Your old dirtbikes - What do they mean to you?

7/1/2015 3:48am Edited Date/Time 7/2/2015 1:07pm
One of the things I really like about this place is that people are into their old dirtbikes for a variety of reasons, and are therefore passionate about different aspects of them.

For me it's all about the ride, re-living my teenage years, and competing on the bike I rode decades ago, but against modern machinery.
Riding Canada Heights last year on the bike I rode as a kid was a promise made with my best mate fulfilled (albeit 2 decades late), and I got all misty eyed waiting for the flag to drop.

I love spannering on the bike and find BFO g the aftermarket parts I couldn't afford as a teen just as much as the time spent in the saddle.

I totally get why some people cherish theirs so much, they don't ride them, and are just happy to stand there with a beer and gaze upon the machine they always lusted after, or that holds dear memories.

Why did you build yours?
|
pete24
Posts
2733
Joined
10/20/2011
Location
Marlborough, MA US
7/1/2015 6:20am
i worked at the Yamaha dealer in 87 i put bikes together, i used to look at them on the floor wishing they were mine, now i have
from 1987
pw50
yz125
yz250
yz490

i need a yz 80 they are not ridden just want to have my own show room
Sidewinder
Posts
22
Joined
6/25/2015
Location
Huntington Beach, CA US
7/1/2015 2:38pm Edited Date/Time 7/2/2015 9:51am
Well, this old '78 Z50 FrankenBike of mine is a blast to ride, and in the right venue it gives me all the thrill of riding a larger bike... at the same time, it fits in the back seat of my Camry (I use the rear headrests as lash points to secure the bike upright with webbing), so I don't have the hassles or headache of trailer registration, trailer maintenance, finding a place to park the trailer, etc. I get to plan wilderness adventures in primo settings, load my bike into the car and take off... and I make a point of riding where few others are, to offset the daily chore of driving the car in city traffic. Now that I have the title to the bike and the wiring is good to go, I could add lights and signals and make it street legal, and I may do that later after I move out of CA, but for now my bike is the ANTIDOTE to driving the car in heavy traffic. I WANT it to be a green sticker bike, so I NEVER have to deal with idiot drivers on the road... does that make any sense to other riders here? LOL.

Some monkeybikers regard their little bikes as time machines, taking them back to the days of their youth. I rode minibikes when I was young, but they were underpowered compared to this bike I currently own. Sure, it'll never win races or show trophies, but I couldn't care less... when I'm grabbing third gear on a bitchin' dirt road with nothing but scenery all around me, feeling like Steve McQueen as the bike powers through some turn, the last thing on my mind is competitive racing or show trophies, believe me. I'm out there to RIDE, and my little offroad thrasher has just enough power to keep me happy, while working the clutch and shift lever makes me feel as if I'm on a bigger bike. Half the time, I'm laughing my damn fool head off as I sail over some whoops or power through a berm. Yeah, the monkeybike may look goofy to some snooty riders, but most people I've met have instantly taken a liking to this little FrankenBike of mine.

Fucked up as this country is right now, with no end in sight to the criminal machinations of scumbag politicians and their corporate slavemasters, it's getting harder and harder to find true freedom in my life. I find it while sailing small craft, and I find it while monkeybiking in remote or fairly remote venues. It's the only way for this old school local: saddle up and head into the wilderness to escape the human rat-race of so-called "civilization." No ridiculous traffic, no TV or Internet (by choice), no lyin' badge-sportin' greaseballs or robed sodomite pocket judges, no scrub queer D.A.s who ruin lives with their false charges and malicious prosecutions, none of that fucking trash in sight, just good clean wilderness and heaps of wildlife... rabbits and lizards on the trail, big ol' raptors wheeling overhead, a curious hummingbird inspecting my bike as I take a beer break by a patch of wildflowers, all that good $h!t nature has to offer.

You ask why riders like their old dirt bikes? FREEDOM, that's why... freedom in the wilderness, the best kind of all. Racing is great for some riders, but this little FrankenBike of mine will never see a track. It'll see a $h!tload of primo dirt roads in remote areas, and some trails out in places like Lark Canyon in McCain Valley, but my primary mission with this little offroad thrasher is to GET AWAY from all things citified, all competitive events, all rules & regulations, etc., etc. I actually bought the bike to ride up into the Santa Rosa Mountains and get some shots of the Salton Sea, since I sailed the length & breadth of the Salton aboard my 12' Obamanomic Megayacht (MiniFish), and I'm looking forward to pulling that number this winter, along with a bunch of other cool desert expeditions in remote areas. I guess it all boils down to "HOPE & CHANGE"---as I plan these wilderness adventures, I HOPE to escape the miserable clusterf#ck this country has become by CHANGING my GPS coordinates, 10-4???

Enough said... I'm a long-winded bastard when I get started, LOL. Time for another long swig o' cold beer, the proverbial "hair of the dog" after my birthday blowout yesterday. Fifty-three years on this goddam planet, hard to believe I even made it this far, considering that many of my best friends have already died weird untimely deaths in recent years. It's ironic, really, for guys who climbed some gnarly routes and cliffs in the past to die of such relatively tame causes, but that's how it goes in life... nobody knows how the end game will truly play out, despite all precautions. One can cheat Death on occasion, but like a good poker player, he always wins in the end, LOL. We all got it coming too, unless scientists ramp up the cryogenics and cloning scene. Christ, maybe I won't die after all: maybe my frozen head will lead to eventual rebirth... ah, fuck it, the way this country is swirling down the shitter, I don't wanna come back, LOL. Give me a good clean death while sailing or monkeybiking, maybe an "accident" while remote camping (falling down drunk and striking my head on a boulder), and that'll work for me.

I'm outta here, color me gone, ADIOS, PINCHE JOTOS!!! Er... I mean MUCHACHOS!!! LOL.
Sidewinder
Posts
22
Joined
6/25/2015
Location
Huntington Beach, CA US
7/1/2015 3:21pm
Wait, I'm back from the dead, LOL... you (the OP) are from England, right??? Tell me you're about to watch this World Cup match between England & Japan, it should be a good one. Yesterday's match was radical, though the calls by the ref were questionable. Here's hoping England beats Japan, which is a tough team... those pesky Japs can be relentlessly methodical and wear down the opposition in time. Cheers, mate, and may the English team win the match today, we can have another Revolutionary War or War of 1812 on July 5th, AYE??? LOL...
7/1/2015 3:41pm
England? yes, Football? Not me. Unlike the rest of the nation, it's not my bag.
MXGP, the IOM TT, the NW200, MotoGP. That's my poison.

I like your attitude man, it's all about freedom and getting away from it all.

2 hours a day on the motorway with nobody for company apart from the 3-cylinder wail from my Triumph maintains my sanity, but beating on the 125 (or my 200) is my ultimate therapy.

The Shop

MaxPower
Posts
2646
Joined
8/15/2006
Location
NJ US
7/1/2015 4:33pm
, the only thing I really want to ride my dirt bike and be left alone. That feeling hasn't gone away for 45 years.
I'm not saying it happens even a fraction of how much I think about it. But it has never gone away
The Sneak
Posts
169
Joined
2/24/2009
Location
US
7/2/2015 8:34am
pete24 wrote:
i worked at the Yamaha dealer in 87 i put bikes together, i used to look at them on the floor wishing they were mine, now...
i worked at the Yamaha dealer in 87 i put bikes together, i used to look at them on the floor wishing they were mine, now i have
from 1987
pw50
yz125
yz250
yz490

i need a yz 80 they are not ridden just want to have my own show room
Pete

There's a MINT, low hours 87 YZ80 on eBay right now. I had one of those BITD and looking at that bike makes me crazy nostalgic. I remember the night we got it (as a new leftover). We got home after dark, too late to fire it up. We were leaving to go on vacation the next morning and I stayed in the garage just looking at it until about midnight. They made me go upstairs and go to bed. I got up at like 5 am the next morning and ran straight to the garage again, just sitting on and looking at it until we left. The whole week we were at the beach, I don't think I thought about anything but that bike.

When I look at the pics in that ebay listing, its like I am back in the garage.
Sidewinder
Posts
22
Joined
6/25/2015
Location
Huntington Beach, CA US
7/2/2015 10:09am Edited Date/Time 7/2/2015 10:12am
I keep my bike in a storage room in the house, and every so often I walk back there with a cold beer and simply straddle the bike, setting my beer down for a moment as I grab the bars. My little offroad thrasher may be small, but it feels like a regular dirt bike as I sit in the saddle, reminiscing about past adventures and planning future rides. In a way, I guess it's like therapy... ya won't hear me squawking about it on Jerry Springer, but I still do it, and I'll keep doing it until I die, I reckon. Can't wait to go riding again, but this seaside ghetto is already ramping up for the 4th of July, so I may wait till afterward... I was gonna ride tomorrow, but if I do, I may lose my parking space on the street out front, and I like keeping the driveway vacant in case family or friends wish to visit on the holiday. On the plus side, I can probably ride up and down the alley all day on the 4th, since the greaseball cops will have their hands full dealing with the crowds elsewhere. It'll be the Coronado Alley 500, 10-4??? Might hafta put a "cowcatcher" on the bike just to plow through the drunks... LOL.
notme
Posts
570
Joined
5/23/2010
Location
CA
7/2/2015 10:33am
For me it helps keep life in perspective, when things are not looking so good I can look at, ride, work on my bikes to remind me of the best days of my life, and how lucky I was to live them.
A few years back I raced my 96 CR500 at a hilly track, my first race in a few years. During the first moto I had become emotional and had to take it easy for a couple laps to recompose. I was thinking this was my favorite scenario in moto x, being on a 500. What a sport this is, it just doesnt compare to anything else!
Call me a wuss but I guarantee you there are many our there who get emotional (in a good way) over this sport! It was my Mike Alessi moment haha.
PN27416
Posts
1018
Joined
6/12/2008
Location
Coopersburg, PA US
7/2/2015 1:07pm
Starting in the 70's the sport was so cool to me, long before I could partake. Now what I have is history of this still great sport and lifetime passion. Plus I could never obtain them back when they were new. And I plan to race, collect, display and wrench till the day I die. Many more to go!

Post a reply to: Your old dirtbikes - What do they mean to you?

The Latest