old dirt bike memories

[eldubb440]

Awesome seeing these old bikes, thanks for sharing! My first bike was an '76 AMF Harley Davidson 250. Learned a lot on that bike...crashed a lot on that bike too!

Prop.......... seen this earlier as i was googling.......

 

[Propwash]

Man that's sharp! Mine was black with a gold stripe on the tank. Sure wasn't as pretty as that one!

Thanks eldubb!

 

[MiradaMegaCab]

I can remember riding, without making 'friends' with the local law enforcement agencies. ...

Any of you guys have a place to ride in NY, NJ Eastern PA?

 

[krowbar]

I started on a rutman mini bike. Upgraded to a 100cc chapparel(spelling ?). Then got a 81' cr125 elsinore. Traded that for a 87' banshee 350. Now have a 01' yz125 that I don't even ride. Trying to get my 14 yr old son to get it running. GREAT memories of being able to ride all day anywhere I wanted. Snowmobiles too.

 

[mmissile]

Rodger DE coster was my idol ....up until the 80s the best I could do was a bike with dirt bike handle bars. had a ton of mini bikes but no bike till 82 or so....78 PE 175.. bought it as a basket case for $25 .

Joel Robert was the shi* back then, too. I've been a Suzuki guy since. Nearly every streetbike I've had since, has been a Suzi.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joël_Robert

 

[69roadr]

my first dirt bike was a 1974 Carabela 125 mx. was 14 at the time and didn't know about shifting and clutch! (was used to mini bikes). went from that to a 1974 Husky 450 wr. very short travel rear suspension, but fun bike none the less. and then on to a 1978 Husky cr 390 6-speed bike. that bike hauled some serious a$$. was the 1st. bike i owned that had reed valves. just recently sold it for a pretty good sum. also had a 1990 Honda cr 250, most reliable dirt bike i owned.
oh, and remember the smell of that 2 stroke exhaust.

 

[eldubb440]

learned about muffler burns the hard way.......... prob 1st grade or so at my friends house, his older sister was giving me a ride around the yard on the back of one of these......... remember the pain like it was yesterday, never got another muffler burn after that

 

[2059]

don't have any picts here at work but, rode Honda CR480 out at Red Rock (Mojave Desert) late '80's early '90's. Couldn't keep up with the guys that were piloting CR500's water cooled... of course it had nothing to do with the fact that they rode the Dodge Circuit Motocross...

 

[Lets Roll]

I miss my Hodaka Road Toad It looked like this one ha ha I think It was assembled in USA!

 

[Polara Pat]

Her'e my '77 Yamaha TT500. I've built a few of these bikes and have had way too much fun ripping logging roads on them but after two pretty serious injuries last year It's for sale. Apparently my 43 year old body doesn't bend and contort like it used to. It cracks like dry timber.

 

[72Fourspeed]

I miss my Hodaka Road Toad It looked like this one ha ha I think It was assembled in USA!

View attachment 250244

Letsroll, the Hodakas were designed in Athena, Oregon & manufactured in Japan. They were imported by Pabatco,the designer. There is a Hodaka Days Reunion in Athena every year, last weekend in June. Last year was the 50th anniversary of the first ones. Google it, very cool time. Met Preston Petty, of plastic fender fame, last year.

 

[vitamin c]

I bought a new KX125 in 1981 for 1400.00 and change. it was the last air cooled bike you could get, Suzuki and Yamaha had new water cooled bikes. if I remember they advertised that it would spin 14000rpm. I never raced it, just trail rode with it. many years later I did get into motocross with my youngest daughter and rode the new four stroke Honda's. I still have a couple of her bikes in the basement, one being a 2007(I think) CRF250 with the twin pipes out the back

 

[Moparsmitty]

Do any of you older guys remember the Greeves dirt bikes of the 60s and early 70s? A friend of mine let me ride his whenever I felt brave enough. These things were a real hunk of iron compared to later bikes.

 

[Coyoteduster]

First dirt was identical to this. 1972 TS185 Sierra. First the 21" conversion...strip off the oil injection and lights/gauges/weight....then the factory 175 race kit.....then frame and suspension....new fenders and plates....

My first was a '72 TS125 with a two speed gearbox to switch from dirt to street gears with a kick of your heel. What a great bike! :headbang:




... then came this monster!

 

[Budnicks]

Loved the old bikes,
the 70's bikes weren't like the great bikes we have now,
especially suspension travel wise
but we loved them anyway,

I stated out on Taco 22 Mini-Bike, at about 7-ish
then to a Yamaha 80cc Enduro
then traded it for a Hodaka Ace 100cc
then traded that for a Hodaka Combat Wombat 125cc
traded that for a Honda 125cc Enduro
that had been bored/sleeved to 187cc {IIRC a single 750cc piston & rod}
that thing would throw you off the bike when it would kick back...LOL
then I got serious started getting into the 250cc's Elsinors KX's YT's RM's/TM's CZ's
KX's were eventually my favorite MX type dirt-bikes,
got into the big open class or desert style bikes like 400, 450, 500cc single lungers
before I got into cars really
my sisters Boyfriend had Husqi's & Bulltacos,
all my friends had dirt bikes, you name it we had the brands covered
we rode everywhere, man those were the day

I prefer quads now, Banshee
spend far less time on the ground,
far less washed out frontends or highsiding,
Hell I don't heal as fast, like I use to...LOL

 

[Duda]

On any Sunday!!!!!!!!!! That was the only movie I remember growing up and seeing in the theater.

Of all the dirt bikes I've owned, this is the one I wish I would've kept. 1970 Husqvarna 400 Cross, the same year and model Steve McQueen rode in On Any Sunday. I used to vintage motocross race this thing. It was really cantankerous and hard to start but it handled really sweet. I should never have sold it. I should have kept it until I had the money to restore it.View attachment 250127

- - - Updated - - -

I would buy that, cool.

Prop.......... seen this earlier as i was googling.......

 

[mmissile]

My first was a '72 TS125 with a two speed gearbox to switch from dirt to street gears with a kick of your heel. What a great bike! :headbang:

View attachment 250250


... then came this monster!

It's funny....weren't the 125's called Dusters?

 

[Duda]

Uu

I can remember riding, without making 'friends' with the local law enforcement agencies. ...

Any of you guys have a place to ride in NY, NJ Eastern PA?

We use to go to Hatfield and McCoy trail systems in WV there was over 2000 miles of trails. Here we are in 2002 I am 2nd from left. This is a great place to ride. Bad point is it's Bi- directional so you need to be careful. The trails were all rated easy, medium, and extreme and that they were.

 

[badmopar67]

Okay let me join I grew up with dirt bikes in early 70s didn't really have much I started with minibike with a 3hp Briggs & Stratton engine that I bought for $20 I need the chain and a clutch and in 1973 believer not My father bought me a 1965 Honda CB160 as my dirtbike my other friends had Honda minitrail 50s and SL 70s. Well I jumped with it did all kinds of stuff that you would do with a dirtbike and actually I still have it to this day About five years ago I cleaned it up the only thing that's not original from when I was riding it are the mufflers and the rubber kneepads on the side of the tank still has the same tires on it from back then. The bottom picture is from when It was originally bought

 

[Coyoteduster]

It's funny....weren't the 125's called Dusters?

Yeah, the American models were called Dusters and the Japanese models were called Hustlers.