Scott Wallenberg | Racer X Publisher 

Back in 1965 me and probably every other boy in the U.S. around my age wanted a Sting-Ray bike. I was 9 years old and just getting big enough to fit on them. It was also right at the time where I was having doubts about Santa Claus, but I do remember going to the department store and sitting on his lap and asking for a Sting-Ray. This was the year our family decided to switch to the Scandinavian tradition of opening presents on Christmas Eve. Alas, there were no bicycle boxes amongst the gifts scattered around the tree area. Lo and behold on Christmas morning I woke up and there it was, a shiny new Sting-Ray under the tree! I remember it was snowy and I got dressed anyway and tried to ride it on the slippery streets. I did not get very far, but as far as I was concerned Santa was very real! 

David Langran | Racer X Creative Director

Christmas 1988 will never be matched for me. I had been saving my pocket money from chores for about two years (which probably didn't amount to much) in the hope of one day getting my very own motocross bike. Actually having one seemed like a very far off dream, but that all changed on December 25, 1988. I thought that I might be getting a crash helmet and perhaps some gear that year, and after unwrapping a brand new Arai helmet, JT Bonehead gear, and Alpinestars boots I was ecstatic!

In the back of my mind, I did think I might look a little silly wearing all this brand new motocross gear whilst putting around on my very old, and very beat up Yamaha TY80 trials bike. But I was still feeling pretty lucky. After everyone had opened up their presents, my dad announced that he had one last surprise in the other room. The whole family got up and followed me in to a room where sat a brand new 1989 Honda CR80. To say I was speechless was an understatement. I think I might have even cried! The realization that I finally had a motocross bike was, and will always be, one of the best feelings in my life. It really was a dream come true for me and a Christmas I will never, ever forget. Thanks, dad!

Aaron Hansel | Racer X Editor-at-Large

“No way! That’s not for me, is it? This better not be a joke. Is it really mine?”

It was Christmas morning nine years ago, and I can still remember those words, although they weren’t mine, and it wasn’t a gift I was receiving. My wife had just walked in the front door after working a nightshift at the hospital (she’s a nurse) and was staring at her brand new Suzuki DR-Z125L under the tree. Now, way too excited to think about settling in for a good day’s sleep, she insisted on taking her new machine out for its first ride in the empty field near our house. I beamed as I watched her zoom up and down like a six-year-old on a little fifty, getting cockier, and faster, with each pass. The festivities were cut short when she grabbed a little too much front brake and went over the bars in a huge puddle, but here spirits were hardly dampened.

Soon we were out riding every weekend, and the gift I had given quickly started giving back to me. From exploring the Northern California forest and finding incredible, secluded views, hidden waterfalls, and beautiful creeks filled with wild trout, to sprinting around like a crazed mini-dad with a camera as she spun laps at Riverfront Park during kids’ practice, countless memories were forged and we bonded in ways not possible without two wheels and an engine.

We’ve got a pair of very young children now, so those days are temporarily on hold. But you can bet as soon as my oldest child is big enough to ride, I’ll be parking another dirt bike under the tree. I can’t wait to be part of the best Christmas gift of my life for a second time.

Chase Stallo | Racer X Online Managing Editor

I would like to say I remember it like it was yesterday, but I would be lying. The exact details are a tad fuzzy. In my defense, it was some time ago. Growing up, all three of my older brothers rode. I remember sitting in my basement watching old supercross videos we got from the local video store, waiting for the day I got my own bike. (Yes, kids, back in the day there was no live coverage of this sport on TV, and YouTube wasn’t around yet. You had to wait months before you could rent some races from a local video store.) Anyway, I was either eight or nine when I got my first bike—a hand-me-down KX. I can still recall riding around the yard jumping a pile of wood chips thinking I was the greatest ever. Yet, I probably never got out of second gear and the wood chips were about two feet off the ground. And while the bike never really ran great and took about fifteen kicks to get going, it was the greatest present I had ever gotten. The bike still sits in my mom’s garage (as you can tell, it needs some work), and since it was a hand-me-down, to this day, my older brother and I fight about who the rightfully owner is (it’s me). Years later, we even got the bike running and I took some spins around the yard. It’s something that will forever live in our family, and create arguments over the ownership every Christmas.

Steve Matthes | Racer X Editor-at-Large

Well, my brother was the big winner when it comes to Christmas moto presents, because I remember him getting a brand new 1982 YZ80 one year. My dad had somehow gotten it into the house and hid it in his office. He then had my brother Jason running around the house with these different notes until the final reveal of the brand new bike. I was 9 or so and remember thinking how lucky he was and why was the radiator on the handlebars?

Anyways, I don’t remember one present I got in terms of moto that blew me away (guess my parents loved Jay more) but I do know I got a complete set of JT gear in 1987 with blue JT boots, the pants that were white on the front, blue on the back and said Honda on the front. And the jersey from the photo attached here. Sadly, David Bailey would never get to wear this line of gear as he was hurt in the fall of 1986 and this was for JT’s 1987 line of gear. The next year I got the JT Bad Bones stuff when I switched to Kawasaki’s. Basically, I was the coolest kid around. Or so I thought.

Pete Martini / Racer X Sales Director

Growing up in Southern California in the San Fernando Valley in the late ‘70s and ‘80s put me right in the thick of the On Any Sunday phenomenon of MX and BMX. Although my participation in motocross was cut short by my mom putting the kibosh on dirt bikes, I still followed the sport and wanted to ride a dirt bike badly. BMX became my fix and Christmas 1980 delivered the rad! My FMF frame was legit and the foothills and fire roads below Mulholland Road in Sherman Oaks offered hours of cross ups and make believe L.A. Coliseum Fantasy Motos with my crew. 

Ralph Macchio eat your heart out!

Strike first, strike hard. NO MERCY SIR!