Products that never made it.

Rich Rohrich · Nov 1, 2003

Steve McQueen wore a VisorVue visor during the shooting of On Any Sunday. They were really cool, just like him. ;)

VintageDirt · Nov 1, 2003

Visor Vues really worked. Remember though, back in the 70s helmets were just helmets. That is, there were not dirt helmets and street helmets. After I saw On Any Sunday I had to have a Visor Vue. They I used to ride my Penton from my Mom's house out to the Big Dig and it was good to keep an eye on the cars (and cops) that were behind me. The mirrors were small but since they were close to your eyes you got a good field of view. And my turning your head slightly you could get a good look behind you.

holeshot · Nov 1, 2003

Hooker expansion chambers (pipes) for your two stroke. They had a heart shape cut out of the the heat shield.

One day (when I was a kid), I said to my Dad, "I think I'm gonna get a Hooker".

His shocked reponse was, "Whaaaaaa-huhh!" :eek: I saw a trace of guilt there too. :confused:

yz250roost · Nov 2, 2003

MXA's backwards photo contest, did anyone here ever find one of those photos? I remember alot of advertisements had backwards photos but those didn't count, it was just a gimmick to make you look at their ad longer.

wardy · Nov 2, 2003

How bout that, 4 pages and nobody mentioned a couple of things:

1: Rokon autos, then a little later the Husky auto's, the only things those turds needed was skis and a track.

2. Kidney belts sewed into the pants comes to mind also.

wardy

Shaw520 · Nov 2, 2003

REAL leathers &  (Full Bore) lace-up boots

> a bunch of old farts here, showing our age <

MXFastGuy · Nov 2, 2003

I think fashion stuff is a given but...
Zebra seat covers by CEET! Ugh, the late 80's early 90's were a terrible time for fashion in MX!

Shaw520 · Nov 2, 2003

Fork Brace

ktmboy · Nov 2, 2003

How about the black tinted visors you could sorta see through when you lowered your head to shield your face from the roost your ex-250-pro-motocrosser bro-in-law was throwing your way!

Endless Mike · Nov 2, 2003

WWR · Nov 3, 2003

3-wheelers, radiator/front number plates (Yamaha), kickstart/shifter shaft combos (Can-Am), and Italian-built "Harley Davidson" dirtbikes.

JasonJ · Nov 3, 2003

"And Honda had the "Kick 'n Go" remember those?

Yamaha's "Tourque Induction" system. although i cant remember if that was the oil injection or some other gimick. Gosh that sure sounded cool though."

LOL, I have a Honda Kick N go in my girlfriends antique room, she shows people her old trunks and antique junk and everyone sees the Honda Kick N go and says, ohhh, whats that?? She hates that thing :) .
I also just picked up a 72 Yamaha 2 cyl 2 stroke street bike that has the Torque Induction written on it :) .
Hey, whats that say about me? Im only 29 and I have seen most of these things and own others that are older than me??????

Shaw520 · Nov 3, 2003

Originally posted by JasonJ
"
 I also just picked up a 72 Yamaha 2 cyl 2 stroke street bike that has the Torque Induction written on it :) .
 

That may be an RD350,....those things were great pocket rockets in there time!

Timr · Nov 3, 2003

Originally posted by Psalm31.24
In the 70's Yamaha made a full suspension BMX bike. Too heavy & too bouncy. But it was that cool yellow (I think . . . I tend to remember in black and white)

My uncle owned a Yamaha shop...one of those bikes you just described was under the x-mas tree for me in '77. 

Pretty fun bike with KYB suspension.  It was heavy though.  I wish I still had it.

Timr · Nov 3, 2003

Originally posted by wardy
How bout that, 4 pages and nobody mentioned a couple of things:

1: Rokon autos...

wardy

I just found this thread and was about to mention the Rokon.  You left out two great details of the Rokon.  1.  Lawn mower style pull starter (no kick starter) and 2.  no neutral.  The thing was always in gear!  :scream:

My dad has a great story about one of his buddies who rode a Rokon auto.  He had a hell of a time at enduro sound checks.  They always wanted him to rev up the bike, but it would launch forward every time they blipped the throttle.  Finally, two guys held on to it on  each side and the thing dug a hole while the checked it.

You should've seen the look on my dad's face when I asked: "Why didn't they just lift the back wheel off of the ground?  or put it on a stand?"

Guess they weren't too smart back in the 70s.

X men · Nov 4, 2003

Originally posted by WWR
3-wheelers, radiator/front number plates (Yamaha), kickstart/shifter shaft combos (Can-Am), and Italian-built "Harley Davidson" dirtbikes.

That whas AERMACHI, before they were bought by HD. A couple of years later (and a couple of successes in GP racing 250 cc and 350 cc with Walter Villa) the company was sold to the Castaglioni brothers, who transformed it into Cagiva.

Bigbird · Nov 4, 2003

DeHandlers (sp?). Plastic levers that weren't supposed to break. Unfortunately they were subject to gas or premix making them brittle and breaking at the most inopportune time. :eek:

JasonJ · Nov 4, 2003

Little 50 cc mini bikes that did like 25 MPH...... That were street legal!!!!
Fat wheel dirt bikes, TW, Fat Cat, ect.

TheJunkMan · Nov 5, 2003

Originally posted by Shaw520

That may be an RD350,....those things were great pocket rockets in there time!

I Have a collection of Kawasaki 2 stroke tripples every displacement (250-750) except the 400

yz250roost · Nov 6, 2003

Wow 5 pages of products that never made it, not bad!!!

Rodzilla · Nov 6, 2003

Originally posted by yz250roost
...you have got to be kidding me, they really had rear view mirrors that hooked on your helmet? If you're not joking around, then someone had just too much time on their hands in the product development department.

Yep and here is a new version of it...Bug eyes

jmics19067 · Nov 6, 2003

Preston Petty front number plate /tool box. Man you could put a lot of stuff in them, But as they got old the closure would lose its snap and you usually ended up having to unwrap your tow strap from your front wheel.

Boost bottles althouh Erics patents touched on the idea slightly in the "how my idea is different section."

solid foot pegs

Automatic chain tensioners, spring loaded pully that you had to drill and tap the swingarm that kept the chain tight when long travel suspension was first introduced.

Two stroke pipes that had a silencer /stinger as a welded on piece of the expansion chamber with a removable muffler for racing

Enduro bikes with the metal grab bar that wrapped up over top of the rear fender plus enduro/play bikes that would actually come with a tool bag.

The honda 600 car, 600CC two stroke engine in a car that looked very similar to the older civics but about 1/2 it size

JuliusPleaser · Nov 6, 2003

I had a 71 Honda S600 Coupe. It was pickle green and had 10 inch wheels. It wasn't a 2-stroke though. All the Honda 600 series cars had a two-cylinder OHC four stroke engine. You're thinking about the older Saab 2-stroke cars.

Whatever happened to Bassani? They made pipes back in the day.

gwcrim · Nov 6, 2003

Darrell Bassani & Co. still make exhausts for autos, trucks, and Harleys. I've dealt with him directly on a project and he's a 100% nice guy.

TheJunkMan · Nov 6, 2003

HATTA forks...nuff said!

Products that never made it.

Rich Rohrich

Moderator / BioHazard

VintageDirt

Baked Spud

holeshot

Crazy Russian

yz250roost

wardy

2005 Lori Nyland Award Winner

Shaw520

MXFastGuy

Shaw520

ktmboy

Endless Mike

WWR

Sponsoring Member

JasonJ

Shaw520

Timr

Timr

X men

Bigbird

JasonJ

TheJunkMan

yz250roost

Rodzilla

jmics19067

JuliusPleaser

Too much of a good thing.

gwcrim

TheJunkMan

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Products that never made it.

Moderator / BioHazard

Baked Spud

Crazy Russian

2005 Lori Nyland Award Winner

Sponsoring Member

Too much of a good thing.

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