I remember the XR75's, Italiajets (sp?), Indians and some others I can't remember that they raced on the TT track at Saddleback...I liked the XR's the best with the aftermarket pipe...
I see a little Hodaka love earlier in the thread. My first was a Hodaka Dirt Squirt. It looked like this: My uncle restored it for me and my mother lost it in an ugly divorce with my abusive stepfather. That still pisses me off.
What kinda idiot would take a kid's dirt bike from him??? That sucks. If I were you, I'd probably be in jail right now for the retribution I would have taken out on the guy who took my Hodaka!
He's a special kind of a-hole. The kicker was that he was no blood relative of my uncle (my mom's brother) and had expressed zero interest in the bike up until the divorce.
Going to Torrance Honda and watching them uncrate the new Elsinore's and firing them up doing heat cycles. Hook, line and sinker.
Alot of variety here, that is for sure!! Mine was a 1973-74 Rupp Mini-bike (out of mansfield Ohio) I now have a restored one in my house (the bar) hanging over my foosball table! I was into Rupp snowmobiles, Go Joes, Minibikes, RMT 80's and the like! I also have a rare cool and kinda stupid chinese rupp!! Made only in 2002 I belive, a Honda copy with rupp decals etc and in their sales campaign they even used the Rupp slogans!! (They got shut down quickly!) Moved on to Chapperal 80's and then got a cool white tanked 100 with a 5-speed instead of a 4! Then at around 13 years old I saved my money sll summer (working on a farm) and got a carry over 1977 Honda CR125 elsnoir (spelled wrong I'm sure) Wow was that a real bike!!! In app 1988 I bought a Husqvarna 125 and fell in LOVE !! Yea, with the bike ! Hooked, and yes if you mess with Husky those are fighting words in my book!!! You guys sure had alot of cool stuff !!
Had the exact same bike (CR80). Started on a 73 Honda 50 & got the CR a year or two later. It was used but in very good shape. Got in in the spring of 82. Was trying to buy a brand new 82 CR80R for $849.00 - first year for Pro-link. Dad wouldn't let me buy a new bike. Happened to be a 1980 CR 80R for sale in the paper for $550.00 at the same time. Got that one instead. Had a buddy with a 77? XR75 like the low pipe one Kelly posted. He was a bit jealous when I got my CR. Definitely remember that ad from back in the day........... Good times.
Dad brought something home like this I was 7 I think. we rode the crap out of that mini. Then dad came home with a new 1968 DT1 and a motorcycle family was born We moved from California to Washington in 1975 and had to sell most of the 12 bikes in the garage. Before the move we had: 2 Honda mini trails, Yamaha 60, Honda xr75, Kawasaki 90, 2 Honda cb 100's, Honda sl125, Husky wr125, Honda cr125, Honda 450 and Honda 550. Man what a fun time and great memories!
It all started the first day I rode my brothers CT70 by myself, I was 5 and it was the best feeling in the world! That very evening my dad came home with a 73 elsinore MR50. Thanks Dad!Still can't get enough of that feeling. I probably had 10,000 miles in this flat field by the time i got my drivers license. There was sand at the river about a mile away, they used to race motocross here. Later,
BSA Bantam for me, chopped for off road use by me at 12. A real bugger for reliability but it taught me the basics. Then on to DKW's then an Ossa isde 250 then a road accident and a 25 year hiatus. Back in 2003 on a Husky 510 then 2 450's now a 2010 310 (getting older) and a Ducati Multistrada 1100s and an other Ossa to restore
nice! i was lucky enough to have Briggs minis, JR 50, ATC 70, ATC 125 around to ride but once i got that CR, i rode it everywhere all the time. i can still hear those damn cooling fins vibrating and LOUD pipe, hahaa. picked it up used at a local Honda shop in FL. can't remember how much it cost though, traded in an early '80's Honda Odyssey for it it was a great bike but man was i jealous once a friend got a new KX 80 with long travel suspension. the little Elsinore had to go and got replaced by an '87 CR125R. great bike as well. raced hare scrambles with it for a while, tough as nails.
Had an Elsinore 125 appetite......on an XR75 budget. We'd pedal over to the dealer and oggle these things for hours. Then go home and thrash on our beaters saying' "suuuum day man, some day". Just here'n 'em ding-dingdading-wiiing! in the shop would be enuough to get us to race home, hop on our clunkers then hit the fields in a frezny and go nuts till the tanks were dry. Jeans, dad's linsemen's boots, mom's gardening gloves and who knows what for a helmet. Dont think I'd even seen a Husky yet.
A funny story: One of my best friends growing up was the youngest son of a huge Catholic family. Everything the kid wore, played with, ate, slept on, etc. was a hand-me-down from his 6 older brothers. His first "bike" was a Briggs and Stratton mini bike with a rear scrub brake just like this picture. By the time he got it, his brothers had worn the brake to the extent that the attachment weld where the plate attached to the actuating shaft had cracked. One day, 4 of us were riding in a single file line with him bringing up the rear. The leader suddenly hit the brakes as did the rest of us. Next thing we hear is a hellacious popping sound followed closely by the sound of our buddy's Briggs mini bike crashing hard into the backend of the guy in front of him. After all the years of abuse, the scrub plate on the brake finally broke free. The actuating shaft plunged into the tire, popping it and shredding it off the rim! The poor guy went flying into the bike in front of him, a brand new Yamaha Mini Enduro belonging to one of the "richer" kids in the neighborhood. Our Briggs buddy received 10 stitches to close a huge gash on his leg, as well as 2 on his chin. The Yamaha rider was unhurt but his brand new bike ended up with a bent rear fender, torn seat cover, and bent bars. The Briggs mini bike... NOTHING! It looked exactly like it did (minus the scrub pad) prior to impact! In fact, the engine was still running when we pulled it out of the ditch where it landed after the crash! Injuries aside, it was hilarious! We laughed our asses off! After the carnage was over and everyone and everything was put back together, our buddy continued to ride the mini... using his FEET as brakes!!! I swear! He would go through 2 pair of shoes a week! (hand-me-down shoes). Ahhh the good old days!
Y'all are lucky. I didn't have parents that rode themselves, so motorcycles didn't come until after college for me. My first bike was a 1997 Honda CBR 600. My first dirt bike was a 2006 Honda 250x. Of course, the bike that really started it all:
Actually my parents didn't ride either. My dad literally almost killed himself back in the late 50's in a crash on a brand new Indian. No more bikes for him & he didn't want his kids on them either. I had to bug him for a long time to let me get a bike & he (apparently) made me write out a list of 15 reasons why I should be allowed to get a minibike - with my own money btw. I don't remember writing out the list, but he claims to still have it. (my sister had to do the same thing when she wanted to take guitar lessons, which they paid for...........Hmmm) The guitar thing lasted about a year or so and my sister hasn't picked up a guitar since, while I still ride bikes - 30 years later(although I did take a break in my 20's & most of my 30's). Wanted to start on a XL or XR75 - something with a clutch, but my dad 'suggested'(we all know what that means) I get a Honda Z50 from my uncle. By this time, my middle brother wanted in on the action, so he kicked in some cash for a part share. I think we paid $300 for it.... My uncle had bought the bike new in 73 for my cousin to ride. He didn't ride it much, so it still looked new when we bought it in about 1980 or so. We took care of that new look in short order.......that poor bike was put thru hell in the next 2-3 years between me and my middle brother and then my youngest brother & all the friends and neighbors. It was pretty much held wide open all the time in a desperate attempt to keep up with the bigger bikes. Good thing they built those little bikes tough in those days. Many crashes, jumps and just plain dumb maneuvers(although they seemed like a good idea at the time....) It even took on a VW beetle in a head-on at 20-30mph and came out with way less damage than the car had.... We grew up on a farm right beside a village & that & a couple neighboring farms was our riding area. It could get to be a bit of a zoo sometimes with 10 or 15 kids on bikes, ATC's and field cars, tearing around willy nilly & no adult supervision......I have no idea how nobody ever got hurt........
Started on a SL250 [Honda] in 1972 at a late age [21]. Rode it to work back & forth then started taking shortcuts through the woods, then started being late to work! One day I was working the midnight shift & lost concentration going thru some S curves & went straight.I barely missed a bunch of trees at about 40mph with headlights coming at me & layed it down when my foot couldn't reach the ground.[slow motion fall]. Anyway, that close call & me being underneath a car when it pulled out in front of me on a highway got me to get a dirtbike only, which was a 76 MR250 Honda that I started racin with. From there I didn't want to & at 60 have never rode the street again except on dualsports.
