Vintage motocross

[Lair]

This bike was my dream when I was a senior in high school. I had a '74 model, but the '78 was tits.

This one is a mostly-original survivor. All the important bits are there, and it's supposed to run well. I'm picking it up tomorrow.







Here's what it will look like after a little TLC:

[SamE30e]

Nice, I have a 79 CZ 250 sidepipe.

[Lair]

CZ's were badass when I was a kid. I wanted a red frame Falta CZ and a Maico 501 also.

[A.D.]

Now thats a nice bike, I resto'd a 76 Yamaha YZ400D last year, it was a free pile of junk when it was given to me, but living out near the desert in SoCal made it hella easy to find parts. Heres a few pics of the old beast.



and another

[e30e]

Its crazy how little (if you use a little imagination) dirt bikes have changed in the looks department

[Nicademus]

I'd like to pick up an old bike like that and throw some street tires on it (have a set for offroad as well of course ;))

[hugh jass]

can you actually stop with those front brakes?

[quikveedb2]

can you actually stop with those front brakes?

hahahaha, my downhill bike has a bigger rotor. i wants vintage motorcycle. i've got a '72 yamaha rotting in my parents back yard, 3000 miles away. i might have to cut my losses and buy something out here. is it hard to find parts for old bikes? thats kinda why i gave up on the yamaha. do you guys have any good resources?

[Lair]

Drum brakes on the early Japanese race bikes were surprisingly effective - until they got hot or wet (or any combination of the two).

The old YZ is pretty cool. The 400 had some serious grunt, and the YZ250 was a ruler in that era also. The last time I raced a local MX race, there was a guy on a '77 YZ250 that led the 250C class until his engine blew up. The modern bikes couldn't hang.

That looks like a handmade expansion chamber. I don't see any seams anywhere.

[A.D.]

Drum brakes on the early Japanese race bikes were surprisingly effective - until they got hot or wet (or any combination of the two).

The old YZ is pretty cool. The 400 had some serious grunt, and the YZ250 was a ruler in that era also. The last time I raced a local MX race, there was a guy on a '77 YZ250 that led the 250C class until his engine blew up. The modern bikes couldn't hang.

That looks like a handmade expansion chamber. I don't see any seams anywhere.

only partially handmade, it was made from an ancient expansion chamber that i found at the local dirtbike junkyard(greatest place ever), it was bent to fit and then patched up. Tell you what though, the bike sounds like an old school STIHL 2 stroke chainsaw now, and it works quite nicely.

Yeah a 250 would have been nice, 400 is a bit of a demon, but it was free. And as for the drum brake question, they work fine on the dirt, but when you open it up and go racing down a paved road, they are not the best, lol.

[scabzzzz]

I've got a 74 Honda XL100 trail bike... Mint.. 2k miles.

:)

[Lair]

Is it orange?

I had two of those bikes. One was a green '72 or '73, and the other was an orange '74.

[scabzzzz]

Its a brownish orange. Metallic paint. Two black stripes on the top of the tank.

Trail bike. I wore it out when I was 13-15 before I had a license.

[JasonC]

I got a 1976 Yamaha DT175C (Enduro) It has 695 miles on it. It was dumped sometime in it's early life. And sat till i got it 2 years ago.

[A.D.]

I got a 1976 Yamaha DT175C (Enduro) It has 695 miles on it. It was dumped sometime in it's early life. And sat till i got it 2 years ago.

now that sir, is a wicked bike!! I would love to get my hands on an old school dualsport, since here in California it is near impossible to register a dirtbike because of some stupid law they just passed, unless it was originally released as a dualsport. I hope you get good use out of it.