one for us old guys(video)

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fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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Thank you, that was a chuckle. Think there was a few times that my son wished he had wheelie bars. He'd come home with the back of his jean jacket all scuffed up and the seat of his jeans showing wear.
His mother would demand I talk to him about it. I just asked how great a wheelie it was.

Steve.
 

2door

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Sep 15, 2008
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I have a memory of Don Garlits" car when his driver was Art Malone and their first try at night drag racing at Alton Illionos back in the mid 60s. Art launched the 'Swamp Rat' and it stood up on the slicks and he was blinded by the lights and crashed. The car almost went into the stands but he was able to keep it from hitting the fence and kept it in the dirt. Did a lot of damage and I was walking next to them when they were pushing the damaged car back to the pits. I can still remember the front wheels wobbling as it rolled. Garlits said, "I think we'd better quit while wer're ahead", refering to their points standing at that event.
Wheel stands are cool to watch but can do a lot of damage when gravity takes over and the cars slams back to the ground.

I don't remember the wheelie bars for bicycles. I don't know how I missed them. I thought I was up on all that kind of stuff when I was a kid.


Tom
 

fasteddy

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Feb 13, 2009
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Tom,
I used to live around the corner from Don Garlits place in Seffner Fla. He had moved by then but the building were still there at the time.
It was a shrine to all the people that remembered him.

Steve.
 

Mac

New Member
Dec 3, 2009
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Tom,
Ya got a few years on me but I used to see the Lil' red wagon and "Hemi under glass" at Englishtown, NJ. Days were so simple then, looked fwd all week just to go and break some parts, then of course, the race after the race, west shore expressway, Staten Island NY, Sox and Martin Hemi was a regular, coppers looked the other way, now ya get a ticket for smoking a cig. in public... what has this world come to? I'm going to go kick something!!

Mac
 

leftywoody

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Aug 23, 2008
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I always wanted to grow up and work for Wham-O-. Everything produced by the company would have come with a free bottle of Merthiolate and a box of Band-Aids .
 

nightcruiser

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Mar 25, 2011
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That commercial is a trip when you consider the modern day context. To see those kids standing on the seat of the bike riding a wheelie with no helmet or other protective gear, thats just a lawsuit waiting to happen!
Just goes to show how things have really changed over the years. I kinda feel if you fall off your bike and crack you head its your own damn fault, unless of coarse the wheelie bar breaks on you, but lawyers today probably wouldn't even let a company sell a product like that. If they do the kids on the commercial would be padded up like NFL players and it would be full of warnings and disclaimers.
Have people today really become that lame that we don't have the good sense to protect ourselves unless someone tells us to? I guess so....
 

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
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up north now
Talk about a liability nightmare....look at the starting area for the wheelie cars, and where people are standing.

Sunday, SUNDAY, SUNDAY!!!!!!!
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
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Indianapolis
I always wanted to grow up and work for Wham-O-. Everything produced by the company would have come with a free bottle of Merthiolate and a box of Band-Aids .
I own a really nice crossbow made by Wham-O. Excellent design, beautiful wood stock, and hits hard. Yup, that's what "Wham-O" used to mean.
 

2door

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Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
Can you imagine if Tonka still made those big heavy steel toys they used to make. Pick one up with your fingers through the windows and you'd cut your finger. I learned real quick that sharp metal cuts flesh. Today, kids have to sneak a knife out of a kitchen drawer to learn that...smooth plastic won't cut you.

What about those stamped steel filling stations they used to have? They had sharp edges too. And what about 'Lawn Darts, and 'Plastic Bubbles' and toy ovens that really baked cakes? Kids today don't know what they missed, and they aren't learning the hazards of real life either. Hard to get hurt when you sit in front of a computer screen all day or text on your cell phone.
Tom
 

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
2,784
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Indianapolis
Can you imagine if Tonka still made those big heavy steel toys they used to make. Pick one up with your fingers through the windows and you'd cut your finger. I learned real quick that sharp metal cuts flesh. Today, kids have to sneak a knife out of a kitchen drawer to learn that...smooth plastic won't cut you.

What about those stamped steel filling stations they used to have? They had sharp edges too. And what about 'Lawn Darts, and 'Plastic Bubbles' and toy ovens that really baked cakes? Kids today don't know what they missed, and they aren't learning the hazards of real life either. Hard to get hurt when you sit in front of a computer screen all day or text on your cell phone.
Tom
I know what you're saying Tom. Just to let your imagination run wild: I had a chemistry set when I was a kid. (Heheheheheh)

You remember "Water Rockets"? Those plastic rockets you fill half-full of water? You ever wonder what would happen if you used gasoline instead? Me too. I had to duct-tape the pump launcher to a long stick and hold it over a fire and yank a string. There was no hiding that *WHOOOSH* from anywhere in the neighborhood. Boy was that a dumb thing I did - but nobody got hurt ('cept my butt, later on) and even the neighborhood bullies showed me both fear and respect for a little while.
 

GEJoe

New Member
Mar 30, 2011
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Tennessee
What has changed is who is in charge of the country. It is no longer "us". "They" have taken over, and it is only going to get worse as long as "they" control things. The biological principle of the quorum kicked in during the late 60's. "They" are not what "we" are as a biological entity.
 

2door

Moderator
Staff member
Sep 15, 2008
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Littleton, Colorado
Here's an old one. A tennis ball cannon made with steel pop cans duct taped together.
Use Ronson lighter fluid for fuel and stuff a tennis ball into the top. Hold a match or lighter flame to a 1/8" hole near the bottom of the bottom can and "Whoof! This puppy will launch a tennis ball nearly out of sight if you get the right mix of fuel to air.

Kids, don't try this today with aluminum cans and good luck finding steel pop cans.
Tom
 

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fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
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British Columbia Canada
Tom,
Like the pop cans. Did you ever hear the jingle they had about Drink Canada Dry. Well I felt it was my patriotic duty to try. Then I found out they were talking about the ginger ale so then I mixed it with the Rye.

Steve