Do you like vintage Japanese motorcycles?

[2busy]

I miss those days. Here is my 1974 MT 125 Elsinore. It was used when I got it back around 75/76 time frame. It sat in the barn for years and I drug it out back around 2014 and rebuilt and repainted it and got it running again. Not bad for a rattle can paint job.

 

[nofearfactor]

I do... Motorcycles were the center of my world growing up in the 60s and 70s, I wish I had every one that I owned back then now. When I was born in 59' my dad was a Marine in San Diego and was an old biker who had a big red Indian Chief at the time, besides some old dirt bikes.
Ive been riding ever since I was could walk- my first bike was a lil Benelli mini bike then he bought us a Honda Trail 70. As we got older we had a bunch of enduros and pure dirt bikes- from Hodaka superrats to all kinds of used Japanese bikes in the 70s. We did alot of racing on dirt tracks in our area and my next door neighbor went on to ride factory for Yamaha and became a champ, later he had a dealership in OKC for awhile and I think he is still involved in putting on races around OK. I remember my dad modding everything we had- expansion chambers, etc.
I worked at Sonic my very first job just so I could get my motorcycle street license at 14 on a used Yamaha 72' LT2 100 (green tank) then saved up and bought a brand new 73' LT3 100 (purple tank); later moved up to a 74' DT 175 (blue tank): that 175 we stuck a 100cc sticker on because of the law at the time, lolll.
My first road bike was a Honda 350, then a 750, then a Norton my dad gave me, and then my first brand new road bike that I bought myself was a Harley Sportster- I was a senior in HS in 77'. In the 80s I collected a bunch of old Honda and Yamaha road and dirt bikes before just sticking with Harley and Triumph road bikes in the 90s; now I just have a few Harleys but I sure miss having a dirt bike, just too old with bad knees for that now.

 

[Chief Sapulpa]

...I'm currently restoring a 64YDS3 2 stroke twin cylinder road bike...

Be prepared to spend at least 3X what you are budgeting. Restos can be expensive especially if you are obsessive about correctness and perfection.
I had a '72 R5 which was the predecessor to the RD350. Throttle was like a toggle switch...the ultimate wheelie machine.

 

[magna19]

I miss those days. Here is my 1974 MT 125 Elsinore. It was used when I got it back around 75/76 time frame. It sat in the barn for years and I drug it out back around 2014 and rebuilt and repainted it and got it running again. Not bad for a rattle can paint job.

Nice bike!!! I miss those days too. Used to go drool over the Elsinores at motorcycle shops back then. My first bike was a Honda CL or CB100 street bike and rode it as a dirt bike everywhere. Only pic I have a any old bike i had was this Kawasaki H1 500 Mach III.

 

[Hoov]

Very nice, there’s more than a few vintage bikers here. Well, vintage riders as well as bikes.

I saw what you did there. Where is flattwins? He should be blowing this thread up.

 

[Shadowrider]

My first bike was a '75 MX250B. I think...It's been awhile lol. But it was the very first year of the mono-shock suspension and the next year it was designated the YZ. A real beast of a bike to learn on! No low end power at all but when you hit the powerband, holy ****, you better have been hanging on.

Dennis Latimer, a guy that built flat track race bikes back in the day hounded me for the engine out of it. He offered to build me whatever enduro engine I wanted to trade for it.

 

[p238shooter]

Enjoyed the pic of the Mach III, looks like we are touching over into Vintage Japanese Street bikes a little. I purchased the second H-2 750cc triple 72 Kawasaki sold in Tulsa. Hoodo Herb (Owner) got the first one. I rode it 3 miles home and yanked the cylinders to go to work with my grinder using the "Un-offical Kawasaki Racing program sheet" provided to me by Oscar the shop manager to square up the ports and bolted on my new slightly baffled expansion chambers. First run down the street proved I would need the heaver clutch springs that were on back order I got a few days later. It was a little different from any other street bike at the time, finally being able to get full throttle fill open while settling the front wheel down at the top of 3rd gear.

Several others had the same set up later, but I found an advantage. Air intake was a round opening facing upward in the slip stream under the seat. I shaped an air dam just behind it with a piece of cardboard painted black to not be noticeable. It typically gave me a couple bike length advantage against "equal" bikes. Yes, it was a fun motorcycle. I sold my last one to a guy on OKC a few years ago, kinda wish I kept it for times I need a real adrenaline rush. Ha Ha Thanks for starting up this thread and stirring up the memories.

 

[2busy]

I had a 78 KZ 650 also but don't have any pictures. And a hard tail chopper that was built with a honda 750 engine. About 30 minutes was all i could stand to ride it with no shocks on the back.

 

[Seadog]

I do.. I'm a big lover of vintage Yamaha bikes.. especially the early enduros and and early '60 road bikes.. I'm currently restoring a 64YDS3 2 stroke twin cylinder road bike..
The pic I added shows my bike on top and what it's going to look like when done.

Personally I’ve never seen a Japanese bike I like or wanted With the exception of the German Russian Chinese BMW Ural knock off from the 40-50s. On second thought as I just typed into Chinese not even Japanese. So I guess it’s still no

 

[Timmy59]

I grew up on 2 wheels, got the 1st year of production XR-75, under $400 bucks at the time.. Back then the FEL made bike jumps nowadays it makes berm bumps.. Kept extra handle bars around for when I took it past wheelie balance..My name always changed on a bike, to Evil Kneveil, 1st bike on the road was a kz 650 which landed me behind bars and the last bike was an HD and sold it around 2006..Now I ride a coleman 6hp minibike to and fro the backyard, and still trying to get air..