do you remember?

[freestyle111]

do you remember when the happening mod was to drill as many holes as you could fit in sides of your airbox. your bike was the baddest around if you had DG pipe. i'll never forget staring into local maico & husky dealer's window dreaming about owning that maico on showroom floor.it was first motocross bike i ever saw with plastic tank. how about you no.cal guys remember when club moto was behind moffet field airforce base,fremont. moms would run hotdog stand. you new you were "Cherry picking" when you looked over at all other ridings in your moto and you were only one with a real numberplate everyone else had paper plate zip-tied to bar with numbers written in felt pen. during summer vacation searching under couch cushions for gas money[all i needed was .17cents] so i could sneak bike out during day while my parents were at work. ill never forget when they passed red sticker law.

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: freestyle111 ]

[blue_beast_wins]

Sorry only been riding three years.

[skippy]

What about useing Duckhams chain lube. You had to put it on your mums stove to melt it in the container & remove the chain from the bike & curl it up to fit in the container then wait for it to start to set & then hang the chain up to the stuff set. Then put the chain back on the bike.

[Jon_Escombe]

do you remember when the happening mod was to drill as many holes as you could fit in sides of your airbox

That mod's making a comeback with the Supermoto scene! Bit of wire mesh stuck behind the holes and you're away. Worth a second a lap on looks alone... ?

[freestyle111]

i couldnt figure why i had to replace topend so often.Gee i wonder if it was because my airbox looked like swiss cheese.not to mention place we mostly rode at was a salt refinery ground all sand and giant mounds of salt were are hillclimbs.oh i almost forgot its was right next to bay so we had low tide mud bogs.

[Ron_in_SoCal]

I can still smell the Blendzal bellowing out of my '73 Yamaha 175 Enduro. That was back when enduro's came with turn signals and license plates. Holes in the airbox? Nah, just removed the whole bloody thing.

?

[nooffseason]

I remember my first motocross bike 1974 Honda Elsinore 125. First mod was to lay the rear shocks down. Wow what a difference. My first pair of pants full leather! Now those were the days .

[freestyle111]

nooffseason,sweetbike .i had a streetlegal 1973 yamaha gtmx100[didnt race moto with it,but smoked every moped and scooter in my town with that baby] Skippy, i never heard of duckhams,was is australian product?but it sounds great. my mom Would of kicked my @ss If she caught me lubing chain in one of her pots on are kitchen stove.but i would have probably done it anyways.

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: freestyle111 ]

[MN_Kevin]

I ran a DG pipe on my 1978 YZ250. Then I went to Open Class riding a YZ465. I DID drill some holes in it.

After reading an article, I sent my shock to a business that started modifying shocks...White Bros.!! This was back in 1980/81.

Back then the 125 class had black number plate backgrounds, 250's were green, Open bikes yellow. Suzuki's came STOCK w/ those colors on their plates.

Expert (now "A" class) used #'s 1 - 99, Amateur class ("B") used 100-299, and Beginner ("C") used 300 and >.

You could look at the track at any time and know EXACTLY what class was out there, by color and #.

I wish it was still that way ? ...

[Shawbridge Husky]

...remember my first re-build on my Suzuki TM-75. I was 14 and put the worn rings back in! The seat would flip up on hinges for some reason I now forget and the steel gas tank leaked. That thing was loud. I had a red Preston Petty front fender on it and thought it was trick. I could sit and look at it for hours. Got my new '78 YZ-80 the following year with reflectors on it like a pedal bike. I almost looped it bad 3rd pinned first time out. I broke the frame the year after as I got too big for it! Then got my trick '79 YZ-125 with the pogo rear shock. Was never able to ride whoops with it. AC / DC was a big hit in those days.

'It's never too late to have a happy childhood'

( someone uses that as a trailer here in TT )

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: Hugh LePage ]

[Mojo]

I remember the kid down the street, spoiled rotten with a 78 YZ80 and me standing around crying, "can I ride it, can I ride it".

Took 23 years to finally get my own.

Yes Hugh, it is never too late. (BTW-where'd you grow up.....hmmmmmm).

[EK314]

Man, this post brings back some fond memories. Preston Petty fenders, Don Vesco gas tanks, Blendzall and Full Bore two stroke oils, D.I.D. rims, Metzlers, line mans boots and Levi's....what more could a kid ask for!!

My fist bike was a 1972 Kawasaki 125 enduro with the rotary valve intake. My parents told me that if I wanted a bike I would have to go get a summer job to pay for it. They never thought I would cause I was pretty lazy. I shocked the heck outta them when I told them I was going to work for my friends dad during the summer. At the end of that summer, my dad and I went to the local Kawi shop and I drove home my new bike. That was my only transportation for a year (rain or shine).

Those were the days. I enjoy the bikes of today but the memories of yester-year will live forever.

Ernie

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: yzernie ]

[freestyle111]

i had paper route and umpired pee wee baseball[$10 a game]in order to purchase my first bike.by the time i had saved up enough for that maico,they were out of business.i would like to thank guys from peninsula kawasaki for all the times i was short on money,they always made sure i had the parts i needed to keep bike in top running condition.i only wish i could find another dealer that treated its customers like they did.

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: freestyle111 ]

[Dan_from_HB]

Just recently started looking at vintage racers. Two old high school acquaintances are really into it big time. I'd love to race an old Husky or CZ. Maybe next year when business is better. My first was a '72 Yamaha 100cc LT1. Rode the wheels off that thing. After that, a 250 Husky, 400CZ, YZ125, IT400, 430 Husky. There is no comparison between these and my WR, but they all had things they did very well back then.

Dirt biking today is great fun, but back then it was different-----it was magic! We wore sweatshirts and helmets with football face guards. Lace-up lineman boots and blue jeans or leathers, goggles with glass lenses from UVEX, gardening gloves, and no crossbar pads. No such thing as kneecups, hard chest protectors, elbow guards or steel heel cups in the boots. But it was a young sport and we had no idea where it was going. When we were in school, all we could think about was getting out to the track or to the desert. After school (and sometimes during school) we used to haunt the local shops checking out the new bikes. If you had a European bike, you were the man! It was a different time, with no pressure from anyone to stop. Only a few people didn't like what we were doing. Most people were very curious, even though we had to deal with the occasional misplaced suspicion because of the Hell's Angels thing. If you check out "On Any Sunday", that was just like us at the local track or the typical desert race. What a gas! These guys in AHRMA vintage races still get that grin that won't go away when they hold an event. Think I'll try it sometime.

Dan

[fastmonstr]

This was on the http://www.texasoffroad.net/ Board.

>

>I am so grateful I lived when:

>

>

>Mom was at home when the kids got home from school;

>

>When nobody owned a purebred dog;When a quarter was a decent allowance,

>and another quarter a huge bonus; When you'd reach into a muddy gutter

for a

>penny;

>

>When all of your male teachers wore neckties and

>female teachers had their hair done and wore high heels;

>

>When you got your windshield cleaned, oil checked and gas pumped without

>asking, all for free, every time, and, you didn't pay for air, and, you

>got trading stamps to boot.

>

>When it was considered a great privilege to be

>taken out to dinner at a real restaurant with your

>parents;

>

>When the worst thing you could do at school was smoke in the

bathrooms,flunk

>a test or chew gum;

>

>When a '57 Chevy was everyone's dream car, to cruise,peel out, lay rubber

>or watch submarine races;

>

>When people went steady and girls wore a class ring

>with an inch of wrapped yarn so it would fit her finger;

>

>When no one ever asked where the car keys were because they were always in

>the car, in the ignition, and the doors were never locked.

>

>When you got in big trouble if you accidentally locked the doors at

>home,since no one ever had a key.

>

>Remember lying on your back on the grass with your

>friends and sayingthings like "That cloud looks like a ... "

>

>Remember jumping waves at the ocean (lake) for hours in that cold water;

>

>Remember playing baseball with no adults to help kids with the rules of

>the game because baseball was not a psychological group learning

experience,

>it was a game.

>

>Remember when stuff from the store came without safety caps and hermetic

>seals because no one had yet tried to poison a perfect stranger.

>

>With all our progress, don't you wish, just once, you

>could slip back in time and savor the slower pace and share it with the

>children of today.

>

>Remember when being sent to the principal's office was nothing compared to

>the fate that awaited a misbehaving student at home.

>

>Basically, we were in fear for our lives, but it wasn't because of drive

>by shootings, drugs, gangs, etc.

>

>Our parents and grandparents were a much bigger

>threat! We all survived because their love was greater than the threat.

>

>Go back with me for a minute....

>Before the Internet or the MAC...

>before semi-automatics and crack...

>before SEGA or Super Nintendo...

>

>Way back......

>

>I'm talking about hide and go seek at dusk, red light,

>green light, kick the can, playing kickball & dodgeball until your porch

>light came on, and mother may I?, red rover, hula hoops, roller skating to

>music, running through the sprinkler...

>

>catching lightning bugs in a jar;

>Christmas morning;

>your first day of school;

>bedtime prayers and goodnight kisses;

>climbing trees;

>getting an ice cream off the ice cream truck;

>a million mosquito bites, and sticky fingers;

>jumping on the bed;

>pillow fights;

>running till you were out of breath;

>laughing so hard your stomach hurt;

>being tired from playing;

>your first crush...remember that?

>

>I'm not finished yet....

>

>Kool-Aid was the drink of summer;

>toting your friends on your handlebars;

>Wearing your new shoes on the first day of school andclass field trips.

>

>Didn't that feel good, just to go back and say, Yeah,

>I remember that!

>

>There's nothing like the good old days. They were

>good then, and they're good now when we think about them.

>

>Share some of these thoughts with a friend who can

>relate, then share it with someone that missed out on them.

>

>I want to go back to the time

>when............ ...........

>

>Decisions were made by going "eeny-meeny-miney-mo" and mistakes were

>corrected by simply exclaiming, "do it over!"

>

>"Race issue" meant arguing about who ran the fastest; money issues were

>handled by whoever was the banker in "Monopoly;"

>

>catching fireflies could happily occupy an entire

>evening;

>

>And it wasn't odd to have two or three "best" friends.

>

>Being old referred to anyone over 20 and the worst

>thing you could catch from the opposite sex was cooties.

>

>Scrapes and bruises were kissed and made better; it

>was a big deal to finally be tall enough to ride the "big people" rides at

>the amusement park;

>

>getting a foot of snow was a dream come true;

>

>abilities were discovered because of a

>"double-dog-dare;"

>

>Spinning around, getting dizzy and falling down was

>cause for giggles

>

>The worst embarrassment was being picked last for a team; water balloons

>were the ultimate weapon; and older siblings were the worst tormentors,

>but also the fiercest protectors.

>

>If you can remember most or all of these, then

>you have LIVED!!!!

>

>Pass this on to anyone who may need a break from their "grown up" life.

>

>I DOUBLE DOG DARE YA!!!!!!!!!!!!

[EK314]

fastmonstr,

I remember those days.....No worries, No pressure, No hassles.....if only I could have known then what I know now!!

Ernie

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: yzernie ]

[MOmilkman]

Originally posted by freestyle111:

do you remember when the happening mod was to drill as many holes as you could fit in sides of your airbox. your bike was the baddest around if you had DG pipe. i'll never forget staring into local maico & husky dealer's window dreaming about owning that maico on showroom floor.it was first motocross bike i ever saw with plastic tank. how about you no.cal guys remember when club moto was behind moffet field airforce base,fremont. moms would run hotdog stand. you new you were "Cherry picking" when you looked over at all other ridings in your moto and you were only one with a real numberplate everyone else had paper plate zip-tied to bar with numbers written in felt pen. during summer vacation searching under couch cushions for gas money[all i needed was .17cents] so i could sneak bike out during day while my parents were at work. ill never forget when they passed red sticker law.

[ June 11, 2002: Message edited by: freestyle111 ]

To be honest I dont remember all this stuff (or most of it for that matter) but that time had to be sooooooooo much more fun that nowdays.

The bikes may not have been quite as trick but I would have given anything to have been able to have ridden back then and be able to reminence about it now.

[Shawbridge Husky]

Mojo, grew up in the Montreal Laurentians so that wasn't me! I was the envy of many youngsters though. Actually I worked at my Dad's shop to pay them off, both the 80 and the 125. I raced junoir 125 for a summer and stopped completely in 1981 only to start riding again in spring 2001. Did alot of mountain biking the past 15 years but never same as moto.

Wrenching om my owm bikes gave me the shop skills I have today. Never had the benefit of working full time with my dad as he died that summer of '78.

Moto recommended for any mechanically inclined young people in my opinion. Kept me out of drugs, drinking and immorality.

[MOmilkman]

UsedToBeFast,

I also used to own a 85 RM250. The things that stand out about that bike most in my mind was how I never could get that darn silencer bracket to stay welded to the frame! So I just put some baleing wire through the bolt hole and around the silencer. My friends always laughed at me when they followed me because it was swinging all around. LOL

Also, I bought the bike for $500 in '89 and 2 weeks after I bought it the rear shock blew out on me. I had to buy a new one for $550. I only owned the thing 2 weeks and I already put more money in aftermarket parts than I paid for the bike!!!! LOL ?

[GPS Dual Sport]

I remember....

Akront Alloy rims with the mud catching lips. Dayglow orange BOGE rear shocks.

Bultaco, Montesa, Carabella, Harley Davidson and Can Am Motorcross bikes. Penton turning into KTM.

Puch 250 with two carbs, one feeding a rotary valve the other feeding the cyclinder.

The amazing Yankee 500Z built out of 2 Ossa 250 top ends grafted on a handmake crankcase. The first production dirt bike with a hydraulic front disk brake.

Mike LaRocco getting his butt spanked by his Dad at Dutch Sport Park in Bloomingdale, Michigan for not winning the 125 B class.

Lisa Atkins beating everyone in the 125 A class that same weekend.

Anyone else out there older than me????