History of Dirt Biking

Consider this: you’re sitting in a ‘comfy’ bench, you have 12 000 friends with you, there’s the smell of gasoline in the air, lights flashing everywhere then next thing you know the crowd goes wild as a biker on his dirt bikes makes a 720 and lands on his wheels and makes the jump! Now that is what we could call extreme. Can you imagine how the rider (men or woman) feels when they land this death defying stunt? To be remembered forever, you need to try new dangerous stuff and dirt biking is just the place to do it.

So, who do we have to thank for this incredible sport? I know you’re tempted to say he’s American but sorry he’s Japanese (and good businessman). You were close though because it really started in the U.S.A. Of course back then it wasn’t big as it is today. In fact no big industry giant started the way they are now. It took some time. The guy opened a shop in L.A. almost 60 years ago he tried to convince those surf boys to trade their surf board for a dirt bike. Let’s just say people weren’t impressed and he didn’t sell too many items. You also have to know that having a motorcycle back then meant you were in an outlaw band. It doesn’t end there; you should know that since it wasn’t popular, there was no need for tracks either. Even if you had a bike, you were looked weird so imagine one with a motor. But the guy had a brilliant idea. He figured that he would use the material he had and make the best of it. This is how the slogan of Honda got to be and how he used those L.A. girls to attract new clients and it worked incredibly.

These guys all dressed up and pretty girls also broke the ‘biker/thug’ image that motorcycles had. It had to because young drivers and older ones were now proud of owning a Honda bike and driving it around town.

Then began phase two of the plan. Honda had to design yet another type of bike because of increasing demands for something else. His clients wanted to be able to go out in nature while enjoying there bikes which was almost impossible with what they had. So being the businessman that he was, he went back to the old drawing board. On of his greatest upgrade was with the suspension. It needed to be because a rocky downhill road with rocks and stuff would have broken the old one in a flash. With a few adjustments to the frames and the tires, Honda released his new bike to the clients delight. This was 1963 and this was the new generation of Honda’s. Let’s just say that this businessman was there at the right place at the right time. Not only did he listen to his customers need, he actually did something about it. This is why his sales went through the roof. Not bad for a Japanese guy that just wanted to make a few bucks to survive in this world. Today’s bikes are merely not comparable to back then, but it had to start somewhere.

Maine man's body found 21 years after fatal climb

The remains of William Holland of Gorham, who fell to his death, are recovered in western Alberta.

Books in brief

The Danger Box by Blue Balliett; Scholastic, 320 pages ($16.99) Ages 9 to 12.

Alexandria Twp. man rides 10,800 miles to sell cleaning product

GET YOUR MOTOR RUNNING -- Traveling salesman John Clarke stands on Route 183 in North Dakota on July 24, six days into his month-long motorcycle trip around the United States and Canada to visit companies and sell his new yoga-mat...

With a splash a zoom-zoom

Terri Richardson/News Messenger Ed Hoffman, District 7 commissioner for the city of Marshall, drives a cast iron bathtub 14 mph during a speed trial Wednesday morning on a straight-away in the Marshall Industrial Park.

Holy Horology

Everything began by a ‘mass’ or ‘service’ on Tuesday April 10, the day before the opening of BaselWorld. At the end of the day, a small el-egant crowd gathered at the Elizabethan Kirche in Basel, squeezing together on the church benches under the high and colourful stained glass windows.