A Tough Generation

[Dave P.]

Way back many years ago when affiliated with John Deere and they were providing what were AMTs
and then Gator utility vehicles to the EAA airshow I volunteered for a few days of shuttle service as needed.
I had the misfortune of shuttling a pilot with the initials of CY a bit and also the pleasure of giving a few rides
to Bob Hoover. Talk about night and day...

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Bob Hoover a true Gentleman the other not so much.

Bob taking the time to shoot the bull with Grandson and his buddies at Oshkosh

.

 

[JiminMaine]

I had one very similar to this one.
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This was my first financed purchase of $80.00+-. I had a paper route in 1953 that made $5.00+- a week and the payment for the bike was $3.00 a week. Around 1955 the English Bikes hit the scene so you had to have one. Problem they didn't hold up to well to the way we in America rode. Like jumping curbs and going off ramps and such. Oh yea tires got stuck in street drains and you stopped real fast. :(
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View attachment 33846

I had an English bike like that, I got it by answering the add on the back of "Boy's Life" and selling 200 boxes of personalized Christmas cards to friends and relatives. Three speed shift, hand brakes, skinny tires and a tool bag. My light didn't have the generator, it just took two "D" cells.

 

[Snake45]

Here's my Dad and new stepson in front of Bob Hoover's famous Rockwell Shrike, looks like around 1987 or '88. Hey, I just noticed that Bob Hoover himself is actually in the pic! ;) From the It's a Small World Department, that very Shrike is now in the NASM's Udvar-Hazy Museum, parked right across the aisle from the WVANG C-121 that Dad flew many, many times. :D

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Did any of you race in The Soap Box Derby?? I built a car in 1955 when I was 12 and won a couple of heats with it. That is about the time I found out money and cheating Dad's win.
You had to find a sponsor that would buy the wheels and axels that were $25.00 You had to build the car by yourself and spend a max of I think $50.00.
A sad part of the build took place at our local lumber/cabinet mill.
One of the workers was making my nose block for me which is a triangle made from a 12"+- Long. 4x4 and goes on the front of the car and the sides attach to it. Just as he was about finished the block kicked back out of the jointer. This allowed his hand to hit/slide over the blade and remove his little finger, half of his ring finger and the tip of his middle finger. I was standing next to him so I saw all of what happened and got splattered with blood. He didn't say a word just looked at his hand then wrapped a rag around it and walked off. I got my part and went home a little shocked.
I remember this like it was yesterday :( :(
This one is very similar to mine.
I built all of mine with hand tools except for the nose and rear blocks. Cutting out the 3/4" plywood floor with a hand saw sucks. After I raced it I added a platform on the rear so I could mount a 3HP Engine from Dad's garden tractor.

Mine wasn't quite this fancy. This kid probably didn't build his even though the old rules say you must.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

Here's my Dad and new stepson in front of Bob Hoover's famous Rockwell Shrike, looks like around 1987 or '88. Hey, I just noticed that Bob Hoover himself is actually in the pic! ;) From the It's a Small World Department, that very Shrike is now in the NASM's Udvar-Hazy Museum, parked right across the aisle from the WVANG C-121 that Dad flew many, many times. :D

View attachment 33891

Probably the smoothest pilot ever born. I have seen him fly several times in different planes. Since the Shrike didn't have an inverted oil system it would puke oil out the breather onto the cowling and tail. He would find Kids to wipe it down after his performance.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

 

[Ride1949]

 

[MaxMan]

Ahh the scars. :D

We rode bikes with no helmets or padding too.

What and your still alive? My brother used to ride his bike into the light pole with a mercury vapor light to put it out so he could see better through his telescope.

 

[bigbillyboy]

View attachment 33972

Isn't this the truth . Most of today's cars are just "cookie cutter " designs , just no styling . . Man I love those classics ...........

 

[Watertender]

What and your still alive? My brother used to ride his bike into the light pole with a mercury vapor light to put it out so he could see better through his telescope.

I watched a kid trying to ride a lift bridge part way up to jump his bike from the bridge deck. The bridge operator saw him and chased him off before he lifted it to let the boats through.

The kid rode down the approach ramp while looking back at the bridge operator and flipping him the bird and cussing.... The kid rode into a sign with double posts and bounced off the posts. They made a beautiful BOING noise and it bent the front of the kid's bike so he had to walk it away. The bridge operator and I both got a good laugh from it.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

It's 1951 Matinee Saturday $.10 to see a Cowboy Movie, Serial and a Cartoon. Then a Roy Rogers Riders Club Drawing for a RR Prize

Notice the pants cuffed. Buy them long he will grow into them by the end of the school year :) :)

 

[Robb Barnes]

We were not allowed to go to the movie theater. Folks told us too many stories about what they did in the back of the theatre when they and their friends were growing up

 

[MaxMan]

We were not allowed to go to the movie theater. Folks told us too many stories about what they did in the back of the theatre when they and their friends were growing up

Went to see September Storm at the base in Key West growing up. There was a long ramp with a rail coming out of the studio. Put my hand on the rail and slid it all the way down, or until I hit a big old chaw that someone missed the ground with.

 

[daka]

Ahhhh Yes but do you remember the Reveberators that made them sound better????? When we bought our new 1970 Merc. you could only get an AM-FM or an AM 8 track only we got the AM-FM.


These just could not get any cooler IMHO. Mine also had the Tire pump and the carry pouch behind the seat :)
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I remember there was also a siren

 

[bigbillyboy]

I remember there was also a siren

Yes , I remember having one of those sirens . Also I remember taking an inflated ballon and attaching it to the bike frame somehow so as to rub on the spokes . A very cool "Harley " sound .

 

[Watertender]

Yes , I remember having one of those sirens . Also I remember taking an inflated ballon and attaching it to the bike frame somehow so as to rub on the spokes . A very cool "Harley " sound .

Don't forget the V-rroom motor and siren! There was a guy who lived in the village where I went to school, he was an adult with learning problems and had a bike with the motor and siren. I saw him go rolling around the corner by the bank with a Mattel Tommy Gun when the Brinks truck was transferring moneybags into the building. He almost got shot!!!!

 

[bigbillyboy]

Don't forget the V-rroom motor and siren! There was a guy who lived in the village where I went to school, he was an adult with learning problems and had a bike with the motor and siren. I saw him go rolling around the corner by the bank with a Mattel Tommy Gun when the Brinks truck was transferring moneybags into the building. He almost got shot!!!!

Never knew about vrroom motors. My siren had a mount to the front fork and a rope attached to the handlebar to pull it into the side of the tire . Don't know what ever happened to it , had really forgot about it until this thread. I see some show up for sale on eBay ..... Oh , as I already mentioned this is an awesome thread ........!