Scot Breithaupt is the undisputed founding father of BMX. He was responsible for running the first 'Official' BMX race in California way back in 1970. He's also the founder of the legendary, long time BMX manufacturer, SE Racing. Dubbed "The OM of BMX" in his racing days...even in the late 90's SE still had a cruiser named after him, the "OM Flyer". He is an ABA Hall of Famer, a living legend.
bmxultra.com hooked up with Scot to find out about his story
bmxultra.com: Let's get straight to the point, how did BMX begin?
Scot: I used to race motorcross, when I practiced local
kids would come out and imitate my jumps. One day I went home got some
of my motorcycle trophies and had the 35 kids there each pitch in a quarter.
Broke them down into skill classes; beginner, novice and expert. It was
kewl, the next week 150 kids showed up!
bmxultra.com: What were the tracks like to start off with?
Scot: The original BMX track was BUMS I in Long Beach, CA, 1970. It
was narly. It was a trail that I used for practice on my motorcycle. I
rode for the Yamaha factory, as a support rider. The track was about 450
yards long (1350 feet), we ran two laps. It had a 35 foot high drop-away
jump, a mud hole and 8 or 9 other jumps.
bmxultra.com:
What is BUMS I?
Scot: BUMS I...there was a second BUMS...BUMSII ...was in fields
that Bums, hobos, lived in. But it also stood for Bicycle United Motocross
Society.
bmxultra.com: What was the date for the first race?
Scot: November, 1970
bmxultra.com: Do you have any original flyers from the first meetings
or was the interest generated by word of mouth?
Scot: Word of mouth, but I have flyers too.. some where...and first
ever schools too.
bmxultra.com: How many people would turn up to the races in those
early days?
Scot: At first 100-150 a week, then it grew from there. I built
new tracks all over, by 1974 I promoted the Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup series
and had over 1000 riders at each event! We held the finals in the LA Coliseum,
about 16,000 spectators were there, probably the biggest event ever to
this day...it was HUGE!
bmxultra.com: Is it the same LA Colliseum they used for the LA Olympics?
Scot: Yup...same place!
bmxultra.com:
When did the first BMX association start in the US?
Scot: BUMS (Bicycle United Motocross Society) Based in
Long Beach, California, my hometown. The 1st track was BUMS that we spoke
about earlier...it was 1970...I had over 350 members within a year...
then branched out to other tracks that I created for surrounding cities
like La Habra, La Palma, Irvine (Saddleback) and Fountain Valley...all
in California.
bmxultra.com: Did you have a big involvement with it?
Scot: I created it, wrote the rule book, made membership
cards and t-shirts. We kept a points system and had our first State Championships
in 1972.
bmxultra.com: What was the first major event?
Scot: Father's Day race in June of 1971... and the Nor
Cal vs So Cal event in late 71. We had gotten publicity in Parade Magazine
and the Silver Shield Bike Shop from Oakland showed up to do battle with
Jumpin John Wells, Friendly Fred Thomas and Holeshot Harrigan (Pete).
The 1972 BUMS State Championships were spectacular! Bob Hurricane Hannah
showed up and we banged bars for all three motos. In the end, I took the
win with Bob 2nd and Tom Finvers third. There were many more "Big
Events" thru the years until the biggest of all time, an event I
promoted throughout the state called The Yamaha Bicycle Gold Cup Series
in 1974.
bmxultra.com: At what stage did the pro class kick in?
Scot: I promoted the first ever Pro BMX race at saddleback Park
in 1975... $200.00 purse... big $ back then.. the entry was $5.00 Thom
Lund won that day... riding for Rick's Bike Shop.
bmxultra.com: When was the first national series? Did you compete
in it?
Scot: First true National series was 1976, sanctioned by the NBA,
Ernie Alexander and Suzzane Claspy. It included races throughout Cal.,
Nevada, Colorado, Flordia, Tennesse, New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio, and a
few others. The Grand Nationals were in So Cal at the Orange County Fair
Grounds. I took the overall #1 title on my trusty FMF team replica, Perry
Kramer was second, Jeff Utterback also on FMF was third overall and #1
Amateur. It was awesome !!!
bmxultra.com: At what point did you start travelling outside
of America?
Scot: I started going to Europe, New Zealand and Australia in 1980. We used
to get invited by racing organizations to come down and teach racing clinics
and compete against the local stars. Gerritt Does of Holland spearheaded
the European tours, Blair Sheppard hosted the Aussie events, and John
Struthers handled New Zealand. We had an All Star team that traveled.
It was a blast with Stu, Jon Crews for Redline, Kos and Kenny Nachman
for Mongoose, Bobby Encinas for Shimano, and many others. I also took
the BMX Action trick team to Europe and Saudi Arabia. Mike Buff, RL and
I spent weeks doing shows and racing. It was kewl to race my 26"
against the 20" bikes in Europe and smoke the locals. They had an
"Open Class" without limitations, "run what ya brung"
so to speak. We saw a lot of beautiful country side over the years and
met a lot of great people that loved BMX as we did.
bmxultra.com: How were the trips paid for?
Scot: Sometimes race organizations would pay our way,
and of course our sponsors chipped in because they were setting up distribution
in those countries. We were the ambassadors of BMX. They had us on local
TV shows and lots of newspaper coverage to promote BMX.
bmxultra.com:
Over your entire career which countries has BMX taken you to?
Scot: Hmmmm, Mexico, Canada, New Zealand, Aruba, Australia,
Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Chile, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, and a
few others. BMX has grown worldwide! But the most exciting tours were
in the USA when we took the bus on cross country tours. I never imagined
BMX would grow to such huge proportions from a little dirt lot in Long
Beach California.
bmxultra.com: Were you able to make a living from BMX in the
early days?
Scot: I made a living at it from day one. As a kid promoting
BMX to the big sponsorship deals when I won a few titles. I also designed
bikes and managed teams like Dan Gurney, Matthews Motocross, FMF and of
course my SE Racing crew. As I grew in the manufacturing side of the industry,
I hired others to run the team and other functions. I diversified and
had many operations going on simultainiously. With great direction and
help from guys like Mike Devitt, Gene Smith, Chuck Raudman, Skip Hess
of Mongoose and countless others. I owe them all a big thanks.
bmxultra.com: At what point did you decide to retire from racing?
Scot: I retired from racing several times, the first
in late 1974 when I shattered my ankle doing a stunt on my motorbike.
It was for the cover of a book called "How to win Bicycle Motocross".
They said I'd never walk, let alone ride a bike! After 7 months of traction
and therapy, I walked with a cane and went to the 1975 Bicycle Industry
Trade show and looked for a sponsor. I had 13 offers by the end of the
show and chose to go with Dan Gurney and Mike Devitt, it was the start
of a life long friendship and business relationship I value and cherrish.
Mike is my best friend and mentor.
bmxultra.com:
You know I still can't work out how you used to jump like that and race
with 26" wheels. It must be like a barge in comparison to todays
bikes.
Scot: That's why they call it a "Cruiser",
and I used to do some pretty amazing stuff on that bike. Did you know
I set the distance jumping record on it?? That's how I named the Landing
Gear, cuz I looked like a plane landing when we jumped that day at Corona.
Also used that bike for the opening of "On any Sunday II" with
film camera duct taped to it.
bmxultra.com: What was the distance?
Scot: 76 feet average for 3 jumps, the third of which
I did one handed!! (By accident!.. went 58 feet)
bmxultra.com: How long did it take before it was broken again?
Scot: It was broken by a circus guy 10 years later.
bmxultra.com:
How did you get involved with the OAS II filming?
Scot: I was in the first one and knew Don Schumacher,
the filmer.
bmxultra.com: Did you have to pedal to the ramp or were you towed?
Scot: Downhill run, 46/13 gearing on a 26" OM Flyer,
55 to 58 MPH.
Yuppers, it was scary, but I didn't tell anyone!!! LOL... I was pumping
the bike on the ramp with each takeoff, and launching like a skier, when
I yanked so hard on the bars, my right hand came off. I have color slides
and film of it somewhere, in fact, the first Bob Haro video has film footage
of it, do you have that video??
bmxultra.com: Getting back to the LA Colluseum event...there must
have been big money and support in BMX back then...who were the biggest
supporters of BMX in those early days?
Scot: Mongoose was brand new, they had a few wheels out there.
Yamaha was of course the biggest. They gave me the budget and personel
to promote and conduct the events. They also paid for the portable track
I designed, others included Matthews Motocross, Webco, and D&L Trickray.
(Owned by Uni-Filters, a motorcycle company.)
bmxultra.com: How long did it take for companies to manufacture BMX
specific gear?
Scot: Mike Devitt of SE fame was the first, he was a partner in
a company called Bike-Ette, they made Bike racks, then fenders, stems,
bars, banana seat braces, etc...oh yeah and fake gas tanks...the rage!
[laughter]
bmxultra.com: Who were the first BMX Manufacturers?
Scot: Mike was the first with parts. Webco did the first triangled
BMX frame. Murray did the cantilever frames with special bars. Then Matthews
motocross, lead by my sponsor, a guy named Gene Smith in 1972. He was
instrumental in many of the innovations of that time. He is now a partner
in Kool Stop brakes and Child trailers, and joggers...a brilliant bicycle
man...and LLLoonnggg time friend!
bmxultra.com: So the stories of Redline and Mongoose being the first
werent exactly true?
Scot: No... Redline came out in 74...tubular forks, then frame
in 75...Mongoose did Motomags first, then bikes in 75.
Part 1: How did BMX begin
Part 2: The History of SE Racing
Part 3: About the OM
Part 4: The old-school photo
gallery
Some Scot/SE links