I mentioned I also rode a Suzuki Enduro 175 for a while - which I beat the snot out of. I finally found a pic of what it looked close to/looked like. The thing weighed a ton.
i couldnt start it or reach the ground for the first 2-3 years i rode it. started on it when i was around 12. my father used to kick it, then hand it to me. id run along-side it until i could pogo up onto the seat then be off in the woods for hours. if i dropped it, it was hike back home to get the old man to come and start it again.
My dad bought me my first bike when I was 7, it was a Yamaha 60, no idea what model (maybe a GT) or year (late 60's early 70's?). I "outgrew" that and I found "the rat," an RM80-powered Yamaha frame with a Hodaka tank, Yamaha seat, and Preston Petty fenders. My friends thought I was weird cos I didn't have any "normal" toys like they had, but at 9 years old I had two motorcycles haha. The Rat refused to run for more than a moto's worth (I smoked all the kids in my class on it when it did run) so in 1983 I bought my first new bike, a leftover 82 KDX80. I wanted a KX but got talked into the "more controllable" (tamer) power delivery of the KDX. I rode it hard for a couple years until I "outgrew it" (wasn't fast enough), I sold it to a cousin (I later bought it back and I still have it) and I took over the YZ100 that dad bought mom (that she rode exactly twice). I didn't like how it ran so I stole the top end and flywheel off one of the Tri-Moto 175's we had for the farm (when my gramps discovered it torn down he was PISSED until he found out what happened hahaha). I landed a big jump and shortly after the tires hit the ground, so did the engine. Oops. One of the local dealers (back when there were three bike dealers in McMinnville) saw that and said "Hey kid, come back next weekend, I'll have a bike here for ya." He did...A leftover, hidden-in-the-back-room 84 Honda CR250. Ohhh mommy that was fast! He wouldn't take any money for the bike, but he said I could keep it as long as I kept winning. He wound up giving me that bike at the end of the season, and I still have it. The day of my 16th birthday I got my driver's license, the day after that I got my 500cc+ endorsement on my dad's XT600. I rode that bike more than he did, I consider it "my" first "street" bike.
Early '70s Honda Trail 90. I rode it a little in the late '70s, but I liked vert skating more. Plus my parents wouldn't let me have a real moto. Then I got an MTB in the mid eighties and still ride them. Haven't ridden for 30 years or so but it was always somewhere on my mind. 5 or so years ago I looked at some Kawasaki trail bikes but didn't have the $$ or time. The stars aligned and I picked up a 2012TXC310 2 months ago and am now 'hooked' on trail riding. Digging the moto/mtb experience!! I always wanted something like this and patiently waited. STOKED!
Very cool. I was on hiatus from dirt bikes for decades, but did do the Mt. Bike thing all through the 90's. Picked up my first Mt. Bike while stationed in Alameda, CA - a Raleigh. Why a Raleigh? Because of John Tomac. Picked up a killer GT Hard Tail while stationed in Connecticut and did some SERUIOUS riding all over New England. Had a blast!
Being from upper Michigan originally we road atv s learned on a honda 90 my grandfather taught me and I have been riding since , switched from quads to bikes in 08, klx 250s , vulcan 900 , yamaha stryker and my new husky 310.
That's the worst part about owning a dirtbike for me. The poor Kona just hangs on the rack. Why pedal up the hill when you can Wheelie up the hill!
Ha, I hear that. I lost a little(or a lot !) in my legs but it'll come back this winter via Nordic and BC skiing. I can't wait to ride wheelies! Been blipping the front wheel here and there and enjoy that in the rocks and trails. Really digging the trail on the MOTO!
He quickly got it sorted out including giving the rusty tank the Creem treatment. Even got the oil injection working again. That was about the time I started asking when I was going to be allowed to ride. Especially after I saw this.... What's a Husky and wow that looks fast. First one I saw, my uncle was Husky faithful
So one Saturday afternoon, my Dad took me over to my uncle's house to see if his 430 would fit in the van with the RT1. I was just hoping to tag along and watch them ride because I was only 11 and the folks said I had to wait until I was 12 to ride. As luck would have it though, Dad convinced Mom that it was ALMOST my B-Day. We roll up in the driveway and my uncle throws open his garage door and this was sitting inside! I learned the basics in his big back yard right then and there. Once I learned to take off and not fry the clutch I was deemed good to go. That was the best Sunday ever!
That's the one with two spark plugs isn't it? a friend of mine had one and we beat the hell out of it but couldn't kill the thing! Foul a plug? Just switch over to the other one!
1970 yamaha mini enduro. My Dad got it with an extra expansion chambered exhaust with it. Neighbors hated it when I put that thing on. Then I got a 76 xr75 when I was 10. Thought I was a bad a$$ when an adult pacing me, told me I was doing 54 mph down San Felipe wash......
