Name: Tom Sustarich
Hometown: Macomb Twp., Michigan, USA.
Started riding BMX in: I started riding a BMX bike in 1979 on a Mongoose with Tuff Wheels. In 1982, I got a Hutch frameset for Christmas. From 1980 through about 1984, I raced BMX locally in southeast Michigan with my brother, my cousin, and several good friends. We lived in the country, so we were at the mercy of our parents work schedules to get to a BMX track. Although we did not race as much as I would have liked to, my parents were always supportive and encouraging and those were some of the best years of my childhood. We spent our days on our bikes. Jumping in ditches, riding dirt roads. We build a quarter-pipe. We practiced tricks. The weather did not matter. We rode year-round. Snow, rain, heat, etc. It was the first taste of freedom. In the summer of 1984, I sold my race bike and all the parts I
Name: Shad Johnson
Hometown: Prineville, Oregon, USA.
Started riding BMX in: 1986
Number of bikes in the collection: Over 30 but I have a core 10 that I won't sell or trade.
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Shad Johnson: No real exact moment. I remember getting an OZONE from a friend in '95 and being so stoked because I had always wanted one. Somehow that frame disappeared from one of the BMX houses I have lived at in the past. When I first opened Goods BMX someone brought in a pink '88 GT performer I bought off of them.
Name: Jason Teraoka
Hometown: Kapaa, Hawaii
Started riding BMX in: 1976
Number of bikes in the collection: 7
Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Jason Teraoka: The seed was definitey planted around 2006 when I pulled a complete 1978 Motomag JAG from a bulk trash pile at the curb. I had that bike stashed for years. It wasn’t until 2015 that I finally gave it a soft restoration and got it into rideable shape and because of that, acquiring parts and collecting sparked. Soon after, a friend gave me two of his childhood bikes (1978 LRV and Team Mongoose) and another bike was pulled from a bulk trash pile (another 1978 Team Mongoose). It was then that the bug fully bit. Collecting went into hyperspace once I moved to California from Hawaii and started going to swaps and shows and meeting some great people in the community here.
At this moment, do you wish you had started collecting earlier?
Jason Teraoka:For sure! I’ve heard so many stories about the glory days from the established collecting
Name: Frank Lukas
Hometown: Koblenz, Germany
Bike: Morales 2nd Generation
Home come you decided to build up a Morales bike from scratch?
Frank Lukas: I think this frame is the most iconic Flatland frame ever designed and produced. It changed everything. Don’t quote me here, but I think it was the very first “Flatland specific frame”. I also think that the riders who rode the frame had the biggest impact on Flatland besides Kevin and Chase. I was so into Westcoast Flatland- Richard, Jesse, Edgar and many more...
Name: Darren Chan
Hometown: Oakland, CA, USA
Bike: Favorite would be Patterson or Schwerma Champion BMX
What's your earliest memory of BMX?
Darren Chan: Going to the local bike shop Hank and Frank and seeing all the BMX bikes that were in the magazines. Saw Brent Patterson there with his orange BMW.
Who were some of the BMX riders that you admired back in the day?
Darren Chan: Frank Post, Patterson brothers, Anderson brothers, Stu, RL Osborn, Bob Haro, Dave Vanderspek.
Do you feel there is a need for BMX products to survive for history's sake?
Name: William LaRoque aka Larock
Hometown: Long Beach, CA
What's your earliest memory of BMX?
Larock: Seeing On Any Sunday for the first time and wanting an MX kit for my hand me down Lime Green StingRay.
Who were some of the BMX riders that you admired back in the day?
Larock: That’s a tough one! I was kind of Partial to the SE Factory Boys because they had such close ties to Long Beach, BUMS track was less than a mile away from where I grew up. Scot, Thomsen & PK of course. But who could deny the Panther, Dain, Utterback, King, Atherton and all of the others that graced the pages of our favorite magazines.
BMX Texas Take Over: Riding into the Lone Star State!
Name: Steve Strong
Hometown: Dagenham, UK.
Started riding BMX in: 1981.
Number of bikes in the collection: 3 at the moment, built around 25 decent ones I was happy with.
What was the first project bike that got you into collecting BMX bikes?
Steve Strong: 1981 Team Murray 'Track Certified'.
How difficult was it to find parts for it in the beginning?
Steve Strong: When I first started, I knew nothing of the UK scene. I was (and still am) a member of BMX Society and BMXMuseum. Primarily all of my parts came from Ebay.com and the Museum pages.
Name: Alessandro Barbero
Hometown: Ceva, Italy / Woodward, PA, USA
Started riding BMX in: As a kid in the late '80's. Pro since 2001.
Number of bikes in the collection: Most of my bikes are Race bikes from 1975 to 1985. I don't know how many exactly.
What is Italy's history like regarding BMX Bikes. Do you have any Italian BMX bikes in your collection?
Alessandro Barbero: Of course I got some, so I usually try to split the BMX Toys from the Real BMX that
Name: Chad Powers
Hometown: Grew up in Nokesville, VA, live in Richmond, VA now!
Started riding BMX in: 1996
Number of bikes in the collection: 250-300 rideable bikes
The BMX museum you've got going at the shop is fairly new. Can you explain how it all unfolded?
Powers BMX: it’s not new! It has always been in the works. But we just moved the shop into a bigger better spot which we had build a section dedicated for the BMX museum!
When you were looking for a new location, was starting a BMX museum always on your mind?
Powers BMX: Yes, the museum was a main point of the new location!
It seems you've got plenty of bikes. How do you decide which bikes deserve a spot in the museum?
Powers BMX: We don’t dislike anything that’s BMX! We are going to downsize it a little, get rid of some doubles.
What's the oldest bike in the line-up?
Powers BMX: We have a Schwinn Sting ray. I personally love the '70s BMX.