1990 VRP Mugen 125 - rebuilt

Finally i got one of my new shirts for this years vintage championships. I designed it early this year however the manufacturer had issues due to Covid and had his plant closed for months...so now i finally got the 1st sample. There will be minor corrections and also No. 137 which is my racenumber in Italy. I have No. 8 in Switzerland...it was/is my lucky-number since '93

I always liked Rick Johnsons Fox gear of 1986....that's what i had in mind.


I think it turned out quite good:

Here's a better view of the Maggiora circuit where we raced a couple weeks ago. We raced on the EXACT SAME track!
Also interesting to see that the 125cc EMX class did times of 1:48 while our class winner did a best of 1:55 (rider at 40 years of age on a '89 CR 125). My best was a 2:03 not doing two of the 4 huge tables. Approaching them on a little, 30 year old CR 125 is a little different than having a factory 450

Again-if you see these jumps and steepness of the uphills & downhills in real time it's impressive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkuS_O-rNMc

Happy Halloween to everybody

It's now over 1 1/2 years i have this VRP aluminum chassis kit at home. I also have most other parts ready to go since at least a year BUT i was missing the drive to put the hours into the build of this 2nd VRP bike.

BUT - 3 months ago i had a nasty crash with my MTB. We have some nice downhill singletrails just behind the City of Zurich...well - they're nice as long as you don't do unintentional frontflips....i broke 3 vertebrae in that crash so i am out of action since already 3 months!! I was lucky to "walk away" - literally.

Anyway - over here in Zurich/Switzerland Winter is already here. Temperatures are around the freezing point, no riding, no cycling...no MXGP races anymore and no SX races to watch as well. So it's the time in the year when new "old" bikes are born or re-built.

So i finally started the build of my VRP:


Mugen forks up front


All new...and Ti-bolts


Titanium footpegs and Ti-bolts on the engine...

So yesterday i wanted to close the engine so i looked for the cylinder. I have a couple in the shelve and had to decide which one to take...look for small parts as well. Just everything that's needed. In the end i had a whole lot on my workbench and decided to take a picture before putting them to sleep again for the upcoming years...



So this 1990 Mugen it will be. I also have a HRC Kit ignition and CDI from back in the day. We actually bought these parts brandnew from Honda back in the day and they were supposed to be used for swiss championships but my bike was already running so good we never even tried it. So i had it in a box for like 30 years just waiting to be installed...now is the moment:

As mentioned before i had to look for all parts needed to complete my engine. Here's what will be used....

Nino's performance kit:

1990 Mugen kit
HRC ignition & CDI
italian Messico exhaust & silencer
98/99 HPP exhaust valves



My 1990 Mugen kit, HPP small parts, correct size Vertex piston, gaskets, some Ti-nuts & bolts...

As mentioned yesterday i was just trying to get all pieces together from various boxes in my garage...so today i finally managed to put the Mugen kit on the lower engine.

So my 1990 VRP Mugen Honda CR 125 finally has a engine 😜
It's completely rebuilt from the ground up. New crank, new bearings & seals, new clutch basket, new clutch...Ti-bolts top to bottom...almost everything new!

Well - quite some time passed since i posted the last time here...i continued riding after breaking 3 vertebrae in a freak MTB crash last september BUT this year i did all my cycling on the streets. So doing lots of miles on paved roads only. Usually i did like 50% of my cycling with Mountainbikes as well but my last injury with 3 broken vertebrae had me re-start on smooth roads and i just kept riding my roadbike ever since. Not that i won't hit some singletrails later on but since i'm actually leading the italian vintage championships i didn't want to risk anything.

So this upcoming weekend we will have the last race of the italian vintage championships at the iconic track of Maggiora in Italy. We raced there last year already and as mentioned before for me it was the most impressive track i ever put a wheel on in over 37 years of riding&racing MX ! Racing there with old machinery is a serious task. The images and videos don't show how demanding it really is...

This year was the first time i did all the italian races, also those in the south of Italy which for me as a swiss citizen sometimes were a really loooong drive. As is i'm leading the 125cc championships and it's just this one round at Maggiora to go.

Anyway - i already have my vintage artillery prepped and ready to go.



For the first time in many years i'll also take my original, aluminium framed '89 VRP Mugen bike along. Just as a backup if one of my race-engines should fail...and obviously to show all the interested people that will come to see old guys on old bikes



This year Maggiora is also called "FIM Vintage Worldcup" and there will be some serious racers on hand for this epic vintage venue:

Oh wow - i'm still cooling down from a tense weekend at Maggiora! I will definitely put many more pictures and videos etc....but for the moment i'm still cooling down as i was just too nervous the whole weekend to get my italian championship done.

Maggiora was not just some local race...it was a huge event with full gates...the track is spectacular to say the least and this time i jumped ALL those huge jumps with my little '89 125....i got enough flight time for sure

Anyway - i got it done by winning both my races !







Just another holeshot & leading the pack

Here's a video summary of my race at Maggiora:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoqNT_ykoRc

Start 1st race - i exited the 1st turn in 3rd, by the next turn i was already 2nd but if you would see the whole sequence of that start it is pretty much a miracle that i came through like that...as you can see i was really behind midway through the start straight (hidden behind No. 141 in yellow):


:

This is what i call the o'Mara jump...you have to jump to the left as the downside of that massive table is angled to the left:


This is a fast double...27 meters:


The same double:


The massive table at the finish line


Dave King passed by in the pits:


...and then there were all those heroes:

MC


Emig


Chicken


Brown


Cairoli


...the list goes on and on!

I came away with winning the overall of the three classes that were all combined in my races:

E4 - that's my class with 125cc bikes from 86-89 and riders age 35+ years
G1 - same bikes but riders age 14-34 years
EVO1 - Bikes 90-96 with riders 35+

Maggiora opens its doors only 2-3 times per year and only for championship races. This year they had the MXGP, the Italian Prestige championships and the Italian vintage championships. So a lot of guys just showed up to be able to hit the iconic Maggiora track. Therefore i had to battle with young "kids" which normally do the italian 125cc championships...but as mentioned overall i beat them with two 1st places in my class and 3rd/4th at the checkers behind 20-24 year old kids. Not too shabby for a 55 year old guy

It was also cool to see me not too far away in qualifying times - 4th at just 2.5 seconds to 1st...but just tenths behind 2nd&3rd...all three young guys of the G1 class

My bikes ready to go at Maggiora:

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/MyjWmL2ZPeQ

Early in the morning: This is how they start race-day in Italy...i was just sipping at a cup of coffe when they played Puccini....the atmosphere was just too cool really

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YX_T7ArMQOc

Here's more pics...

That track....Maggiora / Italy...perfectly prepped...a dream !





The ultra-steep downhill. Again-as always pictures&videos can't reflect how steep it really is


Part of the back section of the track...check the table in the background with guys standing on it!


Not much of a ramp in front of it....There's 2 guys actually standing on top of the ramp...so you're approaching from the right side behind there....you do that banked, left handed corner and immediately approach the lip...from back there you obviously don't see where you are jumping to....completely blind....


...and you landed right above the dozer marks....with a 33year old 125....you get the point This was actually the most intimidating jump of the four big ones i mentioned. You have to commit, blindfolded...and hope for the best

















Start of the 2nd race:

Ok-here we go...preparation for this years italian vintage championship. I just went to a new track i've never been to in Trofarello / Italy. What a nice track that was and i took full profit early sunday morning to be the first out on a perfectly prepped track using one of my '89 Mugen Honda 125s....that thing is a rocketship and it was just puuuuuuure pleasure around there: