The 70’s

MotoRick
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6/24/2026 5:41pm
mumbles wrote:
That's funny. I wanted a Z50 (KO) first year 1968 when they came out. Like the Sting Ray I never got, I didn't get a Z50...

That's funny. I wanted a Z50 (KO) first year 1968 when they came out. Like the Sting Ray I never got, I didn't get a Z50 either. There again 40 plus years later I got one. Paid way too much for it off eBay. Restored it and then sold it right before I retired. As usual I should have kept it. I wish I could of kept a lot of stuff.

E5C9A26E-69F8-4B7D-BE80-3A15F28F232E 1 105 c 0

Too funny, Mumbles same as me.  Wanted the Schwinn stingray, but parents bought me a Sears Spyder.  Wanted the Honda 50, but Dad found a used square tube Gratton "Hot Dog" (smaller engine than the "Hound Dog").  After begging for a 250 Maico at 15 (thanks to Dirt Bike magazine), we went to Al Fox in Burbank, CA to look at one... Dad decided what I really needed was an AJS Stormer (370cc!).  Too much bike for this skinny teenager : ). I think he was secretly happy when I took a hiatus to be a SFV surfer.  As most have stated, sure wish I had all of these bikes back!!!! 

5
Kenny Banyan
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6/24/2026 5:50pm
My younger brother (RIP Lil’ Bud! 🥹) in the folks backyard on his 1971 (2?) Honda 50!The folks bought it for us when we were 5...
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1972 safety hat! 🤪

My younger brother (RIP Lil’ Bud! 🥹) in the folks backyard on his 1971 (2?) Honda 50!

The folks bought it for us when we were 5 & 7, and Dad told us WHEN we could start it without assistance, we could ride it! 
He demonstrated the starting drill once & left us to it…my brother & I crawled that thing like a couple of monkey’s on a football until we figured it out & could start it on our own! 
We wore the ground down to bare dirt riding tanks of gas out of it in the same backyard!

The 70’s were a magical time! 😎 👍❗️

 

My dad told me the same thing. I would wait for my dad to get home to ride my 50. But after I figured out how to get’r fired it was on. I had 20 acres to ride on. Some of the best days of my life.

4
RDnutz
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6/24/2026 7:09pm
KurtJ99 wrote:
IMG 1086 6IMG 1087 2

Kurt - what model is the Yamaha?

And way to pull the chicks early in life! 😄👍👏

JT-1 Mini Enduro 60. 2 stroke 4 speed manual clutch. Just like the 1 my parents bought my brother to spite me after putting me through the ringer for the Z50.

5

The Shop

Village Idiot
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6/24/2026 7:37pm
KurtJ99 wrote:
IMG 1086 6IMG 1087 2

Kurt - what model is the Yamaha?

And way to pull the chicks early in life! 😄👍👏

RDnutz wrote:
JT-1 Mini Enduro 60. 2 stroke 4 speed manual clutch. Just like the 1 my parents bought my brother to spite me after putting me through...

JT-1 Mini Enduro 60. 2 stroke 4 speed manual clutch. Just like the 1 my parents bought my brother to spite me after putting me through the ringer for the Z50.

Thanks, that's what I thought.

That was also my first bike ('72 model). Of course, it wasn't as nice as that one. Mine wasn't 2nd hand... or even third. More like 102nd hand - a real beater. But I rode that thing every opportunity I got!

I moved from that to a '73 Husky WR450. Yeah, it was a slight adjustment! 😄

1
gsxrcr28
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6/24/2026 7:57pm

1975 or 76

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FreshTopEnd
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6/24/2026 7:58pm

Don't have a lot of photos of me, a fewer handy not scanned. 

Like a lot of folks here started on the Stingray, then in order, bought that beat Bultaco in a box around 73 and rebuilt it with a friend in High School metal shop, then to the Maico, then the Ossa, then a Husky 390 (no pics of that). 

Pits Stusiak07.JPG?VersionId=9CqMiYKUyeaIMG 2164 0.jpg?VersionId=yD4WYYKg.9j9EXshTLwYdvvE9rSac1 0Stu76.jpg?VersionId=7WL8UO7

 

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gsxrcr28
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6/24/2026 8:00pm
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15
Village Idiot
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6/24/2026 8:29pm
gsxrcr28 wrote:
IMG 7817 1.jpeg?VersionId=B7DVtmfKCIMG 7809 0.jpeg?VersionId=uUxaq1mvSBb8kHqh9isCXYAft9uLlIMG 7806

Was that Deegan or Friese that took you out in the top pic? 

😄

2
6/25/2026 8:38am

After I didn't get a Sting Ray or a Z50, I did finally get a motorcycle. But as always it was not a great bike. But it was a dirt bike and I loved it. Pushed it across the street to a field behind a Levitz furniture store in North Highlands California. This photo was back in 1969.

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50s era Triumph Tiger Cub (200cc)
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Kenny Banyan
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6/25/2026 8:43am
mumbles wrote:
After I didn't get a Sting Ray or a Z50, I did finally get a motorcycle. But as always it was not a great bike. But...

After I didn't get a Sting Ray or a Z50, I did finally get a motorcycle. But as always it was not a great bike. But it was a dirt bike and I loved it. Pushed it across the street to a field behind a Levitz furniture store in North Highlands California. This photo was back in 1969.

4D2BCD00-3F50-4269-8E6B-3F316BAA1CA0 1 105 c 2.jpeg?VersionId=niv40
50s era Triumph Tiger Cub (200cc)

Wow! What bike is that, the rake is like a chopper?Great pic😎

R66
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6/25/2026 8:49am

That’s me on my brother’s bike. I think it was a 73 gt80mx. Later on this bike got a J&R expansion chamber. It was a down pipe. Also removed the air box and put one of those filters right on the end of the carb. And of course lower and wider bars  

I did not get my XR75 until ‘78

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10
RDnutz
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6/25/2026 9:12am
Thanks, that's what I thought.That was also my first bike ('72 model). Of course, it wasn't as nice as that one. Mine wasn't 2nd hand... or...

Thanks, that's what I thought.

That was also my first bike ('72 model). Of course, it wasn't as nice as that one. Mine wasn't 2nd hand... or even third. More like 102nd hand - a real beater. But I rode that thing every opportunity I got!

I moved from that to a '73 Husky WR450. Yeah, it was a slight adjustment! 😄

if I remember right, 1st year (71?) was orange and white and then switched to classic Yamaha Yellow/ Black scheme. My brother had the Yellow/Black.

6/25/2026 9:14am

I went from that Triumph in 1969 to a beater Honda CB160 to my first race on my dad's BSA in 1972 to my first real MX bike a Suzuki TM250 in 1974 to a Suzuki RM250 to a Yamaha YZ250. From 1966 - 1980 was the best time of my life.

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I put the forks from that old Triumph on the Honda. Still a crappy dirt bike. But I was riding.

 

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1972 me in green shirt on my dad's BSA Goldstar.
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Early 1974. The day I brought home my first MX bike. 
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1975 racing my TM250 at the Pitt County Fairgrounds outside Greenville NC.
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Doing some flat tracking on the Goldstar around 75.
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Always liked this shot. At the same fairgrounds in 74.
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1969 Camaro with bumper racks and a 73 TM250. What more could you ask for.
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Stepping up. 77 Datsun (not Nissan) with a new 76 RM250 in the back.
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74 TM125 and 76RM250. I owned both. Me on the 250 and my brother-in-law on the 125. 1977.
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78 YZ250. 1979

 

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Sandblasting in 79

 

6E2EE1F3-99BE-4BF4-9A8D-FFD25EF82B30 1 105 c
Big Air in 1979. YZ250

 

20
RDnutz
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6/25/2026 9:20am
Don't have a lot of photos of me, a fewer handy not scanned. Like a lot of folks here started on the Stingray, then in order, bought...

Don't have a lot of photos of me, a fewer handy not scanned. 

Like a lot of folks here started on the Stingray, then in order, bought that beat Bultaco in a box around 73 and rebuilt it with a friend in High School metal shop, then to the Maico, then the Ossa, then a Husky 390 (no pics of that). 

Pits Stusiak07.JPG?VersionId=9CqMiYKUyeaIMG 2164 0.jpg?VersionId=yD4WYYKg.9j9EXshTLwYdvvE9rSac1 0Stu76.jpg?VersionId=7WL8UO7

 

the Ossa sure was a looker! Just screams exotic kick ass classic Euro racer. I went from my Z50 to a 1970 Bulto Sherpa S in 1971. Could never keep a top end happy no matter how much I babied it. Cut my teeth on wrenching 2 strokes there so some good came out of it!

Village Idiot
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6/25/2026 9:20am
Thanks, that's what I thought.That was also my first bike ('72 model). Of course, it wasn't as nice as that one. Mine wasn't 2nd hand... or...

Thanks, that's what I thought.

That was also my first bike ('72 model). Of course, it wasn't as nice as that one. Mine wasn't 2nd hand... or even third. More like 102nd hand - a real beater. But I rode that thing every opportunity I got!

I moved from that to a '73 Husky WR450. Yeah, it was a slight adjustment! 😄

RDnutz wrote:

if I remember right, 1st year (71?) was orange and white and then switched to classic Yamaha Yellow/ Black scheme. My brother had the Yellow/Black.

I couldn't tell you - mine was far from its original color... though it did have a yellow oil tank. 😄

mx317
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6/25/2026 9:36am
IMG 1943 4.jpeg?VersionId=jHpWUPiHNe4JSqNXU9W66s
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mx317
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6/25/2026 9:42am

When I had hair!

IMG 4954 3
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Village Idiot
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mx317 wrote:
When I had hair!

When I had hair!

IMG 4954 3
image 3312
Yamaha version of Mugen
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Crutcher
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6/25/2026 10:17am
IMG 2038 3

My dad on his Elsinore - you guys tell me the year  

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R66
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6/25/2026 10:33am Edited Date/Time 6/25/2026 10:33am
Crutcher wrote:
My dad on his Elsinore - you guys tell me the year  
IMG 2038 3

My dad on his Elsinore - you guys tell me the year  

IMG 2033 4

1975?

1
Village Idiot
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6/25/2026 10:41am
Crutcher wrote:
My dad on his Elsinore - you guys tell me the year  
IMG 2038 3

My dad on his Elsinore - you guys tell me the year  

IMG 2033 4
R66 wrote:

1975?

No earlier than '73! 😄

Village Idiot
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6/25/2026 10:43am Edited Date/Time 6/25/2026 10:45am
Crutcher wrote:
My dad on his Elsinore - you guys tell me the year  
IMG 2038 3

My dad on his Elsinore - you guys tell me the year  

IMG 2033 4
R66 wrote:

1975?

No earlier than '73! 😄

Looks like a red stripe on the silver one... so another vote for '75?

Wait, did the '75 have the up-pipe? 🤔

1
ShellyMX
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4
mx317
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6/25/2026 11:06am Edited Date/Time 6/25/2026 11:09am
R66 wrote:

1975?

No earlier than '73! 😄

Looks like a red stripe on the silver one... so another vote for '75?

Wait, did the '75 have the up-pipe? 🤔

The 250 had the up pipe. This has to be late 75 or 76 because of the 76 Yamaha YZ125 on the end.

edit:

If you are talking about the bike, it is either a 74 or 75 CR125. The one next to him with the red top tank is a 75.

2
Scott920
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6/25/2026 11:34am
dirt 0

Mid 70's headed out with my Honda and Dad and his Husky. Every weekend we went somewhere, woods, gravel pit, tracks, Dessert 100. 

15
MarkF
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6/25/2026 12:06pm
Scott920 wrote:
Mid 70's headed out with my Honda and Dad and his Husky. Every weekend we went somewhere, woods, gravel pit, tracks, Dessert 100. 
dirt 0

Mid 70's headed out with my Honda and Dad and his Husky. Every weekend we went somewhere, woods, gravel pit, tracks, Dessert 100. 

Love it! How long did you continue to ride together?

1
sumdood
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1 day ago

"Nofees" Where the 5 fwy rounds the corner in Dana Point.  1972 XL175.

NOFEES CROSS UP
Yes it bottomed out
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Hill climb fail
NOFEES DOWNHILL JUMP PULLED BACK
Downhill jump headed towards Dana Point harbor
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Downhill jump side view
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Wheelie across a rain rut fail 
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Right before hill climb fail picture
NOFEES WHEELIE XL175
Dana Point harbor in background
14
1 day ago

This thread is hall of fame worthy. Keep the pictures coming guys. 🙂

8

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