I remember when the '80's and '81's came out. I thought they were really cool looking except for the front number plate (of course). I never owned one though. I bought a brand new 1982 RM125 in late '82, and that bike was pretty awesome. Stone reliable and superb rear suspension, along with a decent engine. Back then, most young guys like myself bought MX bikes just to ride at the gravel pits, or on trails or wherever. The MX bikes back then were pretty inexpensive, reliable enough, and very light compared to the 4-stroke dirt bikes, which nobody I knew of had one. We loved the 2-strokes, super simple to run and repair, sounded great, and had tons of power.
Two-strokes are wonderful for me and sound "right". I've ridden them for over 50 years and I've done all my own maintenance. Even as an old guy I am not a 4-stroke fan. I cherish companies that still make them.
@@Rieju-Sherco When the Full Floater came out it was untouchable. It took the other companies a couple of years to catch up and the Floater kept moving the mark higher. I remember riding a Zuke with that rear end.....I was riding Husqvarnas with Ohlins....and I was blown away by how well the rear end worked. In fact, Suzuki had to struggle to get their forks to be anywhere near what the Floater would do.
Picked up a real nice 81 Cr125, it had the oil drain fall out after the orig owner changed the oil but only had the plug in a few turns and went out and hit the trail, the 1st gear bushing burnt up and the bike got put in a barn and forgot about til I rescued it 25 yrs ago and rebuilt the lower end, pulled the bushing out of a 79 CR125 1st gear and pressed it into the 81' Had a lot of fun on that little bike, sold it to a good friend and he crashed head on into a Quad , snapped the frame of the CR clean off right behind the steer tube, broke his arm, lucky the 2 of them weren't killed.
just picked up an 81 125 up in lucketts. runs great. not missing anything save for the fork-mounted radiator-grill thing. has the number plate. working on doing some basic maintenance. carb gaskets, spark plug, fluids, dust seals, wheel bearings, etc. plan on doing some light trail riding. love the informative videos!
Thanks for video ! I have had the 81 Cr 125 and just got the 450 Cr. The thing is that on a big bore, there is still not a racer alive that could use all the juice that bike has ! The truth be known, it can be dialed in to make it as fast and better than a modern 450..That is saying alot but there are suspension techs and engine techs that could vouch for that. It got a bad rap but I remember the 81 450 has such a low end grunt that blip that throttle in the mud and you wont ever hold on. It is straigt power
I had the 1981 CR 250R and I liked it a lot Didn't care for the front number plate in which I changed but my bike was very reliable. Raced it on the weekends and trail rode it during the week. Wish I still had it.
Way before my time, but I absolutely love looking at old school mx/sx. Great vid glad I found your channel a little bit ago. It was so dope when the manufacturers made one off factory bikes back then and it'd be cool to see a Honda or Kawasaki make another factory KX or CR(RC) 2 stroke.
I almost bought a 81 125 cr in 82 for a discount price at the Homda dealer. Hard to believe one was still in a crate. So glad I waited 4 mo and bout a new 83...
Another good one👍. Love d the Honda promo videos that year. I remember reading about DeCoster going into the development of the bikes and I was in Europe (Holland) when the 1981’s were released. Fortunately, I raced Suzuki’s from ‘79 through ‘82😂👍 How about a video of the 1970’s through 1980’s RM and RA (works) 125’s? They were fairly dominant (with a few exceptions like 1989😂). And the contrast between the works and production bikes is super interesting. Too bad the wires are no more....at least in the exotic way they used to be.
The 1979 and 1981 CR125R were terrible. I have most of the brochures from that time in Motocross history but I don’t think I have one for the 1981 CR lineup of Motocross bikes. In the video is another video of Chuck Sun wearing JT Racing Motocross pants. I still have a pair at home exactly like them . They were popular back then.
You got that right about the 79’ 125 with that Godzilla 23” front wheel… I remember reading all the Dirt Bike magazine articles on how to saw the frame and take out a few millimeters here a few there oh and just weld not back…. As a 15 year old with severely limited funds this was a non starter… but my lack of riding ability more than offset any real drawbacks the bike had 😳😳🙄🙄😀😀😀 . Just riding a red rocket was fun enough!!!!
I currently have the 250 and 450........... transmissions are made of glass, very hard to find spares to keep them going. The 250 is really not that bad and the only thing you cant really improve is the weight..... I dont feel it on the track but putting it on a stand you feel it for sure. Engine is much like my 1983 RM 250........ the 450 is what it is....but IMO it is not as bad as eveyone likes to think it is. If it was a Maico or KTM they would have fixed the flaws and raved about how well they handle and the A+ brakes....... and yes they both have original front number plates....
Great price if its all there and in good running condition. It will feel a bit heavy. Tracks straight (never steps out of line). Good power. The only things that the 1988 thru 1992 Yamaha YZ250's could of done better was shift and turn.
I 2nd this. To this day I think that my 1982 Suzuki RM125 (with the Safety Seat kit from Midwest Action Cycles added) was my all-time favorite bike. I have the Motocross Action Magazine issue where they tested it, in a plastic sleeve and put away in my safe.
@Motocross Vault, You had me fooled... you look to be in your early or mid 30's. The reason I asked is because I noticed you mention about remembering the early 80's era. I'm 51 but unfortunately don't look as young. When I was a kid I had a little bit of a late start in riding motorbikes. When I was around 12 years old, I had a little Indian(Italjet) 50cc minibike and end up seizing the tiny little engine on it. All the kids in my neighborhood at the time had XR80's and 100's, KDX80's and KX80's and some YZ's and RM's. When I turned 14 years old I got a surprise for Christmas... a brand new 1982 CR80R. I remember it like it was yesterday... the brand new smell with the black seat with the white 80R logo on it and the brand new Pro-Link mono shock rear suspension. This little bike was fast and had no problems keeping up keeping up with the other brand 80cc racers in it's class despite what Dirt Bike and Motocross magazines were reviewing.
LOL thanks. In the eighties you had to make up your own pronunciation because you never actually hear someone say the words. They were only in print so that is just the way I've always said it.
Maybe I am the only guy who liked those number plates but I was 11 in 81 and I thought that the CRs had a space age look even though I was a Yamaha guy...wait I got an 82 yz 80 the next year...now that was an ugly number plate not gonna lie.
Not very good bikes, the 450 was a horrible handling bike that was way of with the jetting and pinged like hell. The 125 was ok but the suspension sucked compared to the Suzuki’s 125. The 250 was decent overall but the Suzuki and Yamaha were better.
