Defying the laws of physics

[30DodgePanel]

Sure it's about bikes but come on,,, one can surely appreciate the difficulty of something like this.

Not to mention the time, money and practice they put into it.

 

 

Ahhh to be young (and in shape) again...

 

 

[edinmass]

I rode trials bikes back in the 70’s and 80’s. Ossa was my brand of choice. Recently bought a 1972 Ossa and restored it. Reliving my youth. Except my favorite challenge.......riding on top of walls........is beyond my skill set today..........

[30DodgePanel]

Funny how we relive things isn't it...

Recently I've been thinking about doing the same.

 

My brother had Ossa (great bikes) and I mostly rode Hodaka (super rat, dirt squirt among others) on dirt cause I found they were easy bikes to work on and maintain as a kid,,, plus they were a blast to ride. Doubt I'd fit on one today though..  

 

I remember conquering hills but these guys do things that defy logic in my opinion. Crazy SOB's..

 

[padgett]

My only dirt bike was a 441 Victor thumper. That said the really amazing thing is what can be done with camera angles particularly with no frame of reference.

[edinmass]

11 minutes ago, 30DodgePanel said:

Funny how we relive things isn't it...

Recently I've been thinking about doing the same.

 

My brother had Ossa (great bikes) and I mostly rode Hodaka (super rat, dirt squirt among others) on dirt cause I found they were easy bikes to work on and maintain as a kid,,, plus they were a blast to ride. Doubt I'd fit on one today though..  

 

I remember conquering hills but these guys do things that defy logic in my opinion. Crazy SOB's..

 

 

We had a dealership in the 70’s and 80’s, we sold Kawasaki, Ossa, Hodaka, Vespa, Rupp..........a great era to play with bikes. 

[30DodgePanel]

6 minutes ago, padgett said:

My only dirt bike was a 441 Victor thumper. That said the really amazing thing is what can be done with camera angles particularly with no frame of reference.

 

Agreed,,, the talent it takes to control your body and machine the way these guys do is insane. 

Hell, I almost fell over watching it...

 

I can't imagine the balance it takes to do something like this. 

The core and back strength alone boggles my mind

Edited February 21, 2021 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[30DodgePanel]

2 minutes ago, edinmass said:

 

We had a dealership in the 70’s and 80’s, we sold Kawasaki, Ossa, Hodaka, Vespa, Rupp..........a great era to play with bikes. 

 

Amen to that... preachin to the choir brother.

It really was a great era and good fun.

I've rode quads at the dunes lately and that is equally fun even now..

 

Although I have to admit, I had to do a search for Rupp lol.. never heard of them till you mentioned it. 

Either I never heard of them or I'm guessing the L25 did some damage after all.. not sure which one of those is correct...

 

I loved that Super Rat,  so much so that not much else got my attention... Even my uncles Norton collection were something I just didn't appreciate till later in life. Now I wish I would have paid more attention to what he was trying to tell me about them. He was actually the one who turned me onto Hodaka and Ossa. Great mechanical teacher to learn from as a kid... he loved bikes of any kind.

 

For those that don't know Hodaka, it is probably one of the easiest bikes to ride and is great for beginners or novice and evidently are quite collectible now days. Fast little screamer too (loud I mean). This type of bike is easy to handle but would never accomplish the stunts seen in first post. A guy would probably break his back trying it on anything other than the Repsol package they use currently. 

 

 

 

 

[30DodgePanel]

59 minutes ago, edinmass said:

I rode trials bikes back in the 70’s and 80’s. Ossa was my brand of choice. Recently bought a 1972 Ossa and restored it. Reliving my youth. Except my favorite challenge.......riding on top of walls........is beyond my skill set today..........

 

 

Ed, is yours a 250? Looks exactly like the one my older brother rode but if I recall his was blue and yellow. 
Were other colors available?

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Yea, a 250 four speed, next year was a five. I had MAR’s, Plonkers, and Six Days also. Trials today with modern tires stick like glue.........and the weight of bikes is about 1/3 of what we had. My friends rode Bultaco’s. Ossa was the odd man out bike. 

Edited February 21, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[TerryB]

Me on my Husqvarna after a Hare Scramble event in Pine Grove PA.  First bike was a 1972 Honda XL250 then a string of Husqvarnas and then back to Honda. Currently have a 1970 Yamaha Enduro 90 in the shed and a 1964 Vespa VNB125.  

 

[TerryB]

My buddy’s Italian Harley

 

[edinmass]

 

 

And people asked why my track had so many whoop dee doos! 🤫

 

 

 

 

[30DodgePanel]

1 hour ago, TerryB said:

Me on my Husqvarna after a Hare Scramble event in Pine Grove PA.  First bike was a 1972 Honda XL250 then a string of Husqvarnas and then back to Honda. Currently have a 1970 Yamaha Enduro 90 in the shed and a 1964 Vespa VNB125.  

 

Wow, those brought back some good memories... 

 

We never really took photos and I went to 17 schools growing up so it's a miracle I have any photos at all. I did manage to find a couple though.

 

One of me and one of my uncles troubleshooting something on a Dirt Squirt, and my crazy uncle Steve doing his best impression of the Doobie Brothers while sitting on his Wombat Combat

[TerryB]

I rode my first off road sanctioned enduro event in 1975 on my Honda XL250 and it was quite a lesson.  Most real competitors had lightweight 2 stroke bikes with real knobby tires.  My Honda with its street going tires allowed me to crash or fall down more times than I could count, not to mention getting stabbed in the ribs with the rear view mirror every time I went down.  In a few weeks I found a used 1975 Husqvarna CR250 and the rest is history.  Had a lot more fun, joined an off road enduro riding club and helped put on enduro and hare scramble events.  Not many pictures either from the early days, wish there were more.  
Note! Not to imply I was on the ISDT team, sent them money for the decals.  I did ride the national level enduros in PA, NJ and DE just to see how good the pros were compared to me. At some events the factory riders were on start numbers near me which allowed me to clearly realize I would never be one of them.

 

Edited February 21, 2021 by TerryB (see edit history)

[30DodgePanel]

57 minutes ago, edinmass said:

 

 

And people asked why my track had so many whoop dee doos! 🤫

 

 

 

 

 

So what you're saying is, defying the laws on the top of a whoop or berm but not so much on the bottom of the whoop? 

 

May have defied it early on,, but something tells me there's a whole lot of duct tape involved now...

 

[intimeold]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

 

 

And people asked why my track had so many whoop dee doos! 🤫

 

 

 

 

 

Being Top Heavy, you should be really careful with this one.

 

Thank for posting this.

 

intimeold

[John Bloom]

I never raced dirt bikes but suburban/rural living in the 70s in our small town in Indiana had lots of memories of those Honda CT70’s. Loved those small trail bikes. Vintage Honda’s are a soft spot for me. 

[Larry Schramm]

I still have my Honda Mini-Trail 50.  Besides me riding it when I was a kid, my son had used it and it is on deck for my grandsons to enjoy the bike.

Edited February 21, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[John Bloom]

15 minutes ago, Larry Schramm said:

I still have my Honda Mini-Trail 50.  Besides me riding it when I was a kid, my son had used it and it is on deck for my grandsons to enjoy the bike.

Love those 50’s and 70’s.  Great to hear it will be multi-generational. 

[TerryB]

This is what my first motorcycle looked like.  Great Honda durability just too heavy for competition.

 

[Fossil]

This is what my trials bike looked like but I never came close to riding like the video. It was amazing the low end torque that Yamaha was able to get out of 250cc.

[padgett]

John: I had a 150 Dream (pic look like a 150 and not the 305) for puttering around after getting out of basic. Put a new crank assembly and warmed over a bit and it would wind to the moon, really stated winding after the speedo redline. Later had a CB160 that was perfect for commuting until was rearended by a Monte Carlo at a stoplight.

 

Worst pain of my life and most wonderful pain of my life was when they straightened me out on a stretcher and I felt it. May still have a Monte hood badge imprint in my back.

[John Bloom]

4 minutes ago, padgett said:

John: I had a 150 Dream (pic look like a 150 and not the 305) for puttering around after getting out of basic. Put a new crank assembly and warmed over a bit and it would wind to the moon, really stated winding after the speedo redline. Later had a CB160 that was perfect for commuting until was rearended by a Monte Carlo at a stoplight.

 

Worst pain of my life and most wonderful pain of my life was when they straightened me out on a stretcher and I felt it. May still have a Monte hood badge imprint in my back.

Yikes!  Glad you survived. Yes, mine is the 150 (Benly).  Hondas rev like a a chainsaw. So ruggedly dependable.  I had a few mishaps back in the day.  
 

“You meet the nicest people on a Honda”

 

 

[edinmass]

We built this in our restoration shop in the early 2000’s. 1200 horse power top fuel Harley. We made 90 percent of the ENTIRE unit in house. 6.68 in the quarter mile.........it’s what we call.........shit your pants fast.

[TerryB]

35 minutes ago, padgett said:

 

Worst pain of my life and most wonderful pain of my life was when they straightened me out on a stretcher and I felt it. May still have a Monte hood badge imprint in my back.

Yep, I missed out on the second part. The feeling never came back. Almost forty years of fun and adventure and one really, really bad day.  So it goes. 

[30DodgePanel]

3 hours ago, Larry Schramm said:

I still have my Honda Mini-Trail 50.  Besides me riding it when I was a kid, my son had used it and it is on deck for my grandsons to enjoy the bike.

 

 

That was my first bike I had.... that is..., until my ole man got hammered and decided to use a pick (plank for ladder jacks) for a ramp and jump 8 cinder blocks with it 🙄 what a dumb arse..

 

I've always liked most Honda stuff, good reliable engines ... even for small working motors like power washers and such..

I'm still one of the few who rides a Honda 250R at the dunes. The clan at the dunes try and convert me to 4 stroke but I still love the sound and smell too much to convert. "Nothing like the smell of a two stroke in the morning" 

 

 

 

 

My Honda with the wifes Polaris 400 Sport (automatic 2 stroke) painted black. Both were basket cases when I found them...

 

Edited February 22, 2021 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[John Bloom]

56 minutes ago, edinmass said:

We built this in our restoration shop in the early 2000’s. 1200 horse power top fuel Harley. We made 90 percent of the ENTIRE unit in house. 6.68 in the quarter mile.........it’s what we call.........shit your pants fast.

Ed, very impressive!  I will race it against my 1966 Honda Cub. It is 49cc’s so considering that your engine is 24 times larger, if you will give me 24 x 6.68=160.32 seconds, we can race for pink slips!!

[30DodgePanel]

3 hours ago, John Bloom said:

I never raced dirt bikes but suburban/rural living in the 70s in our small town in Indiana had lots of memories of those Honda CT70’s. Loved those small trail bikes. Vintage Honda’s are a soft spot for me. 

 

 

Used to own a  CB 750 (like the one below) for riding the Canyons at night when I first got to Arizona... damn, that was a blast. 

Had to get rid of it though, people just don't see bikes in this town and had too many close calls because the lack of attention by other drivers, so not a good thing for a family man. Couldn't imagine riding street now with all the distracted drivers out there...

 

Will never forget the rabbit that exploded after my brother in law tagged it right in front of me at 150 mph while he was on his KZ. That thing literally disintegrated into dust.

 

 

[TerryB]

My first strictly road going bike Suzuki GT380 3 cyl 2 smoker.

 

[padgett]

GT380 was the first bike I remember with a 6 speed tranny. Think the first ones had drum brakes.

[nickelroadster]

Suzuki X-6 hustlers had six speed trannys in 1966.

[TerryB]

35 minutes ago, padgett said:

GT380 was the first bike I remember with a 6 speed tranny. Think the first ones had drum brakes.

Also had a digital gear indicator.

[zepher]

I grew up riding 2 stroke dirt bikes in the desert in the 70's and 80's.

Had a hopped up KX125 that was an absolute blast to ride and was a handful when it was on the pipe.

 

My first street bike was a '81 Yamaha Maxim.

Got rid of it and was without a bike for a few years before I picked up the '89 Honda NT650 Hawk that I still own.

I used to commute on it in So Cal traffic on most days when the weather wasn't wet.  My commute then was 140 miles round trip.

Never went asphalt surfing, thank God.

This is my still mostly stock, right down to the crappy smog controls, Honda Hawk.

It doesn't look like an 80's bike but it is.

 

[Delco32V]

I did dirt/woods riding in the same era. 1970 and a 1971 Honda SL-350. Heavy buggers, but was faster in a straight line. THe nice part about the 70 was that if you stalled it, just push the electric starter button. The 70 had a hydraulic steering damper on the right side front. My Bell Moto3 helmet saved my face after hitting a rock and being thrown into a tree......fun times........still have the helmet.

These arent mine, but exactly what I had in the same colors

[SC38dls]

Had a Suzuki x6 Hustler when I was in college. Wasn’t top end fast but very quick to get up to a reasonable speed. Had a cat that loved to ride so we would bungee a box on the handle bars put her in it and off the three of us ( wife, cat & myself) would go. 

[Guest]

 I had a 1965 ? 350 Honda that was in storage for 20 years with the sparkplug removed.

 I wanted to put it into the hands of a collector so I advertised it for $100.

 The first call that I got said that they would buy it and came to look at it. 

 He said that it was not worth $100 and tried to nickel and dime me telling me everything that was wrong with it.

  I told him NO, and that I had other calls that wanted to buy it and told him Good By!!

 

 The second person Handed me the $100 and took it away happily.

 I then told him that I had another bike, a 66 Honda 180 ? with 23 miles on it. Yes only driven 23 Miles, in similar condition. I offered it at $200. He imeaditly bought that one also.

 

  Then the fun, the first person called me back and said that he was coming back to buy the 350 for the $100. i TOLD HIM THAT I SOLD I, AND THAT THE GUY HAD IT RUNNING AND DRIVEING THE SAME DAY! ( NOT EXACTLY THE TRUTH, BUT VERY SATISFING JUST THE SAME)

 

 Moral of the story, never insult the seller!

[TerryB]

Honda 305 but great story!  Those sales made someone day!  

[Guest]

11 minutes ago, TerryB said:

Honda 305 but great story!  Those sales made someone day!  

 

 Cubic inches are hard for me to remember. (except 392, the only  one that matters to me!)

Edited February 22, 2021 by Roger Walling (see edit history)

[TAKerry]

I had a 73 Kawasaki 100 street trail,  stripped it down to make it all trail! My best friend had a Hodaka combat wombat?, At the time I thought it was the ugliest bike made, but boy was that thing fast!!!! His brother had a stretched Bultaco that he hillclimbed.

 

Terry, have you been to the White Rose M/C Club?

[kuhner]

Rode Sherco, and Honda Reflex. The folks I rode with were semi-pro riders and were very much above my level.

Best place we rode was Trials Training Center in Tennessee. That was about eight years ago. They had classes for all levels and at the time would rent bikes.

We did our own thing. Miles of trails, for all levels.  If you have an Enduro, or any other type of off road bike it is worth a trip. Beautiful country in Western Tennessee.