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Suggestions for a good handling vintage styled dirtbike?

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    #16
    I already bought an Ohio BMV off-road registration sticker for the basket case PE250B for me to get a fire under my @$$ to rebuild the bottom end engine bearings/gaskets/seals and get the thing on the trails ASAP! Here is a 1978 magazine cover shot of a PE250C!


    Meanwhile, my old enduro racer / vintage suspension guru buddy Kenny Nickerson is trying to piece together the proper valving so that he can restore 2 of these Fox Factory Shox remote reservoir off-road shocks into something like this:


    out of this bent shafts rusty and lonely Foxy missing it's mate, plus one Kenny had missing it's mate...





    A good rebuildable set of those shocks sells for a pricey figure. Restored and rebuilt they are not worth buying ($$$$) unless you have a lot of money and require the best of the period correct shocks. If you have the road race / street version piggybacks, the prices restored Andre INSANE! $1,000/$1,100+!!! Eddie Lawson KZ1000 / GPz replica builders drive up the prices substantially if those Fox Factory piggybacks and the finned old school Works piggybacks...
    Should be more economical for me but still will run the price of new brand new Works or YSS emulsion shocks. They will not likely ever go with the bike if I sell it! Hopefully it's a lifetime keeper however!
    Attached Files
    Last edited by Chuck78; 06-16-2018, 04:58 PM.
    '77 GS750 920cc heavily modded
    '97 Kawasaki KDX220R rugged terrain ripper!
    '99 Kawasaki KDX220R​ rebuild in progress
    '79 GS425stock
    PROJECTS:
    '77 Suzuki PE250 woods racer
    '77 GS550 740cc major mods
    '77 GS400 489cc racer build
    '76 Rickman CR1000 GS1000/1100
    '78 GS1000C/1100

    Comment


      #17




      ^^'77 PE250 & '80 PE250 in action!
      '77 GS750 920cc heavily modded
      '97 Kawasaki KDX220R rugged terrain ripper!
      '99 Kawasaki KDX220R​ rebuild in progress
      '79 GS425stock
      PROJECTS:
      '77 Suzuki PE250 woods racer
      '77 GS550 740cc major mods
      '77 GS400 489cc racer build
      '76 Rickman CR1000 GS1000/1100
      '78 GS1000C/1100

      Comment


        #18
        I know this is an old thread, but..... if your really looking to get a decent handling vintage dirt bike, start with a 1981 Maico 490.... looks like a proper old vintage air cooled mx bike, twin shock, drum brake.... but freshened up and set up correctly, will hang with most any modern bike if the riders are equal talent. Second choice would be a 1983 Maico 490, third choice 1982 Maico 490, 4th choice a 1983 Maico 250. I have been riding dirt bikes since 1973.... and currently own over 50 vintage MX bikes of all kinds, era's, brands, and mostly two stroke big bore stuff. The Maico's handle the best, year after year, from early 1970's to early 1980's. After that, the Japanese cought up for the most part.... just my two cents worth......

        Comment


          #19
          This is a damned cool thread.
          "Thought he, it is a wicked world in all meridians; I'll die a pagan."
          ~Herman Melville

          2016 1200 Superlow
          1982 CB900f

          Comment


            #20
            Originally posted by Chuck78 View Post




            I am in the process of making the above old beat up 1977 Suzuki PE250B vintage enduro into a very serious vintage woods beast....
            As I said above, in my opinion the aluminum tank and the simple headlight with chromed metal bezel and headlight brush gaurd make the '77 PE the best looking of the entire series.
            I am adding longer legs to it and it will have a stance (longer travel forks and shocks, RM250C2 aluminum swingarm) and appearance nearly identical to this 1978-1/2 RM250C2 pictured below, but with the 77 PE alloy tank and PE lighting:




            And I finally have in my hands this customized set of Fox Factory Shox hybrid shocks! I got one lonely shock on eBay for parts for $15, and I recalled later that my vintage suspension restoration buddy had also mentioned having a single Fox Factory Shox remote reservoir shock missing it's mate...
            Kenny ended up using my NOS Fox Factory Springs (actually the short blue springs are Works, my lighter blue Fox short springs were slightly too stiff for the 1.93 Swingarm Lever Ratio and 240lb bike+160lb rider for woods riding), and then used some Fox Snow sled shock bodies and a custom threaded preload collar, plus Suzuki RM shock tops for the reservoir hose attachment portion...PLUS Penske reservoirs with adjustable damping clickers!!! Spherical eye bearings as well... 15.25", should give it 9.6" rear travel.
            They will look really great bolted to a polished aluminum RM250C2 alloy swingarm with Fox Factory decals adorning it!




            I've gotten almost all of the parts needed to complete this functional resto-mod refurbishing:

            *83 DR250 forks (for longer travel and better bushings)
            *RM250C2 upper triple (same as PE but rubber vibration isolators on the handlebar clamps)
            *RM250C2 floating rear brake & RCM billet aluminum adjustable length heim joint brake stay (will require welding a clevis mount to frame as non-floating brakes have brake stay mount on swingarm)
            *GN250 (New Zealand spec) twin leading shoe 150x28 front brake
            *RM250C2 aluminum swingarm and new bearings/seals/etc
            *PowerDynamo ignition and AC lighting
            *Answer J&L aluminum spark arrestor (period correct)
            *IMS stainless steel wide footpegs
            *Vintage Avenue spoke kit
            *Neutech TüBliss system for front and rear low psi tire capabilities (the ultimate in traction & ease of puncture repair)
            *New o-ring chain and sprockets
            *PE250B cylinder ported by Tom Turner Two Stroke Racing, bored and carbide-embedded cylinder surface (for wear resistance) by Bill at Bore Tech
            *RM250C cylinder head for higher compression (3cc smaller chamber)
            *MSR alloy handlebars
            *Factory PE250 skidplate/bashgaurd

            +
            *new plastics from DC Plastics
            *New bearings and seals throughout engine
            *all new carb parts and uni foam filters


            Only needing:
            *Racetech Gold Valve Emulators and fork springs
            *MotoZ Arena Hybrid Gummy rear tire 110/100-18
            *Shinko 216 front tire 90/90-21
            *wheel/steering bearings???
            *may cut open and re-weld stock PE expansion chamber to remove internal perforated liner and restrictor baffle
            Attached Files
            Last edited by Chuck78; 06-16-2018, 07:20 PM.
            '77 GS750 920cc heavily modded
            '97 Kawasaki KDX220R rugged terrain ripper!
            '99 Kawasaki KDX220R​ rebuild in progress
            '79 GS425stock
            PROJECTS:
            '77 Suzuki PE250 woods racer
            '77 GS550 740cc major mods
            '77 GS400 489cc racer build
            '76 Rickman CR1000 GS1000/1100
            '78 GS1000C/1100

            Comment


              #21
              I may be looking to sell off my 99 Kawasaki KDX220 to my brother or a friend if I can find an 86-88 Kawasaki KDX200, the last of the air cooled engines, and the first of the power valve exhaust ports, with disc brake front, and the 88 model was the first year of the Keihin PWK35 flatslide smoothbore carb... an 88 with a fork upgrade would be the ultimate in ruggedness, simplicity, and power while maintaining the vintage appearance... an upgrade to rear disc would be nice. 86 was also the first year of the new piston design which was run through the entire rest of the KDX200 model's lifespan, therefore the same Wiseco pistons fit from 1986 through 2006!
              I'd run a round KDX headlight/plate from the first 3 model years on it for more if a vintage appearance...

              Also, the other bikes I had really considered and recommend friends look for is the 1981+ Yamaha IT200 and 250. They were the lightest bikes of their class at 198lbs to 212lbs, and had aggressive peakey engines with a real punch, vs the PE's broad and very tractable powerband. 1986 got a disc brake on the last year of the IT. No power valves but they have reeds and make ample power and smiles! Pre-81 were much heavier (175 weighed what a PE250 weighs) and had a 1st generation monoshock nicknamed "YamaHop" rear suspension, noted by high mounted shock under seat and steel A-shaped swingarm, vs the more modern conventional aluminum swingarm on the 1981+ redesigns.


              I had not considered any Maico bikes as I was under the impression they were more motocrossers, and besides, even the 400cc 2 strokes of this period had an insane amount of power, and a 2 stroke mx engine would likely have a very serious powerband hit, which could be seriously detrimental riding Eastern USA woods! 175 to 250cc is mode than adequate for 2T woods riding

              Basically any of the PE series is great, although 78-79 PE175's I don't believe currently have a source for new pistons available. TS185 pistons will bore into the later PE175 cylinders 1980-1984, and it has been discussed that perhaps the earlier TS185 model pistons fit the earlier PE175 engines as well.
              1980 model PE's got aluminum swingarm, more travel, redesigned engines, and a PE400 which was a PE250 chassis with a completely fresh design engine, unlike the PE175/250 which were basically like similar or slightly older model year RM parts designed with slight alterations to be more enduro-oriented.

              A 1980 or 1981 KDX175 also is a very curious bike for me... 1979 needs some monoshock linksge/bushing swaps to upgrade to the 1981 Uni-Track parts.
              '77 GS750 920cc heavily modded
              '97 Kawasaki KDX220R rugged terrain ripper!
              '99 Kawasaki KDX220R​ rebuild in progress
              '79 GS425stock
              PROJECTS:
              '77 Suzuki PE250 woods racer
              '77 GS550 740cc major mods
              '77 GS400 489cc racer build
              '76 Rickman CR1000 GS1000/1100
              '78 GS1000C/1100

              Comment


                #22
                I once rode a YZ490. That was a scary bike.
                "Thought he, it is a wicked world in all meridians; I'll die a pagan."
                ~Herman Melville

                2016 1200 Superlow
                1982 CB900f

                Comment


                  #23
                  THIS:



                  is AWESOME!

                  1977 PE250B Suzuki promotional video!
                  '77 GS750 920cc heavily modded
                  '97 Kawasaki KDX220R rugged terrain ripper!
                  '99 Kawasaki KDX220R​ rebuild in progress
                  '79 GS425stock
                  PROJECTS:
                  '77 Suzuki PE250 woods racer
                  '77 GS550 740cc major mods
                  '77 GS400 489cc racer build
                  '76 Rickman CR1000 GS1000/1100
                  '78 GS1000C/1100

                  Comment


                    #24
                    Here ya go, more vintage enduro porn:





                    1986 IT200, sadly the last year for this brilliant model run '81-'86... BUT... first year for front disc brake










                    '77 GS750 920cc heavily modded
                    '97 Kawasaki KDX220R rugged terrain ripper!
                    '99 Kawasaki KDX220R​ rebuild in progress
                    '79 GS425stock
                    PROJECTS:
                    '77 Suzuki PE250 woods racer
                    '77 GS550 740cc major mods
                    '77 GS400 489cc racer build
                    '76 Rickman CR1000 GS1000/1100
                    '78 GS1000C/1100

                    Comment


                      #25
                      My little brother was a well known madman on the dirt. Nobody showed him anything and he preferred the YZ360 Yamaha.

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Well, I stumbled onto this forum while in search of technical information on my latest project (1978 GS750E)...found the tech I wanted/needed (this forum is really terrific by the way) and while looking around I see a photo of what looks a bike I just finished...just took it to a show actually. I do love me some vintage bikes....



                        Last edited by Jhurt; 09-10-2018, 08:10 AM.
                        1978 GS750E (barn find and current project)
                        1997 Electra Glide
                        1983 Goldwing

                        Comment


                          #27
                          IMG_20180114_190616.jpg1980 WR 390...

                          This bike was in a barn/garage fire and I restored it.
                          Last edited by Guest; 09-10-2018, 08:42 AM.

                          Comment


                            #28
                            Cant help but contribute to this old thread. I love the older 2 stroke big bore bikes. I happen to like the older Ktm and have 2 that I have completely gone through and own. This is my 90' Ktm 540dxc...
                            Attached Files
                            -1981 Suzuki GS1100E
                            -1975 Honda CB400 Super Sport
                            -1981 Vespa P200E
                            -1990 Ktm 540 dxc
                            -1982 Ktm 495
                            -1981 Ktm 495
                            -1989 Atk 406
                            -1987 Cr 500R
                            -1982 Yz 125

                            Comment


                              #29
                              And this one, my 1982 Ktm 495 all fresh with a new Lectron carby. The bike that still holds the record for fastest dirt bike set in 1981 rode by Rod Bush going down the flats at 123.75 mph.
                              Attached Files
                              -1981 Suzuki GS1100E
                              -1975 Honda CB400 Super Sport
                              -1981 Vespa P200E
                              -1990 Ktm 540 dxc
                              -1982 Ktm 495
                              -1981 Ktm 495
                              -1989 Atk 406
                              -1987 Cr 500R
                              -1982 Yz 125

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Beautiful motorcycles Cwoods! I love motocross bikes from the 70's-80s! KTM "Kan't Tame the Mother"👍
                                My Motorcycles:
                                22 Kawasaki Z900 RS (Candy Tone Blue)
                                22 BMW K1600GT (Probably been to a town near you)
                                82 1100e Drag Bike (needs race engine)
                                81 1100e Street Bike (with race engine)
                                79 1000e (all original)
                                82 850g (all original)
                                80 KZ 650F (needs restored)

                                Comment

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