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This was the first new bike I had owned for 4 years and my first true
motocross bike ever. 1978 was a great year to get a 125. The
improvements made between 1975 and 1978 were substantial. Honda
still clung to their old design, but Kawasaki, Yamaha, and Suzuki
all had new designs with good motors and long travel.
I went to my first race on this bike at Cambridge, Minnesota. There
were 4 classes of 125B (125C now) that day. I was confident that my
BMX success would quickly carry over to my motorcycles. Can you say
reality? Motorcycles were a whole different world than bicycles. Guys
that didn’t look that fast from the side of the track seemed much
faster when you were out on the track with them. I raced it 3 other
times with pretty much back of the pack finishes although I felt I
had improved on it.
There was about a month and a half in the summer when I couldn’t ride
the bike. I had run off the track when I was practicing and hit a
really big rock off in the weeds. I was just a bit banged up, but
the front wheel of the bike was now a misshapen oval. I can’t remember
if I had trouble getting a new rim or if I thought it wold be trick,
but I ended up getting a 23 inch wheel. Unlike the CR125s at the time,
the geometry was not made for a bigger wheel. I thought it made it
harder to turn on the flat and small berms, but felt better in sand
and big berms.
I can’t remember much about selling it other than, it was in really good
shape when I sold it and I still only got half of what I paid for it
the year before. If anyone remembers buying a 78 with a 23 inch front
wheel, email me. I don’t remember seeing too many other YZs with the
23 inch hoop.
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