Rare or ununsual bikes you've ridden or owned?

Matt Fisher
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Matt Fisher 8/28/2014 10:40pm
8/28/2014 10:40pm
domoguchi wrote:
[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/08/27/63677/s1200_image.jpg[/img] Rickman MK4 full build BSA with extremely rare Weslake kit 500cc one of the first ten bikes imported into the USA in 1968.... Purchased from...


Rickman MK4 full build BSA with extremely rare Weslake kit 500cc one of the first ten bikes imported into the USA in 1968.... Purchased from the Steens Importer in California. Sat in his showroom for many years prior to me owning it...Rare peice of MX history... This is unrestored and in original condition. Fully documented and original Cycle News article included.
Presently For Sale .
newmann wrote:
Care to share with us dreamers what the asking price is for a jewel like that these days? Just a damn work of art. Seeing someone...
Care to share with us dreamers what the asking price is for a jewel like that these days? Just a damn work of art. Seeing someone who can ride the piss out of one of those is such a treat.
Jack mehoff wrote:
Newman that thing has your name written all over it
Agreed.

Aren't you glad we're here to help you spend your money? LaughingLaughing
evomx244
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evomx244 8/29/2014 5:23am
8/29/2014 5:23am
Bigfoot wrote:
1982 YZ250J Air-cooled. Yamaha never sold an air-cooled PowerValve motor. But I had one. When Jeff Jennings contract was up with Yamaha at the end of...
1982 YZ250J Air-cooled.

Yamaha never sold an air-cooled PowerValve motor. But I had one. When Jeff Jennings contract was up with Yamaha at the end of 1982 and it was time to turn in his equipment Yamaha management told him that any bikes he wanted to keep could be had for the princely sum of $750.

So JJ and I picked over all of the best stuff and put together this bike. We used the works crowns with titanium fasteners that he had and slid in the fork legs and front wheel of the 490 he had that had only been ridden a couple of times. The frame was a specially modified one that had the steering angle kicked out a degree (the stockers were kind of skittish). The rear shock was a Wayne Mooradian/PEP modified model with a White Bros oversize reservoir. The rear suspension linkage was a White Bros prototype that had threaded struts to adjusts the rear ride height and Wayne had installed Zerk fittings so that the linkage pivots could be lubed without disassembling them. The footpegs were special Wayne modified ones that were bigger and higher than stock. The crank end had been machined to accept a YZ60 ignition that gave the powerband a quick zing. And the trickest thing of all, we used the air-cooled OW cylinder that the factory had made when their riders complained about the '82 YZ radiator mounted on the forks behind the numberplate.These cylinders were meant for Supercross with the logic being that overheating isn't as likely in a short race run at night as compared to a 45 minute moto in the heat of the day.

As cool as it was a stock '83 Honda CR250 was sooooo much better. My YZ did have a quick-revving motor that was easy to control, but even at its best the rear suspension was unpredictable. I rode it for a few years and raced it a few times and then in '87 a friend of JJ's borrowed it and never returned it.


I found that very bike some years ago on the internet. A vintage guy in Missouri has it and oddly enough he loaned it to Mike Bell for a vintage race. Mike is JJ's cousin and 1982 Yamaha teammate.





I always wonder about those air cooled 82 YZ250, as Ricky Johnson raced one in some SX races that year. I would kiil to have that bike. I actually saw that bike somewhere and but I just thought the owner some how build it. Very cool story
Scott
Motocrossjunky
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Motocrossjunky 8/29/2014 5:26am
8/29/2014 5:26am
Motocrossjunky wrote:
Prob buying this, does anyone know what it is? [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/08/26/63516/s1200_foto.jpg[/img]
Prob buying this, does anyone know what it is?



zippy895 wrote:
xl 250 or 350?
Already knew it is a 50cc, found out now it's a 1978 Honda XL50
domoguchi
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domoguchi 8/29/2014 9:10am
8/29/2014 9:10am Edited Date/Time 8/29/2014 2:39pm
Here's one you don't see everyday..factory Honda trials bike 305cc. Outstanding bikes and still extremely competitive today.
.

The Shop

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TheWeapon
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TheWeapon 8/31/2014 8:53pm
8/31/2014 8:53pm
This...



Probably the most enjoyable bike I've owned. 96 model 125 - TM engine, Ohlins suspension, hydraulic clutch. Just a beautiful machine. Basically a nicer-looking TM (the TMs that year were pink....)
dynohut
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dynohut 8/31/2014 9:24pm
8/31/2014 9:24pm


My mighty "OSSA 250 PHANTOM" ! I had a couple more museum phantom restorations as well along the way, but this race bike was the boss, did you want your ass whipped? well then line up next to this one on the gate to get the full picture all the way to the first corner while you ate the roost, she had a '75 tranny no missed gears
Gig755
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Gig755 8/31/2014 10:39pm
8/31/2014 10:39pm
One of my friends Dad had a bike shop, and he had this bike for quite a few years. It was Frank Stacy's 1977 Factory Sachs 250 works bike that he rode in the '77 Trans Ama support class. It's now in the Moto Armory museum. I got to ride this bike before it was restored, and it was pretty quick!






And he also had this really rare Hercules Wankel GS enduro bike.








shanes
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shanes 8/31/2014 11:31pm
8/31/2014 11:31pm
I got a chance to test a Honda NSR 500 GP at Donington Park in the UK .

i think they would come under rare :-}



WhiteKnuckleV2.1 9/1/2014 4:18am
9/1/2014 4:18am
stantdm wrote:
A friend had a Rickman 125. I forget the engine maker. He let me ride it in the alley while he was working on a Honda...
A friend had a Rickman 125. I forget the engine maker. He let me ride it in the alley while he was working on a Honda I owned. Neat bike but more show than go.

I rode a Cagiva 125 back about 1988. It had one front fork handling compression and the other handling rebound if I remember correctly. All the components on that bike seemed to be very high quality.

Penton 125 with a Sachs engine. Every time you landed off of a jump the chain adjuster bent or broke. Not rare but unusual.

I had one of those Rickmans, had a Zundapp engine. I won my first race on it but it was really pretty slow and the shifting was incredibly bad. It was easy to find neutral, there was one between every gear. But it was a beautiful bike and very reliable and fun to ride. Rode it almost every day.

The fiberglass body work wasn't the best idea. I looped it once and the fiberglass blew to pieces in a big blue could as I rolled down the track. I felt like I was rolling into a smurf.

Digger29
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Digger29 9/1/2014 5:49am
9/1/2014 5:49am
pete24 wrote:
my cannondale i loved it [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/08/28/63727/s1200_x440_TSS2.jpg[/img]
my cannondale i loved it








My Cannondale and yes I loved mine too. Had a handmade Bill's Pipe on it and after a cpl of remaps it actually went pretty good and handled amazingly well for a big heavy bike.
Digger29
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Digger29 9/1/2014 5:54am
9/1/2014 5:54am
pete24 wrote:
my cannondale i loved it [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/08/28/63727/s1200_x440_TSS2.jpg[/img]
my cannondale i loved it








Digger29 wrote:
My Cannondale and yes I loved mine too. Had a handmade Bill's Pipe on it and after a cpl of remaps it actually went pretty good...
My Cannondale and yes I loved mine too. Had a handmade Bill's Pipe on it and after a cpl of remaps it actually went pretty good and handled amazingly well for a big heavy bike.
Now this bike on the other hand was a vicious pile of shit and I only raced it a cpl of times before selling it. It almost killed me on numerous occasions so I parked it before it did kill me..
Gig755
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Gig755 9/1/2014 6:47am
9/1/2014 6:47am
RbR wrote:
My dad brought home a couple of these for my brother and I in 73~74: Rockford "TORA" 60cc. Fun to ride ... until your friends found...
My dad brought home a couple of these for my brother and I in 73~74: Rockford "TORA" 60cc. Fun to ride ... until your friends found out ...


I too had one in 1974, and I still have a couple today. I made one of them into a mini flat tracker, and I use it as a pit bike.





Ths is a Rockford Chibi standard model that I had in 1971.





And this is a Chibi Deluxe model that I also use as a pit bike.






docrick
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docrick 9/1/2014 7:06am
9/1/2014 7:06am
pete24 wrote:
my cannondale i loved it [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/08/28/63727/s1200_x440_TSS2.jpg[/img]
my cannondale i loved it








Digger29 wrote:
My Cannondale and yes I loved mine too. Had a handmade Bill's Pipe on it and after a cpl of remaps it actually went pretty good...
My Cannondale and yes I loved mine too. Had a handmade Bill's Pipe on it and after a cpl of remaps it actually went pretty good and handled amazingly well for a big heavy bike.
Digger29 wrote:
Now this bike on the other hand was a vicious pile of shit and I only raced it a cpl of times before selling it. It...
Now this bike on the other hand was a vicious pile of shit and I only raced it a cpl of times before selling it. It almost killed me on numerous occasions so I parked it before it did kill me..
You Digger, whats up bud. Is that a TM 300? I just had a look at one of those in a friends crazy garage right down the street from my house. this guy has 2 of those as well as Fred Andrews national #1 KX250. I am trying to make a deal with him to get it but he wants my CR500.

Tumblin
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Tumblin 9/1/2014 7:53am
9/1/2014 7:53am
Gig755 wrote:
One of my friends Dad had a bike shop, and he had this bike for quite a few years. It was Frank Stacy's 1977 Factory Sachs...
One of my friends Dad had a bike shop, and he had this bike for quite a few years. It was Frank Stacy's 1977 Factory Sachs 250 works bike that he rode in the '77 Trans Ama support class. It's now in the Moto Armory museum. I got to ride this bike before it was restored, and it was pretty quick!






And he also had this really rare Hercules Wankel GS enduro bike.








That Sachs is a good looking bike, I don't remember Stacy riding them or ever a Factory presence in the states other than motors stuffed in those KTM/Pentons.

I can't say the same for that wanker looking Wankel, very unique though.
Gig755
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Gig755 9/1/2014 8:10am
9/1/2014 8:10am
Gig755 wrote:
One of my friends Dad had a bike shop, and he had this bike for quite a few years. It was Frank Stacy's 1977 Factory Sachs...
One of my friends Dad had a bike shop, and he had this bike for quite a few years. It was Frank Stacy's 1977 Factory Sachs 250 works bike that he rode in the '77 Trans Ama support class. It's now in the Moto Armory museum. I got to ride this bike before it was restored, and it was pretty quick!






And he also had this really rare Hercules Wankel GS enduro bike.








Tumblin wrote:
That Sachs is a good looking bike, I don't remember Stacy riding them or ever a Factory presence in the states other than motors stuffed in...
That Sachs is a good looking bike, I don't remember Stacy riding them or ever a Factory presence in the states other than motors stuffed in those KTM/Pentons.

I can't say the same for that wanker looking Wankel, very unique though.
Check out this Motocross Action interview with Frank Stacy:

The MXA Interview: Frank Stacy – MX History and Inside Tire R&D


ns503
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ns503 9/1/2014 8:31am
9/1/2014 8:31am
queen of spodes wrote:
Anyone own a Can Am back in the 80s? When I first started riding and going to watch local hare scrambles, Can Ams were everywhere.. Few...
Anyone own a Can Am back in the 80s? When I first started riding and going to watch local hare scrambles, Can Ams were everywhere.. Few jap bikes.. lots of Huskies, KTMs, and a smattering of Yamaha ITs and Kawasaki KDXs. Loved the way the Can Ams developed up till 87 or so.. they were sharp!
I've got half a basement full of Can-Am projects. One runner - a 1981 mx6 250.

Hoping I live to see retirement so I can really get into them.

The one I'm looking forward to the most is a 1986 560 Sonic. Mega thump.

But I also have a 1982 SWM 250 MX with the same Rotax motor. And Fox Factory Forks.
Kartwheel84c 9/1/2014 1:00pm
9/1/2014 1:00pm
Gig755 wrote:
One of my friends Dad had a bike shop, and he had this bike for quite a few years. It was Frank Stacy's 1977 Factory Sachs...
One of my friends Dad had a bike shop, and he had this bike for quite a few years. It was Frank Stacy's 1977 Factory Sachs 250 works bike that he rode in the '77 Trans Ama support class. It's now in the Moto Armory museum. I got to ride this bike before it was restored, and it was pretty quick!






And he also had this really rare Hercules Wankel GS enduro bike.








That is the bike that my friend Helmut Clasen uses to build these MC-GS enduro conversion bikes. Helmut was the North American importer for these bikes, and only 5 (not counting the Stacy bike) were imported. He has 4 of those 5 now. Stacy's bike was a 5 speed but the normal production bikes were 7 speed transmissions, a 5 speed with a third aux transmissions shaft with 2 more gears on it.



Pit Row

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Digger29
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Digger29 9/1/2014 3:52pm
9/1/2014 3:52pm
Digger29 wrote:
My Cannondale and yes I loved mine too. Had a handmade Bill's Pipe on it and after a cpl of remaps it actually went pretty good...
My Cannondale and yes I loved mine too. Had a handmade Bill's Pipe on it and after a cpl of remaps it actually went pretty good and handled amazingly well for a big heavy bike.
Digger29 wrote:
Now this bike on the other hand was a vicious pile of shit and I only raced it a cpl of times before selling it. It...
Now this bike on the other hand was a vicious pile of shit and I only raced it a cpl of times before selling it. It almost killed me on numerous occasions so I parked it before it did kill me..
docrick wrote:
You Digger, whats up bud. Is that a TM 300? I just had a look at one of those in a friends crazy garage right down...
You Digger, whats up bud. Is that a TM 300? I just had a look at one of those in a friends crazy garage right down the street from my house. this guy has 2 of those as well as Fred Andrews national #1 KX250. I am trying to make a deal with him to get it but he wants my CR500.

Yes it's 03 TM300. I probably should've wrote that in the pic :-)
Tumblin
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Tumblin 9/1/2014 8:48pm
9/1/2014 8:48pm
Gig755 wrote:
Check out this Motocross Action interview with Frank Stacy:

The MXA Interview: Frank Stacy – MX History and Inside Tire R&D


Thanks for the post, what an amazing time in our sport. The development of all of these new ideas, new bikes. I also had fun chopping up my CZ and trying to work out spring rates LOL. But can't imagine being a national contender and busting out that Sachs in just 2 short weeks;
"We picked the 1977 Trans Am series, which as it turns out was about 2 weeks from starting. We busted everything out, everyone worked hard and man we spent some cash but we made the first race at Mid-Ohio. I finished 5th in the opener and things kinda went downhill from there but I still salvaged a 9th overall in the series. After the series was over they pulled the plug on the development of the bike. "
Bearuno
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Bearuno 9/1/2014 9:35pm
9/1/2014 9:35pm
domoguchi wrote:
Here's one you don't see everyday..factory Honda trials bike 305cc. Outstanding bikes and still extremely competitive today. .[img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2014/08/29/63847/s1200_image.jpg[/img]
Here's one you don't see everyday..factory Honda trials bike 305cc. Outstanding bikes and still extremely competitive today.
.

Cripes!

Is that Marland Whaleysp?) / Bill Nilson era / vintage? The youngest it could be would be early Eddie Lejuen (sp, again?)

A very, very special motorcycle, that one.

I was lucky enough to gave a short spin on a Hercules Rotary, at a Six Day, decades ago. A remarkable engine.
wildbill
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wildbill 9/2/2014 12:14am
9/2/2014 12:14am
Gig755 wrote:
Check out this Motocross Action interview with Frank Stacy:

The MXA Interview: Frank Stacy – MX History and Inside Tire R&D


Tumblin wrote:
Thanks for the post, what an amazing time in our sport. The development of all of these new ideas, new bikes. I also had fun chopping...
Thanks for the post, what an amazing time in our sport. The development of all of these new ideas, new bikes. I also had fun chopping up my CZ and trying to work out spring rates LOL. But can't imagine being a national contender and busting out that Sachs in just 2 short weeks;
"We picked the 1977 Trans Am series, which as it turns out was about 2 weeks from starting. We busted everything out, everyone worked hard and man we spent some cash but we made the first race at Mid-Ohio. I finished 5th in the opener and things kinda went downhill from there but I still salvaged a 9th overall in the series. After the series was over they pulled the plug on the development of the bike. "

Cool stuff you ole fuggers... Wink Luckily, FTE told me that factory CZ's in 76 had double downtubes thus my 76 Falta Replica, (sold as "John Rigi's works, practice bike to me, a 14 yr old for $600) might have been just a run of the mill CZ?



I did holeshot my first race on it though, and, could readily smoke my friends 79 KX-250 at will.



Bressler11
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Bressler11 9/21/2014 7:30am
9/21/2014 7:30am


I had a Husqvarna Cr 50 I used to love beating kids on cobras with this thing 2003-2004 I raced it no idea what year it was... (still air-cooled)
tprice07
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tprice07 9/21/2014 7:39am
9/21/2014 7:39am
My first bike was a Yamaha GT80 not sure how rare it was but my dad had a matching 250 so I always felt like a mini me to him

I still have these bikes plus an old RM 80 and Honda CT 70. These are my 'someday' projects.

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