The History of Honda's CR80R and CR85R 1980-2007

dadofagun wrote:

The first year of those bikes were absolute shit. My brother in 1980 was a 12 year old intermediate, and not pushing an 80 to it's...

The first year of those bikes were absolute shit. My brother in 1980 was a 12 year old intermediate, and not pushing an 80 to it's limit yet, and he went through three of them in a season. The rear axle was was made of putty, and the swingarm wasn't much better. After a good 3 laps in a moto, one or both of the afore mentioned would bend, throwing the chain. The bottom ends were quite fragile as well, as my poor Dad was splitting cases at least twice a month on one of the three. The only one that was worth a damn was the one decked out by DG. It would last twice as long as the two stock bikes, which still wasn't saying much. My mother has many pics of my brother pushing his bright red Honda on the side of the track from that year..... That August, as soon as we came home from Ponca, Dad loaded all three of them and traded everything Honda he had bought that year for ONE new YZ 80. He said it was one of the greatest days of his life being rid of those little red bastards. Between me on Italjets, and him on the Honda, my poor Dad worked his ass off an entire season. I have a pic somewhere of him bolting a CR 80 back together on a Holiday Inn parking lot well past dark....happened several times that year. The little Honda was pretty to look at, and that is where it ended. Later I guess they became quite a bike, but Dad made us promise to never ask for one again!