Motocross Memories
Motocross Memories
CW VINTAGE MX COLLECTION
TEN OF OUR FAVORITE VINTAGE BIKES FROM TOM WHITE’S EARLY YEARS OF MOTOCROSS MUSEUM
Andrew Bornhop
As luck would have it, the Cycle World office is only 20 minutes from one of the best collections of vintage motocross machines in the country. Tucked up in the hills of Villa Park, Tom White’s Early Years of Motocross Museum celebrates the formative years of the sport in the US, which took off in 1966 when San Diego Husqvarna dealer M. Edison Dye invited the likes of Roger DeCoster, Joel Robert, and Torsten Hallman to race against Americans in the inaugural nine-race Inter-Am series. This was a time when many bikes were essentially converted scrambles machines, and the riders (often in Carrera goggles, Jofa mouthguards, and long-sleeve T-shirts) raced long 40-minute motos on natural-terrain tracks lined by wood-slatted hurricane fencing.
As impressive as it is, with 171 total bikes ranging from Aermacchi-engine Harleys to Zundapps, White’s museum isn’t open to the public. While White—an AMA Hall of Famer and former National No. 80 dirt tracker—does host special events at his museum (he feeds Marines and their families each Thanksgiving and holds a once-a-year Bikes & Burgers fund-raiser for the High Hopes Head Injury Program), the collection in the barn next to his house is private.
What to do? Bring White’s museum to life via 10 choice motocross bikes from his collection that reveal just how varied the machines were in the formative years of the sport. To be clear: These aren’t necessarily the most collectible or the most valuable; they are a selection of motocrossers from many different countries that illustrate the innovation and exploration taking place during a period of rapid change and innovation.
1971 HODAKA SUPER RAT
Admit it: You, or somebody you knew, had a Hodaka Super Rat. After all, from 1970 to 1973,
Hodaka sold more than 18,000 Super Rats in the US. And what a fun bike it was, a common step up from the minibikes so popular back in the day. Pabatco, the Oregonbased distributor, started selling Hodaka Ace 90s back in 1964, and in 1968, the engine was bored to 100cc to become the Ace 100. Fun fact: The prototype for the Ace 100 had “SR” painted on its airbox, which meant Special Racer. But when one wag at Pabatco joked that it really meant Super Rat, the name stuck. The Super Rat, with its chrome tank, red frame, canister airbox, and steel fenders, sold for only $495 in 1970, and it raced with good success in 100cc MX, scrambles, and even TT. MX legends Brad Lackey and Jim Pomeroy both started on Hodakas.
THIS WAS A TIME WHEN MANY BIKES WERE ESSENTIALLY CONVERTED SCRAMBLES MACHINES
1975 CZ 250 FALTA REPLICA
In 1974, Jaroslav Falta of Czechoslovakia nearly wonthe250cc World Championship but did win the Superbowl of Motocross at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in front of 65,000 spectators. His bike? A factory CZ with lotsof mysterious parts from behind the Iron Curtain.
So, for 1975, to help fight the comingjapanese invasion, CZ introduced the F Replica. Standard parts included alloy-bodied air shocks, magnesium hubs, even a handmade leather belt to secure the aluminum coffin-style fuel tank.
These CZs had a reputation for being durable, and the Falta Replica, with its red frame, even had a splash of style. At $1,490 in 197S, the CZ 250 Falta Replica was much pricier than the Japanese competition, which basically took over for good in 1977.
1978 YAMAHA HL500
Yamaha’s four-stroke TT500 of 1976 was a fun bike but much more of a cow trailer than a motocross machine. Although companies like C6J and others quickly began making lightweight frames and hop-up parts for the TT, it never became a decent MXer until Sten Lundin, working with Torsten Hallman, had Profab build a lightweight frame to his specs. Fitted with a specially tabbed aluminum swingarm, Fox Air Shocks, and a Simons fork, this HL500 (Hallman and Lundin) tipped the scales at only 247 pounds and had nearly 11 inches of travel front and rear. Bengt Aberg raced the 1977 500cc World Championship on an HL500, even winning a moto at the Luxembourg Grand Prix. Fun fact: Yamaha never supported the project, but the European team boss had Norton build 200 Aberg Replica bikes. In the US, Profab built a similar number but only as kits. The HL weighs less than a new WR450F! Want!
...AND THE RIDERS RACED LONG 40-MINUTE MOTOS ON NATURAL-TERRAIN TRACKS.
1968 SUZUKI TM250
The first production Japanese MX bike. Fewer than 50 Suzuki TM250s came to America for 1968. Suzuki began experimenting with motocross in 1964, sending a roadracer and two engineers to Europe to compete on a twin-cylinder bike. Suzuki eventually settled on a single with a twin-pipe design influenced by the CZ Twin Port that carried Joel Robert to the 1964 250cc World Championship. Even though the 1966 and 1967 Suzuki race machines were heavy and didn’t handle well, they became the basis for the production 1968 TM250, which was raced by the likes of Preston Petty. Later, GP veteran Ollie Petterson managed to get Suzuki to improve the power and reduce the weight of the machine while moving the engine forward and switching to a single low pipe. He also recommended the hiring of Belgian riders Joel Robert and Roger DeCoster, who, as we all know, put Suzuki in the history books.
1966 MATCHLESS 500 G85CS
Is this thing really a motocrosser? It is. Technically, it’s a C8S Competition Scrambler, and this all-new Matchless model for 1966 was designed to compete with the CZs, Husqvarnas, Bultacos, and Creeves that were winning most of the MX and scrambles events back then. With a duplex chassis that borrowed much of its design from Norton, plus a lightweight fork and neat details such as a magnesium rear hub, the CS tipped the scales at a claimed 318 pounds, which is 42 pounds lighter than the C80 it replaced. The engine, an old design fed by an Amal CP carburetor, had bumped compression and a lightened flywheel, but the pricey CS never became a race or a sales success. Nevertheless, it’s a beautiful machine, the motorcycle equivalent of an Indy Roadster competing against the rear-engine revolution.
1968 PENTON 125 SIX DAYS
John Penton, American enduro legend, knew that a lightweight and small-displacement “mud runner” could defeat the larger and heavier competition of the early 1960s. Long story short, he approached KTM-at the time, a maker of bicycles and mopeds-to build 10 prototype Pentons, which arrived in the US in the spring of 1968 and immediately tasted enduro success. By the end of 1968, Penton had sold more than 400 of these KTM-built machines, including this one here. It’s a pristine early steel-tank example, and although it looks delicate, Pentons stood up to abuse and were soon winning motocross races. The Sachs 125 was fed by a Bing carb, and the only real downside was a finicky gearbox. Pentons were fitted with Metzelers, aluminum fenders, and Magura controls. Top-quality stuff!
1966 HUSQVARNA 360 VIKING
When most people think of vintage Huskys, they think of the fire engine red bikes you see in On Any Sunday. But the earlier Swedish machines were the maroon color seen on this 1966 360 Viking, whose exposed bolt-together frame should keep any wise rider from sliding up against the tank. This bike-from delicate-looking upper triple clamps down to its polished conical hubs and 19-inch front rim-is based on the 250 Husky chassis that Torsten Hallman rode to the 250 world titles in 1966 and 1967 but with a bigger 360cc motor to compete in the 500 class. White says the 360 makes only slightly better power than the 250, and it’s less reliable. But here’s the kicker: Only 10 Vikings were imported by M. Edison Dye in 1966, and this example, which weighs only 215 pounds, is the only one known to exist today. Fun fact: 360s have 10 cylinder fins, the 250s only eight.
1967 GREEVES 250 CHALLENGER
This bike, with its leading-link front suspension, looks like it’s from another era entirely. Although the British-built Greeves were the most popular two-stroke dirt bikes in the early 1960s, the 250 Challenger was a last effort to compete with the lighter and more maneuverable CZs and Husqvarnas that were gaining in popularity. Girling shocks are used front and rear, and that Earles fork, besides being stout, had a couple of advantages. Unlike a telescopic fork, it had almost no sliding friction, and it offered 6.5 inches of travel when most other bikes had about 4. Earlier Greeves were powered by Villiers engines, but by this time the company was making its own two-strokes. Fun fact: Bungee cords (official Greeves parts, no doubt) are used to attach the fiberglass tank front and rear.
1973 HONDA CR250M ELSINORE
This bike, Honda’s first production MXer and first twostroke, changed the face of American motocross. Named after the Elsinore Grand Prix, the CR250M became the bike of choice for legions of motocrossers because it was light, fast, and reliable—not to mention years ahead of European machines in overall user friendliness.
The Elsinore had a steel tank, magnesium engine cases, and plastic fenders, the front even fitted with an OE mud flap emblazoned with the letters “CR.” The Jones brothers, Gary and DeWayne, along with their father Don, developed the Elsinore for racing, and Gary went on to win the 1973 AMA 250 National title on an Elsinore. Fun fact: Back in 1973, a CR250 piston cost $11.40. Rings would set you back an extra $3.
1972 MONARK 125 MX
Monark, a Swedish bicycle maker from the early 1900s, started making motorcycles in the late 1940s and eventually won the 500cc World Motocross championship in 1959 with Sten Lundin. In 1970, the company introduced its first 125cc motocrosser, the 125 MX. It’s beautiful in its Scandinavian simplicity, which is enhanced by colors reminiscent of the Swedish flag. The frame is chrome-moly steel, the suspension is from Ceriani, and the rims are classic Akronts. With its Sachs engine, the Monark is a bit like a Swedish Penton. Fun fact: In July of 1973, Ray Lopez won the first-ever 125cc National on a Penton, and he was followed across the line by a young pre-Honda Marty Smith on a Monark. The race was held at Arroyo Cycle Park in San Bernardino, California. Don’t recognize the name? That’s because it’s now called Glen Helen Raceway, which is where the final race of the 201S MXGP series takes place on September 20. See you there!
HIGH HOPES
Tom White supports the High Hopes Head Injury Program for a very dear reason: In 1997, his 18-year-old son Brad crashed a small motorcycle into a horizontally suspended chain being used as a gate, crushing his larynx and causing a severe brain injury that left him unable to eat, talk, see, or control his body. But Brad came home from the hospital 94 days later and continues to attend the High Hopes Head Injury Program, which is dedicated to helping individuals recover from traumatic brain injuries and sometimes even walk, talk, and take care of themselves again. Tom has even found a fun way that he and Brad can share their mutual passion for motorcycling: They cruise the roads of Villa Park together in a Ural sidecar fitted with a special racestyle harness. If you see them, give ’em a wave. If you’re able, donate to highhopes.ws. -AB
