Your Collection: 1980 YZ250
Sunday, September 23, 2012 | 5:00 AM
Share
Comment
Email
PrintThis weeks collection comes from our friend Jody Barnes who restored his 1980 YZ250 to race at last weeks Vets Motocross des Nations in Farleigh Castle.
Jody Barnes ripping on the YZ250 at the Farleigh Castle Vet MXdN.
Share this article:
Did you like this article?
Check out LAST NIGHT
in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
Ryan Villopoto may have locked up his 450SX title a week early, but the 2013 Monster Energy Supercross Championship finale still had drama and excitement to spare. Page 124.
Look for the verified symbol 
Impulse Studios
Man those were the days. Great looking bike. Nice job.
new technology is what keeps moto going foward
vintage is over rated
Hey b787tech. The guy is showing a picture of himself racing the damn thing. The guy can support any industry he wants. Speaking of new technology how about building a effing 787 that Boeing can be proud of like the 747, 767, 777. Nevertheless have a nice day.
Wow.... Never thought Id see TROLL's up this far in the internet.... guess I was wrong.
Excuse me while I wipe the drool off my keyboard. I am in the slow process of restoring a mint (orig tank & number plate decals, no broken frame) 1973 XR75 KO I found at a yard sale because of the memories I have of this bike and late father. I remember breaking the frame under the gooseneck & actually stripped the 4 fourteen mm bolts holding the footpeg bar to the bottom of the engine case. I jumped neighbor's Farmall H and dad found out and took it away for a couple weeks lol. Vintage over rated johnson 357??? So is having 3 chins and not being able to spot your winky at the urinal. ;)
b787tech, I think being nostalgic is uh, part of freedom of speech, you know? - and as someone else pointed out, the guy is racing that bike occasionally.
Personally, I think the yellow-and-black Yams were cooler than the blue they've gone to since ____? For you younger riders, you might be amazed to find out that MX bikes from a given co. weren't always the same color, even WITHIN the same company. I had a '72 Yam MX 125 that was orange, and a '75 Yam 400 MX that with white fenders and mostly-white tank but with a small yellow-and-black oval.
There are fewer and fewer of these classics around, great restoral and kudos for taking it to the track!
The good ol' days of long ago,when just about anyone could afford a bke and be able to work on the motor too.Have memories on my 1980 YZ 125G that no technology can ever replace.
Interesting comments on here, so I will leave one of my own. Nothing works better than a modern day bike, nothing looks better than a vintage motocrosser. But the idea is to have fun no matter what you ride, so hopefully Jody is having fun on his.
Just to clear any confusion up, I've bought new motocross bikes every year since 2002, raced to national expert level and now have the twinshock for big classic races, love riding and racing modern or old, if it's got two wheels and an engine i'll ride it.
Some motocross racers/riders were around in 1980 and fortunate enough to race/ride the vintage YZ bikes.
RacerX should be commended for featuring an article about how one of these motorcycles is still "functioning."
@Jody Barnes: Very nice restoration of the (now) vintage YZ250. Brings back great memories of my old YZ's of that era. I can almost smell the Klotz from here...
Well Done!!!
Nice job Jody!! Having raced in the early 80's I think these bikes are beautiful. I have a restored 82 RM250Z....just gotta find some local vintage days now!!
Great restoration Jody.Always liked those early 80's yellow YZ's.
If I could find any one bike as a favorite restoration it would be a 1980 YZ125! great job on the 250 my friend! my next favorite would be a 2013 KTM250XC which by the way is the BEST motocross bike I have ever owned, I am
a 48 year old 155lb vet mx piolot.
Best lookin Yammies of all time- gotta love that yellow! Reminds me of hurricane Hannah- No blue Yamaha will ever remind me of Hannah. I wonder how much Suzuki paid for the rights to the color 'Yellow'? Suzuki definately had it before Yamaha did- so I guess it was first come first serve. Honda Kawasaki & Suzuki have held thier colors for almost four decades- but those Yammies have gone thru some butt ugly makeovers IMO.
2Damnold2Race amen ,I have 2010 crf450 and I also have a 1973 bubble tank xr75 I love them all I am 48 and my first race was 1979. We are just fanatics.
LOL, my late friend raced a CR480, laughing because the first moto he raced it, flipped it off the starting gate. My KO's gonna look good next to my Heritage Softail. But if I could afford to get hurt.....................2 knee braces and one of them light KTM 150's for me. I'd buy it just because of DeCoster. He's da man and proved it again this year. Absolutely love Marvin & K-Roc too. Man we got some good racing coming in our sport, awesome lites class proved that this year.
b787tech -you are a total jack-ass!
Come on guys, 787 and 357 are correct. Every year when the next year bike come along, we should all take our last model year bikes down to the crusher. Lets face it, they should NEVER had been made to begin with. Besides, nobody will ever want to look back at the first bike they ever owned, or want to show there kids where we came from. You to are with out a dought, the two biggest dumb asses I have ever heard of on this or any other MX sight. But go ahead and forget your history. That always works out well........Dumb asses.
JDB - beautiful job. You have nothing to prove or clear up. As you well know, riders when off their bike are pretty wierd, but we all agree that a fresh set of tires, good weather, and a powerful bike capable of making you scream like a little girl gets you right with the world. I believe that full face helmets were a positive step in beautifying nature...