1977 Grand Pro
BMX bike from New Zealand, in California
I purchased this frame from another BMX Museum member here in California. It resembles a bike I'm tying to find that was my first BMX bike in the mid 70's after my Schwinn Stingray, so I took a gamble on it. It's not the Moto 1 I'm trying to find (not the Diamond Back version, it preceded that), but it is a single gusseted, loop tail. It was painted silver over nickel plating. Removing the paint revealed the nickel plating, a head tube decal, and a California Bicycle license. I was barely able to make out the logo on the decal, but was able to read "Grand Pro". A web search landed me right here at BMX museum on the New Zealand forum, and a post from 2008 that a New Zealand member posted. He has his bike posted as a Moto X, but further research showed that the bike, which has the same head tube decal and logo, is a Grand Pro, which was also marketed as Motogard. Motogard was an Automotive store that carried these bikes in the early 80's, but the Motogard and Grand Pro were apparently the same bike. My Grand Pro looks like it is an earlier version of the one posted in 2008, and I don't know if the one I have also had a Motogard version. Everything about it screams mid to late 70's. Single gusset, loop trail, steep head tube angle, and the brake bridge in not drilled, so it would have had a coaster brake. If I didn't know better, I swear is was from So Cal circa mid 70's. These were not high end bikes, but the welds look better that a lot I've seen and this frame looks pretty solid. I guess it's possible that these were being imported from New Zealand. Or, possibly, someone moved here and brought it. Either way, wow, what crazy BMX bike to find in California!
I'm not able to find any reissue decals for the Grand Pro, but there are decals available for the Motogard, different model however. It looks like Motorgard sponsored a car rally in 1982, and the bike decals have the same logo as the event.
Links to the Grand Pro and Motogard. I've added photos as well.
Grand Pro - Pro 300 https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/moto_x/11019
Motogard - Series 700 https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/motogard/42655
Race- Company: Motogard
- Wheel Size: 20"
- Toptube length: 18.5
- Headtube size: 1"
- Seatpost size: 7/8"
- Details Possibly made at Masport Mt Wellington in Auckland. This was in the New Zealand forum.
