Who here has had a Torker or currently owns one!? be sure to send me an instagram pic of your bikes and I will be showcasing them with an appreciation video once I hit 20k subs. Thank you all for the support!
What,no mention of Tommy Brackens? A NORA CUP winner,a trophy the likes of Eddie King and Clint Miller never won and Mike Miranda’s best pal,both of them teammates at Torker.
I don’t know how to instagram but I still have and ride my 1983 280x! Just before my 50th birthday I bought a new MX26 got #26! And to day my new 24” barbarian is being delivered! All chrome, it’s Al about the chrome! Bill Ryan is hero too
I had the very first Torker “L.P” prototype. SN0001 My older Brother was close friends with the Johnson’s. And owned a bicycle shop that sold Torkers. While I was in Steve Johnson’s office picking up bikes for my brothers shop. Mr Johnson reached from behind his desk and handed me the first LP frame made. I owned it from 1978 just until a couple years ago when I sold it to a Torker collector. His name is Ely.
I had and raced a lot of different bikes back in the day, four of which were Torkers. A 1979 Big Bike, a 1982 L.P. Long (sometimes referred to as an LPX), a 1982 24" cruiser, and a 1984 Pro-X. I'm an old school racer that knows BMX history very well, and I really enjoyed watching this. Usually these kind of videos just annoy the shit out of me with inaccuracies, but you did a very thorough job with researching the history of Torker and it really shows. Torker always had a super strong team back in their heyday from 77 to 84, with so many outstanding racers there is no way you would have been able mention them all, so I'll do it here. Aside from the racers mentioned in the video there was also, Tommy Brackens, Mat Harris, Leo Green, Bryan Dworshak, Mike King, Cathy Hanna, Patti Gammill, Kelly McDougall, Craig Bark, Willie Huebner, Jason Foxe, Jennie Zuener, Jason Theodore, Jeff Osmus, Todd Corbitt, and Dave Marietti (who as a teenager while racing for Torker started two companies, Wizard Number Plates, and Hot Shoppe Designs which he still owns/operates making BMX jerseys/pants).
I still have my 1978 Torker, (frame purchased at Wheels N’ Things in August of that year).Frame #TG. 616. It has the forward facing rear dropouts. I did a ground-up restoration on it as a retirement project earlier this year. It brought back good memories of riding with friends.
They got into freestyle a little too late, then when they got sold, they weren't marketed properly. I'm so glad they were picked up by Bill Ryan at Supercross BMX.
Bill is such a good dude! I'm definitely going to do a supercross video in the future. I'm actually talking with Doug Johnson as well about getting some photographs from Torkers beginning and using them in an upcoming video
@MossieRidesBikes you should do a video on Voris Dixon, he taught Bill Ryan how to build bikes and build some of the most influential bikes and parts ever
I had a Torker MX frame I bought when I was in junior high school. I kept it to give to my son, but when he wanted a mountain bike, I sold it to a collector.
Love the videos Cam, keep them coming especially the BMX ones. I am an old school racer and I still race today at 54. I got a good one for ya. How about doing one on Race Inc. I'm sure you can find a bit of info on them. I currently own a '79 Race Inc. and 2 RA 16's and 1 RA 24. These were built by Chris Hancock, the owner of Race Inc. before he sold it. One of the RA16's is the only anodized red one I know of. Toby Henderson helped with the company getting brought to where they are today.
I had a sweet chrome racing-style Torker w/a Torker 3 fork (which was a freestyle type). Sold it to a feiend in great condition for what I had paid for it about 20yrs ago. Wish I still had it ofcourse. Great story of Torker here...thx!
Do Murry next! had a Murry Team that my folks brought over from U.S to U.k when we moved (air force brat) in X'mas of 79. Been looking for vids on Murry but haven't found much.
Great vid!! Correct me if i'm wrong but didn't Torker start in Fullerton , CA ? Or were its true origins in Anaheim Hills CA ? Any input would be much appreciated as i've always been under the impression that Torker is a Fullerton OG just like GT...
BMX was a wildcat thing at that point. Later came the bikes we know such as the DBR Mongoose and GT. Robinson and CW came along a little later. Prior to that all we had was those Rebar Stingray's. Some damn good times and memories were made with all the BMX discipline brought to the table. Motomags were truck wheels stuffed into a BMX, making for a bicycle weighing in like the Titanic! The million dollar question is... Who are the players in the return of Torker? Frankly, the bicycle segment has had more acquisitions and disappearances of brands than imaginable. So much tradition and heritage had been unwittingly created in the 70's and 80's BMX segment. Mountain bike and especially trials has had this phenomenon happen even more prevalently.
Experimental aircraft are almost ALL aircraft not used for commercial purposes. Basically every personal/private, educational, and recreational aircraft out there! I'd bet more than a few of yer subjects had a private pilot's license! Steve's mom sounds RAD! This is a great story! I had an MX given to me in about 1992, and I'm pretty sure my parents still have it in a room in their shop somewhere. It was there about 15 years ago anyway! Lol! I'll have to hunt down those old framesets, and bikes from when our old neighbor was getting out of BMX and into supercross. I've got a bunch of Powerlites, and Redlines. I need to pull em out, and line em up and shoot ya a pic!
Have you been able to find info on Voodoo bikes? I got a commuterized one in '18 as my first adult bike and now I have over 20 vintage mtbs. They're amazing. Joe Murray is an OG.
Okay, well, my dad’s an electrical engineer who invented the Carbon Monoxide detector…he then became the only engineer in the world _(outside the active military)_ allowed to maintain or fix Inmarsat-M satellite telephone systems, he bought me whatever the hell I wanted, I bet my 1996 Dyno Air is heavier than a Schwinn Stingray…
I remember when Mike Miranda was the shit.. He was the rider that made me get serious about riding my Mongoose in 87.. I lived by a ridge that had natural jumps when you descended it.. I jumped that bike so much going down that ridge I thought I was stripping out the stem but i was bending the handlebars forward.. The stem was holding but they were twisting... Lol
if U ever re issue a torker 2 150x I'll buy it. best bike Ive owned nearly 40 years ago rode it through my teens . ❤ bit bigger frame to fit us old fellas.
The Agualara family and my father Mike Jenkins became good friends in the 70's. My dad had a bike store in Henderson NV Agualara gave my sister and i each a fram , mine was blueprinted and balanced for mike . I raced it one season it was stolen at Desert Surf BMX and Water park. My sister Brenda Jenkins was #1 in the nation 3 years in a row in podwerpuff until she was forced into mens class , crooked times. She still has the bike today in bonneylake .WA
Schwinn scramber was the race model . The stingray was the store brand with the round top bar old stlyle forks. Rogder decousta was the frame mode mongoose use to make there bikes. The iron maiden is what we call the first mongoose. The second or 3rd vervion was the motomag mongoose then diamond back killed them with the the silver streak and the super streak and the mongoose designed a new frame and bike cause the moto mag and the iron maiden were to heavy to compete. I had an iron maiden thru the proclass series. Which adopted the round rear triangle wheel achors.
talking about Matt Haden but missing out on Steve Veltman (showing him in the vid), You can do better my friend...besides loving your work and dedication...
Who here has had a Torker or currently owns one!? be sure to send me an instagram pic of your bikes and I will be showcasing them with an appreciation video once I hit 20k subs. Thank you all for the support!
I had one as a kid and I have a new one.
Hutch guy here. I would love to see the CW story.
What,no mention of Tommy Brackens? A NORA CUP winner,a trophy the likes of Eddie King and Clint Miller never won and Mike Miranda’s best pal,both of them teammates at Torker.
Great video! Really enjoyed it!
I don’t know how to instagram but I still have and ride my 1983 280x! Just before my 50th birthday I bought a new MX26 got #26! And to day my new 24” barbarian is being delivered! All chrome, it’s Al about the chrome! Bill Ryan is hero too
Thank you for the feature! It was great talking to you and I hope everyone enjoys where we take Torker in the future!!
I had the very first Torker “L.P” prototype. SN0001 My older Brother was close friends with the Johnson’s. And owned a bicycle shop that sold Torkers. While I was in Steve Johnson’s office picking up bikes for my brothers shop. Mr Johnson reached from behind his desk and handed me the first LP frame made. I owned it from 1978 just until a couple years ago when I sold it to a Torker collector. His name is Ely.
I had and raced a lot of different bikes back in the day, four of which were Torkers. A 1979 Big Bike, a 1982 L.P. Long (sometimes referred to as an LPX), a 1982 24" cruiser, and a 1984 Pro-X. I'm an old school racer that knows BMX history very well, and I really enjoyed watching this. Usually these kind of videos just annoy the shit out of me with inaccuracies, but you did a very thorough job with researching the history of Torker and it really shows. Torker always had a super strong team back in their heyday from 77 to 84, with so many outstanding racers there is no way you would have been able mention them all, so I'll do it here. Aside from the racers mentioned in the video there was also, Tommy Brackens, Mat Harris, Leo Green, Bryan Dworshak, Mike King, Cathy Hanna, Patti Gammill, Kelly McDougall, Craig Bark, Willie Huebner, Jason Foxe, Jennie Zuener, Jason Theodore, Jeff Osmus, Todd Corbitt, and Dave Marietti (who as a teenager while racing for Torker started two companies, Wizard Number Plates, and Hot Shoppe Designs which he still owns/operates making BMX jerseys/pants).
My buddy still has his Torker from the 80’s
😎👍🏻👍🏻🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
I still have my 1978 Torker, (frame purchased at Wheels N’ Things in August of that year).Frame #TG. 616. It has the forward facing rear dropouts. I did a ground-up restoration on it as a retirement project earlier this year. It brought back good memories of riding with friends.
I can say I owned a torker and it was absolutely freaking great
They got into freestyle a little too late, then when they got sold, they weren't marketed properly. I'm so glad they were picked up by Bill Ryan at Supercross BMX.
That’s cool you featured Bill, I was going to suggest you reach out to him about Supercross and BMX history in general.
Bill is such a good dude! I'm definitely going to do a supercross video in the future.
I'm actually talking with Doug Johnson as well about getting some photographs from Torkers beginning and using them in an upcoming video
@MossieRidesBikes you should do a video on Voris Dixon, he taught Bill Ryan how to build bikes and build some of the most influential bikes and parts ever
I owned an 84 pro x when i was as kid and it was stolen in about 1997-98. And now I have a new pro x and I just ordered a new LP for my daughter.
I had a Torker MX frame I bought when I was in junior high school. I kept it to give to my son, but when he wanted a mountain bike, I sold it to a collector.
"Terrace Torkers association" was the name on the membership cards for my BMX race track back in the 80's.
Love the videos Cam, keep them coming especially the BMX ones. I am an old school racer and I still race today at 54. I got a good one for ya. How about doing one on Race Inc. I'm sure you can find a bit of info on them. I currently own a '79 Race Inc. and 2 RA 16's and 1 RA 24. These were built by Chris Hancock, the owner of Race Inc. before he sold it. One of the RA16's is the only anodized red one I know of. Toby Henderson helped with the company getting brought to where they are today.
Great video, thank you. Had a Torker and loved it, this brought back all of those memories.
I still have my torker from 1982.. took me a year to build that bike.
I had a sweet chrome racing-style Torker w/a Torker 3 fork (which was a freestyle type). Sold it to a feiend in great condition for what I had paid for it about 20yrs ago. Wish I still had it ofcourse. Great story of Torker here...thx!
Thanks for the video, great history resume. I've ordered a Torker MX26, hope to have it in a few weeks :)
i have quite a few 80s BMX's and my Torker 280 is my best riding bike of them all
Do Murry next! had a Murry Team that my folks brought over from U.S to U.k when we moved (air force brat) in X'mas of 79. Been looking for vids on Murry but haven't found much.
Great video , very informative
Thanks, Good Times. I still have my Haro Sport made by Torker 0027HS🚴
I got a late 80's Seattle built one. I'd love to see the big BMX in Australia.
My question is what happened to Hutch BMX they took high end BMX to a new level in the 80s
Yeah, I was gonna say that same thing! I had a nice Hutch, ending up giving it to my Little cousin. Was a sweet bike.👌
These history lessons have been so cool! Keep up the good work. I'd love to learn more about Dan's Comp and K2 bikes
More great facts. I noticed biker in black Rick Thorne currently riding a torker
I had a torker 2 360 as a kid in 1988. Would love to still have it
Great video, lots I didn't know.
I remember those torker bars that were bent. Never could afford them being a kid. But man I thought they were sick.
Great vid!!
Correct me if i'm wrong but didn't Torker start in Fullerton , CA ? Or were its true origins in Anaheim Hills CA ?
Any input would be much appreciated as i've always been under the impression that Torker is a Fullerton OG just like GT...
I got a torker, got here in japan
BMX was a wildcat thing at that point. Later came the bikes we know such as the DBR Mongoose and GT. Robinson and CW came along a little later. Prior to that all we had was those Rebar Stingray's. Some damn good times and memories were made with all the BMX discipline brought to the table. Motomags were truck wheels stuffed into a BMX, making for a bicycle weighing in like the Titanic!
The million dollar question is... Who are the players in the return of Torker?
Frankly, the bicycle segment has had more acquisitions and disappearances of brands than imaginable. So much tradition and heritage had been unwittingly created in the 70's and 80's BMX segment. Mountain bike and especially trials has had this phenomenon happen even more prevalently.
Awesome brand
Hay bro great videos!!
History of S&M bikes when?
Please do a full story on Bill Ryan!
Make an aluminum one brother:) I'll buy one!
Do a video about Titan Bmx!!! The OG titanium frame maker.
Experimental aircraft are almost ALL aircraft not used for commercial purposes. Basically every personal/private, educational, and recreational aircraft out there! I'd bet more than a few of yer subjects had a private pilot's license!
Steve's mom sounds RAD! This is a great story! I had an MX given to me in about 1992, and I'm pretty sure my parents still have it in a room in their shop somewhere. It was there about 15 years ago anyway! Lol! I'll have to hunt down those old framesets, and bikes from when our old neighbor was getting out of BMX and into supercross. I've got a bunch of Powerlites, and Redlines. I need to pull em out, and line em up and shoot ya a pic!
I used to stack em up in my mom's shed when I woke up 20 yrs later they were all rusted 😅 I hope you have better luck if you find them 😂
We ne s to see the JMC episode next!
Mikey! Top left at 3:50
Have you been able to find info on Voodoo bikes? I got a commuterized one in '18 as my first adult bike and now I have over 20 vintage mtbs. They're amazing. Joe Murray is an OG.
Okay, well, my dad’s an electrical engineer who invented the Carbon Monoxide detector…he then became the only engineer in the world _(outside the active military)_ allowed to maintain or fix Inmarsat-M satellite telephone systems, he bought me whatever the hell I wanted, I bet my 1996 Dyno Air is heavier than a Schwinn Stingray…
I remember when Mike Miranda was the shit.. He was the rider that made me get serious about riding my Mongoose in 87.. I lived by a ridge that had natural jumps when you descended it.. I jumped that bike so much going down that ridge I thought I was stripping out the stem but i was bending the handlebars forward.. The stem was holding but they were twisting... Lol
Do Nomura bmx next
if U ever re issue a torker 2 150x I'll buy it. best bike Ive owned nearly 40 years ago rode it through my teens . ❤ bit bigger frame to fit us old fellas.
The Agualara family and my father Mike Jenkins became good friends in the 70's. My dad had a bike store in Henderson NV Agualara gave my sister and i each a fram , mine was blueprinted and balanced for mike . I raced it one season it was stolen at Desert Surf BMX and Water park. My sister Brenda Jenkins was #1 in the nation 3 years in a row in podwerpuff until she was forced into mens class , crooked times. She still has the bike today in bonneylake .WA
Schwinn scramber was the race model . The stingray was the store brand with the round top bar old stlyle forks. Rogder decousta was the frame mode mongoose use to make there bikes. The iron maiden is what we call the first mongoose. The second or 3rd vervion was the motomag mongoose then diamond back killed them with the the silver streak and the super streak and the mongoose designed a new frame and bike cause the moto mag and the iron maiden were to heavy to compete. I had an iron maiden thru the proclass series. Which adopted the round rear triangle wheel achors.
My favorite bike frame were pk rippers and hutch frames cause they made longer frames for taller people.
I love bmx
Nice
I have a blue and gold Torker XL Track totally everything perfect ,1980 blue new condition sugino three piece cranks 1979 museum piece
talking about Matt Haden but missing out on Steve Veltman (showing him in the vid), You can do better my friend...besides loving your work and dedication...
🇫🇴🔥🔥🇫🇴
Your bikes weigh like forty pounds brother...cool as they are they are heavy:(
Lol this story has some true stuff but its way off on alot
Hell yeah Torker is back