FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Name: Brian Gutierrez
Hometown: Venice, California born and raised but migrated to Orange County in the late 80's.
Started riding BMX in: Friends of mine I rode with and me started calling it BMX in 1972. Prior to that point we just rode our Sting Rays. We were emulating Evel Knievel whenever possible. Starting with use of a small wooden car ramp we would attempt new records over an ever longer, ever taller stack of old banana boxes. When that lost its sparkle we went to the dirt! At first it was just to find bigger stuff to jump off of or over the top of.

Then we discovered we liked the dirt. The trails that went along with the jumping spots were just as fun

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: Alex Leech
Hometown: Oxford, England
Started riding BMX in: 1981
Number of bikes in the collection: Maybe 20 completes and another 20 frames

Do you have any other brand of BMX bike in your collection other than an S&M?
Alex Leech: I have one BMX that’s not S&M; a Haro “84 Sport”. I had one in 1984 so I wanted to get another one. The one I used to have was a USA made Gen2 Sport. I rode it for ages and it broke many times. Unfortunately, I have no clue where it ended up. The one I have now is a Gen3, so not exactly the same as my old one. It isn’t built the same as I rode mine but it’s got a few references to my old bike.

Name: Pat A Lar
Hometown: Brighton, UK
Started riding BMX in: 1990
Number of bikes in the collection: I’ve 2 & 3/4 complete and a couple of framesets at the moment but that is always changing. I’ve downsized a bit as I prefer Quality over Quantity.

What was the first project bike that got you into collecting BMX bikes?
Pat A Lar: First Old School bike I built was a 1983 Torker Magnum. I bought it locally and did the usual newbie mistakes by having it rechromed, covering it in reissue parts and it was all over in a couple of weeks. This was a significant point for me as I soon realised that there was so much more to the history

Name: Oliver Kienzle
Hometown: Kornwestheim, Germany
Started riding in: 1975 with Bonanza bikes. Real first BMX bike in '79.
Number of bikes: My wife says not enough

You've been a BMX fan from the start. What was the first bike that you decided to keep forever?
Oliver Kienzle: PK Ripper 

Being from Germany, did you think all the American bikes were next level in the beginning?
Oliver Kienzle: Yeah definitely next level.

What were the first American BMX brands that you saw at a race in Germany?
Oliver Kienzle: Hutch, GT and Torker team Mirranda, Brackens, Judge etc

Did you ever buy a bike like that?
Oliver Kienzle: No, too expensive.

If you had the space (and the money), what bike would be on your "to own" list right now?

Name: Woody Itson
Hometown: Keller, TX
Started riding BMX in: The 70’s
Number of bikes in the collection: I have 15 complete bikes and some frames and parts that may or may not ever turn into anything

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Woody Itson: I didn’t actually decide to collect any BMX stuff to be honest.  In fact there was one point where all I had was the one bike that I was riding and some miscellaneous parts and uniforms in a box.