design style heavily influenced by motocross motorcycles of the time. Unlike so many of other of the MX bikes during that era, the Bandito sports a rigid frame and fork and not the more typical full suspension set-up. The additional pics shows the Bultaco El Bandido MX motorcycle which was the inspiration for the Bandito motorcross bicycle.
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1975 Skyhawk Made in Eastern Canada in the mid 70’s, the Skyhawk is typical of the missing link between Stingray style banana seat bikes and the first high end BMX bikes. This bike has been repainted and restored using NOS parts including the standard issue plastic gas tank and fenders.
1976 Yamaha Moto-Bike The Yamaha motorcycle company of Japan was one of the first major companies to get behind bicycle motocross. They produced the A, B and C models of the Yamaha Moto-Bike between 1974-1976 and also sponsored major BMX races. The bike shown here is a 1976 C model and is unique in that it's a Japanese only release featuring blue frame, white MX fenders and a freewheel with drum brakes. This bike was found on a 'free garbage day' in Tokyo, Japan.
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1976 Norco Dirtmaster The Canadian brand Norco - out of Vancouver, Canada - is recognized worldwide; especially through it’s connection to the North Shore mountain bike scene. The Dirtmaster shown here is an early Norco BMX bike, built with heavy gauge spokes laced into centre line rims and mounted with knobby tires. A single bolt stem holds the box MX bars in place.
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1976 Monoshock In the mid seventies there were several different variations of monoshock equipped MX bicycles produced by various companies. The bike shown here features steels wheels with heavy gauge spokes, knobby tires, finned MX grips and a quilted saddle. Although not labeled with any identifying marks, it is believed that this bike was built by the BRC Company from Richmond, BC.
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1976 Motocross Based on a stripped and powder coated Japanese made MX bike from the mid 70’s, this scratch built custom features the unique Tange brand suspension fork with horizontal spring design. As if it’s not already obvious that this is a motocross bicycle the word “motocross” is printed on the seat, the plastic gas tank and the tires.
1976 Rand MX - Red Although not much is known about the Rand bicycle brand we do know that they produced this 70’s motocross bicycle. Attained by the Skull Skates bike museum in completely dead-stock form, this bike was new in the box, complete and original. It’s a fully suspended design with extra long plastic gas tank and it weighs a ton.
1976 Rand MX - Yellow This mid 70’s motocross bike by Rand is a different design than the other Rand MX bike in this museum it has a smaller tank, different fenders and a different frame design then the red Rand shown above. It’s in survivor condition having received a minor clean up and new tires.
1977 Royce Union Royce Union is not known as a particularly high-end brand of bicycle and this example shows a design style which is really a hybrid between the standard banana seat bicycle and the MX type, which followed. It’s built with fork struts, 3 piece cottered cranks and white pinstriped tractor grip tires.
1977 CCM Sears Shocker CCM is a Canadian company based in Ontario and has been a prolific producer of bicycles since the 1920s. The Sears motocross bike was produced by CCM for the Simpson Sears department stores, circa 1977. There are three examples shown here including a silver, gold and chrome plated version. All feature full suspension motorcycle styling complete with plastic MX fenders and fake gas tanks.
1977 Huffy Mono Shock Although not really know as an innovative brand, Huffy has produced some pretty cool BMX bikes over the years. This '77 mono shock model has rigid forks and monoshock rear suspension with adjustable soft, medium and firm setting options. Box MX handlebars, finned grips, single bolt stem, motocross knobbies, steel rims, heavy duty MX hubs, Shimano coaster brake, 1 pcs. crank, Rat Trap pedals and a unique seat complete this seventies ride which is in all original condition.
1977 Hiawatha Motocross Hiawatha was a brand best know for it's classic balloon tire bikes produced in the fifties. This seventies motocross full suspension was built for the Macleod's department store chain. It's got all the classic early mix components including bulky box steel rims, extra heavy gauge spokes, MX tall flange hub set, box handlebars and old school knobby tires. One of the many short production bikes made to mimic motocross motorcycles in the 70's.
1978 Swing Bikes Nearing the end of the 70's there was competition in the kids bike market between the original Banana seat bikes, motocross bikes and, the then new to the mass market 10-speeds. Although late onto the banana seat scene, the swing bike has to be the craziest design. Sporting two headsets and a swiveling fork / rear stays configuration, the SB actually turns at both ends of the top tube. There were orange, green, blue and yellow (the rarest color) swing bikes available for a short time.
1978 Race Inc. The term bicycle motocross had been abbreviated to BMX by the end of the seventies and some companies, like Race Inc., were pushing the envelope with super lightweight performance bikes (some were made too light and had breakage problems in stress areas). This Race Inc. is built with early pinch style TX-1200 Tange forks, Uni Seat, 3 pcs. Alloy cranks, alloy stem and bars, nylon ACS Z-Rims, and an assortment of other light parts. Bikes like this put an end to their earlier heavy weight full suspension predecessors.
1979 Stroker Two Wheeler was a brand from Southern California, which really bridged the gap between the heavier motocross bicycle and the emerging stripped down high-end BMX bicycle as evidenced by this Stoker model bike. The frame is built with rectangular steel tubing, the forks are built with square tubing and this one is assembled with Araya 7B rims, Ashtabula stem, bars and crank.
1979 Laguna This Laguna 101 frame, fork and seat was manufactured in 1979 and is a good example of the transition period between motocross style bikes and the just then emerging high-performance lightweight BMX bikes. This ride features Ashtabula stem and cranks plus V-bars, fluted seat post, rat trap pedals and aluminum Lester mag wheels.
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1979 Schwinn Scrambler This bike straddles the two styles of changing BMX design. Although it was the then newer style straight frame shape, it still has the famous bronze filleted Schwinn welds in addition to steel frame tubing, blade style steel forks, single bolt Ashtabula stem, box style handlebars, heavy 2.125 knobbies, motocross grips and old school rectangle number plate. Schwinn would have been also producing more advanced BMX designs by this time.
1979 RSG BMX Unfortunately we do not have an example of the RSG BMX bike in our museum. All that remains are a couple shots of the bike in action and a jersey. RSG was designed by Skull Skates and included frames, forks and handlebars manufactured by the Voris Dixon Company, BMX pants and jerseys made by Bill Walters Leathers and vinyl snap pad sets manufactured but Rad Pads. Made in very small quantities and available only in Vancouver, Canada - RSG BMX was Skull Skates' first experiment with bike design.
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1978 Gary Littlejohn Cruiser In the late 70's Southern California BMX companies began playing around making 26 inch wheeled beach cruisers and racing cruisers. Gary Littlejohn made some pretty unique stuff including side hacks and tandem bikes. This twin bar Little John frame has no mounting for brakes and is equipped with a Bendix Red Band coaster brake hub for stopping power. It's a nice ride with 4130 chromo frameset and alloy components, including the Redline Brute stem.
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1978 Cook Bros Cruiser Considered to be the cream of the cruiser crop, this twin tube Cook Brothers is an early production model (serial #151). It's built with all the available Cook components of the time including frame, fork, stem, bars, seat clamp, seat post, bottom bracket, and hubs. Dialed with Campy cranks, Suntour Bear Trap pedals, Dia compe MX 1000 brakes, Kool Stop finned BMX shoes, and Tomaselli levers, it's a sweet smooth rolling love machine.
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1979 S&S Newporter Cruiser S&S performance products of Costa Mesa produced this 26 inch Newporter cruiser in limited quantities; originally available in red, blue, black or white. The twin tube curved design is reminiscent of the vintage Shelby frames and is all chromo and TIG welded. Complete bike is shown with Tange forks, Bullseye hubs, Araya 7C rims, Tuf Neck stem and seat clamp, Tomaselli bars and levers, Dia compe MX 1000 brakes, and Takagi 1 pcs. Chromoly cranks. The additional picss show 3 different versions of the S&S Cruiser including the double curved bar with flared headtube, the curved and straight bar plus the rare straight bar Big Foot model.
1979 Bassett Star Cruiser This '79 Bassett Star Cruiser is unique in that it's a cantilevered Schwinn style frame shape (complex tube bending) built of chromoly and TIG welded. The component group includes original thru- bolt Bullseye hubs, Araya 7c rims, hand stamped pro neck stem, Redline bars, Ashabula crank and KKT Lightning pedals. A cool feature on Bassetts was the logo / I.D. plate with serial # welded onto the down tube.
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1979 Gary Littlejohn Cruiser This red Gary Littlejohn is a classic twin tube cruiser with the patented Little John triangular box joining the seat tube to the top of the rear stays. A noticeable addition on the frame is the rear brake bridge set just under the triangle, allowing the rider to now run caliper brakes. This roller is built with a rare square edge, Tuf Neck stem and like many in this collection, it sports the skull skates retro chromo MX cruiser bars. Also shown is a chrome plated Littlejohn cruiser built with Cook Brothers forks and assorted era correct components.
