My Elsinore back in 1976

[rzrej]

Hey gang, no pics of fancy new RZ or anything but a few of an old Elsinore I had way back..........pics from about 1976 when I was 15. I brought this bike home in 3 boxes, didn't have Rubbermaids back then haha so cardboard had to do. Was a 1973 CR125 and if anyone had one they were a fun ride.

Friend across the street helped me rebuild it, had to helicoil a cylinder stud and change a shift fork, put in new rings and through some rattle can paint at it. Got the pipe and shocks off a 76 Elsinore that a friend discarded when he upgraded his.

Went out with a friend who brought his dad's 35mm (remember those) and took a bunch of pics. He just recently sent them to me, after how many years?
Ya, lots.
Pay attention to the excellent protective gear I was wearing, jeez, not even gloves. Didn't say I was smart.
Cheers.

[bolly]

very cool pics rzrej! I got a 73 250M I'm cleaning up at the moment!

[rzrej]

Right on Bolly, another friend of mine had a 73 250 like that right around the same time. That bike had great power; we grew up without tv and of course no other electronic crap so had to resort to dirt biking, snowmobiling etc. Fun times.
Post a pic or 2 if you have time.

[bolly]

sure rzrej! love postin pics!!

taken couple weeks ago

[two-stroke-brit]

Great pics for sure.
are those flared trousers or the more radical bell bottoms ??
are the 70s eh
mark

[hondaror]

At least you had the helmet. Love the laid down shocks, huh?!

[JonW]

Nice pix! I just sold my MT250 Elsinore with the CR top end and Bassani pipe. I never rode it, but it looked great in the garage LOL The CRs were more focused and more fun than the MT, and I liked the size of the 125 better really, a nice simple to work on bike too :)

[rzrej]

Have no idea what sort of pants those were. At that age I could of cared less; long as I could scrounge gas money for the bike.
And the helmet, no idea where that came from. Memory certainly ain't what it used to be. Neighbor kid that helped me was a mechanic whiz. No internet, no manual, no digital pics to jog your memory and he was 14; but I remember we had the cases split on the bike and parts absolutely scattered across our garage. Bike was disassembled stem from stern. Granted an old bike like that is dead simple compared to anything nowadays but nevertheless the fact that it ran and ran well is a bit amazing to me thinking about it now. Torque wrench to torque anything, never mind head bolts etc?? What's a torque wrench?

Good times for sure, life was simple. I went on from there and had CR250's 3 of them, a YZ400 and then went on to street bikes. Didn't get an RZ till years later.

MT's were great looking bike, really liked the styling of them even though I never rode one; sounds like you had a decent one Jon, bet that top end and pipe really woke it up?

That 250 of yours is very nice looking Bolly, pretty original and stock looking. I also remember those crazy down pipes took a beating. A few inches of suspension travel, land off a jump onto a lump or rock, boom.

[rzrej]

Might as well chuck a few more pics up. So friend that helped me lived across the highway and his dad had a few bikes. Think he had an old CB350, and on the left you can see the tail end of a GT750, so at least there is part of a 2 stroke in the pic haha. He restored an old Indian and we are inspecting it closely. Trying to wrap my head around a foot clutch and a gear shift! And they had a throttle and then on the other side some sort of spark advance or something right? Not sure. Plus you had to smoke a cigarette while you were doing all that no?

[smokin074]

Hi great shots thanks for sharing love the Elsinores, I had brand new 1979 CR125 Elsinore later sold & now rebuilt another one in 1999 for VMX , still have that bike don't race anymore

[2cycle]

Thanks for the pics......brings back a lot of good memories . Love the b/w pics with the old school bikes .I wish i still had some of my old bikes.

[CEMOTO]

I could tell immediately from the first photo it was a 125cc.

Here is one of me back in the day - 1971 Bultaco M89 125cc. Note the hi-tech armor and lack of travel in the shocks. Pumpkin boots and basketball knee pads.

Was actually very successful w/ this 125cc, it was only a second or two slower than the 250cc class lap times. It handled better than the jap bikes then but was heavier.

I rode this bike like a madman in the woods without a helmet for a long time, then one day borrowed a buddy's bike that had a speedometer. Found out I was doing better than 85mph on my favorite tree-lined trails. It was at that moment I decided to wear a helmet.





Shit, might as well throw in a pic of the RZ's!

Thanks for posting the old pics!

Regards,

.

[hondaror]

We were all skinny back then!

[rzrej]

Haha no kidding, skinny back then...........nice pic cemoto! Sounds like your really rode that one; never saw any of the old Bultaco's or Maico's or those sorts of bikes back when. No dealers maybe, don't know.
Nice brace of RZ's! Great pic with all that green in background.

[vmxwinn]

Love the vintage photos. Here is the last year Elsinore 1980 that i restored.