BMX Racing Legend and Collector Dugan Neil part II

Written by Aaron Saturday, 01 August 2009 00:00

 It's Here! The long awaited conclusion to the Dugan Neil interview Part II

Enjoy!

 Dugan: '89 was my year bro. I won every title there was. All five of the ABA titles, the NBL National Championship, both World Championships. Thats when I realized I was like, I thought I was somebody but ya know, it's just BMX.

Aaron: LOL!

Dugan: Thats when I became infamous, INFAMOUS, not famous. I was a lengend in my own mind. That was my saying back then.

Aaron: And now..you've become infamous in the collecting world.

Dugan: Yeah and guys hate me for no reason ya know, their all jealous that I stumbled onto all these bikes and it's you know...do they have Stu Thomsen and Greg Hill in their phone? No, I dont think so. Dude, its just like this. Otto was on the computer and he showed me this link to how people were talkin bad about me. And I was like "why?". And I got all bummed and I never go on the computer because of that reason exactly, so Otto went on there and the guy said "where did Dugan buy all his bikes from I know he bought em' from one guy?" And Otto went back on there, this is the greatest thing anyone ever did, he stuck up for me. So Otto went back on to the Museum and told the guy "look dude, this guys been racing since '74, you don't even know him he is the source!  I've been buying stuff for years! I'd go to a race some guy would have Flight Cranks sittin on a table for $20. ya know? And thats basically what happened up till about 5 or 6 years ago when I started collecting I would go to a race and find Flight Cranks for that much, guys would be blowin them out, and I didnt even have a computer! Didnt get one till 2 years ago, 2007!'cause thats when I joined Ebay. And I only joined to spend my life savings buying stuff, I went nuts! I bought a '79 Quad Angle the one on my RETRO RAD profile, I paid $2000. for it. But you dont see those. And I rode for SE and you never see them in chrome. I rode for SE and I always wanted one. But you couldn't get one, Scott only..he probably did like a 100 of them and only 40 of 'um came out good, there was so many bends in the chromemoly that it was difficult for the chrome finish to come out right. It would alot of times have ripples and stuff in the finish that actually made it look like it was re-chromed. But, yeah, I went nuts, spent my life savings basically. The NBL was going to buy my museum, thats why I went nuts and bulit this museum, or they were gonna lease it from me I should say. But...Bob Tedesco who was the president was like "yeah wouldn't it be great to walk into the office and see 200 oldschool bikes ya know?". Basically the ABA is already doing that, all the guys that work there have all their old bike collections at the ABA offices, and when you walk into their offices you see all there oldschool bikes and its cool. And thats what the NBL wanted to do and thats basically why I blew all my money. But ya know, I've got every bike I've ever wanted and it's pretty cool to have um all, but...I dont wanna be collector the way all the guys hate me.

Aaron: Okay, but I do remember when we were talking a couple months ago you said that you may be interested in even selling some of these bikes. Are any of these bikes for sale?

Dugan: Every bikes for sale! I bought um, and I'm gonna, I was gonna give to the NBL but if their not interested of course I'm gonna sell every bike I have, what do I need 200 bikes for and havin people jealous of me. Thats what I said I dont even want to be a collector, Im the National Champion in the NBL right now this year and I'm settin my goals on winning 41 and over expert, which I crashed and got number 3 last year. I dont really care about the collecting end of it. Its pretty cool to meet new people guys that are into it and I've met some great guys that are totally amazing dudes, but there are also guys that dont even know me and talk bad about me and it just...I don't know why I let it bother me either, I shouldn't let it, their just human beings with a opinion and everybody has one.

Aaron: Alot of negativity on the internet, go's with the territory..

Dugan: Yeah, it was all God. God did it, got me into it at the right time, got all these bikes. I had 160 bikes before I got a computer! Thats God, ya know?

Aaron: LOL! Yeah right dude, I'm sure God has alot more important things to be concerned about that your bike collection!

Dugan: It was just all the bikes I gave away all those years, God gave em all back! Thats basically what happened, all those years I gave away so many bikes, ya know? I gave away proto-type stuff that was made just for me, well I mean sold it or traded it did whatever of course.

Aaron: Speaking of proto-types, don't you own a HUTCH proto-type Trick Star frame?

Dugan: Yep! Got one of those, I got a bunch of proto-types still.

Aaron: Whats the story behind that?

Dugan: Ahh...got it from Jay Beck, a bunch of HUTCH stuff I got from him. Actually he's the one that started HUTCHINS. So yeah, I got all kinds of bikes from him. He took all my money basically. But..it was worth it. He was into collecting and has a construction company that got huge and expanded into two companys basically and he just wanted to get out of it and he saw what I was doing and with all the collecting and he thought it was cool, and he basically got me to come to his house and buy everything he had which was at that time I realized this is what I was gonna do. But then ya know, five years ago I started to realize I had to ya know, drive to Wisconsin to buy out shops like Madison bike shop and all kinds of other bike shops around the country that had stuff, all over the planet I had to drive to get all this stuff. Guys are jealous I know, but you have to remember I turned this into a job, this stuff didn't just fall into my lap! Ya know sometimes it would be a 2 day trip to go to one bike shop, and you cant just walk right in and say: "Hey I'll take all your oldschool stuff!" and leave. Your there all day, digging, looking finally at the end of it when you have so much stuff, then they say: "Oh by the way I don't know if you be interested in all this other stuff in this back shed" then you've got more stuff to look at and more time to spend, some good, some junk, ya never know. But I wasn't in control it was a higher power bro.

Aaron: LOL! Uh yeah, whatever Dugan. Ok dude, so how many more bikes you planning on collecting?

Dugan: Well you've seen what I got, I got like 200 built, and 100 frames probably. I had to quit buying them, I was goin crazy and running out of room.

Aaron: Yeah, fur sure! But what other bikes do you still wish you had? No way you have all of them right?

Dugan: Everybodys still looking for the STR-1 Stu Thomson

Aaron: "The Holy Grail"

Dugan: Yes, The Holy Grail! There was only 4 of those made! And theres a Titanium FMF out there thats in California that I saw when I was a kid that Mahlon Abrams is trying to track down for me. He road for Scorpion. His dad was Don, famous flt track racer. And Malon was the first guy, he was the guy that got me to get the money at the Van Nuys Youth Center. $200 bucks when I was gonna take a $8.00 trophy. He like: "dude take the money!" And then we went out to dinner with him and his mom and he became one of my best freinds.

Aaron: So dude what other stuff in your collection are you most proud of?

Dugan: Duuude...there's so much stuff its crazy. I just feel like putting pics up on RETRO RAD or Ebay and tell guys let me know what your looking for I probably have it. If I dont have that part loose, its probably on one of the 200 I have built, and I can pull it off and replace it with another part, its really not a big deal to me.

Aaron: You would remove parts from one of your already built bikes?

Dugan: When you have 200 bikes you really dont need one bike built specifically with certain parts, ya know? You always want the one bike you rode that was just the way that you had it of course, thats why I have my GJS.

Aaron: And your not exactly giving these parts away either right?

Dugan: Hey man, these guys out in Cali are payin big money, ya know? If theres a profit to be made thats what you gotta do. I dont wanna be a business man, but ya kinda gotta be. Ya know, theres nothing like giving somebody something that they had as a kid and they freek out, they pay the price, and they come back for more stuff. And ya know, ya dont wanna gauge nobody, but you cant do it for free. Just because I bought a set a brakes for $50.00 bucks that I got from Wisconsin, people dont realize that it took 2 days to go get it, all the gas and time.

(local rider and buddy Chris Yankee stops by and joins in the interview) 

Yankee: You made the effort to go get it they didnt, everybody has the same chances as you do to get the stuff.

Aaron: You just have to know how to find it, right?

Dugan: Hey man! Thats why I believe it was mostly God too, because when I got into it and started and buyin stuff he was with me. We went to this bike shop in Michigan, 16 mile road and Gratiot. We were like, "yeah lets stop and see what they got" the guy had like 4 sets of 401 Flight Cranks in the frickin box. IN THE BOX!!

Aaron: How long ago was that?

Dugan: 3 or 4 years. In the box, right over there dude, a little bike shop, walked in..

Yankee:  Yeah, a hole in the wall..

Aaron: You musta 'bout had a heart attack!

Dugan: Yeah but see I wasn't into Ebay like all these other guys, I took those cranks, ripped out of the box, put 'um on a bike. Ya think, I could have sold them...I could have got $600. a box! I didnt know, I didnt care!

Aaron: You could have made money just on those boxes dude!

Dugan: I sold my Hutch Aerospeed box for $1200.

Aaron: The BOX?!!

Dugan: The box that the Hutch Aerospeeds came in that I still have that are nos, but now I'm a joker, I got nos Aerospeeds without the box. What kind of bs is that? But when I tell people I sold the the box for $1200. they kinda understand.

Aaron: Your really serious, the box for $1200. bucks?

Dugan: Just the box.

Aaron: Theres some guys that actually have these showcases and try to make their own kind of "retro-type" 80's bike shop for their collections.

Dugan: I sold most of my best stuff to Juan at BMX Addicts. I sold him the pink Hollywood Hutch, a blue Judge he bought a bunch of my Hutch stuff. I just realized ya know, I thought he was going to be the real museum, this is before I started to do it, and I'm not saying I do have a museum but..ya know. I was trying to get it together for the NBL and this was before that so, this guy was buying bikes for $20,000 and stuff so it was like...of course I looked to him to try and sell him stuff too.

Aaron: Yeah, does he have the Holy Grail, the STR?

Dugan: There was 4 of 'um made and I dont think theres any of 'um around.

Aaron: Their all probably part of some little Japanese compact car now, or hopefully a F-150

Dugan:Yep.

Aaron: So back to racing bro., how long do you think you can keep doing this? Your going on what 46?

Dugan: Yeah, tomorrow.

Aaron: Okay, 46 tomorrow, you've been racing practically as long as Stu, and he's still racing once a year..

Dugan: Yeah, Stu's birthday is tomorrow too.

Aaron: Oh yeah, thats right you guys share the same birthday, crazy. So how much longer can you keep racing?

Dugan: I don't know man I love it too much, I dont think I can stop. I actually stopped one time for 4 months, in the summer when the power went out, remember that?

Aaron: Yeah of course, that was '03, six years ago.

Dugan: There was 3 races left and they count your 3 best scores, well 6 'cause theres 2 races each weekend so I went to the last 6 races, won 'um all and won #1 they were so mad, that was 2003. Thats the trophy right there, with flat pedals! With flat pedals I beat all those guys, thats when I realized I had to put on the ....

 Aaron: Clips.

Dugan: Yeah clips. Cause I used to win by 5 bike lengths, then all of a sudden I was only winning by half a bike length, then I looked down and seen that every dude was clipped in but me, so thats when I knew. And I was scared and didnt want to do it, and I was debatin it since like, my kid ran, Dillion ran clips in '91, '92, he was 6 or 7 years old, tellin me I was a wuss for not runnin 'um. So my kid was trying to get me to run them for 10 years.

Aaron: When did clips start comin into racing?

Dugan: Well, let me tell you a little story for RETRO RAD okay. I was at the track, when the first guy showed up with the pedals.

Aaron: Who was it?

Dugan: Mikey King.

Aaron: Mike King really?

Dugan: Frickin Mikey King wrecked our sport. Yup, some people say he made it better but, yep Mikey King was the first one that ever showed up, yup.

Aaron: And what year was that?

Dugan: That was in California in....hmmm, don't know the year for sure, mountain bikes were just starting to get big so he actually brought the moutain bike technolgy into BMX and Brian Lopes had also brought a 3 speed into BMX thinkin it was going to work too, which Brian Lopes raced at the Grands last year with that 3 speed on.

Aaron: So Mikey King brought clips into BMX....

Dugan: Some people will say its Brian Lopes though too, but it was Mikey King. I was there, Mikey King showed up on Wednesday, Brian Lopes showed up on Saturday.

Aaron: Where at?

Dugan: Orange Y, the track in California, thats where everybody went on Wednesday nights. At the Orange County YWCA. Everybody went there on Wednesday, Friday and Sundays. Dude, you could go there any of those nights and get in the gate with Pistol Pete Loncaravich, Brian Lopes, Mikey King, Eric Carter, all the best dudes in the world were there, and thats how I learned to be the best by training with those guys and those guys beat me all the time. And then...I just started to beat them. Pistol Pete though was impossible to beat, at Orange Y Pistol Pete would never take a lane further out than lane 3, cause he would never let you beat him to the first turn. Orange Y was like 30-40 feet to the first turn, so Pistol Pete would never take the outside. I would be taking lane 8 every time, beatin 'um, starting from the outside.

Aaron: Pistol Pete?

Dugan: Loncaravich, of course...

Aaron: Thought you said you couldnt beat him?

Dugan: No, of course I could beat him, I could beat anyone at Orange Y, that was my home track. I never, well..everyone could beat me at first, and then I started beating eveybody. I'll never forgot the guy who ran that track one day picked me to win this race, it was like, the boss guy that showed for the factory team and he wanted a match race it was like a separate, just one lap race and he picked me, Ray Rome who ran the track. He was like "is Dugan still here?" over the microphone, and I wasnt racin ya know, and I was like yeah I went up there and the winner got a pair of tennis shoes, that was lame but it was one lap, pretty cool. Yup, but he picked me, that really made me...he was the one who ran the track. But thats only because Lopes and everybody else had went home ya know, Pistol Pete, none of those guys were there they all went home.

Aaron: So what year would you say Mikey King brought the clips in?

Dugan: Hmmm..'94, no it was earlier may have been '92. Whenever it was that mountain bikes got big. Yeah 94-92 right in there and showed up and screwed us all.

Aaron: And what kind of clips was he using?

Dugan: They were tiny little mountain bikes ones back then, they were mountain bike pedals and put 'em on his BMX bike, they were tiny, didnt have any platforms on 'em.

Aaron: And he blew you guys away...

Dugan: Everybody dude...everybody!

Aaron: Thanks alot for the interview Dugan, lets do it again soon!

Dugan: Fer sure bro., anytime!

RR