I first started riding on a home made mini bike at the age of 8. My father got me a Honda Trail 70 when I was 11. I have always loved two wheeled riding and the dirt. My parents didn't support racing a motorcycle, so I always had to buy my own bikes after the 70. Conseqently, I was always on an older bike. I learned to ride rather than buy speed equipment. I actually raced a SL 100 against two strokes! It had a hot cam and a megaphone pipe. I thought it was the bomb. The 75 Honda cr250 pictured is not mine, but I had one like it. It was the first purpose built motocross bike I owned. I got it in 1977 for $600 and it was in excellent shape. The older man who owned it hurt his knee and couldn't start it anymore. It only had about 20 hours on it when I got it. I immediately put Works Performance shocks and a fork kit on it just like Dirt Bike or MXA did in a article I read. It was competitive for the local tracks with the latest MX hardware of the day. RMs may have looked tricker or been better, but not for us amateurs.