Back when everyone could go racing.
Let's go racing.
- Thread starter Mike A1
- Start date
dennishoddy
Moderator
LOL, in the first video, they were talking about exceeding 200 mph with the rail dragsters. I think it's up to over 340mph now in the quarter mile.
Holy cow...you just point and pray!
joepistol
Well-Known Fanatic
I have great memories of racing ( motocross ) on a Suzuki TM 250, in Japan, 1973-75.
Stationed at a U.S.N. Hospital, i traveled to AF bases ,where they had motocross tracks....Atsugi, Misawa, & Tachikawa if I remember correctly.
I had too much fun racing..brought the TM back to San Diego, sold it to the pastor that married my Wife & I. Bought a new '77 RM370 that
I never raced in another organized event, but had lots of fun riding in & around the San Diego area.. inc. the desert , mostly in the
Anza-Borrego Desert State park area. That RM 370 made the TM 250 seem slow, in comparison.
Stationed at a U.S.N. Hospital, i traveled to AF bases ,where they had motocross tracks....Atsugi, Misawa, & Tachikawa if I remember correctly.
I had too much fun racing..brought the TM back to San Diego, sold it to the pastor that married my Wife & I. Bought a new '77 RM370 that
I never raced in another organized event, but had lots of fun riding in & around the San Diego area.. inc. the desert , mostly in the
Anza-Borrego Desert State park area. That RM 370 made the TM 250 seem slow, in comparison.
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Wanna guess what the pucker factor must have been when the front wheels went up? Holy cow!
John Galt
Well-Known Fanatic
Ahhhh, when men were men.
dennishoddy
Moderator
Back in the early and mid 80's, son and I raced three wheelers. The most dangerous thing on wheels according to the gubberment and banned importation of them in 86 or 87 I think it was.
I still have a 1985 Honda ATC 250SX that I restored to new condition from a wrecked pile of junk.
When we go riding the dunes, I get lots of comments that they didn't know three wheelers were being built again. LOL.
It's a fun ride but you do have to know how to ride them and the dangers involved.
I still have a 1985 Honda ATC 250SX that I restored to new condition from a wrecked pile of junk.
When we go riding the dunes, I get lots of comments that they didn't know three wheelers were being built again. LOL.
It's a fun ride but you do have to know how to ride them and the dangers involved.
joepistol
Well-Known Fanatic
Looking online, found pics of my 2 race bikes, a '72 Suzuki TM 250 & a '77 Suzuki RM370B
Great memories from my dirt riding days.. my last dirt bike purchased was a 2004 KLX-400, though it's an off road bike, it's not a race bike
Great memories from my dirt riding days.. my last dirt bike purchased was a 2004 KLX-400, though it's an off road bike, it's not a race bike
I'll take the Suzuki 250. I'm old school.
joepistol
Well-Known Fanatic
The RM was so much more advanced..way more power & at the time, unbelieveable suspension
.It was designed so the faster you rode, the better the suspension worked.. I was amazed at how well it worked at high speed, over really rough terrain, howwell it handled long / high jumps. Couldn't imagine it getting better..but I know it did, & they continued to improve...in both power & suspension.
I grivavted to 4 stroke dirt bikes, my '79 XT-500 seemed perfect ( after owning several other "thumpers") Had it about 10yrs., the sold it to a friend ..he rode it maybe once, then parked it . I realized my mistake ( selling it) tried to buy it back. He wouldn't sell it back to me. He passed, yrs. later..bike was sitting in the same spot, neglected, for many yrs. By then, I'd bought the KLX which was / is better in every respect..lighter, narrower, better suspension & brakes, about the same power..just have to travel to far to ride it now.
.It was designed so the faster you rode, the better the suspension worked.. I was amazed at how well it worked at high speed, over really rough terrain, howwell it handled long / high jumps. Couldn't imagine it getting better..but I know it did, & they continued to improve...in both power & suspension.
I grivavted to 4 stroke dirt bikes, my '79 XT-500 seemed perfect ( after owning several other "thumpers") Had it about 10yrs., the sold it to a friend ..he rode it maybe once, then parked it . I realized my mistake ( selling it) tried to buy it back. He wouldn't sell it back to me. He passed, yrs. later..bike was sitting in the same spot, neglected, for many yrs. By then, I'd bought the KLX which was / is better in every respect..lighter, narrower, better suspension & brakes, about the same power..just have to travel to far to ride it now.
dennishoddy
Moderator
This is my current Honda 250SX that I’ve restored. Just found a pic of it. I use it around the yard to spread fertilizer in the 3 acre yard or riding the sand dunes at Oklahomas Little Sarah’s State Park.
joepistol
Well-Known Fanatic
It's nice that your 2 wheeler has front forks, for some suspension..does the rear have a rear shock ?
I used to watch a lot of those ATC's in the desert..guys riding them seemed to be having fun..but compared to my RM..they were slow.
I also remember that the early model atc's had no suspension..only the "give" in those balloon tires.
I did look at a Yamaha Banshee , when they 1st came out They used a RD 350 (?) cc twin cyl. motor, & had serious looking suspension, fr & rr.
I think that started the big interest in "quads" but there was no way a 4 wheeler was going to be as fast as a 2 wheeler...
I believed if you want to go faster, get a bigger motor! Got to ride a Husqvarna 500 4 storke, right after they came out.
Made my XT500 seem slow. Gave the guy my phone # & told me to give me a call if he ever wanted to sell it..
Some time later, saw the bike in the used bike section of a local dealer..guess he lost my #..
I used to watch a lot of those ATC's in the desert..guys riding them seemed to be having fun..but compared to my RM..they were slow.
I also remember that the early model atc's had no suspension..only the "give" in those balloon tires.
I did look at a Yamaha Banshee , when they 1st came out They used a RD 350 (?) cc twin cyl. motor, & had serious looking suspension, fr & rr.
I think that started the big interest in "quads" but there was no way a 4 wheeler was going to be as fast as a 2 wheeler...
I believed if you want to go faster, get a bigger motor! Got to ride a Husqvarna 500 4 storke, right after they came out.
Made my XT500 seem slow. Gave the guy my phone # & told me to give me a call if he ever wanted to sell it..
Some time later, saw the bike in the used bike section of a local dealer..guess he lost my #..
I was working for Yamaha when the RD 350 came out. We assembled the Bikes & test rode them.
Dam this was one fast azz bike, in the light to light we had Harleys by the saddle bags LOL.
As a factory trained Yamaha Motorcycle mechanic, I had ph#s for calling Factory techs for problems we had.
I learned something from Yamaha about 2 cycle engines, I used the rest of my life.
When the bikes came over from Japan the 2 stroke oil Ratio for the RD 350 was close to 16:1 & when you took off it was a real smoker.
I learned from a Factory Tech after having problems with the auto lube system was putting too much Yamalube into the engine.
The tech asked me how much lube do you think the engine needs at idle? WTF
This guy let the cat out of the bag, & tuning 2 strokes was never the same again.
Today it's normal to run a 2 cycle at 40, 50, or higher oil fuel ratios. The answer I gave to the tech was 16 to1
. WRONG!0 zero oil at idle. It's gonna I said // Gasoline comes from oil he said. Here at Yamaha we have run 2 cycle engines at 60 to one
with almost 0 smoke & much less heat build up due to a lack of dieseling. Too much oil compression heat.
Dam this was one fast azz bike, & when we pulled out the shims that let the auto lube pump work at idle, & adjusted the cable to only pump
at throttle crack,
now the RD was truly dangerous. We had some customers ask us to Detune their bike's due to the excessive wheelies.Yamaha RD350 - Motorcycle Classics
There’s no evidence supporting the idea that the “RD” in the Yamaha RD350 model designation stands for “Race Derived” — but race derived it certainly was.
www.motorcycleclassics.com
I vaguely remember the Husqvarna's. If I recall right they were really good looking bikes. I love bikes, but I'm terrified of the fools on the roads. No one watches for them, and if you get hit you are liable to end up dead or in a hospital room with a head injury and no way out. I heard such a thing when I was 12 yrs old. We had to go to Ann Arbor hospital to see my friends dad who'd had a brain tumor removed. There was some poor guy down the hall with said injury. All I heard was help, help moaned, when I asked someone what happened they said he'd been in a motorcycle accident, and had a head injury.
Two sayings & remember from the Shop.
Motorcycles : Dangerous toys for girls & boys.
When you play cat & mouse with cars, the cat always wins.
When I think back of what I did for adrenaline rushes with bikes on & off the track I'm lucky to be alive.
Some shops would send a rider with your new bike to follow you home.
This guy with a Ford Mach 1 wanted us to follow him home & I got picked to ride the TZ 750 C home for him.
This sucker hit speeds of up to 140 & I sayed right on him. When we got there he said Dam man I never knew that bike would run like that.
So I told him this bike could run his car off the road & it would.
We rode bikes like this everyday, most big shops had test areas we could test um out.
Holy cow!Two sayings & remember from the Shop.
Motorcycles : Dangerous toys for girls & boys.
When you play cat & mouse with cars, the cat always wins.
When I think back of what I did for adrenaline rushes with bikes on & off the track I'm lucky to be alive.
Some shops would send a rider with your new bike to follow you home.
This guy with a Ford Mach 1 wanted us to follow him home & I got picked to ride the TZ 750 C home for him.
This sucker hit speeds of up to 140 & I sayed right on him. When we got there he said Dam man I never knew that bike would run like that.
So I told him this bike could run his car off the road & it would.
We rode bikes like this everyday, most big shops had test areas we could test um out.
