HURSTBRIDGE. BMX. SHOW. AND. SHINE. TWO OH ONE SIX.
Okay, so this sure-as-hell isn't going to be a post about cars; being near enough a page of gardening tips or sponge-cake recipes, on what is essentially a car blog; but cmon! Embrace the colours.. the decals.. the graphics. The detailing on these things is just epic, and the parallels to a classic-car show are SO strong.
These things are just compressed-rad - the bicycle-equivalents of the cars I like.
So..
THIS is what I spent my Sunday doing. Got up bright and early, chucked the
'87 Haro Freestyler Sport in the back of the 4Runner, and moseyed off to Hurstbridge. Was definitely a laugh booming down through the crowds (the BMX show is part of an overall
Hustbridge 'Wattle' festival) on my two-wheeled slice of late-eighties... something that was
instantly no longer out-of-place the moment it hit the BMX show area.
Rolled in, grabbed a stand from a trade-stall (luckily, as the bike was going to sit upside-down otherwise!), and parked the bike up alongside what was
hundreds of absolute classics - everything from the 'bicycle-motorcross' 70s origins, to the fluorescent 80s freestyle-era, to the bullet-proof over-built tanks that came out of the 90s.
I stood.
I looked.
I took 153 photos...
...and here they are.
Loved the colour and graphics on this Redline..
Early Haro Freestyler, before the standing platforms on the rear chainstays..
Nice metallic green on the frame of this Torker 2 Freestyle..
White/blue/pink colourway looking great on this GT Performer...
One of
many SE Quadrangles there that day. I love this frame...
Patina..
1982 Harry Leary Turbo
"This is earliest known surviving, complete, original Harry Leary Turbo.
It Still has the rare Diamond Back stamped Kashi Aero Suede Seat, which was only fitted during the early months of production before they changed to the five star saddle.
It also has the pre-production black/grey Oakley F1's which didn't have the Oakley logo on the inside of the flange but only had the Oakley patent pending number.
This bike was purchased from Western Australia around five years ago."
1983 Diamond Back Harry Leary Turbo
"This bike was bought in the UK. The previous owner purchased it from an old bike shop which had it in storage for 20 years. The bike was never sold in the 80's and was moved around in storage, hence the marks to the delicate smoke finish.
This HLT remains on the few complete NOS examples in the world."
The interesting part of these being here, is that the event organizers impressively brought Harry Leary out from the US just for the event! Safe to say there were
quite a few Diamond Back bikes there that day...
...including this team display, with an absolute ton of original memorabilia.
Interesting handlebar brace on this Vitus..
White-on-white-on-white-on-white-on... Dyno Compe -
clearly carried over the mud..!
All chrome Hoffman with purple/blue text.. loved this...
Entirely-pink Torker 2, complete with colour-matched aero covers...
What looks to have originally been a blue '85 Haro Sport.. that has lost its paint somewhere along the line...
Late 90's nostalgia..
Silverton BMX.... "AERO TURBO"!
Incredibly-dainty ELF...
Awesome lettering on this Diamond Back..
Kuwahara complete with ET in a milk-crate...
Classic green '85 Haro Freestyler Master..
a little easier on the eyes than mine...
A pair of nicely restored Haro Group1's..
Spotless blue/teal Haro Invert...
...and a
perfect blue/teal/chrome Haro Freestyler Sport. Ohhhh... I liked this SO damn much....
Bashguard Master... the Haro Freestyler moving into the 90s....
Green/orange/white is keen..!
Powder-pink Hutch Hollywood, with matching helmet. Rad..
Impressive job getting all the gold pieces to match on this black Malvern Star SuperMax...
Pinky/plumish.. ish.. '86 Master..
The Skyway Street Scene.
A BMX from the company that supplied 90% of the plastic wheels (Tuffs) there that day..!
Another interesting colourway on this '85 Master...
From the Street Scene above, to this white/pink Skyway Street
Beat...
An absolutely
wild frame on this - a red (Greendale Bicycle Co) Sling Shot.
The Mongoose-on-stilts.. the Moosegoose.
It's the late 90's with this Captain America themed Haro Monocoque...
Ridiculous 6-piece bars. Awesome..
Spotless red/chrome Redline RL-20...
..and in black/grey...
Profile BMX, with the cranks I have on my green '85...
More epic colouring on this pink/black Torker 2.. complete with Tioga Compact Disc. Best keep that away from a CD player....
The '87 Sport I rode in on. Not perfect, but doesn't have to be. Just showing its age well. Love this bike...
All-chrome Hutch looking
so damn good...
Interesting arched frame on this Torker Vagabond..
Awesome pink US-made '87 GT Pro Freestyle Tour, sitting on its own custom podium. Love seeing how proud the owner obviously is of this..
Huge collection of SE's, with some of the choppers n whatnot in the background. I'm sorry I didn't take any photos of these.. I was too focused on the damn colourful BMX's..!
Another GT Pro Freestyle Tour, frying peoples retinas! SO bright. I'm fairly confident this would glow in the dark...
Another chrome Hutch Trick Star. A dream bike...
More fantastic frame creativity on this pair of MCS Stylers. White/white or chrome with pink..?
Another absolutely-flawless 36 year old BMX: a chrome 1980 Mongoose Motomag. Beautiful...
Quicksilver pair..
It was a shame these shots turned out so dark... but it was a struggle just to see this thing! Spotless chrome/white Dyno Pro Compe sitting on a mirror?! Near-invisible..
Another combination of great colour on a unique/interesting frame, with this chrome/candy(?) red VDC...
..starting to lose track here, but is this pink-GT-Pro-Freestyle-Tour number three?! Perfect again.. just look at that GT tread..
..more Mongoose - is that Mongeese? Classic. I'd love to get my hands on one at some point...
A Blue JMC...
The Japanese Kuwahara....
Custard.
....and done.
I'm going to have to wrap this right up here, as eeesh... it's almost 5am. How the hell does this take SO much time?!
So (understandably.. please!?) no time for a re-read or spell-check today - here's hoping it all makes
some sense!
Regardless. TOP event. Huge turnout for what is only the 7th year, which I imagine is no small effort for the organizers - they deserve a
big pat on the back for this.
Until next year...
