KTM’s 1981 Motocross and Off-Road Lineup

tblazier
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tblazier
Edited Date/Time 6/7/2019 9:53pm
KTMs were pretty rare over here in the early 80s, but they were just as trick and sometimes even more so that the Japanese machines of the time. Here is a look back at KTMs off-road and motocross lineup for 1981.

KTM's 1981 Off-Road and Motocross lineup



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MPJC
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MPJC 6/6/2019 8:13am
6/6/2019 8:13am
Air cooled and water cooled 125! And the 495 was available as a 420! That's pretty amazing.
JasonJLF
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JasonJLF 6/6/2019 9:39am
6/6/2019 9:39am
Always loved the look of those first watercoolers, although they were prone to overheating with the radiator laid-down & tucked up under the tank.
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katooom
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katooom 6/6/2019 10:03am
6/6/2019 10:03am
I'll take the 125WR please . . .
Steve125
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Steve125 6/6/2019 11:10am
6/6/2019 11:10am
I remember sitting on the 125 waterpumper when they came out. Great looking bike, but what I remember most was the Brick, I mean the seat. hardest seat I ever sat on.

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RichieW13
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RichieW13 6/6/2019 11:46am
6/6/2019 11:46am
The rear fender number plates on these and the KX's from that era were one of the most awesomely ugly ideas.

The 70's and 80's were a cool time for dirt bikes. It seemed like every year somebody was coming out with crazy new ideas.

But nowadays, the year-to-year changes in dirt bikes are pretty minimal and the brand-to-brand differences are negligible as well.
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Forty
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Forty 6/6/2019 11:57am
6/6/2019 11:57am
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up on an exotic like this it was a very big deal and we would all gather round and check them out.

Their big bike sounded so different from my 465 that I wanted one just for that alone.

Thanks for posting!
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Jeff_Crutcher 6/6/2019 12:20pm
6/6/2019 12:20pm
Have KTM’s always been keen on 13mm nuts?
Also ad title says LC. Bike seat reads RV..
ATKpilot99
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ATKpilot99 6/6/2019 1:19pm
6/6/2019 1:19pm
Jeff_Crutcher wrote:
Have KTM’s always been keen on 13mm nuts?
Also ad title says LC. Bike seat reads RV..
I think the rv is for reed valve .
BobbyM
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BobbyM 6/6/2019 6:12pm
6/6/2019 6:12pm
tblazier wrote:
KTMs were pretty rare over here in the early 80s, but they were just as trick and sometimes even more so that the Japanese machines of...
KTMs were pretty rare over here in the early 80s, but they were just as trick and sometimes even more so that the Japanese machines of the time. Here is a look back at KTMs off-road and motocross lineup for 1981.

KTM's 1981 Off-Road and Motocross lineup



Joey Schlag and Donnie Cantaloupe Factory KTM 1981. I think it was 81...look it up TBlaze😎
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BobbyM
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BobbyM 6/6/2019 6:14pm
6/6/2019 6:14pm
Forty wrote:
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up...
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up on an exotic like this it was a very big deal and we would all gather round and check them out.

Their big bike sounded so different from my 465 that I wanted one just for that alone.

Thanks for posting!
Did you see Stichter put a wheel on Hannah and the boys at the lakewood national?
PRM31
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PRM31 6/6/2019 6:20pm
6/6/2019 6:20pm Edited Date/Time 6/6/2019 7:15pm
Forty wrote:
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up...
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up on an exotic like this it was a very big deal and we would all gather round and check them out.

Their big bike sounded so different from my 465 that I wanted one just for that alone.

Thanks for posting!
BobbyM wrote:
Did you see Stichter put a wheel on Hannah and the boys at the lakewood national?
I was there. Great Moto! He was so close. That was 1979.
Forty
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Forty 6/6/2019 6:40pm
6/6/2019 6:40pm
Forty wrote:
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up...
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up on an exotic like this it was a very big deal and we would all gather round and check them out.

Their big bike sounded so different from my 465 that I wanted one just for that alone.

Thanks for posting!
BobbyM wrote:
Did you see Stichter put a wheel on Hannah and the boys at the lakewood national?
I did not. But I remember him and Arlo Englund going at it on many local weekends. I do remember your guy Magoo killing it in Lakewood in 82 or 83. I think Hannah DNFed
RexEasely
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RexEasely 6/6/2019 8:25pm
6/6/2019 8:25pm
What about the 83 models blazer? My dad had one of them
tblazier
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tblazier 6/7/2019 3:50pm
6/7/2019 3:50pm
RexEasely wrote:
What about the 83 models blazer? My dad had one of them
I’m still trying to score an 1983 KTM brochure. It has taken me years to collect the ones I have and the KTM ones are way more difficult to find than the Japanese ones.
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just James
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just James 6/7/2019 4:26pm
6/7/2019 4:26pm
Right after the lottery hits me, I am going get a perfectly restored 495. Gotta be one available out there somewhere.
I've always been a KTM fan, and the old air cooled 495's are the ultimate.
1911
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1911 6/7/2019 5:05pm
6/7/2019 5:05pm
Forty wrote:
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up...
We didn’t see many of these at the track in Colorado in 1981. The line was all yellow. 42 riders across. So when someone showed up on an exotic like this it was a very big deal and we would all gather round and check them out.

Their big bike sounded so different from my 465 that I wanted one just for that alone.

Thanks for posting!
BobbyM wrote:
Did you see Stichter put a wheel on Hannah and the boys at the lakewood national?
PRM31 wrote:
I was there. Great Moto! He was so close. That was 1979.
I was there too. Brighton KTM?
1
chumley
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chumley 6/7/2019 9:53pm
6/7/2019 9:53pm

Boo at Lakewood in 79...Stewart photo
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Stoneface
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Stoneface 6/7/2019 10:37pm
6/7/2019 10:37pm
I raced at Amherst Meadowlarks once in the early spring of 1981. This was in Ohio near Lorain (Cleveland area) which was near KTM’s Midwest US offices. It was a soupy mud race that day. some young kid on one of the 1981 water-cooled KTM 125s won the 125 class going away. I didn’t see many of those bikes that year, but those KTM 125’s were memorable. They had a bark compared to the high revving YZs and RMs.
They also required a different attack with a longer wheelbase or rake, higher seat height, and heavier weight.
PVB
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PVB 6/8/2019 9:00am
6/8/2019 9:00am
My Avatar is an '81 250. I had an '80 RV125 and an '83 250 (2nd and 3rd pic below) also. The '81 250 had a great motor but didn't handle well. The suspension wasn't balanced. I had Mickey Kessler revalve the stock Ohlins but it didn't help much so I eventually put Works Performance shocks on it which helped some. The seat is from the 125 which was lower than the 250 seat which felt too high for me. Out of the 3, the 125 was probably the best.









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