1977 12years old been riding a 1972 Honda SL-100 that i purchased with money earned delivering newspapers everyday at 5am before school. The SL was fun but really lacking in the sand with a whopping 8 h.p.!!! A good friend of mine Had 1977 Herculese GS125 ISDT edition that I got to ride occasionally and absolutely loved. The thing was a rocketship compared to my old Honda. My friend pur chased a Maico 400 and sold me the Herc really cheap. It had a light switch powerband literally on or off and around 19 h.p. at 10000 rpm. I remember having to split the case to replace second gear and installing a new Lectron carb to smooth out the powerband and get it to actually idle! We found thd Lectron in the back pages of Dirt Bike mag and mail ordered it! Like all my old bikes wish to this day i never sold it.
Mine was a '73 Suzuki TM125 that I bought used in '74. I was 14 and like you, I paid for it with paper route money. I saved up half and my folks loaned me the rest. This was the poorboys answer to the Elsinore.
I went from a Honda mini trail to an SL70 when I was 11. Moved up to an Mt 125 Elsinore when I was 14. My buddy had a tm125 and we had some epic races on my Mt. I have a soft spot for tm125s. Those are the bikes my parents could afford to buy for me. None of them true performance machines but I couln't of loved them more. My first real bike was a 1980 YZ125 at age 17. Learning how to go fast on the early bikes made me really fast on my Yz. I always wished my Elsinore was a Cr. Many years later I wound up with a 76 cr125m. Reminds me of the fmf / dg racers I saw in magazines as a kid.
For me it was the infamous Kawasaki Centurion 100 or baby green streak. I was 10 (1975) and my dad worked me all summer with no pay or even promise. At the end of the summer he gave me the bike which was set up for flat track. I raced 1/8th mile flat track that fall and did pretty good. For xmas I got a 125 kwacker and raced the 1/8th mile and 1/4 mile TT the next year. MX was the thing though, so we sold both the greenies and got a '74 cr125m. I was a Honda boy until '80 when I traded a '79 CR250 for a built '78 Maico 250.
First real bike was a when I was 14 and it was a brand sparkling new 1984 Husky 125CR..... it was soon sweet in its dual shock glory
Suzuki PE175N 1979 model. Got it in 1981 when I was 14 yrs old. In my mind it was the best handing and fastest bike ever built. Next bike was an IT465, this confirmed the PE did handle well but wasn't all that fast lol.
Probably in the same league as your SL100, but a 1971 Bombardier Junior Cross, AKA Garelli Tiger. After that I did get a real bike a brand new 76 RM100 which I really learned to ride on. I still have the scars to prove it.
love the dual-range hub. first real one was an elisnore fer me. clunkers before that didnt count lol. lived a mile from Torrance Honda. used to love going down there on my schwinn and check out the new scooters coming off the truck then being built then the tech's doing heat cycles with bean oil sometimes. mmmmmm the smell. that hook got set quick.
I was in grade 8. We'd just moved to a new city and I made friends with the coolest guy in the class. He had a 74 XR75 and was really fast on it. I told him I had a bike too, but when he saw it he laughed at it. Then we went riding and I smoked him in a drag race... He still laughed at it but did admit that it was pretty fast for a 50
The first bike I ever rode that showed me what excessive power felt like was the neighbors xr75 with a bassini pipe, a cam and bigger carb. Wow, cracked the throttle coming out of a turn and power slide with Gobbs of torque.
First this was an early 12th Birthday present. The first and last bike my Dad bought. I was allowed to sell it plus money I made mowing lawns and other odd jobs to get one of these... It needed a new top end and my Dad hooked up a 185 top end that came off a coworkers crashed ATC. We rebuilt it together and got it running. That bike was really pretty darn good and I think it taught me all I needed to know before this Dad got the new 91 KDX and sold me the IT. He hated the KDX in the sand. Probably could have traded him back.
oh man that 200 was a fun lil bike another great cant kill it goat trail bike you guys are killing me here
I started on a Yamaha 1979 DT50, moved up to a 1989 Suzuki RM125 (great conventional forks)- the bike i regret most selling it was a 1991 YZ250- i loved the power- that bike was such fun to ride... maybe when i get a chance i ll buy one again and will be disappointed- but back when i had it i loved it.
Like everyone my age and younger I started on a PW50. After that it was an xr80. There was a pretty big gap but when I was 16 my dad decided we should all get bikes again. He got me a brand new 02 xr250. Within the first 15 minutes I went over the handlebars on a jump and ripped off the headlight and broke the visor off my helmet. I was nervous thinking I was going to get reamed so I was walking the bike back to the truck pushing the handlebar and holding the headlight on at the same time. He was laughing his ass off and told me to let go of the headlight. Needless to say, it took awhile before I was allowed to ride his ktm 520sx lol
My first real dirt bike was a 1970 Hodaka Ace 100B after having a Bridgestone 50 step thru as my first motorcycle and a Honda 50 step thru that had a C90 engine pushed into it. I rode the Hodaka for 2 years to build a riding style so I got my father's Yamaha CT1B and rode a motocross at Southwick in 1974 when I was 14. I lost 2nd gear in practice so I did not get to ride my motos. I rode the next race on my father's Puch 175 . I ended up with a 13th in the first and 12th in the second. Not too bad for a kid pushing a 175 gutless bike in the 250 novice class against new YZ250s, Elsinores, and a few Bultacos and MAG250s
14 years old........1974 Suzuki RL 250 Exacta Trials bike. Bought it as a leftover brand new in '75 for $599.00! Next bike was a new 1980 Kawasaki KDX 175 Uni-Trak........we were madly in love. Gawd those were the days......
