Johnny O's 1986 Factory Honda CR125...the story (video)

MX-Files
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MX-Files
Edited Date/Time 4/18/2019 5:15pm
Vital Gang,

Enjoy the first episode of a new series called "Factory Bikes". Sort of like a mini MX-File on the bikes themselves. Narrated by Larry Huffman. We shot this a while back and thought it was time to get it out there.

Enjoy the story of Johnny O'Mara's 1986 MXdN, Maggiora screamer Honda 125.

https://youtu.be/A8Qmt1RBXEo

Enjoy.

More to come. Also, we're trying to put together a 4th season of "The Motocross Files" for 2020. Let me know if there are any sponsors out there.

Cya,

Todd
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olds cool
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olds cool 4/15/2019 3:15pm
4/15/2019 3:15pm
Awesome! I haven’t watched yet but I know it will be. Thanks!
Ranman68
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Ranman68 4/15/2019 3:20pm
4/15/2019 3:20pm
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
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vetmxr
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vetmxr 4/15/2019 7:27pm
4/15/2019 7:27pm
I was really hoping to see If not O'show himself, then at least someone starting that thing up right there and spinning a few laps.......that would have been beyond awesome.

Not complaining.......that was really cool to watch......
wfoskir
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wfoskir 4/15/2019 9:33pm
4/15/2019 9:33pm
Thanks for sharing! Great Video
Redrcr34
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Redrcr34 4/15/2019 10:26pm
4/15/2019 10:26pm
Thanks for posting, Todd, do you still have the 82 mx de nations project going?
JasonJLF
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JasonJLF 4/16/2019 5:13am
4/16/2019 5:13am
Ranman68 wrote:
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
The "production based 125" that out-dragged Jem Whatleys' works Cagiva 250 down the start straight... ;-)
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BR8ES
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BR8ES 4/16/2019 6:54am
4/16/2019 6:54am
He definitely ripped on Mickey Dymond's bike.
Ranman68
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Ranman68 4/16/2019 3:13pm
4/16/2019 3:13pm
Ranman68 wrote:
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
JasonJLF wrote:
The "production based 125" that out-dragged Jem Whatleys' works Cagiva 250 down the start straight... ;-)
So are you hinting that Johhny O' was riding something else?
Matt Fisher
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Matt Fisher 4/16/2019 4:01pm
4/16/2019 4:01pm
Great short video.
Really interesting that it says it made between 36 and 38 HP. It took about 20 more years for the production bikes to hit that number.
Denn700
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Denn700 4/17/2019 7:31am
4/17/2019 7:31am
That’s pretty good considering a production 1986 CR250 made about 38 HP.
DoctorJD
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DoctorJD 4/17/2019 9:56am
4/17/2019 9:56am
Ranman68 wrote:
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
JasonJLF wrote:
The "production based 125" that out-dragged Jem Whatleys' works Cagiva 250 down the start straight... ;-)
Lol, let's discredit this accomplishment by claiming he was cheating. Yea, it still stings.
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ctbale
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ctbale 4/17/2019 10:51am
4/17/2019 10:51am
Cant get enuff of those documentary vids!

Thanks!!!!
Muscle-Milk-KTM 4/17/2019 11:36am
4/17/2019 11:36am
Ranman68 wrote:
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
I believe Thorpe was carrying an injury that day. Go watch the 85 des Nations, where Thorpe “smoked” the best in the world.
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ATKpilot99
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ATKpilot99 4/17/2019 12:06pm
4/17/2019 12:06pm
Let's argue about an MXdN that happened 33 fucking years ago .
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Ranman68
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Ranman68 4/17/2019 3:45pm
4/17/2019 3:45pm
Ranman68 wrote:
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:
I believe Thorpe was carrying an injury that day. Go watch the 85 des Nations, where Thorpe “smoked” the best in the world.
Try to get less butthurt and snide over a comment. Besides, it wasn't just Thorpe that O'Mara smoked. It was everybody else as well.
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newmann
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newmann 4/17/2019 4:38pm
4/17/2019 4:38pm
I have a buddy who was all stoked over picking up a super sweet 97 CR125 build with some HRC parts. He put on a Mugen top end thinking he was going to set the dyno on fire, hoping for upwards of 40 hp. 30HP it was. 11 years after this bike was on the track and they think we are going to believe those numbers? Fire that bitch up and put her on the dyno. Anything else is just a mythical creature.Wink

I have a 78 RC 500 (450cc) that was claimed to be 208 lbs and 62hp. I haven’t weighed it or fired it up. Maybe I need to.....hmmmmmm. It’s pretty fresh, still has hone marks in the cylinder and no carbon on the head. Kinda...new.
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alien
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alien 4/17/2019 4:52pm
4/17/2019 4:52pm
Think about a 60hp open class bike with the weight of a modern 125 . Those bikes were air cooled which allowed them to be super thin without the radiators and shrouds. Even with the suspension of the time they still had to handle like a dream weighing in at around 200lb. I would like to get some lap times with a top pro on one of those bikes, I think we might be surprised at what that bike can still do.
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Ranman68
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Ranman68 4/17/2019 4:58pm
4/17/2019 4:58pm
newmann wrote:
I have a buddy who was all stoked over picking up a super sweet 97 CR125 build with some HRC parts. He put on a Mugen...
I have a buddy who was all stoked over picking up a super sweet 97 CR125 build with some HRC parts. He put on a Mugen top end thinking he was going to set the dyno on fire, hoping for upwards of 40 hp. 30HP it was. 11 years after this bike was on the track and they think we are going to believe those numbers? Fire that bitch up and put her on the dyno. Anything else is just a mythical creature.Wink

I have a 78 RC 500 (450cc) that was claimed to be 208 lbs and 62hp. I haven’t weighed it or fired it up. Maybe I need to.....hmmmmmm. It’s pretty fresh, still has hone marks in the cylinder and no carbon on the head. Kinda...new.
There are engine dynos and rear wheel dynos. I'm sure the numbers they give are from an engine dynos which measures straight from the crank. Rear wheel dynos measure from the rear wheel, which always shows lower numbers due to losses in clutch, friction, and all the extra moving parts. I don't know about motorcycles, but I know with cars there can be a 15-30 percent reduction in hp numbers between crank and rear wheel. That could be the big difference you're seeing.
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BMSOBx2
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BMSOBx2 4/17/2019 5:25pm
4/17/2019 5:25pm Edited Date/Time 4/17/2019 5:27pm
I'm a Gearhead I love Motors. Being an old dude I think back to the 5 cylinder Honda 125cc 4-stroke that made 30 horsepower at 21500 RPM. Extrapolate that to 500cc. Wow. I was fortunate enough to be in the team obsolete pits at Laguna Seca when they fired up their 250 6 cylinder Honda during the Moto GP weekend. What a beautiful sound. You should lite that bad boy off Newman.
oldblood
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oldblood 4/17/2019 6:01pm
4/17/2019 6:01pm
Looked to me like Johnny O' was riding the crap out of that bike. Let's not overlook that.
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newmann
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newmann 4/17/2019 6:21pm
4/17/2019 6:21pm
BMSOBx2 wrote:
I'm a Gearhead I love Motors. Being an old dude I think back to the 5 cylinder Honda 125cc 4-stroke that made 30 horsepower at 21500...
I'm a Gearhead I love Motors. Being an old dude I think back to the 5 cylinder Honda 125cc 4-stroke that made 30 horsepower at 21500 RPM. Extrapolate that to 500cc. Wow. I was fortunate enough to be in the team obsolete pits at Laguna Seca when they fired up their 250 6 cylinder Honda during the Moto GP weekend. What a beautiful sound. You should lite that bad boy off Newman.
I tried to take the float bowl off of the magnesium carb but the damn thing appears to be fused on. Thought I would clean the carb and fuel her up for a kick. One day.




Pretty amazing bike, the amount of one off stuff on it is staggering. Honda supposedly billed these to the US race team at $80,000.00 per unit in 1978. Gotta funnel those profits back to Japan one way or another...lol.
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Muscle-Milk-KTM 4/17/2019 10:27pm
4/17/2019 10:27pm
Ranman68 wrote:
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:
I believe Thorpe was carrying an injury that day. Go watch the 85 des Nations, where Thorpe “smoked” the best in the world.
Ranman68 wrote:
Try to get less butthurt and snide over a comment. Besides, it wasn't just Thorpe that O'Mara smoked. It was everybody else as well.
What you really meant was, he beat everyone apart from his team mates, meaning everyone else that day was a nobody too.
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Ranman68
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Ranman68 4/17/2019 11:39pm
4/17/2019 11:39pm
Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:
I believe Thorpe was carrying an injury that day. Go watch the 85 des Nations, where Thorpe “smoked” the best in the world.
Ranman68 wrote:
Try to get less butthurt and snide over a comment. Besides, it wasn't just Thorpe that O'Mara smoked. It was everybody else as well.
Muscle-Milk-KTM wrote:
What you really meant was, he beat everyone apart from his team mates, meaning everyone else that day was a nobody too.
No......I meant that as 500cc world champion on a full works bike, it had to really sting being beaten by O'Mara on a 125. That's all I meant in my original comment. I didn't mean anything else. It wasn't to put down Thorpe or to say O'Mara could do that on a regular basis. It was just referring to THAT DAY.
Work on not telling other people what they mean.
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inthebadboycorner 4/18/2019 12:20am
4/18/2019 12:20am
BMSOBx2 wrote:
I'm a Gearhead I love Motors. Being an old dude I think back to the 5 cylinder Honda 125cc 4-stroke that made 30 horsepower at 21500...
I'm a Gearhead I love Motors. Being an old dude I think back to the 5 cylinder Honda 125cc 4-stroke that made 30 horsepower at 21500 RPM. Extrapolate that to 500cc. Wow. I was fortunate enough to be in the team obsolete pits at Laguna Seca when they fired up their 250 6 cylinder Honda during the Moto GP weekend. What a beautiful sound. You should lite that bad boy off Newman.
newmann wrote:
I tried to take the float bowl off of the magnesium carb but the damn thing appears to be fused on. Thought I would clean the...
I tried to take the float bowl off of the magnesium carb but the damn thing appears to be fused on. Thought I would clean the carb and fuel her up for a kick. One day.




Pretty amazing bike, the amount of one off stuff on it is staggering. Honda supposedly billed these to the US race team at $80,000.00 per unit in 1978. Gotta funnel those profits back to Japan one way or another...lol.
Hey Newmann, could you please tell us the bore and stroke numbers on that beast?
scottydogmx 4/18/2019 12:24am
4/18/2019 12:24am
Ranman68 wrote:
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Cool video. The world 500cc champion on a full tilt works bike gets smoked by a guy on a production based 125. That had to sting.
Yeah, even with very little braking capability.

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