SOCNET Dirt Bike Riders Thread
 

Who else rides dirt bikes? I know Ranger Charlie has ridden in some enduro events.

I'm going to try a few races on the mid-Atlantic AHRMA enduro/cross country series this year as time permits. I'm old and slow so finishing will be a bonus.

Anyone else? Currently have a 2-stroke 1983 Husqvarna 250 WR.

What you got? Do you race or ride for pleasure? Trail? Sand? Circles in your backyard? MX? Enduro?

in a time long long ago I did, started in so cal with a 79 yz490, then 84 cr500,86 cr500 and 92 kx500 in the late 80 early 90, rode mostly Gorman and lucern valley areas. man I miss Gorman ca.. then when I moved back to west ky had a 94kx250 and rode some hare scrambles. at 52 and too many surgeries I don't ride anymore but do miss it.

My dirt bike experience includes:

1) Riding into an apple tree
2) Making a jump ending with the foot peg going into my kidney
3) Missing the ramp driving one off a C130

My dirt bike career is over.

Well I grew up on poorly maintained enduros my dad would find in the local papers for in the neighborhood of 300-500 bucks.
First ride for me was a 1972 Honda XL350, a Yamaha 360 enduro (scary fast for what it was) and finally he found a pristine 1972 Honda 175cc enduro. I rode that thing hard but took good care of it.

Dad still has both the bigger bikes, and they both still run after countless hours of mud and dirt roads. Pretty well built machines for the most part.


All that experience on old worn out obsolete stuff helped a lot riding minis as a CCT, and the full size bikes with LBV, ruck etc. Lots of guys hated doing it, but I was always volunteering for anything dirt bike related.

Last time I was on a dirt bike was a course my unit took at Bragg where some former motorcross rider was the SME. Really fun, got to ride in the Smokies for a few days up by Asheville.

1RiserSlip's Post... HA!

My first ever motorcycle ride (15 y.o.) was with the front wheel going up a tree. My boss's bike. He said, "Why didn't you use the brakes?" I said, "Which ones are the brakes?"

Currently we have two Hondas. A 70CC bike that the kids and I ride. Our back yard is just big enough I can hang myself way over on it and tear around in a circle! And I have a 250 with lights so it's good for the road. I typically ride it around the neighborhood and up the hill in my front yard which embarrasses my wife while she shakes her head and says I look like a red neck.. :biggrin:

But occasionally I'll go into the national forest and goof off.

'83 Husky 250? Nice bike. That's not the year they tried to do the auto transmission is it?

If you plan on doing AHRMA races, you may want to read the rule book cover to cover to make sure your bike qualifies for the class you want to enter. I don't know if it's been fixed or not, but I heard about some people on the VitalMX message board having their '82/'83 KXs classified as "post vintage" because they came stock with a front disc brake. The other brands from those years are eligible for "vintage" classes, but not the Kawasakis.

I grew up riding in San Diego in the early/mid-80s when the suburbs were wide open, and no one cared where we rode as long as we stayed off the streets.

Been riding and racing MX for 45 odd years. Now mostly do desert trips. Recently added a RZR 1000 into the stable. Dirt bike is a Honda CRF 450

Why yes I do...
 

I've got a few...

1976 Husky 360

1976 Husky 250

2000 KTM 380 EXC

Woods guy here...NECXC and GNCC. Started out on quads, then did bikes, now racing quad again but still riding an '04 RM 250 to stay in shape for the quad. Also have an '09 RZR SE (pink!!) that is my wife's ride and we recently added a Yamaha YXZ1000R side-by-side to the stable. If we aren't at a race, there's a good chance we're riding the buggies somewhere.

I rode/raced MX in the SoCal area..
1986 Honda XR100 was my first ride, then a '88 KX105,
with the last bike I had was a '89 YZ250.

The Dirt gets in your veins.

Yeah I've got drums front and rear, coming from a 2012 TE310 let's just say that stopping is interesting...

BUSA - nice collection.

My first "dirt" bike was an early 70s Kawasaki 90 I bought at a flea market for $25. All my friends had RMs and YZs and KXs from the late 1970s and here I was with this fucking thing. But I rode the hell out of it, took it on trails in the woods, rode it in lots and lots of circles in the back yard. I can still remember the sound of the suspension bottoming out almost constantly. I later traded it on a .22 rifle.

I'd love to find one again though just to have.

One day I'll pick up my dream bike, which is an 86 CR250 - came out when I was 15 and love everything about it - but I think the red and blue color scheme was perfect.

The wife wants to get into riding, but she's wee, so her choices are limited. Found the perfect bike for her - 1986 or 1987 Honda TLR200 (Reflex). Marketed as a "trials" bike but bonus is they came street legal. She can fit on it, pick it up off the ground, reach the levers, etc ---- now just have to find one actually for sale.

If she ends up binning it and hating riding then I get a sweet trials bike to fart around on...

Thanks KidA. It's not an obsession, it's an addiction :biggrin:

Check out East Coast Vintage they can build you anything:
http://www.eastcoastvintagemx.com/bikes-for-sale.html

I just added a 2016 BMW GSA to the collection (I need a bigger garage)

Addiction is an understatement for my obsession. Finally sold my last bike and unfortunately, the riding days are over.

https://benchanddunn.smugmug.com/Mot...HP/i-VZqGfV9/A

My sincere condolences...:(

I've heard bad things about East Coast Vintage (beautiful to look at, but shoddy workmanship). Here's a thread from VitalMX with plenty of examples...http://www.vitalmx(dot)com/forums/Old-School-Moto,22/Beautiful-restores-for-sale-at-East-Coast-Vintage,1310099

KidA, The '86 CR250 is one of the best bikes I've ever ridden. The motor ripped, and the suspension was unreal, even in stock form (it probably didn't hurt that I was 130lbs, max last time I rode one). One of these days, I'm going to get an '82 RM250 to restore. My first "real" bike was an '82 RM80, and I've been enamored with Suzukis ever since.

The Suzuki Blue and Yellow bikes of that era were real lookers.

I'm not a fan at all of the aggro/EXTREME look of bikes starting in the mid to late 90s

Wow. Thanks for the heads up, I had only looked at what they advertised and never did any research, that's some good info to have.

'87 was a good year for CR's as well..from the 80R to their 500R.. Tons of usable power and great suspension.

I wish I had bought an '87 CR125R and beat it to the ground, only to cherry it out again as a decomm'd timepiece in my garage.

My buddy always had me envious of his PCR125 (Pro Circuit Racing) complete with a handmade "cone" pipe!

Yeah, the '87s were pretty badass, too.
That was my favorite era of PC bikes. Was your buddy's bike a legit Pro Circuit Honda, or did he build a replica?

He worked at PCR, he bought one of the practice bikes complete with some one-off custom parts that was left on the bike.

The Hospital (Kuwae) grounds had a world class track on it during my time on Okinawa. The Pro big name teams from Japan would come over quite often and those GI's who didn't mind getting embarrassed were allowed on the course while they practiced. I like to blame the riders weight as to why they were able make us look silly.:smile:

Back in 1976 the 185cc was a class, I had a TS 185 and a TS 250 set up pretty good.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KGTHqNOJ154

Rode a little when I was younger, back in the YZ125 days. Now looking to get back into it mainly so I have a bike to put a track kit on for winter. Snowmobiling has always been my true love.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Motorcycl...VZqGfV9-XL.jpg

Kids (riding partners) all raised and aged bodies forced us into reality...did the street thing for a while as well. To many fools trying to kill you and coming from dirt to street, well the fun factor is a different beast.

I can relate to this, when I go to the track they make me wear a jersey with a large red triangle on the back instead of a number to indicate to all the other racers that they are approaching a "SLOW MOVING VEHICLE", and that's just WORNG...:tongue:

Awesome thread. First bike was a YSR 50, got it when I was 11, then my little brother wrecked it. After my dad calmed down, the frenzy started
Had: Z50, RM/YZ 80, CR 60, CR 125, ATC 250R, TRX 250R, RZ 350, and a couple more, and road all my friends bikes, as I started building them. Then the Banshee train came, last one did 105 on pump gas. Then I did a cartwheel at 70mph, after riding a wheelie to 4th gear-multiple fractures.

After recovering, got a CBR 600. Had it for a few months, and then sold after witnessing the worst wreck possible at a "street race".

Now I got nothing, and having serious withdrawl. Just looking for some oldies to buy and restore. If I would have kept half of my old bikes, they would have been a gold mine today.

How's that old saying go...

"If you want to make a small fortune on old bikes,
start with a large one."

There's a few gaybook groups that I've found that are good for buying and selling (or keeping abreast of current prices):

Mark's Vintage Motocross Swapmeet (might take him awhile to approve you to join, closed group, but he gets around to it)

If you aren't on gaybook he's at Vintage MX

Another one on gaybook is Vintage Enduro Buyers, and Sellers Guide. Mix of people posting what has been sold (for pricing) and some stuff for sale.

Neither page will have anything newer than 1989.

Bikefinds dot com is another good one - you can sort by type of motorcycle, year, state, etc, - it aggregates CL and ebay ads into one site.

Garrett Wolsink's USGP winning '77 Suzuki RN370 works bike just sold at a Mecum auction for $70k.

https://www.mecum.com/lots/LV0117-276497/1977-suzuki-usgp-winner-mx/

Thanks KidA, I'm going to check this out. If I could find anything (2/3/4 wheels) unmolested (pre 89), that would be cool. I have a good wish list:cool:

Btw, I could not find the thread, but what are the specs (parts/speed) on that "rocket bike" you built and ride? I remember something about a cylinder/piston form another motor?

That's old school iron right there. I had a RM 370 I rode/raced at once time. Great bike for that time. I traded off an original Honda Elsinore 250 I had been racing to get it and race the open class.

That's the first bike on my wishlist. Never road one (was too young), but would like to own one now.

That is a cool one.

I had the 250 and my dad had the 125. Great bikes.

That was my old 1979 P200 Vespa that I did a ton of motor work on. Originally a 199cc sitting on a cast iron cylinder putting out about 12 HP.

I tore the cases apart, trashed the old iron cylinder and added a larger piston and made a custom head for it as well as bought a longer full circle race crank which all-in-all increased the size to about 225cc. On the cases I ported them for a larger intake and reed-induction system using carbon fiber reeds. Added a 35mm Mikuni flat slide carb, billet aluminum clutch basket with hydraulic actuator, hardened gear set (the Vespa motor doesn't use a chain but instead a direct drive transmisssion). Had a custom expansion chamber made for the exhaust.

Put the hp at the rear wheel from 12 hp to about 30 hp. Increased top speed from about 65 mph to 90+ hp (my problem was with that larger carb I couldn't find an oblong wheel to add to the throttle to allow for the carb to fully open so I was only getting about 7 or 8/10ths throttle when fully open.

Dropped the stock weight from 238lbs to about 190lbs, added a front disk brake set up, etc, etc etc. 225 2-stroke putting out 30+ hp at the rear wheel on a sub-200lb bike let's just say it was quick, much to the chagrin of almost any car short distance and quite a lot of motorcycles too. It was way faster than my 1983 Husqvarna 250 WR and would blow my 1974 Yamaha RD 350 out of the water and that was a twin-cylinder 2-stroke known at the time as the Widow Maker due to the killer powerband. Top speed was limited to sub 100 mph due to the fact you can only fit four gears in the cases and without a chain and front sprocket you're limited in gearing. I could pull wheelies in first through third gear at speed without clutch action, both when entering the gear and when hitting the powerband.


And then I got clipped on the bars by some jackass passing me on the right and wrecked it and fractured my hip. Ended up parting it out and selling it. Last I heard the motor is in a scooter in CA being raced pretty regularly (though with all that power a clutch basket only lasts a few hours).

Damn, so the legend is true, I thought everyone was joking about "The Vespa". That's one heck of a build, and I would say that's more than major work--especially when the carb is almost half the size of the motor:cool: It's one of those Frankenstein projects, pretty cool and great work man--that kind of project determination is rare these days.

I know there has been a big movement in the last few years of people building "single cylinder/sub 75cc bikes", having top speeds around the 80 mph mark. It's crazy, the game has changed since I built them.

In the end, there's no better sound and smell like a few cylinders burning Castor:eek:

ETA: Bad ass pic

Man, you all are lucky. I tell you, the good ole days of owning any awesome (car or bike with a purpose) production machine is over. So much has changed--and unfortunately for good.

Still, I'm going to keep an eye out for an Elsinore. Hopefully, one day.

I'm good at spending other people's money...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1975-Honda-CR-/122331943617?forcerrptr=true&hash=item1c7b8d52c1:g :qnMAAOSwnHZYhTmw&item=122331943617

Depending on the quality of the restore, that's not a bad price, either.

I have no words, that is insanely cool:biggrin::biggrin:. And nuts. This board never ceases to amaze me.

Awesome thread and very cool stories and memories!

My first was a 1980 XL 125. then a 1984 XL500 with a large Acerbis fuel tank. Loved that bike. The 125 died shortly after we bought it when the piston broke, fell into the crank area and caused too much damage to fix. I can relate to many stories here..I remember racing through a clump of high grass, racing until i hit the boulder that the grass was hiding :).

The 500 is probably still running!

Thanks for the heads up. But I'm looking for one un-restored. Probably impossible at this point, but one can hope for a barn find. Besides, it's not a cool bike unless you build it:cool: