Max USA

Max USA was Torker's sister company producing soft-goods from the unit in Fullerton right behind the Torker building. It was run my Doris and Doug Johnson (Steve's mum and brother) and ably assisted by the inimitable Harold "McGoo" Gruther.

The name came from the "To the Max" tagline used in Torker ads in the late 70's. We were introduced to the Johnson family on our trip to California easter 1981 when looking for a quality brand that offered an entry-level line to go alongside Robinson. 

The Johnson family were great to us, we stayed with Steve and also John, Doris & Doug many times in the early 80's. Max were ahead of the game in many ways and the brand certainly rivalled JT Racing who, while primarily a moto company, were huge at the time. The ads alone - something Torker and Max spent a lot of money on, arguably part of their downfall - were always a cut above, as illustated here from this ad in BMX Action, August 1982:

With Bob Haro on board (before they parted ways and Bob started his own Haro line of soft-goods) as well as Mike Miranda, Tommy Brackens, Micky Lundy and more, Max were the #1 pant in BMX at that time, at least for the UK. 

Now - along with Torker, Max are back and the original Max pants are available again with more goodies to come, we have to keep it secret for now, but you can see some of them in the ad above ;)