This weeks collection comes to us from Bruce King in Texas.
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"Attached are pictures of my 1978 XR-75, for consideration as an entry for the “Your Collection” part of your website. When I raced in the late ‘70’s, all of the really fast, local guys had these tricked out XR-75’s that they used for pit bikes. Back then, it was all I could afford to keep my bike running, and make it back and forth to the races. When I turned 50, and could finally afford it, I decided that I would finally treat myself to one of these little XR’s. I looked for quite a while, and found a “decent” used ’78, that had obviously been “rode hard and put up wet” a few times too many. I took the little bike down to the frame, and basically started from scratch. I wanted to build a bike that would be similar to what the mini racers of the ‘70’s would have ridden, like Jeff Ward’s tricked out ’78. I discovered quickly that original hop up parts are hard to come by (and very expensive!) for these little bikes. About the time that I was ready to put the bike back together stock, I was introduced to Alex Jud, owner of XR Mini Racers. Alex is without a doubt, the XR-75 go-to guy. He builds some of the trickest, most accurate replica pipes around. He also builds replica swingarms, intake manifolds, fenders, oil cooler kits, and a vast array of engine hop up parts. If Alex didn’t have it, he knew where I could go to get it. Alex has one of the most awesome collections of XR’s I’ve ever seen – everything from perfectly restored models to replicas of some of the trickest racers. I also had the help of Scott Steger of Vintage Racer, with finding some of the other harder-to-find parts and pieces. Scott is another XR builder / restorer, who was a huge help with some of the more difficult details of the build. In addition to the parts that were purchased, I made the following pieces myself – engine mounts, chain guide, floating brake arm, air filter to carb tube, crankcase vent, beefed up triple clamps, and a bike stand similar to what the factory Honda guys used in the ‘70’s. I also did all of the prep and painting myself, and used decals from Scott’s website to replicate the look of the ‘70’s. It took about 3 years to finish, but in the end it was worth the time and trouble."
- Bruce
ATTENTION READERS: WE NEED YOUR COLLECTIONS!
Do you have something cool you'd like to show off? Submit a piece from your collection as well as your name and mailing address to madavis@graphicslab.com and be entered to win a Racer X cover poster and Throttle Jockey stickers. You will be notified via e-mail if you are the winner!
*Please note that while international readers may submit their Collections, we are only able to award and ship prizes to winners within the United States.
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