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The pre 65 grid at the very first VMX meeting in Australia. Amaroo Park, April 1988

In the nineteen years since Vintage Motocross kicked off with that now legendary race meeting at Amaroo Park in 1988, the sport has grown and spread in a manner none of the sports pioneers would ever have ever envisioned. From that single seed, sown into the mud on Amaroo’s crusty old circuit back on that sunny April day has grown a sport that has bought enjoyment to thousands of enthusiasts Australia wide. It has helped create an ever growing network of cottage industries catering solely for the sport and has nurtured a magazine that has become the mouthpiece of the worldwide vintage movement, VMX.

Our sport now supports a network of brilliant races ranging from humble but fun club grass tracks held on country paddocks to the huge Vintage Motocross Nats that has attracted hundreds of racers from all over Australia and the world since its inception in 1991. The vintage movement has grown to include grass track, dirt track, motocross and twin shock trials and has moved from being purely for pre 1975 bikes to now include pre 1978, pre 1980, pre 1985 and Evolution divisions.

Because of that very diversity it’s become necessary to place the various vintage divisions under separate banners. The Evo movement is well catered for in NSW by HEAVEN who also include events for pre 78 machines at their events. In addition Penrith club has been producing vintage dirttrack events at Nepean Raceway as well as the occasional motocross or grass track meeting at a variety of venues.

A couple of years ago Brad Fisher and Graeme Glover set up the base from which this register evolved in a bid to unite the pre 1975 faction of our sport. It was felt that although HEAVEN and Penrith were doing a good job overall, the pre 75 and pre 78 factions were slipping off the radar in an organisational sense.`The register was created to help maintain the original traditional classes in a sport being ever more dominated by the Evo and pre 85 divisions. Unfortunately Brad’s job as a QANTAS pilot his and admirable social work have prevented him from committing the time and effort needed to keep the pre 78 flame alight. This is where we come in. We intend to continue and enlarge on the great work that Brad and 'the Glove' put into the register.

As a register we don't intend to be an alternative to your current club. The register will only be a data base, information centre and meeting place for all pre 1978 dirt bike enthusiasts and their bikes. It will create an easy access to as many pre’75 and ‘78 owners and riders as possible for race organizers to access a ready made pre’75 entry list and for enthusiasts looking for like minded folks and specialists to gain information, tips and expertise.

We plan to list members and their bikes in a couple of ways. One will be to list riders the bikes they own, both complete and under construction and a contact . That list will eventually then be cross referenced into a manufacturer data base, for example: the Husqvarna list will list bikes by model along withwith the owners of each mode. It’ll be the same with every other marque.

Even though the register won’t be an MA affiliated club running race meetings per se, we do plan on holding promotional and social events throughout the year. One event discussed is a show’n’shine to be held in a shopping centre, pub parking lot or somewhere similar where the bikes would be readily seen by passing traffic. We’ve found in previous years that events like this do wonders for public relations, gaining new members and basically selling our “product” to an otherwise unknowing public. Another event discussed is a family picnic for register members to get together over a beer and a snag without the pressures of racing getting in the way. Also planned is a purely dirt bike oriented swap meet. Most swap meets these days are becoming more and more car oriented so we reckon a dirt bike only swap would be a very handy tool for selling and finding bits for our old bikes.

These non competitive events are a great for allowing the non racers and retired racers an opportunity to stay involved in the movement. It’s an opportunity for them to show their precious bikes to a public that would otherwise never see them. The huge numbers at Classic Dirt show that the non competitive side of the classic movement is far bigger than previously thought.

The site will also have features like bike of the month, regular bios to help us get to know our fellow racers, in depth looks at particular marques, How To articles and heaps more. It'll take a little while to gain momentum but eventually I reckon we'll have a site to be proud of. Remember, this is your register and your website. If you’ve got an itch to write we’d love to have your vintage dirt bike oriented stories, maintenance tips or whatever!

If you ride , race or restore pre 78 dirt bikes, this site is designed just for you. Join the register and join the fun and help get the pre '78 scene back where it belongs.