Vintage Husqvarna Desert Racers

Here are some early to mid 70's weekend warriors racing their Huskys in the Southern California desert. I wouldn't be surprised if you older District 37 guys see yourself or someone you know. These pics really bring back the memories.

Whitey Martino

Man, those are priceless!

My favorite is this one; I'm showing it to my dogs tonight to see if they'll get as big a smile as Husky-Dog had on his face.

Those are great pictures! Every rider charging, How little things realy change.

Great pictures!! Thanks for posting.

Thats Kookie and his owner John McCown. Most remember them both from On Any Sunday. John unfortunately passed away in 2011.

Those are some great pic's. They look to be about 5 years before I got into desert racing in 1978.
The dez sure looks a lot smoother back in those days, compared to now.
A lot of those areas are really chewed up now, if they're not already closed. Man those were the days!!

Very cool, thank you for posting. Those were the days!

Great pictures. Thanks for posting.
Reminds me of when I was living in Victorville back in 1970-71. Fun times.
Dave

Do you have any of McQueen?

Great pictures Crash! Thanks for sharing!

I remember John & Kookie from magazine articles back in the day. I never got to do desert racing since I lived in the Mid-West. Looks like pretty exclusive Husky territory. I only did MX back then and I remember how much tougher it was on the body because of the primitive suspension systems. When I'd finish a moto I'd go back to the pits and tape up my bleeding blisters to be ready for the next moto. Back then we ran 3.

Not saying today's riders aren't tough, it's just a different kind of toughness. Because the suspension is so much better speeds are so much higher now. Today's speeds make it much more dangerous. Back in the day racers rarely got hurt badly. Sometimes a broken arm or leg. Maybe desert racing was different. Someone once told me that my 400WR is capable of 100MPH.

Should be fun if I ever get either of these bikes running.

I had this shirt. I'd bet that a lot of us did.

Those riding pants are pretty awesome!

Petty cool to see the riding attire of that era.

Levis or Leathers if you could afford them.