"1975 Husqvarna 360cc CR"

I had one of these Husqvarna's for a very brief time, I mention it because it was next in line and things were about to change. The year was 1980 and Bathsprings Raceway had begun. This was going to be the beginning of something that would place a mark in our memories and we would still be talking about it near forty years later.

Bath springs Raceway had run their first race, I had taken the Ossa and realized I was going to need a motocross bike. I found one of these locally, I think it was 1975 360cc CR.

I owned this bike for such a brief time my memory is quite foggy on the details. After talking with my Brother we remembered it had a problem. The bike's engine would seize up when it got hot. Apparently, the engine had been rebuilt and the cylinder bore tolerance was too close. I only remember racing it once, most likely it was the second race at Bath springs. The second one or later, it most certainly was Bath springs, for it was the first time I would meet a guy by the name Gene McKay. I was fixing to get a lesson in motocross, however, it would be a very brief lesson.

You need to understand, until now, as much as I loved riding, for the most part, my experience had been trails, gullies, and gravel pits. Like I mentioned above, things were about to change. I thought I could ride one of these things pretty well until this day. We lined up that day, I think it was perhaps a rubber band start, some of the older Motorcross guys will remember those. This guy Gene had been exposed to the larger world of Motorcross and had obtained skill and experience our local guys did not have. Gene made us look silly on the track lapping us during the race. I personally had never seen anyone ride like that before. Gene faded out of sight after a while and as we all progressed through the years, Gene's ability became something more to be strived for rather than amazed at, but for this time he was pretty amazing in our eyes.

I realized if I was going to do this, I was going to have to change. What I had been doing up until now had not prepared me for this. A halfway effort and an old bike was not going to get me where I wanted to be.

Lacking experience and exposure left me without really knowing what I needed, I just knew I needed something more than I had to be competitive at this. I found this old bike and it was Motorcross, I didn't understand yet how quickly these bikes and this sport was changing. I discovered after trying it I wasn't any better off than I was before. Excluding the engine problem it already had, Motorcross had advanced beyond what this bike was capable of being, it wasn't going to be competitive in the sport. Beyond that, I was in need of much personal improvement to be competitive on any kind of bike.

The suspension on this bike was way under par, along with the power and the general feel of the bike. I just couldn't get a grasp of it and feel comfortable with it all.

It is like that in our lives as God moves us along. In His Sovereignty, he governs the affairs of men. We stand back and wonder at times why certain things happen in our lives. Yet, each event is a link that leads to another that in the end brings us to His purpose. It has been said, “The same Sun that softens the butter, hardens the clay.” These events in our lives take us one way or the other. While one event may soften the heart of one, the same event hardens the heart of another. Would we not do well to check our hearts? Are the events in our lives leaving us hardened, or are they breaking us in humility? The answer we find may tell us the direction our life is going.

Exo 9:34 And when Pharaoh saw that the rain and the hail and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants.

Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.

Heb 3:15 While it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the provocation.

We are all passing through this life with our various experiences, for some of us, the trip is shorter than others. We do not know how long our path will be, so we must make the most of each moment we are given. For some of us, the path will seem harder than others, this may seem a bit unfair, that is only because we cannot see past our moment into the end game. This old Husqvarna really didn't seem to add anything to me, however, it was a place for my feet to stand for a brief moment while I got my bearing in this small world of Motorcross I was living at the time.

We need not think the insignificant places of our lives mean nothing. God in His Sovereignty is working all things for his purpose, it is for us to trust Him with who we are and where He has placed us. To be content with the life and lot He has given us. Let us not allow things in our lives to harden us, but rather soften us into the surrender of our lives to Him and the Grace of the Gospel He has offered.

Even if we losing everything here leads us to the gain of everything in Christ, then glory be God!

Rom 8:26 Also, the Spirit helps us. We are very weak, but the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We don't know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit himself speaks to God for us. He begs God for us, speaking to him with feelings too deep for words.

Rom 8:27 God already knows our deepest thoughts. And he understands what the Spirit is saying, because the Spirit speaks for his people in the way that agrees with what God wants.

Rom 8:28 We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. These are the people God chose, because that was his plan.

Rom 8:29 God knew them before he made the world. And he decided that they would be like his Son. Then Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters.

Rom 8:30 God planned for them to be like his Son. He chose them and made them right with him. And after he made them right, he gave them his glory.

Php 4:11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Php 4:12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.

Php 4:13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

David

1975 Ossa 350cc Super Pioneer

If I could go back and get only one bike that I owned over the years, it would be the Ossa. Simply because it was so much fun to ride. It had a great feel, you would sit on top of it, much like the new motocross bikes today. I don't like a bike that saddles you in, I like to sit up on top of it. This was the most comfortable bike I ever rode, the suspension was awesome for the time. The frame was strong and the tank, fenders, and side panels were all fiberglass. Add to that aluminum rims, shifter, brake peddles, and levers, with a low center of gravity it felt very light. The white fiberglass and orange trim made it the sharpest bike I ever owned.

The Ossa engine was a tractor, power delivery was like truckloads of torque from bottom to mid-range. The top part of the RPM range was a flat as a 50's hair cut, however, because of the torque you could shift early and quick and go surprisingly fast on this bike. This power delivery made it easy to ride and very controllable. My memories on this bike are all good ones. It was the first bike I ever raced in competition. I rode it in my first and only enduro, which is a timekeeping type of racing where you try and complete sections of what usually is a 100-mile course in a specific amount of time. If you are early you get points deducted, if you are late you get points deducted, the target is to Zero the checkpoint.

I had wanted to race since that first disappointing evening that occurred with the Honda CR125cc Elsinore years earlier, so I hacked out a trail on our property and organized my own race. I was at a great advantage having designed the track myself which resulted in my winning one of my own trophies that day, hey, at least I had raced and now had a trophy, I think I still have it in the attic. This is the Ossa pictured, I am to the far right holding that infamous trophy. David Eason is next to the left, then Dennis Galbraith, and to the far left is Randy Dickson. David and Dennis are on Hercules 175cc's and Randy is on a CanAm 125cc.

A few years later Bath Springs Motocross would begin, as they had their opening race, this would be the bike I would take. I didn't have a motocross bike at the time so I took the Ossa. It was truly a wonderful bike. It did have one huge flaw, the clutch design used a worm gear to push the clutch plates apart. The gear device was located in front of the engine sprocket. Dirt and mud would get compressed into the worm gear and the already hard to pull clutch action would become almost impossible to pull in. You would just take both hands and pull it in, shift in first, after that you just shifted without the clutch.

If I were to relate anything about the Christian life to this bike, I suppose it would be the flaw. No matter how well we may attain in our walk in the Christian life, we are all flawed. I have come to realize when the worm gear is getting full of dirt and making life difficult, it takes work to keep it clean and working smoothly. The Christian life is not easy, it takes work to walk it. Sin clings to us like mud and can cause us to lose our race if we neglect so great a Salvation.

In working out that Salvation, we may contrive in our minds a great design we think will bring us to the winner's circle. However, flawed as we are, we can never make the mark. We are never able to bring any works to God that are good enough to bring us any merit whatsoever. In other words, we are never able to bring God into dept to us, meaning he owes us anything for the work we bring. The great news of the Gospel is that we come to Him empty-handed and trust only in His Mercy and work of Grace on our behalf through Christ offering on the Cross. I rode motorcycles and worked hard to improve my performance out of sheer love of riding. Our good works in this life must be of the same, done out of sheer love of Christ and the joy of serving Him.

(Wherefore, let us also, seeing we are compassed with so great a cloud of witnesses, cast away everything that presseth down, and the sin that hangeth so fast on: let us run with patience the race that is set before us.) Hebrews 12:1 (1599 GV) The worm gear will not clean itself, it takes Grace, Prayer, and a longing to walk with Him to keep it clean.

Php 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

Php 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

May God bless each of you,

David