Homage to the XR75 and local 70's moto

Very cool! When I started the line was very red with XR-75s. By '78 it got very yellow. 

Awesome!  That was my first bike. 

My first bike was a 1978 XR75 . Such a great machine.

My Cousin and his XR, I learned how to Ride on this Baby! 🙏

Every year during the late seventies (born March 71)  I sat in that fat bastards lap in the little house down in my small town and asked that bitch for one of those shiny new xr75. 

One neighbor kid had one and it looked so good.  All I had was some early 70'ish kawi 90 2 stroke that  I bought with money from selling my Shetland pony. But man did I want that XR 75. I never got to wake up on Christmas morning with my dream bike but at least my parents let me ride motorcycles.

We were too poor to race anyway. Better wording is my parents were way to frugal to allow me race. 

76 XR 75 was my first bike. Got it used in 78 or early 79 when I was 7 or 8 years old.

First time I rode it i did the classic whisky throttle across the yard almost hitting moms Dodge Monaco before turning a hard left into a very bushy juniper tree. After a good cry I spent every afternoon after school riding it on a track my bro carved out in a hay field. 

First bike I ever jumped was my red-tanked ‘74. Talk about being hooked!

My brother on his ‘77RM125 and me on my ‘78 XR75 doing our best to look like they did in “On any Sunday”  

Came from trying to race on a beat 1974 GT80 (1st bike) to a new 77 XR75. Pulled 3 holeshots the first time I raced it in the mini beginner 4stroke class. Remember it like it was yesterday 😊 

There were full gates of those bikes sometimes. 

Very cool. I'm in two pic's. The XR had a good two year run as the first dedicated mini motocross racer in 73 and 74. I stayed on the XR in 75 and had to ride the wheels off it to keep up with slower riders on the YZ80B. Definitely made me a better rider. Moved to the 125 class in 76. 

1976 Spartans Raceway - Seaside, California

my first bike was a 77 xr75 . i rode the wheels off that thing , I was 12 . i had a Kmart $20 helmet with a snap on visor and face guard. i raced it agint the RM , YZ 80s lol . my first trophy was in the Jack Hill Memorial mini race . Jeff Surwall won the bike bike that year , his dad gave me a compliment which was pretty cool . 

That is beyond cool. One of those pics that defines mx.

Very first bike with a clutch I rode. A friend and his brother had matching XR75s, I was about 10 and it ended with me whiskey throttling off a loading bay ramp. I've been hooked ever since 🤙

I never had a XR75...but I rode the shit out of my blue SL70. Loved that bike. Rode it all over our property in Iowa. We went on vacation a couple times and I rode that in the mountains near Denver. The bike was bullet proof. We need these types of bikes back. 

The 70s was my time for racing MX and just having fun on your dirt bike. I rode a friend's 73 XR75 when it was brand new. I was 14 and too big for it but I remember it was super fun to mess around with. As an old adult I have had two XR75/80s. Nice play bikes. You can't beat their fun and reliability.

Here is a 79 XR80 I got for free. It was missing a bunch of stuff. I grew up on a 58 BSA Goldstar 500. Raced it in the early 70s and won my first trophy on it. So I created a mini recreation of the BSA out of XR just for fun.

Then a few years later I got a 78 XR75. It was pretty ragged also. Since the frame was red I just went stock on it except the Jeff Ward megaphone pipe.

1977 on the XRs smaller sibling MR50 - mine had custom laid down shocks and diamond pleated seat…

I had a 1974, but it was about 6 years old when I got it.  I had tons of fun on it, but the points would always get dirty and there was more than one weekend where the family would go camping, but my bike wouldn't run.  

The thing that was great BITD is that A LOT of people around me had mini bikes. And, nobody ever got hurt. Then again...we weren't hitting 70 foot triples on our 70's/75's. It was simply riding for fun. What manuf need to learn is that not every 10 yo kid wants to hit jumps that could literally cripple or kill you. They need to build bikes like these again that are somewhat safe for kids to just have fun on. 

My kind of thread. This bike is historic. A lot of legendary stars that came from the USA started on this bike. 

Outstanding pics! 

I like the picture of Ward on the XR leading Myerscough on his YZ80. Jeff sure kept the little 4 stroke competitive against the 2 strokes.

73 and 74's were gray tanked - 75 and later were red tanked.

I couldn’t remember the year. Thanks, I feel younger! 🤣

I had a Kawasaki KZ75 (same wheels as the Honda Mini trail)
I wanted an XR75 so bad. Never got one.
Finally I was lucky enough to get a 1977 YZ80D (greatest day of my life)
Never looked back…..

My brother John in 1978 still trying to run with the yellow bikes.

 My little brother went from an XR 75 to thatyeat YZ.His results improved dramatically.  I have an 1975 XR75 in need of restoration.  Maybe when I retire.

KV75