on any sunday

[dehner47]

i bought that movie yesterday and i have to say, it was awesome. if anyone young or old want to see how far we have come in the motocycle/racing world please watch it. i cant believe there were actually dudes wearing baseball and football helmets while racing. damn how times have changed:D

[05LSR250R]

Yes....times have changed!

But one common thing remains..........the freedom of being off-road!

[dehner47]

very very true. the last scene when there out playing on the beach is awesome. makes me just wanna go out and ride the hills with my boys and just have a good time being on a bike. or in our case, a quad :D

[tri5ron]

I remember when it came out.
saw it about 10 times in the theaters.
It was the "kickoff" to all that is MX to this day.

When I started riding, we wore open faced helmets, and would mount football gaurds to the fronts.
(There was no such thing as a closed face offroad helmet.)

There also was no such thing as riding pants, jerseys, or chest protectors.
We wore Leather Welders jackets, welders chaps, and Lineman's boots, (that laced all the way up to your knee's).
Elbow pads were unheard of, and shin guards were fom a Hockey Goalie's gear.

gloves were like a regular leather roping glove that had rubber strips sewn along the tops of the fingers and knuckles.

and the hottest mods were to weld lower rear shock mounts 1 or 2 inches forward to give you a whopping 4 1/2 inches of travel (over the stock 3 1/2"), remove your oil induction tank so you would mix your gas, replace the metal fenders with "Preston Petty's", change to a foam air filter, and get D.I.D. aluminum wheels to replace the stock steel wheels.

we had these little aluminum brackets that would clamp to the frame, and you would carry 2 extra spark plugs with you at ALL times, because plug fouling was common, and most of us used compression release valves for going down hills and to kill the bike, because we had also stripped the Battery, ignition switch, wiring, headlights, taillights, off of the bike.
Now THAT was a RACEBIKE !!!

Ahhh, the memories of an old Yamaha DT 125, 175, 250, or 360cc
and aspiring to be just like Malcom Smith, or Steve McQueen...

Those were the days when Tank-slappin' was terrifying, ...
and Whoops would make you wet your pants!

[05LSR250R]

LMAO! Great post! Haven't heard the name Preston Pettys in a long time!

[05LSR250R]

I'll post an article on Preston Petty in a minute!

[dehner47]

dang man. those bikes sound a bit scary to ride let alone race with 20-40 other dudes. you guys were deff knarly back then. way more then these guys today

and you young whipper snappers think stewart and reed are badass, go check out "on any sunday" makes those pro guys look like a bunch of babies.

[05LSR250R]

http://i555.photobucket.com/albums/jj468/horath2008/IMG.jpg

[tri5ron]

Originally posted by 05LSR250R
LMAO! Great post! Haven't heard the name Preston Pettys in a long time!

Here's a few more names that should spark some memories...

Penton,... Greeves,... Maico-(break-o),.... CZ,... Ossa (Stilletto and Phantom),... Bultaco (Pursang),... Hodaka (Wombat, and Combat-Wombat),... Huskavarna (Remember the term,(Husky-hopper), ...
Honda Elsinore (this bike changed motocross history, and reigned supreme for 3 or 4 years until Suzuki came out with the RM series)

How about Kidney Belts that had 3 belt buckles you had to tighten, (we had'nt even HEARD of velcro yet).

Terra-flex tires, Marzocci Fork Protectors, Fork braces, Expansion Chambers that would blow out you eardrums, and Surplus steel "Jerry Cans" for fuel...

Old WWII surplus Canteens straped to the front forks, (before the Water jugs mounted on the cross bars), (first showing of Velcro),
(Hydration backpac's and Camelbac's were still MANY MANY years away)...

and what about those cool number plates we put in place of the headlight assembly, that opened up and we carried all our pliers, screwdrivers, plug wrenchs, bailing wire, duct tape, Matches (for a signal fire), (Bic / disposable lighters, were'nt invented yet), some First-aid Gauze and tape, and a knife, etc.
(and for you youngsters reading this,... you had BETTER be carrying all those tools, if you intended on making it back to camp before dark!)

Also any rider with ANY experience at all knew, You'd better have a tow-strap coiled and mounted on the rear fender, cuz there was a good chance you were going to need it!

The term, "Mono-Shock", hadn't even been thought of yet, much less, "Rear Linkage"....

I'll try and remember some more for later...
(any body here still have their old "Taco" minibike?),
I've still got one !!! and even have the original 3hp engine!!!.

[tri5ron]

Originally posted by dehner47
dang man. those bikes sound a bit scary to ride let alone race with 20-40 other dudes. you guys were deff knarly back then. way more then these guys today

and you young whipper snappers think stewart and reed are badass, go check out "on any sunday" makes those pro guys look like a bunch of babies.

dehner47,
Scary ? you bet your butt,... But FUN as HE77 !!!
flying more than 3 or 4 feet off the ground was considered INSANE !!!, and you had to learn very quickly to land while bottoming out BOTH front and rear shocks, without busting your "privates" on the gas tank, or your face on the handlebars...

You didn't ride the bike back then....
IT RODE YOU !!!
you were merely a passenger hanging onto a Bucking Bronco, just trying to stay on top.

You were NEVER really in Control...
it was only a matter of how much abuse your body could take, before you crashed. (TRUST ME, ... YOU WERE,... GOING TO CRASH !)

Terms like "Setting up my suspension", or "Rebound", or "Compression settings", were still a Loooong way off in the future!!!

terms like "Endo", "Flying W", and the "Over the Bars Club", were considered "Badges of Honor"

if you returned to camp with Blood flowing from some part of your body,....and a Smile on your face,....
Everyone knew you had a "Good Ride".

[05LSR250R]

Back in junior high I actually owned a Hodaka! We all called it "The Road Toad"!
My two older brothers had a Harly Davidson (175 I think) and an Elsinore!:cool:

[fastredrider44]

Yall are making me feel young. (i'm 21) I used to buy random bikes to play around and I bought a 1971 Suzuki TE250. Holy smokes. It had about the power of a kx60 and the weight of a goldwing. DANGEROUS. I've still got a few old ones laying around. 1978 DT 175, DT 400, 86 IT200, 79 XR185, 78 XR250, and few more than dont run, but I have a world of respect for those who used to go fast on them things. Technology has shot through the roof on bikes!

[tri5ron]

Fastrider44,
I used to ride a DT90 chassis, with a DT175 engine in it.
Yeah it would fit, but you had to take the gas tank off to change a sparkplug, LOL!
It was stripped down to the bare bones with only engine, wheels, tank, handlebars, and seat. Petty fenders, mix the gas, foam filter, and an expansion chamber that was so loud you could litterly hear it from 2 miles away!

1st and 2nd gears were flat out Dangerous, and almost impossible to keep the front end down. If you hit the throttle, you'd better be sitting on the gas tank with your chin touching the front fender.
3rd and 4th gears would stand it straight up anytime you wanted, with a simple twist of the wrist.
and 5th would do the same if you scooted to the rear of the seat.
That thing would FLY !
(and Yes, I got ejected from it more times than I can remember)

I could keep up with all the DT250's in the straights, and cut the corners tighter to pass them.

kidneys took alot more abuse in those days, than they do now...

"Ride hard - Ride fast - and Keep the Rubber side Down",
had a whole different meaning back then !!!

(BTW- this was all going on only about 10-12 years before you were born!) LOL!!!

[Pappy]

Its one of my favorite movies:p

[justen08]

where did you find movie at i youtubed it looked pretty awsome

[ProspectorJim]

Originally posted by justen08
where did you find movie at i youtubed it looked pretty awsome

its on itunes.

[Nac's22]

My dad watched it with me one time. Its the only time he ever wanted to watch anything close to MX. He said that its everything they used to do when he was young. He has 2 Bultaco Alpina 175s, 1 Bultaco Pursang 250 and one of them nice YZ 250's with the shock that was like under the seat lol. He calls me a sissy for being sore after I ride compaired to what they did lol

[tri5ron]

ask your dad if you can give that 250 Pursang a shot. that thing will scare the pants off of you, Garranteed!
It only runs in two throttle positions, and I'll give you a hint...
(one of those positions is at idle !!!)

[Nac's22]

I'm sorry i ment to say had. I found one of his 175's in the weeds at my grandparents house and was going to do something with it but everything was shot in it. Looking back on it I wish I could have kept it but Grandpa threw it out. He told me the 175s were great for trail riding you could go over anything and actually ride it slow in a technical section if you wanted to compaired to the 250s.

[dehner47]

Originally posted by justen08
where did you find movie at i youtubed it looked pretty awsome

i bought a copy of it at jrd racing here in town. couldn't pass it up. been wanting to buy it for a while now but never did. i saw it and knew i had to buy it. great add to the collection of over 20 riding videos i have. "on any sunday" and "dust to glory" tops the list of best movies in my collection. and there made by the same family. bruce brown the father made "on any sunday" and his son dana made "dust to glory" both great movies and a must buy if you ever come across either of them.

you can go to motosport.com i know they carry it there. or deff ebay. grab it if you find it. well worth it :D

[Raptor68]

I purchased that movie about a month ago and love it...very cool!

I've always been a fan of the vintage bikes, especially since I grew up with three wheelers in the 80s.

Here is our 1985 Honda ATC 70 that we got new in '85 and was just refreshed last summer as well as the 1979 Suzuki RM400 that I am presently restoring...this was taken the day I bought the bike last August (it's all in pieces now).

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i251/stephen7878/ATC70001.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i251/stephen7878/ATC70004.jpg

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i251/stephen7878/RM400001.jpg

[05LSR250R]

WOW!....that RM400 brings back alot of good memories!

Thanx for posting the pic!

[tri5ron]

Originally posted by 05LSR250R
WOW!....that RM400 brings back alot of good memories!

Thanx for posting the pic!
Yep ! x2,...
I had the exact same bike,
MAN !! was that thing Fast !
never did wear out the front tire, because you could never keep it on the ground LOL!!!

[jcv400ex]

Dad had a RM 400 I got to ride. I couldn't touch the ground, I use to get on it on the picnic table. I was going across the field one day with dad on the back....crack the 1/2 turn throttle...and whhhhissssshhhh DAD WAS GONE! blew him right off the back.

How about stripmines!? I use to climb bigger hills on my DS 80 than guys on 250's. Then we'd line the front tires up at the bottom of the hill and race up!

[Raptor68]

Originally posted by jcv400ex
Dad had a RM 400 I got to ride. I couldn't touch the ground, I use to get on it on the picnic table. I was going across the field one day with dad on the back....crack the 1/2 turn throttle...and whhhhissssshhhh DAD WAS GONE! blew him right off the back.


I haven't ridden the my RM400 yet since it was missing the throttle cable when I purchased it and the owner said the bottom end was making some noise so I didn't want to destroy the motor. The engine is now at moto-xperts in Lafayette, Indiana getting all redone with new crank, seals, gaskets, bearings, and 0.50mm larger piston. Everyone says they are extremely fast...but what would you compare it to? I have been riding since 1983 ( I am 30 now) and am just trying to get an idea of what to expect the first time I blip the throttle. Should be a blast though!

[tri5ron]

Originally posted by Raptor68
I haven't ridden the my RM400 yet since it was missing the throttle cable when I purchased it and the owner said the bottom end was making some noise so I didn't want to destroy the motor. The engine is now at moto-xperts in Lafayette, Indiana getting all redone with new crank, seals, gaskets, bearings, and 0.50mm larger piston. Everyone says they are extremely fast...but what would you compare it to? I have been riding since 1983 ( I am 30 now) and am just trying to get an idea of what to expect the first time I blip the throttle. Should be a blast though!

well let me put it this way,.....
I'm assuming you are going to have a new rear tire also,
(I used to use the Terraflex, KNARLY sized knobs on those!)

All you have to do,...
is sit your butt in front of the gas cap, lean forward to where your chin is touching the front fender,....
and only use half throttle on the hole shot....

once you get to 3rd or 4th, you can go ahead and peg the throttle. (at least that's the way I remember it, Haha),
(I was only about 145 lbs. when I had mine)
That was a Loooonnnggg time ago, LOL!