J.T. Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Like many of us we were blow away by Bob Haro's 70's drawings in BMXA, then the Factory Plates, Trick How-To's, BMXA Trick Team, then a frame and fork was finally designed to take the thrashing of "Freestyle Trick Riding." Being a racer in the 70's and growing up on BMXA I always "goofed" around doing things on my bike that I realized were Tricks and thank goodness Bob Osborn saw the potential in these moves and published some here and there. Copied these immediately and fascinated more and more by what the next issue would publish. The BMXA team was iconic and blew everyone away with Bob and R.L. Osborn doin' crazy stunts on ramps and flat ground. Being in Minnesota it's a tad difficult being able to meet/travel afar when you don't have a lot of money but convinced my Mom that I need to race at the Rondo Classic in Saint Paul MN in '81. 70% was for racing but 30% was to see the new Haro Freestyle Team. As soon as I saw Haro and Morales ride in person I knew what I was doing all along on my bike is just that! Being "The Torker Kid" and hearing about a new Freestyle F/F being made by Torker, I called Torker directly as I was working at a bike shop that got them into Torkers. Believe I spoke with Steve Johnson then and asked as soon as they are ready to ship send us two! I remember the day they arrived and totally blown away by how strong yet stylish the F/F looked. Green and blue...sweet! Built that guy up and started my first Trick Team, oh...I was the only member but did shows. The bike rode awesome and felt like I could do anything on this bike and it wouldn't break. 1983 Bob and Ron Wilton were on tour and they stopped by to do an awesome show! Being able to ride my Freestyler with those guys was a dream come true! My Freestyler evloved over the years with the latest Freestyle parts until 1985 when I retired the Freestyler for the Master. 1984 Freestyler with home made Pott's mod Just wanted to share how much Bob has done for BMX racing and revolutionized Freestyle with the HARO Freestyler. 25 years later I decided to build exact replicas of Bob's bikes with my original Freestylers. Over the years it's been too gnarly to run into Bob here and there but with Joe Kid on a Stingray he really saw how big the Vintage movement was! So glad that he has embraced it and has participated in many of our events over the years. I could go on and on about being a HARO fanatic but won't. Possibly there are some others who can share their '82/83 HARO Freestyler stories or experiences at that magical time that literally revolutionized BMX and got many of us racers into Freestyle. Forget about trophies, I'm makin' $$$ riding my bike! Here are some pictures to enjoy of the HARO Freestyler years! The start of the Freestyle revolution! Such a RAD book! Exact replica of the Freestyle Moves bike Exact replica of the BMX Plus cover bike Craftsmanship, thanks Steve Johnson! BMX Plus subscription Bob Haro poster Exact replica of the Haro poster bike Hadley bottom bracket with Redline flights NOS Schwinn tires on the Skyway Graphite Tuff's Exact replica of the bike he rode at our '83 show Bob's signature from 1983 My wife Carolyn, JT, Dee, and Bob Yes these are all my original items and who can guess who is on my shirt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin S.Brothers Posted September 22, 2012 Admin Share Posted September 22, 2012 Nice tribute, Jeff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donvader Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Awesome pictures and history there JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spur Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Incredible attention to detail and follow through as always! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jarvi Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Great write up. Like JT and many others, racing just filled in the time between doing tricks. Still remember my first rollback 540 just outside the canteen at our local track. Tight, poles everywhere and still managed to do it better than any others since. And I have tried a lot over the years! I'm lucky enough to have everything in the photo below except for the number plates. No decent photos, this is one of Juan's. Took me about three months to see it in person after I bought it and it now spends more time in a box in storage, which is a shame. It will never be built up as long as I have it and no intention of selling in the foreseeable future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmx2112 Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Good stuff JT! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
COASTY Posted September 22, 2012 Share Posted September 22, 2012 Awesome thread JT. I love the early Haro bikes. Great job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerry Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 J.T. Awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just..Me..Chillin' Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 ^ wow - too funny JT - that's an amazing recount you have there. Those freestylers beyond ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larock Posted September 25, 2012 Share Posted September 25, 2012 I am not a freestyle guy, but if I were ever to build a freestyle bike this would be the one for sure! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.T. Posted October 12, 2012 Author Share Posted October 12, 2012 Here's some Freestyler's in action This is the show with the picture above with Bob and Wilton. Here's a replica of that bike he is riding Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Hays Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Very very cool stuff JT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abozny Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 This video is one of my favorites BOB HARO Bike Check 1984 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Ziegler Posted January 16, 2020 Share Posted January 16, 2020 Hi, I am currently working on a book about the german »Bonanza-Bikes« from the 70ties. There will be chapter about the heiress of Bonanza-Bike which are MTB´s and of course BMX. I am looking for an image of Bob Haro and found an image on your website. Do you own the copyrights of this image? And how much would it be if I want to use it? By the way I am referring to the image of Bob and the text the start of the freestyle revolution. It would be kind if you could get back to me. Heres my address in any case: graphics@alexziegler.de Thant a lot. Cheers Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
