FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Name: Lionel Eden aka carbizguy
Hometown: Born and raised (and still living in) Redondo Beach, CA
Started riding BMX in: 1977 on my brother's old monoshock
Number of bikes in the collection: Currently, I have 9 complete bikes and 20 frames/forks. At peak insanity, I had probably 3 times this in my collection. I haven't been very active lately, I thinned out my collection back in 2010.

What was the starting point of your BMX collecting madness?
Lionel Eden: In early 2000 I found an old BMX Action magazine and that sparked this idea of

Name: Byron TGI Friday
Started riding in: 1969

Teams represented: Kawasaki Motor Co, Shimano America, ***Redline Development Linn Kastan (it was not a team - Linn and I work together to develop The ProLine series: V bars, stem, frame, and fork. Flight cranks. While riding the Redline product Mr. Jim Emerson of EFF /Peddlers West provided me with parts, support, and transportation.

What was the first bike you used to ride Bicycle Motocross before you got picked up by Kawasaki?

For today's episode of Preserving BMX History we talked to BMX legend Eddy King. Before we hit it off, he had to show me his new Canyon E-bike. Only 3 in existence in the USA right now, one being in the possession of MX SX star Ken Roczen, the other one in the hands of MTB rider Paul Basagoitia. Eddy was well proud of having access to the bike and is looking forward to the next ride. We touched base with Eddy on the early years of BMX for him growing up in Chula Vista when riders were brought in from Tijuana by the local dealer just to have a race with the Americans. In 1974 Eddy discovered BMX when he saw a flyer posted up in the window of his local bike shop. It was 1975 when Eddy first raced BMX at Silver Wing BMX, a somewhat downhill track in San Diego. "It took 60 seconds to ride the track, that's how slow we were." Eddy was competing on a $ 29,95 USD Huffy from K-Mart showing that event the top pros had to start somewhere.

Did Silver Wing BMX track get a lot of coverage back then in the magazines?
Eddy King: Just locally.

Name: Toby Henderson
Started riding in: 1972
Teams represented: DG, Raleigh, Hutch, SE, GT, Iron Horse.

Was pretty much everyone on a Stingray when they raced Bicycle Motocross at BUMS in 1973?
Toby Henderson: I know I was on one. The rest of the guys... I'm sure there were some Huffy's on the field :)

At age 12, was the Stingray actually a perfect fit for you?
Toby Henderson: I didn't know better, but it handled everything better than any other bike I rode at that time. It was funny you asked because I was the first one to get a Schwinn Scrambler/prototype, a straight tube version of the Stringray. The head tube was so slacked out, it was almost unrideable. Not sure if they ever fixed that as I went on to ride for DG later on.

Did you do many of the downhill BMX races when they were around?
Toby Henderson: Yes, I remember one in San Diego where I crashed really hard. On the Yarnell track, I was scared to death just to go out of the starting gate.

How many bikes would break at a race like that?

Name: Mickael Clerté
Hometown: Gujan Mestras, France
Started riding BMX in: 1985
Number of bikes in the collection: 18

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Mickael Clerté: Yes around 2010, hearing about more and more BMX old school reunions.

Who were the first people you came across that helped you out to find the stuff you needed?
Mickael Clerté: My old friend from TOURS, Eric Pontoizeau. This guy is one of the first French who start to collecting.

Do you feel there is a need for BMX products to survive for history's sake?
Mickael Clerté: Yes sure.

Did you get to keep all your bikes when you were part of sponsored teams?
Mickael Clerté: No never, always need to sell those bikes to pay BMX travels, races…I wish I could but not.

Name: Ely Thomas
Hometown: Dirty Mitten (Michigan)
Started riding BMX in: Started around 12 years old
Number of bikes in the collection: 25

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Ely D. Thomas: Well started collecting old fat tire and Stingrays I would find at Yard sales and would walk past the BMX for some reason. Then one day that changed and I started with the BMX about 15-20 years ago.

We've asked Mel Stoutsenberger to pick his favourite photos from back in the day and give us the Who, Where, When, What, and Why. Mel documented BMX first hand. His photos tell stories.

Who: My long time friend and fellow bike mechanic, John George. Little did I know when I shot this photo that John would land the NBA National #1 position later in the year. John worked as a mechanic for Canoga Cycle Center and raced for their team exclusively. He raced NBA sanctioned events almost every weekend of the year as well as many week nights. He was fast, hard to beat and had piles of style. Whether he was on a long gnarly downhill course like Malibu Country Club or a Friday night flat track bash at the Van Nuys Teen Center, John always held his own.

Name: Jesus Pozo (Chino)
Hometown: San Diego California
Started riding BMX in: '87/'88
Number of bikes in the collection: 25 plus 20 frame sets

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Chino Jesus: Good question, I’ve kept some of the GT/Dyno pit bikes I had since jr high. I bought a GT pit frame around 2014 and met a good friend that would help spark the BMX bug. Once I saw his collection, mainly RL20 II (7) and Haro Master bashguards (4), I was hooked.

What is your fascination about bashguard bikes?
Chino Jesus: An older guy in the neighborhood had a chrome Haro Master bashguard. He worked at a local bike shop and had all the top of the line parts. He would sell my friends and I his left over parts and we would have cool upgrades. That bike always stood out to me. Probably an '89 Master. That’s why when I met my buddy Gabriel and saw his collection, I told him to sell me one of the bashguard bikes.

Name: Martin Pimentel
Hometown: Sydney, Australia but currently living in London, England
Started riding BMX in: 1978 but I’ve been riding one kind of bike or another since the age of 2 (yes I have photographic evidence)
Number of bikes in the collection: 113 at its peak but that’s down to 55 right now. Most of what is left has not been shared widely yet so I have lots of building left to do. 1980 to 1984 was my golden age.

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Martin Pimentel: Like most things in life, it was at a party. It was the early 2000s and an old '80s song came on. To this day I associate particular songs to certain bikes. Made me think of a black 1983 SE Quadangle with gold parts and camo pads I always wanted but never had. That sparked the flame that burns to this day.

Who were the first people you came across that helped you out to find the stuff you needed?
Martin Pimentel: There were too many to mention here. I started going deep and before too long the stuff tended to find me! That’s the good thing about this community. People get to know each other, their

We've asked Mel Stoutsenberger to pick his favourite photos from back in the day and give us the Who, Where, When, What, and Why. Mel documented BMX first hand. His photos tell stories.

Who: (L-R) Bill Ford, Mike Aldred, Butch Baum and John George. We had just received our new Canoga Cycle Center BMX Team shirts that Russ Okawa had made. Completely stoked, we decided to head over to our closest hot spot wearing our new shirts for some photos. I shot a roll of 36 exposure black and white film and got a lot of killer pics but this one was the money shot. Tight formation, everyone has decent air, the light was good and none of the guys hit me after landing.