Favorite Dirt bike

[M143]

Ossa flat tracker.

[Buelligan]

The only Ossa I've ever ridden was a flattracker... no brakes with only a compression release to slow you down. It was an old Stiletto based tracker with a C&J frame, pretty well used up by the time I got to ride it.

I wonder who beat Dick Mann in this race...




Note the reference to a 'broad tongue curve' in the spec blurb.

[M143]

Yankee Motors motoorcycle made in the USA

http://www.yankeetwin.com/

[M143]

[Buelligan]

This bike looked like it could have been a contender in the mid-70's.

[XLX1]

In 1978 my DT125 was stolen.I was 16 years old,and borrowed $800 from my parents to buy a brand new TT500(I had $600 saved up).At that age I was on top of the world!! I had more fun on that bike than any other I have had since(28 bikes to date).My friends with YZs and RMs all called it a pig,until we got in a straight-away.That bike was a real Wheelie King!

[BuckTwenty]

The craziest dirtbike I ever owned was a Can Am 370.
I bought it just for the Rotax angine.
It was geared tall and built for speed.

When I first got it I thought the suspension was all seized up...
It was when I got it up to about 100mph on a logging road that everything came into focus.

I sold it to a friend for more than I bought it for.

Should have kept that one.... Dohh

[Monkeyshines]

Originally Posted by BuckTwenty

The craziest dirtbike I ever owned was a Can Am 370.
I bought it just for the Rotax angine.
It was geared tall and built for speed.

When I first got it I thought the suspension was all seized up...
It was when I got it up to about 100mph on a logging road that everything came into focus.

I sold it to a friend for more than I bought it for.

Should have kept that one.... Dohh

acckkk, Can Am 370, bat out of hell for it's day. Nearly got killed on one skipping it midair off the side of a silo.

[Buelligan]

Originally Posted by XLX1

In 1978 my DT125 was stolen.I was 16 years old,and borrowed $800 from my parents to buy a brand new TT500(I had $600 saved up).At that age I was on top of the world!! I had more fun on that bike than any other I have had since(28 bikes to date).My friends with YZs and RMs all called it a pig,until we got in a straight-away.That bike was a real Wheelie King!

I remember a TT500 doing a 4-stroke "cough-and-stall" leaving a late checkpoint at a SETRA enduro I was working back in the day. The engine coughed when the throttle was rolled on and died... and refused to hot start. After 5 kicks the rider gave up and tried push starting. The trail was flat enough but the laws of physics weren't in his favor; he couldn't generate enough action for an opposite and equal reaction when he let the clutch out.... the bike just skid to a stop like the engine was hydraulicked. It finally took 4 or 5 spectators pushing together to get that hot engine to turn over.

I've heard the same story about big singles on the street... getting stranded for awhile because it won't hot start.

[suzukijo]

one of the neatest bikes i owned, and looking back could be one of my favorites, was a 1984 RM 250.
suzuki had some leftover in '85, were selling the '84s cheap, and it was in some ways a better bike than the '85 which was detuned with a longer stroke.

many of the hop up fixes were well known, so when it arrived in the shop, I spent a few weeks modifying it right out of the crate. I had a friend who worked at Yoshimura back then, and he mentioned they were playing around with getting into dirt bike stuff, and told me to send him my head, which they trenched.

using the '85 RM250 tripple clamps, solved the poor steering of the '84s, the semi works bikes were replacing the stock 250 radiators with ones from the 125s, and using the 125 tank and mounting the 125 radiators as low as they would fit. with limited funds, I just found a 125 tank and lowered the 250 radiators as far as they would go, adding a aftermarket Pro Circuit pipe, and boring out the carb to make it smooth at the inside bore, it was pretty much stock other than that. with the lower radiators and small gastank and less trail in the steering, it was a better steering bike, with the snappy Hp of the '84 short stroke motor.

the bike was a rocket, and handled as good as any other bike on the tracks at that time, with stock rear shock.

my most memorable finish was a second place at Gorman Ca in a grand prix, racing the vet class.
when I crossed the finish line, the course worker yelled out at me "20 seconds" looking at his watch.

I later found out from my friends that i was catching the first place rider quickly towards the end, and was real close at the finish for a 40 min race, after working my way up from about a 5th place start, I was tired and had nothing left, but I had a good rythm in the switch backs, and the bike was working good on the big hills.

I later found out the winner was, Mike Sixberry. He must have been cooling it late in the race and cruising, he was often much faster than me and I was seldom in the hunt for the overall.

The Rm continued to be a competive bike, keeping the troops at Indian Dunes and other so cal tracks honest.

that was one bike I wish I would have just kept, instead of trading up years later, as its replacement a '88 RM250 never seemed to have the magic the '84 had, even though it had all the new trick stuff.

I know some of you dirt bike nuts are gonna say the '84 honda CR250 was faster, and it was, but so many didnt realise they had a short fuse, and many of them just broke pistons because of customer stupidity.
A fresh honda CR250 with a good rider was a threat, but the Rm could go 6 months on a piston, if you knew better you put a new piston in the honda every week, or else it might break late in the second moto.

yamaha and kawis didnt seem to be a threat then, suzuki had a good stock rear suspension, and for whetever reason, the upgrades the semi works riders were making, and I copied, transformed the bike into one of my favorite dirt bikes. It was a known fault of the full floater upper link, making the bike fat / wide at the frame covers, but the addition of the small gastank and lower radiator mounting, formed a low seat area, and for me the fat frame at the top suspension link was never a problem so many others complained about.

I dont have any literature of that race finish, and few pictures of the bike.