1973 MX technology.. but we still had fun!

bigsal
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bigsal 9/20/2022 2:11pm
9/20/2022 2:11pm

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Mouse153
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Mouse153 9/20/2022 2:15pm
9/20/2022 2:15pm
Way better cars and bikes back then than we have today!
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mumbles 9/20/2022 2:18pm
9/20/2022 2:18pm
I had a 69 Camaro 73 - 77. I joined the Air Force in 76 when I was 19. Drove that Camaro with bumper racks with my 73 TM250 Suzuki on the back from NC to AZ. The shot here is at Canyon Raceway sometime in late 76.


After that sometime in 77, I bought a new Datsun PU and used 76 RM250 Suzuki. This shot is outside Gilbert AZ somewhere in the desert.




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Graybeard 9/20/2022 2:26pm
9/20/2022 2:26pm
mumbles wrote:
I had a 69 Camaro 73 - 77. I joined the Air Force in 76 when I was 19. Drove that Camaro with bumper racks with...
I had a 69 Camaro 73 - 77. I joined the Air Force in 76 when I was 19. Drove that Camaro with bumper racks with my 73 TM250 Suzuki on the back from NC to AZ. The shot here is at Canyon Raceway sometime in late 76.


After that sometime in 77, I bought a new Datsun PU and used 76 RM250 Suzuki. This shot is outside Gilbert AZ somewhere in the desert.




Wow, this thread just keeps delivering! The '76 RM250 was my second big bike, LOL! My avatar pic is me and my high school buddy at Saddleback Park in '78 with my RM250!!!!!
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Tokyo_Tiddler
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Tokyo_Tiddler 9/20/2022 8:27pm
9/20/2022 8:27pm
mumbles wrote:
I had a 69 Camaro 73 - 77. I joined the Air Force in 76 when I was 19. Drove that Camaro with bumper racks with...
I had a 69 Camaro 73 - 77. I joined the Air Force in 76 when I was 19. Drove that Camaro with bumper racks with my 73 TM250 Suzuki on the back from NC to AZ. The shot here is at Canyon Raceway sometime in late 76.


After that sometime in 77, I bought a new Datsun PU and used 76 RM250 Suzuki. This shot is outside Gilbert AZ somewhere in the desert.




That's cool. I usually hitched a ride in my buddy's van to go to the races, but the few times he couldn't make it in 1979, I towed by 1979 CR250 red rocket on trailer on the back of a red 6-71 blown 1973 Camaro similar to the one I own now to the MX races. Boy did that get a lot of thumbs up from other drivers on the highway! I wish I had pictures.
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Tokyo_Tiddler
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Tokyo_Tiddler 9/20/2022 8:35pm
9/20/2022 8:35pm
Warlock wrote:
I got off the school bus in '73 and my parents had a brand new 250 Elsinore sitting in the driveway waiting for me. It was...
I got off the school bus in '73 and my parents
had a brand new 250 Elsinore sitting in the driveway waiting for me. It was an awesome surprise, an awesome bike, and an awesome pair of parents! Cool
What nice parents! I wasn't as lucky, I had to deliver a lot of newspapers, shovel a lot of snow from driveways and wash a lot of dishes at IHOP to scrimp and save for my bikes.

The first Elsinores were pretty bikes and might have been nuclear powered technical wonders compared to the competition in its day, but actually quite primitive compared to what would come a few years later.
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wwdiii
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wwdiii 9/21/2022 5:30am
9/21/2022 5:30am
I graduates high school in 1974. We had a blast in those days. Oklahoma had its share of motocross tracks, we raced, partied, hunted/fished played with fast cars and chased girls.

We did just fine without smart phones and computers.
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Tokyo_Tiddler
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Tokyo_Tiddler 9/21/2022 8:23am
9/21/2022 8:23am
wwdiii wrote:
I graduates high school in 1974. We had a blast in those days. Oklahoma had its share of motocross tracks, we raced, partied, hunted/fished played with...
I graduates high school in 1974. We had a blast in those days. Oklahoma had its share of motocross tracks, we raced, partied, hunted/fished played with fast cars and chased girls.

We did just fine without smart phones and computers.
In the 70's, even if you lived in the suburbs, there was always a field or someplace close you could ride every day after school with your friends. The neighborhood girls would show up and you could show off or give them rides. This is rarely the case these days. All the places I rode as a kid are new housing or apartment developments. Having a dirt bike as a kid was much more common in those days than today. No expensive bike haulers or driving to far away plays to pay big practice fees to ride was necessary. No waiting an hour for your class to be called for a 10 minute practice Sad

In class, when the lesson was boring, we used to draw pictures of what next year's MX bike innovations would be.. we would imagine bikes with 2-3 feet of suspension travel and engines with superchargers or turbochargers.. as well as seats that went all the way up to the triple clamps.. the one thing that did essentially happen.

Today, even a guy that never races will show up with a fancy trailer with pressure washer, numbers and his name printed on his jersey and bike. In the 70's, even if we raced and had leathers, for daily afterschool practice we would just throw on our boots, helmet and gloves and ride in our t-shirts and jeans most days.. no posing, nothing pretentious.
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G-man
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G-man 9/21/2022 9:31am
9/21/2022 9:31am Edited Date/Time 9/21/2022 9:33am
edge60 wrote:
Seems like there was nothing to miss in those days. Must have been a great period to be young.
It was an AWESOME time to be in.
In 1973 I was 15 and will ever forget the first time I saw a Honda Elsinore.

It was at Claude Osteen's motocross track and remember vividly watching it go down a hill and the rider seemed much more in control than the other racers.

If we could go back to those much more simpler times without all the technology I would do it in a heartbeat.
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Steve125
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Steve125 9/21/2022 10:25am
9/21/2022 10:25am Edited Date/Time 9/21/2022 10:29am
I still prefer my oldies over the new stuff..





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vet323
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vet323 9/21/2022 10:53am
9/21/2022 10:53am
Steve125 wrote:
I still prefer my oldies over the new stuff.. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569650/s1200_Oldies_2.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569647/s1200_Nova_21.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569648/s1200_My_Vette.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569649/s1200_Oldies_1.jpg[/img]
I still prefer my oldies over the new stuff..





Dude...
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mumbles 9/21/2022 12:10pm
9/21/2022 12:10pm
wwdiii wrote:
I graduates high school in 1974. We had a blast in those days. Oklahoma had its share of motocross tracks, we raced, partied, hunted/fished played with...
I graduates high school in 1974. We had a blast in those days. Oklahoma had its share of motocross tracks, we raced, partied, hunted/fished played with fast cars and chased girls.

We did just fine without smart phones and computers.
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
In the 70's, even if you lived in the suburbs, there was always a field or someplace close you could ride every day after school with...
In the 70's, even if you lived in the suburbs, there was always a field or someplace close you could ride every day after school with your friends. The neighborhood girls would show up and you could show off or give them rides. This is rarely the case these days. All the places I rode as a kid are new housing or apartment developments. Having a dirt bike as a kid was much more common in those days than today. No expensive bike haulers or driving to far away plays to pay big practice fees to ride was necessary. No waiting an hour for your class to be called for a 10 minute practice Sad

In class, when the lesson was boring, we used to draw pictures of what next year's MX bike innovations would be.. we would imagine bikes with 2-3 feet of suspension travel and engines with superchargers or turbochargers.. as well as seats that went all the way up to the triple clamps.. the one thing that did essentially happen.

Today, even a guy that never races will show up with a fancy trailer with pressure washer, numbers and his name printed on his jersey and bike. In the 70's, even if we raced and had leathers, for daily afterschool practice we would just throw on our boots, helmet and gloves and ride in our t-shirts and jeans most days.. no posing, nothing pretentious.
That pretty much sums up the 70s dirt bike riding and MX. I raced in Eastern NC from 72 -76. I remember 73/74 I was paying like $3.50 to enter each class. I rode 250 and open. If I got a 1st I made $20, 2nd $15 and 3rd $10. Gas 49 cents. It was the funnest ever.

Greenville 75 on my 73 TM250 Suzuki.



Greenville 74. Same track at the county fair grounds.

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MOTOXSTATION 9/21/2022 3:19pm
9/21/2022 3:19pm
“In class, when the lesson was boring, we used to draw pictures of what next year's MX bike innovations would be.. we would imagine bikes with 2-3 feet of suspension travel and engines with superchargers or turbochargers.. as well as seats that went all the way up to the triple clamps.. the one thing that did essentially happen.”

Sounds very familiar. Used to draw Yamaha on the side of my Algebra book too. Couldn’t wait to get home to ride.


Newspapers, busing tables, cutting lawns. I couldn’t wait to buy up new any longer….YZ to much more so I spent $925 ? For the MX125B .


3
Tokyo_Tiddler
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Tokyo_Tiddler 9/21/2022 5:07pm
9/21/2022 5:07pm
Steve125 wrote:
I still prefer my oldies over the new stuff.. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569650/s1200_Oldies_2.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569647/s1200_Nova_21.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569648/s1200_My_Vette.jpg[/img] [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2022/09/21/569649/s1200_Oldies_1.jpg[/img]
I still prefer my oldies over the new stuff..





Steve.. Are those all of your cars? Is that a blower or tunnel ram on the blue Chevelle?
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Steve125
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Steve125 9/21/2022 5:40pm
9/21/2022 5:40pm
Tokyo_Tiddler wrote:
Steve.. Are those all of your cars? Is that a blower or tunnel ram on the blue Chevelle?
Yes they're all mine. There are more vintage RM's in my collection as well. Mostly early 80's Full Floaters, but I have a 75 RM125 with the Factory Hop Up kit tool. The cars and bikes sure didn't look like this when I found them, but that's what I do. If I posted the "before" shots, you wouldn't believe they're the same vehicles. They've come a long way. I dug that RM125 (pictured) out of the ground and restored it last winter. Still have a few things to do to it, but it runs and rides great. I
The Nova has a 6-71 Blower on top of a 383 stroker with Brodix raised runner heads.


Tokyo_Tiddler
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Tokyo_Tiddler 9/21/2022 9:53pm
9/21/2022 9:53pm Edited Date/Time 9/21/2022 9:54pm
Steve125 wrote:
Yes they're all mine. There are more vintage RM's in my collection as well. Mostly early 80's Full Floaters, but I have a 75 RM125 with...
Yes they're all mine. There are more vintage RM's in my collection as well. Mostly early 80's Full Floaters, but I have a 75 RM125 with the Factory Hop Up kit tool. The cars and bikes sure didn't look like this when I found them, but that's what I do. If I posted the "before" shots, you wouldn't believe they're the same vehicles. They've come a long way. I dug that RM125 (pictured) out of the ground and restored it last winter. Still have a few things to do to it, but it runs and rides great. I
The Nova has a 6-71 Blower on top of a 383 stroker with Brodix raised runner heads.


Ah, it's a Nova.. I wasn't sure if was a Nova or a 66 Chevelle... they look similar. My engine is a 401ci Dart Little M engine with AFR 227 heads, solid cam and 8-71 Littlefield blower. It dyno'd at 772 hp (@6250 rpm) and 705 lbs of torque at 14 lbs of boost..

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