1975 Livermore Trans-AMA Motocross - Moto 2

[@KevinHansen-x5c]

Thanks Mark for bringing this memory back to life! My cousin and I talked our dads into taking us out to Carnegie Park that day for our first motocross race at age 12. I remember how open and fast the track was and loved watching the guys rip it up on that big hillside. Roger Decoster (and Brad Lackey) were are guys and rooted hard as Roger worked his way through the pack after a poor start in the second moto, passing multiple riders and working his way up to the lead group. Then watching in horror as his bike broke as he landed off the big jump on the main straight, face planting at 70 mph. I was in the process of attempting to convince my father (a medical physician) at that time to allow me to get a dirt bike. Let's just say that the Roger Decoster crash didn't help me cause. Shout out to Honda64, as I also witnessed the tire roll incident and agree that it is a miracle that no one got hit. What a day. Thanks again..

[@charlesharper6421]

My compliments to mr mark rothchild. This is by far the very best mx vid ive ever seen on streaming. No comparison. The guys in the race are all heroes. The clarity is fantastic. Clap for mr rothchild. He knocked it out if the park w/this content.

[@marker5280]

Charles, thank you for your compliments. Not bad for a 17 year old kid. Three things contributed to make this a great mx time capsule. One, I had an adult riding friend that had a pretty good Super 8 mm film camera that he let me borrow. Back then, you had to load a small color roll of film that only lasted 3 minutes. Two, I was able to access a press pass from a local paper that I wrote motorcycle articles for. The pass allowed me access to any part of the track, including the start line, and the pits. Three, I knew that most 'movies' that people made at that time were shot far away, full of jump cuts, bad panning, and very shaky. I really tried to get to spots on the track that I could follow the riders as the rode past. I really didn't care how much film I exposed, as long as it was good footage.

[@rogershipman3578]

Incredible! I was 12 years old and these guys were my heroes like many of you in the comments said. This is the first video footage like this I have seen with all of these riders together! I saw them each month in Motocross Action and Dirt Bike magazines. The legend Roger DeCoster, there isn't much video footage of him racing back then. You can see that he was what is called a "technical" rider. Never making a mistake. Then took that nasty fall after his bike broke in half, slapped a bandage on his mouth, got changed and drove to the hospital in a car! A man's man! And Marty Smith (RIP). The most naturally talented American racer of his era. I also see Gerrit Wolsink, DiStefano, Howerton, Pomeroy, Weinert, Lackey, Gary Semics, Pierre Karsmakers, Howerton, Tommy Croft. Thank you for posting this!

[@marker5280]

Thanks for the good review! The film sat for far too long in my closet. Glad that I finally got to share it with you all.

[@hondacr64]

grew up in Pleasanton, Dad took me to the races when I was 11, Everyone remembers the Decoster incident. Great job on moving around the track for different views. I am not sure if it was this year the water truck came sliding down the hill and almost crashed. The door swung open on the drivers side and was stuck open. Also, some idiot rolled a tire on a rim with air in it down from on top of the big hill, Missed everybody and ended up near the start line. Loved the exhaust smell back then. I also remember seeing Roger at the top of the big hill climb. He stopped because his fuel line came off, he put it back on but waited a while before jumping back in the race,

[@augustmozart1055]

Was a young kid standing next to that jump when `DeCoster lost his forks...insane. Great footage and super rare.Thanks!

[@markrothschild2618]

I was on the far side of the track when DeCoster's bike broke. I made it back to the pits just before the moto ended. Glad you enjoyed the film.

[@augustmozart1055]

@@markrothschild2618 It was so sudden and unexpected...my jaw just dropped and here my hero face first into the dirt! He got up quick and wa pushed off, but this h age gloom set over the track. There are some photos of it and the aftermath of the bike in two pieces. So crazy I recall as if it happened yesterday. Stunning footage man! Do you have any of Sears Point the next year?

[@markrothschild2618]

I was at the 1977 Sears Point Trans-AMA, but I was taking photos. There was a great battle between DeCoster and Graham Noyce that lasted for several laps. DeCoster was trying to pass Noyce on a tight left hand corner with hay bales on the outside. After a few laps, DeCoster made his move on the inside, and Noyce gassed it & hit the hay bales on the outside really hard. He bounced off, and his bike wheelied down the track, with his feet dragging behind him. DeCoster saw that he was out of control, and backed off. Noyce somehow got the front wheel down before the next left hand turn. Everyone watching on the sides of the track were left shaking their heads in disbelief.

[@cliff2011]

YES I was there as well and saw Rogers crash. An unforgettable day. I'm not completely sure but I think it was the frame (NEAR the triple clams) that broke away, at the weld.

[@augustmozart1055]

@@cliff2011 Yes, right at the triple clamps...crazy scary.

[@davidbailey6343]

Great footage. Thanks for sharing it with us. Wow.. Roger all bandaged up, standing around in the dust and toughing it out and still making the effort to look professional in his team Suzuki shirt..

[@markrothschild2618]

Not bad footage from a friend's borrowed Super 8 camera. By the time I got back to the pits, Team Suzuki already had Roger's broken bike under a tarp in the team truck, away from eyes and cameras. Gary sure has some nice videos from your racing career. They were/are great to watch. Also really liked the 1986 MX de Nation video that your brother did, with your narration. Great memories, and very well done.

[@rong4189]

@@markrothschild2618 I’m also remembering Roger ruptured his spleen in this crash, or had to have it removed soon after this crash?

[@carolynnbradley6706]

Thank you. I was at some of the earlier races at Livermore & White Rock Park, Sacramento when DeCoster, Robert & Lackey were still on CZs. Awesome experiences.

[@RadioReprised]

I was running an outrageously expensive Bell MotoStar full face in 75 on my Elsinore....and after Roger's crash I realized it was a good idea!

[@onefishfrank9145]

Thank you for sharing your films! What a rare treat, a "Time Capsule" of 70s MotoX...

[@markrothschild2618]

Glad you enjoyed it, Only took me 45 years to post.

[@brucefile7430]

Love this old footage!!! Bad Brad, the Jammer, Rhinestone Cowboy, both Marty's, Roger D etc....

[@c1mat1]

I was there that day and saw Roger's crash. It was a horrible wreck and thought surely he's not going to get up from it. When he landed off that big jump his forks just broke off. The next week we came back to the track and rode it. It was so tore up and rough and that jump was huge for that time. Nice video and thanks for posting it.

[@markrothschild2618]

Glad you enjoyed it. The track certainly was epic, carved right out of the steep hillsides.

[@endurophutwick489]

Really cool video! Some of the best footage I've seen from this era. Thanks!

[@markrothschild2618]

Thanks for the compliment. The footage was shot with a Super 8 camera. I was pleasantly surprised that the footage came out as well as it did.

[@peterjanka2921]

I was 10 years old then and all those dudes were my heroes! If you look at the track conditions and the suspension it’s easy to understand the need for kidney belts. They were tough as nails.

[@bikenband]

My 14 year old self was there that day and I had the time of my life. As this moto was going on I was talking to a friend and looked over just in time to see DeCoster landing off that high speed jump and his forks snapping clean off as he landed.

[@barrycuda3769]

What a significant thing to witness and remember ' seeing Roger in the pits at the end of the video he looks lucky to be alive 'it shows the importance of helmets becoming full face. Being that this was 1975 his bike would have been a factory RN ' I've heard that Suzuki were particularly focused on the bikes being as lightweight as possible 'to the point of the triple clamps being too weak .

[@johnnyofast5924]

Awesome footage, tthanks!

[@markrothschild2618]

Glad you liked the footage! Hard to believe that it was 45+ years ago.

[@depARTmentUhaul]

This is amazing

[@FRCMoto]

This is real motocross. No artificial jumps, no artificial landing ramps, no artificial berms, no artificial ruts, no artificial whoops. Just natural terrain for 45 minutes.

[@vintagemxer9165]

and no water

[@dalebailey1434]

Great video! Awesome..

[@still2fast]

Amazing historical footage. Also amazing that RD gets himself cleaned up and hops in a Monte Carlo for a ride to the Hospital after a horrific crash. A bye gone ere where people were tough as nails.

[@keithwebster5418]

No artificial attitudes 😂 lol 1975 was the best year 😊 Marty Smith is a legend 🎉

[@racebiketuner]

RIP Marty.

[@LAT-qk3vj]

Great camera work!

[@vintagemxer9165]

Riders today are so privileged with their bikes and groomed tracks. I would love to see them ride an all-natural track with poor suspension.

[@mrabrasive51]

I was at this race..

[@davidduvarney1807]

Epic footage thanks for posting. Cheers Dave Huskaduvarna #32

[@markrothschild2618]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@aussiedorsmith9293]

Wow! What great footage. Thanks for posting this, Mark. I was there as a spectator that day. Started going in 72 where it was still held on the lower course, and then on for the rest when they moved it up top. We'd camp, and having our dirt bikes we would ride up to watch. Had a ball. Raced Dist. 36 Sportsman on the upper course as well. Good times!! Hey, can anybody tell me what year, and does anyone remember when one of the fastest guys most people never heard of (but I knew from local races), Neil MacDannald, won the second moto of the Trans-AMA? We were going nuts rooting him on as Tony D hustled his ass off trying to stay with him. Epic!

[@jmsiii4751]

Awesome video!

[@markrothschild2618]

Thanks!

[@Maicoczpenton]

again....Mark, THANKS FOR POSTING!!! HEY, Wait just a gosh darn minute, 20 views and (so far) i'm the ONLY guy to hit the LIKE BUTTON???? Come on guys, we can do better than that...

[@TRUMPPOWERMAN]

I was a junior in high school riding the Jim Pomaroy influenced 250 pursang bultaco and loved that bike I'm from southwest kansas and read about motocross since 1969 when the Europeans starded coming over here really spanking our asses . . . Such good times back then but as the old saying says "all good things eventually comes to an end" and it did with ama changing the rules clamping down on two-strokes ushering in the four-stroke era, I just don't think motocross has ever rebounded since the two-stroke was forced out

[@totolopez9772]

Honestly they look faster than riders now .. nowadays its all jumps ,,those days were stretches full speed throttle action and Marty , Hannah and De Coster simply exploded off the field in the start..Amazing memories.

[@hlp020dd]

I saw Roger the next week at Saddleback and his face hadn't healed yet. I don't think he ever went open faced helmet again.

[@dancalhoun7011]

Roger DeCoster in the middle 60's was the first Euro rider to ride with a Bell magnum helmet. After a race in I believe Czecho he received an impact on the back of his head from a rigid footpeg which pretty much destroyed that helmet, after that most of the riders went to "American Spaceman Helmet" as it wsa called in England

[@brucefile7430]

Also think I saw Gerrit Wolsink, Tony D, Gary Semics, Steve Stackable, ...

[@michelmarty1361]

❤

[@michelmarty1361]

Roger de coster?

[@t-bone9403]

#1 Yamaha Jimmy Wienert ?

[@markrothschild2618]

Jimmy Weinert won the 1974 500cc National Championship, so he ran the #1 plate for 500cc events in 1975, including the Trans-AMA. DiStefano was second, Steve Stackable-third.

[@johnleedy2245]

Roger D was so bad he need three 1s

[@michaeloakes2200]

that track long gone thanks to real estate developers

[@volksdeutschewaffenss9670]

whats with early motocross, its not 1925, wheres the tv style type quarlty film, i,m amazed its not black and white

[@johnnyofast5924]

really? from 1975? ask for a refund.

[@markrothschild2618]

This was shot with a friend's borrowed Super8 film camera. No sound. I was really surprised that the color held up as well as it did.

[@bongofury5924]

You sound like the guy that would whine that the Abraham Lincoln footage wasn’t in 4K surround sound.

[@volksdeutschewaffenss9670]

@@bongofury5924 dude its the 1970s not 1800s, you need to learn and educate your self about history, silent movies ended long before the 70s, the young of today have no idea, you most likely think eggs come from a supermarket too LOL

[@LAT-qk3vj]

They also had to develop something called "film" back then 😉

[@GregoryMillar-l7n]

Roger was so fast he needs three ones