Hey dogger315 - How did you do in the Nationals? Do you have some photos? Which race tracks did you compete on back then? What else did you modify on your CR250R's?
I never competed in the Nationals. I started out in the Florida Winter-AM series. It was good racing on
tracks like Sunshine, Diamond Back, Palm Valley, Hialeah and Gatorback. I also raced support class (250)
for the Trans-Am, later called the Trans-USA series and any other race or series that had a pay out.
I had a bike and parts deal with a local dealer. I would head to the races with my van and mechanic,
and whatever I won, that was what we used for food, lodging and gas money. The factory riders had
started using box vans by now so the pits consisted of passenger vans, box vans and trailers.
It only lasted two years when I had to decide if I could make a living like this or go to college (which the
parents were pushing). In 1980 College and a subsequent stint in the military won out and I took a 12
year break from motocross. When I got back into MX in '92, I had a steep learning curve. I went from
twin shocks, air cooled, drum brakes to a modern MX bike. I had to change my riding style and learn
to take advantage of all the improvements.
The modification we made to my bikes centered around the suspension. The stock rear shocks were
about as good as the Tiger Claw tires so we replaced them with Fox Airshocks. The forks were modified
to improve oil flow and bottoming resistance. The engine was ported, cone pipe, some trick FMF or
Mugen parts were added. Stronger rims, good tires (Dunlops or Mettzlers), I don't remember everything.
I do remember the Hondas were generally more reliable than most of the other bikes at the time, I can
vouch for that from the personal experience I had fielding an open class Husky 360 in '77.
I have some film pictures lying around someplace. One of these days, I'll have to see if I can find and
digitally scan them.
dogger
