I was at the local thrift store the other day, looking for some bargains when I came across a whole pile of old MX gear. Yes I bought it, all of it for $4.
First off was a pair of the tan colored leather moto pants from back in the 60s. Goat skin I think, plastic knee cups, two thin blue stripes down the out side of both legs, coolest pants ever made. Tiny little things, size 32 waist, I sped past that in high school. But the pants are the bomb. They show some wear, no rips or tears, just the seat is dark colored and the knees have some scuffs on them. I remember dreaming about owning a pair of these pants back then. They would have been too expensive at about $50. At that time I could not afford the denim Dynamite riding pants we saw advertised in Dirt Bike magazine so my buddy and I took bib overalls and sewed carpet pad on the in side of the knees. I don’t remember them looking very good at the time and the bib part never did catch on except for that one hill climb guy in On Any Sunday.
In the bargain pile was a Jofa chest protector like DeCoster used to wear, blue and gold. The elastic is worn out but gawd is it cool. We wanted these when we were young too. In fact we sewed more carpet pad together to make chest protectors, but alas, my future was not going to be in sewing or any field where skill is required.
A pair of yellow lens-ed Cararra goggles. Oh man, I remember being at Jeff’ Larkins Cycle shop in Crawfordsville Indiana when I was a kid, I was just throwing a fit because I wanted a pair of those goggles so bad and my Dad wouldn’t buy them for me. They were around $9 or so. Jeff pulled a pair of the old High Point Enduro plastic glasses out and showed me a picture of Billy Uhl at the Six Day, Bill had a pair on. You know, my future changed right then. Some how, I switched from Moto to Enduro with one set of eye wear. How cool is that, to realize a defining moment in your life. Can a $150 pair of Oakleys change a persons life? No but a $2 set of Hi Points did. I still talk to Jeff today and I’ve ridden with Bill Uhl and occasionally my phone will ring and it’s Bill with another story idea, all because the $9 goggles were too expensive.
Halman gloves, the tan colored ones with the rubber strips sewn down the backs of the fingers. These are well worn, the rubber is fraying away from the finger, the finger tips are worn clean through, the palms are black from use. I did have a pair of these, but the rubber was stronger than my fingers and it wore me out to try and hold on to the bars of the Super Rat. I quickly lost those gloves and got a pair of Jofa leather gloves.
There was a pair of Full Bore boots in the pile, they no longer stood tall, rather the leather had broken down and the boots fell over just above the ankle. Must have 8 buckles on each boot. The red white and green stripe down the front signify Made in Italy. They are actually in pretty good shape, the soles are good, the seams are all strong. Of course back when these were popular all I could afford were lace up Line Man boots complete with a boot heel. I remember trying to paint a red stripe down the side of mine when I was in about the 6th grade. I was not destined to be a painter either. But in my defense, it’s really hard to paint boots. The paint all fell off so there was no real harm done.
There was a Buco helmet in the batch, all the lining had all gone bad but it had a 5 snap visor JUST like Decoster and crew used to wear, complete with the duct tape residue over the snaps, the tape served two purposes, to keep the visor on the helmet and to keep mud and water from dripping down behind it. I did have one of these visors. But, it did not come easy. All we could find were 3 snap visors and I HAD to have five snaps. So Dad and I took some old buttons and glued them in place, then ran the duct tape over them, viola, a 5 snap visor!
There was a Jofa mouth guard in the box, this one was still a little grungy. I was going to bleach it and clean it up but then got thinking about the guy who gave this stuff to the thrift store. Did he give it or did his widow give it, or his grown kids cleaning the estate. I got thinking about some one I didn’t know but some how felt very close to. All these things that I wanted as a kid, this old boy had. We both shared a passion for just the right riding gear. We both looked at the same magazines, had the same hero’s and probably rode at some of the same tracks. Something I longed for in my past came to me in the present, kind of a flash back, but not like I expected a flash back to be. The government lied to us about flash backs, this one was really good.
I didn’t clean all this riding gear up and I’m not going to sell it on e-bay like I initially planned. Ooh dollar signs in my eyes. No, I’m going to fold all this stuff up, put it in an old gear bag and pull it out now and then.
I’ve got a mountain of modern riding gear that means nothing to me, last years color, out of date, out of style, throw it away, but this gear bag means a lot to me, this is my youth and I can feel it and touch it. Lord knows I can’t wear it any more. Just the musty old leather smell can cause me another relapse into my imagination, back to a special time, 60s and 70s dirt bikes. On Any Sunday, going to the races with my Dad, working on bikes beside my Dad. Well to be more accurate, Dad and I standing behind Jeff while he worked on the bikes….
I hope the kids today get the same feelings and emotions from what they are doing now. Will a pair of MSR moto pants and a pair of Gaerne SG12 evoke the same emotions the old gear does? I wish them luck with this, cause I’m really enjoying my flashback. |
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