We had the usual sucession of bikes. Starting with the S65 for me., a Brigss and Stratton minibike for my brother, Tim. then it was a long strong of trades upward to bigger and better bikes. I met my best friend Doug Evans in the 7th grade at 12, and another kindred spirit was there spreading the passion of mototrcycles we all shared.
I got my first 2-stroke, a Hodaka Ace 100. From the first second I smelled that s-stroke oil, and felt the etter acceleration of a 2-stroke, I was hooked. I am a dyed oin the wool 2-stroke nut to this day. I traded the Hodaka for a "big and fast" Kawasaki 238cc stripped F4 with an expansion chamber. I thought this was a fast bike (it was compared to the Hodaka) but is was a big, heavy 4 speed and didn't handle very good. Doug, my best buddy had a Hodaka Super Rat and that was a very cool bike to us.
We would ride old powerlines, gravel pits, and all over when land and places to ride were plentiful in the early 70s. I raced my first motocross on the Hodaka in 1972. It didn't finish. Bike prep for racing was still somewhat unknown to me!! Doug and I went to a gravel pit with our Hodakas, thinkking we were pretty hot. there we saw a guy Rick McCafferty who was then a local expert rider and he had a Penton 125. It was one helluva exotic machone to us, and we were in awe of it and how fast he rode!!
Well fast forward about a year. In late 1973 Doug brought home a just-released Honda CR125M. He let me ride it with only 2 hours on the bike. It looked incredible, but I wans't prepared for what riding a "real" race bike was going to be like. It was small, light, and from the first time it hit the pipe in second gear, it was breathtaking to a 16 year old. The Honda was 40 lb lighter than my pig Kawaski and handed like a dream with instantaneous throttle response. It was an epiphany for me!
Six months later, I got my own brand new CR125M with money saved from my paper route. $714 for that bike. Brining it home brand new and breaking in my fist "new" anything was a time I will never forget. It started me on a path of motocross racing that continues to be my passion to this day!!