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Vintage MX Bikes

Motocross Action brings to you their over 40 years of history testing and riding dirt bikes. This column is all about nostalgic motocross bike over the years. Many of the dirt bikes you will find are from the late Tom White’s Early Years of Motocross Museum. You will find everything from Harley Davidson to Hodaka to Bultaco dirt bikes from the glory years of motocross.

CLASSIC IRON: 1972 CZ 400 YELLOW TANKER

Sep 30, 2020

The 1972 CZ 400 was a close relative of the 1970 and 1971 models. The old CZ 360 was bored out to 380cc and called the 400
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1965 JAWA 250 BANANA FRAME

Sep 30, 2020

The price for thinking too far out of the box is that they give your idea a funny name and it disappears in three years
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1973 KAWASAKI KX450 TWO-STROKE

Sep 27, 2020

Brad Lackey was disappointed with Kawasaki’s less-than-enthusiastic support, so he put a Husky tank on his Kawasaki, repaint it black and wrote “Kaw” on it—it became the famous Black Kaw
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: THE IRISH-BUILT URM 500

Sep 27, 2020

Built by an honest to goodness genius, but it still couldn't make it in the motocross world
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1975 YAMAHA TWIN-CYLINDER YZ125

Sep 18, 2020

The Yamaha YZ125 that never saw production or the light of day—just one night race at Irwindale Raceway in 1975
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1991 KAWASAKI WORKS KX125

Sep 17, 2020

Kawasaki was looking for a rider who could win the 125 crown, and Mike Kiedrowski was looking for revenge for being dropped by the Honda factory team at the end of the 1990 season
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1981 HONDA CR250R

Sep 16, 2020

Honda went all Star Wars on the cosmetics, plus water-cooled the 1981 CR125 and CR250, introduced the ill-fated CR450 and unveiled the stupidest front number plate in motocross history
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: HERCULES WANKEL 502 ROTARY

Sep 12, 2020

Not a huff-and-puff engine, but a spin-and-whistle engine
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CLASSIC IRON: 1978 YAMAHA HL500 ABERG REPLICA

Sep 8, 2020

The four-stroke that Yamaha Japan wouldn't build, but it got built anyway, then Yamaha USA wouldn't import it, so it was sold as a kit bike
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MXA RETRO TEST: WE RIDE CHAD REED’S 2009 MAKITA/SUZUKI RM-Z450

Sep 5, 2020

Chad Reed got a last-minute deal to ride the 2009 AMA Nationals for Team Suzuki. It was thrown together, but a match made in heaven
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: VERTEMATI 495 & VOR/VERTEMATI 503

Sep 1, 2020

What do you get when old world Italian craftsmen try to become part of the mass production motocross business? Trouble
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1971 YANKEE 500 TWIN

Aug 25, 2020

An off-road bike with an engine that could either be a twin or a twingle, but no matter how you cut it, it weighed too much
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1952 RIEDEL-IMME R100

Aug 25, 2020

Steal Hodaka's ball reciever transmission, a PW50 chassis design and a Yamaha monoshock and you have a Riedel-Imme — the trick is to steal it from them 15 years before they thought of it
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1980 MOTO VILLA 350MX

Aug 17, 2020

Francesco Villa worked his way up through the ranks of Ducati, Mondial and Montesa before building his own bikes — Moto Villa
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1968 SUZUKI TM250

Aug 14, 2020

The first real Japanese motocross effort borrowed a few ideas from the Euro brands
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LONG & WINDING ROAD: HISTORY OF THE HUSKY AUTOMATICS

Aug 10, 2020

Make that the short history of the Husqvarna Automatic and the men who raced them, built them and loved them
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: KREIDLER 50 CROSS

Aug 6, 2020

One engine, lots of choices: Gebben Kreidler, Homoet Kriedler, HS Kriedler, Roton Kreidler, VHS Kreidler or Van Veen Kreidler
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1971 RICKMAN HODAKA WEBCO 125

Aug 5, 2020

Webco started with a Rickman nickel-plated Micro-Metisse frame and bodywork to ensure that its 125-kitted engine would be in the best chassis of the day
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1968 HUSQVARNA KAF256A MILITARY 250

Aug 1, 2020

The machines were very unique with their spring-loaded and removable skis. When the skis were attached, the soldier would control the bike with his feet in stirrups
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1968 MAICO MC125 MOTOCROSS:

Jul 22, 2020

The rotary-valve Maico MC125 was based on the MD125 road racer, but was the victim of bad timing and high pricing
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1962 MOTO GUZZI LODOLA 250

Jul 21, 2020

A bike that was very good when it was first built, but due to a change in fate became a winner based on the one thing it did well
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1992 YAMAHA WR500: HOW THE “AIR HAMMER” BECAME THE “MAYTAG”

Jul 21, 2020

Some times a stop gap measure is the only measure that can work when you start too late
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1980 GILERA B 125 BICILINDRICA

Jul 20, 2020

Maybe! Maybe if they had a twingle, maybe if Rinaldi or Rahier had ridden it, maybe if the FIM hadn't banned it
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1965 RICKMAN BULTACO 250 PETITE METISSE

Jul 16, 2020

Rickman promised Bultaco that they would not import Petite Metisses to the USA and you can guess how that turned out
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1956 GILERA 500 SATURNO CROSS

Jul 13, 2020

Would it have been any less of a world beating brand if it was called a Gellera instead of a Gilera
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: JODY WEISEL’S 1974 HODAKA 125 SUPER COMBAT

Jul 13, 2020

Make no mistake about it, there are still a few Hodaka parts left on this Super Combat
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1976 PUCH MC250 TWIN-CARB HARRY EVERTS REPLICA

Jul 8, 2020

"I placed my order with the Puch factory and got a message that they were no longer going to be in the motocross business. I should have never returned the test bikes."
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: 1960 AERMACCHI 250 CROSS

Jul 7, 2020

Way before Harley-Davidson went racing with Sonny Defeo, Rex Staten or Rich Eierstedt in the AMA Nationals, they were carving up Italy in 1960
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BIKES YOU’VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE: THE TRUE STORY OF THE 1992 CZ 125MX

Jul 5, 2020

CZ was positive that there was someone out there who would buy the 1992 CZ 125MX, there was but that was back in 1976
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CLASSIC MOTOCROSS IRON: 1966 HUSQVARNA 360 VIKING

Jul 3, 2020

Husky used its 250cc development program to launch the 1966 Husqvarna 360 Viking. The Open class Husky was based on Torsten Hallman's 250.
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