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Tom helped me years ago to track down one of the 79 KXs I still got. He (and his brother I believe) built a early CR250, in white, the year before or after the penton and Tom sheered the footpegs off or broke frame in half !
great story, and this is the first time I have heard a first hand account of the story, but that story did make its way throughout the vintage community (that's awesome!). His brother Steve sold me a cylinder he ported that I put on one of my 83 CR250s. One of these days I'm going to make my way down to FL with several bikes! Thanks Buddy, great story, Mike
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I get the whole year based cut off and we all know that the disc brake is the hurdle here with the KX's. Trust me this has been discussed in vintage rules circles and has legs, now it's time to sort it out and get these bikes into a more appropriate classification than they are in today. So, back to my point about keeping bikes on the track and not elsewhere...these KX models need the same consideration to keep them on the track and that appears to be in progress.
The bottom line is the more bikes that are classed appropriately, the more bikes on the track...that's the ultimate goal for this preservation.
I bought a 1985 RM125 a couple years ago....a yard sale special that needs everything...the whole time one part of me says it's slow,slow slow laugh and walk away.....my 1978 RM125 is faster I swear...but the other side of me said buy it,,cause it'd be fun to ride it again like a time machine to when I was able to go to Gainesville and Daytona. Sure if a CR or KX are lined up I'll be underpowered...but for the nostalgia in me I bought it. I personally would not want to run a older slower class...even if I could on it...I'd be doing it for fun. I'd want to ride equal age bikes even if handicapped...it's a choice I'd make.
There are 2 sides to what we do...for the pure fun and riding a bike of our past-whether it is slow or fast against bikes we raced back then,,,,or hunting down the class hotrod the rules favor to collect trophies.
We should have that same choice...if you choose to buy a slow bike or drum brake bike when a disc was available..it's your choice and people will for nostalgia and memories/ I have. If you search hi and low to get a fast bike you should have same opportunity and choice to race as we did back then. I can't believe 1-2 KXs will kill off a class.
Classic 250 brakeless class started as 68 and earlier models. The most historic motorcycle ever produced in that era was never allowed to compete. The Yamaha DT1 which came out in 1968.
Ahrma's solution; move the eligibility year back one, to 1967. But let like design Bultaco's, BSA, Triumphs up to '71 continue to be legal.
Long stroke Can-Am 250's, get them out of Sportsman (modern vintage) 250, even though they were period correct.
Beno Rodi bent the rules in Dinosaur 500 to get his ineligible Royal Enfield 500 approved. It was never raced in AMA competiton during it's current era.
I always ran legal bikes. But I got a bit of a chuckle when my older brother pushed a 1975 MX400B engine Shell Yamaha through tech for Modern 600 (sportsman). Cutoff was 74. He scalded everyone's ass for many events on that bike, and the tech guys never could quite figure it out, until they got smart enough to get engine numbers for all eligible machines.
They caught him with a 75 MX250B in a Champion at one event in Modern (sportsman) 250, 74 cutoff. Told him not to bring that bike back. He went through the trouble of putting the entire internals of the B into 74 cases, using the B cylinder and late model Honda CR250 reed cage.
Lo and behold, at the next event, what did we spy, but a 75 MX250B Champion, signed up in Modern 250, that had made it through tech. Piloted by a then current AMA Pro license holder. That was supposed to be a big no-no with AHRMA.
My brother had a huge hard on by that time for the whole organization, and promptly protested the bike and rider.
Illinois was a long way from Florida to try that trick. Needless to say, they upheld the protest, and the Illinois guy got to watch from the stands that night. Rules are rules , right ?
When the Ianucci / Jeff Smith bigger dick contest drained the benevolent fund, I think it soured a once great organization, many, including myself, vowing to never give AHRMA another damn dime.
Even the Road Racing segment, which made AHRMA more money than all other facets combined, is on life support. Small grids , class combining, and infighting are the norm.
Just google Triumph Thruxton / AHRMA series if you want some entertainment on equipment eligibility rules.
That topic alone sent one message board into history, due to all of the squabbling.
I wish you were the Ahrma boss not Obama
This is purely discussion here as I might trigger a lightning rod of an opinion on my take on the Historic class travel rule. I, like you, would definitely prefer to run a cut-off year bike and that's why I have 1977 YZ's, RM's, and a 1978 CR125. The thing to take into consideration though is these classes are multi-year classes and a 1975 model RM125 might be on the gate with you. Most 1977 bikes had 9" of travel (9.25"?) and honestly who ran 10" travel bikes in 1975 except for maybe a works bike. The handling would be horrendous as those frames just were not designed for that much travel. The rule seems centered again on keeping the 1975 and 1976 model bikes competitive in this class and not to have them in the garage or the scrap yard. Funny, but I come back to that garage and scrap yard statement.
Personally, I don't think 9" vs 10" is a big deal. Most of us know on a vintage design track the extra travel is not an improvement from a handling perspective. I think if your bike is hovering in that 9.5" travel area nobody is going to go nuts on that. You can bumper out the shocks and adjust the forks down a 1/2" pretty easy. I would not get too bent out of shape on an inch of travel keeping me from racing a bad ass bike like that. If the class were only comprised of 1977 models like you would see in 1977 I seriously doubt a travel limit would be in place, but the class is just not 1977 (1978CR) bikes. That bike needs to be on a track, it's easy to get it there!
I won't speak for Mike P but after back surgery and other old age issues I want as much quality suspension possible and that's what a cut-off year offers to us in the Historic class for sure. Everybody has their reasons and I'm not going to judge anyone for what bike they want to ride.
Most of the guys in vintage motocross racing don't care about a trophy, now some are complete freaks about them but the majority could care less. You should see how many trophies don't get claimed at some of these national races. The one thing I will say though is it's called racing and when most of us line up we all want to be as competitive as possible or otherwise we would just call it practice.
You seem to have a very myopic look on this sport. The 1983 KX125 is not banned either, that's kind of a false statement you keep focusing on. There is a class for that bike now it's just not the one you want it to be in.
Pit Row
I had not realized the 83 cylinder was changed so much from the 82
. Maybe it's just the KXs I've seen, but every cylinder had horrible castings in the ports. It looks ported but was left to stock dimensions. It runs really good but I think with a little jetting it would snap up on the pipe a little cleaner
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