Rick Johnson is on the gate and looking relaxed

I used to love taking pre-moto-waiting-at-the-gate shots.

Here's Rick Johnson back in the days of open face helmets, with his Scott goggle/face protector combo waiting on the handlebars...just how cool were those Scott face masks?  Think Bailey wore them more than anyone.  On a 1 to 10 scale, those things were an 11.

That's Dave Hollis in the Fox jersey...and the umbrella holder looks to be none other than Ron Heben, who went on to be a successful racing director for several other companies.

Can anyone name the guy in front wearing the Yammy shirt?

It's fun to look at Retro MX racing shots...but seeing the personalities up close brings back vivid memories.

Kent Howerton started the freestyle craze

The more things change...the more they stay the same.  Maybe Kent Howerton was 25 years early, but there's no doubt in my mind that in this shot, he's attempting to set up for a 360 degree flip! Just check out the body English and front end correction and I'm sure you can agree he's ready to blip the throttle and pull back hard...

OK, maybe I do live in a dream world, but in its day, the top factory riders were super heroes.  We loved it when they'd "get air" and it was just as exciting then, as  what is produced now. Bottom line, these guys generated great racing (better racing than today?) and packed in crowds all over the USA. I am proud to have been part of that wonderful era in the sport.

Broc Glover pulled big air at Daytona

Here's another photo that supports my theory that moto stars in the early 1980's got big air...it's the Golden Boy, Broc Glover, catching some sky off an infield jump at Daytona.  Heck, the guy must be at least eight (8) feet off the ground!

I'm not going to apologize, Broc and the other factory stars, in their day, gave just as big of an adrenaline rush as today's X Games Step Up competition.  Sure, step up dudes are getting few feet higher, but in my day this was more than what we needed, or expected.

Great racing and entertainment comes in many forms and packages...I sure enjoyed the show when I was covering the circuit in what I know were very special years in my life.

Mike Bell makes a great face while berm busting

Here's more facial expression for your enjoyment. Mike Bell goes open face and lets us see how it looks when you're rocket fast and hungry for a win.

Marty Smith caps a career

I came onto the scene during Marty Smith's final years on the National circuit; he was finishing up riding for factory Suzuki. I always enjoyed watching him ride and getting quotes for my Cycle News articles.  He was respectful and friendly and made me feel welcome in the sport. Class act, always was, always will be.

Barnett was almost perfect

I don't need to ham up every image with a lot of verbiage.

Here's Barnett getting it done.  Perfection. enjoy.

Hannah went fast...despite an aggressive fork rake angle

You really can't get enough of Bob Hannah...at least on the race track during my era as Cycle News East reporter in the early 1980's.  These tight side shots allow for a close inspection of the latest in factory prototypes for the era.  What strikes me is the overall size of Bob's YZ, in comparison to the motocross bikes we see today.  The retro bikes were relatively tiny in perspective to the rider; and that said, we know The Hurricane is not a large human being to begin with.

I also like to note the rake/fork angle on this bike...isn't it a bit chopper like? I'm not an engineer, but would have to assume the Yamaha designers were looking for an aggressive wheelbase.  And once again, the simplicity of the air-cooled engine made it possible for most anyone to grab a set of metrics and go to work.

Maybe overall, it wasn't better or worse, just different.  But I look back with fondness as the personalities and machinery of my time on the National MX circuit.