An Old School BMX reunion is happening next weekend at Woodward West. Confirmed attendence (including myself of course) is now around 180 riders, over the age of 32. We’re talking legends all hanging out in one room. It’s going to be nuts. You can find out more info here.

As a prelude to that, we’ve got a little homage to a bike that in many ways changed the course of BMX freestyle in the late 80s/early 90s… the Bully. Shad Johnson, the owner of Goods BMX here in Portland, has several amazing old school bikes in the shop, and recently built up a Bully very similar to one he had in 1990. Shad was itchin’ to get some pictures on the thing, so we brought it out to a backyard ramp to get the true “feel of the time.”

In 1988 RL Osborn parted ways with General Bikes (a deal that was reportedly bringing him about $100k a year) to focus his attention on his own brand, Hammer bodywear, a line of shin, knee and elbow pads for BMX. RL was always one of the most notoriously business-minded BMX riders at the time, and throughout the late 80s was one of if not the highest paid BMX freestyle riders out there. He was a great bike rider, but he was a better business man when it came to it.

As Hammer grew more succesful, RL started Bully Bikes in 1989, and capitilized on the new “street oriented” direction BMX was headed. He brought names like himself and Mike Dominquez on board, as well as a team of street riders like Vic Murphy, the Dirt Bros. and Mike Krnaich. The originally Bully frames featured a “bash guard” as well as graphics from former pro flatlander Mark McKee. McKee has since gone on to be the Art Director for skateboard company World Industries, producing some of the most sought after board graphics in history. With the help of McKee’s graphics, the bikes just looked cool, and had a much more “street” image about them. RL’s new long haired edgy look, along with riders from the Dirt Bros. on the team solidified that. In 1990 Bully released a version of the frame minus the bashguard.

Many bikes of the era were notoriously flimsy, and Bully’s suffered from the same problem. Back ends bending and front ends snapping were all to common. Riders would send them back for warranty, get a new one, and suffer a similar fate shortly thereafter. It wasn’t just Bully… it was a widespread issue. But a flimsy reputation still surrounds those early Bully framesets. They sure were nice to look at though.

Shad and I are both headed to the Old School Reunion next week. Maybe we’ll see you there?