Name: Cash Matthews
Hometown: Shawnee, OK
Started riding BMX in: 1972
Like many in the very early days who could not afford a motorcycle, the bicycle was turned into a motorbike look-a-like. What were some of the things you did to reach that goal?
Cash Matthews: Like most, we made lots of cool 2-stroke motorcycle sounds with our mouths!! As our group of friends who rode progressed, we started riding “flat track” style in a circle. We emulated Kenny Roberts and my Uncle, Jerry Matthews who were all accomplished Flat Track Stars. I conned my uncle out of a number plate from his motorcycle so that was the first cool-mod of the Schwinn. As many Flat Track guys, we added cardboard, grip covers to save us from rocks and things that never really mattered but they looked cool. In those early days, just having a set of waffle grips was epic, so we began there,
Name: Scott Towne
Hometown: Otsego, Michigan, USA.
Started riding BMX in: 1977
Number of bikes in the collection: More than I need, less than I want. I don’t consider myself a “collector”. I’m a lifer. Old BMX bikes are something I have because they are part of my story. I could give a presentation on each bike that I have and why it means something to me. In fact, I just might start doing that. “It’s all in the presentation” after all.
Name: Stu Thomsen
Started riding in: 1972 (I Think)
Teams represented: Three Majors: SE, Redline and Huffy.
Some of the smaller and short term teams were: Dirt Master, Webco, DG, FMF, Motobecane (One Weekend), my bike shop (Stu Thomsen’s Family Bicycle Center), Southridge Cycles (on MTB and BMX). A short stent back on Redline and now representing SE again.
What was the first bike you used to ride Bicycle Motocross?
Stu Thomsen: Schwinn Stingray
In 1973, what were people using at the first few races you entered?
Stu Thomsen: Modified Stingray type bikes and a few custom garage builds by ingenious fathers.
You've seen the BMX bike development firsthand. What kind of full suspension bikes did you get to ride?
Stu Thomsen: I had a custom made Monoshock bike I would race now and then at the Corona downhill
Name: Jason Van Buskirk
Hometown: Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
Started riding BMX in: 1979
Number of bikes in the collection: 30+
Dutch roots by any chance?
Jason Van Buskirk: Yes, my Heritage is Dutch, however, I am born and raised in the U.S.
Is your focus on BMX bikes from the period you raced in mainly?
Jason van Buskirk: Yes, I tend to collect bikes from the late '70s To mid '80s... Probably 1987 being the latest. I do have a couple '90s bikes, but that's not the era I enjoy collecting the most.
Name: Tommy Yaley
Hometown: Mtn View. California
Started riding BMX in: 1974ish
Number of bikes in the collection: 9
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Tommy Yaley: About 7 years ago I decided I wanted to re-create the 1st Gen proline I had when I was a kid. I sold a bunch of my music gear collection and then, like everyone else, it took off from there. Just one more bike...
Torker BMX is BACK! Welcome back to Torker....
Name: Jim Fisher
Hometown: Gaines, MI... Denver area now.
Started riding BMX in: '79
Number of bikes in the collection: 20 plus
Is your focus on BMX bikes from the period you raced in mainly?
Jim Fisher: Mainly '79-'84, I have to say I’m more a collector today than I was a racer back then. I just had and rode a few of these bikes when I was a kid/teen in small town MI. We didn’t have a track but we had a couple sweet bike shops and lots of places to ride like maniacs and we did. I dreamed of moving to California getting a Toyota 4x4 and racing with the pros back then.
Did you manage to get the bikes that you really wanted when you raced?
Jim Fisher: I was blessed to have some nice bikes... I followed BMX thru the magazines and got to know the guys at the local bike shops so I built up a few really nice bikes back then.
Name: Rod Miles
Hometown: Indy .... Georgia since '84
Started riding BMX in: 1977
Number of bikes in the collection: 20+
Is your focus on BMX bikes from the period you raced in mainly?
Rodney Miles: Yes, I have a thing for the smaller companies and East coast brands MCS, Thruster, J&G Cheetahs and White Lightning.
Being away from California, did you manage to get the bikes that you really wanted when you raced?
Name: Sean Stiddard
Hometown: Bristol, England
Started riding BMX in: 1980
Number of bikes in the collection: Now 14, I had 37 at one point. But I scaled back as to leave the bikes that either meant a lot to me (i.e. my original bikes) or ones I just plain loved too much to let go. I remember once a long time ago my wife (who was my girlfriend at the time) asked the dreaded
question “Exactly how many bikes and frames do you have?”, my reply was “You know about the 20 bikes in the loft, well I have 6 frames at work, 2 frames in the back of my car, 4 being chromed, 2 at my parents and 1 in the mail that I purchased yesterday”, I think that is when she realised she had a love rival in the relationship.
Name: Mohamad Al-amin Abdullah
Hometown: Perlis, Malaysia
Started riding BMX in: BITD mid 90s, and came back to BMX in about 2016.
Number of bikes in the collection: Since 2016 until 2021 I have owned 150 complete old school BMX bikes ('70s-'90s) and more than 250 frame & fork sets. Last year I started to sell a few things from my collection (already sold around 60-70 BMX). I sold some to other local collectors and just tried to move a few items in order to cover the costs of the container. With the help of some friends in the UK and USA, I have stockpiled some parts and bikes, which I then ship in a container back to Malaysia. It is very common in the old school scene for sellers to refuse international shipping. So, we try to have an
After doing a BMX 'zine for ten years (1987 - 1996) FATBMX made it on the internet. The year was 1998. Here to stay.