Three Wheeler Racers From Back In The Day Now On 3WW???

[phantomtracer]

I started on a 1980 klt 200 rode that thing everywhere.
Got a 1982 250 r rode that for a bit and traded it in for a 84 kxt, I modified it to with every piece I could bolt on including a kx cylinder, flat slide carb, Ufo air box, bassani exhaust, white power shock, Etc.That bike was a rocket!
Then came the 86 kxt with klemm research kit, axle and swingarm. Much easier bike to ride fast, that powerband on the 84 was too much for me!
Raced in 84,85 and 86 at walden, ny and the few other tracks in the area. Raced the Batavia national and came in last place! Raced at lorretta Lynn's national in 85. Got destroyed there too. I can remember Marty hart passing me like I was standing still. Raced at broom tioga, had my best race and cut through the pack to take second place. Afterward I found out they missed me coming around and incorrectly scored me a lap down. I'll never forget that! I was robbed a second place. Anyway, I went to college in 86 and the quads were already taking over. I was never going to ride a quad and ended up buying a yz125 to satisfy my off road appetite. If the cpsc didn't destroy 3 wheelers I would have continued racing and hopefully gained enough speed to not finish in last place at a national.

[Joseph Farrow]

I started on a 1980 klt 200 rode that thing everywhere.
Got a 1982 250 r rode that for a bit and traded it in for a 84 kxt, I modified it to with every piece I could bolt on including a kx cylinder, flat slide carb, Ufo air box, bassani exhaust, white power shock, Etc.That bike was a rocket!
Then came the 86 kxt with klemm research kit, axle and swingarm. Much easier bike to ride fast, that powerband on the 84 was too much for me!
Raced in 84,85 and 86 at walden, ny and the few other tracks in the area. Raced the Batavia national and came in last place! Raced at lorretta Lynn's national in 85. Got destroyed there too. I can remember Marty hart passing me like I was standing still. Raced at broom tioga, had my best race and cut through the pack to take second place. Afterward I found out they missed me coming around and incorrectly scored me a lap down. I'll never forget that! I was robbed a second place. Anyway, I went to college in 86 and the quads were already taking over. I was never going to ride a quad and ended up buying a yz125 to satisfy my off road appetite. If the cpsc didn't destroy 3 wheelers I would have continued racing and hopefully gained enough speed to not finish in last place at a national.

Awesome story! There were a lot of guys who switched to two wheelers after three wheelers. Most true three wheeler guys hated the quads but settled because that was the only choice you had if you were going to race atv's. I almost decided to go the two wheeler route myself. My cousin was a great motocross racer that was older than me and my brother so I remember growing up going to mx races. That is what got me into racing ATC's.

Thanks for Posting!

[phantomtracer]

I was 16 yrs old in 85 so I always told myself I would get faster. At the local races I was one of the fast guys the nationals were a whole different animal. At Batavia it rained heavily right before the start. I was trying to figure out what tire to run and saw jimmy white had Hoosier tires mounted so I went with that, then with just minutes before the start his mechanic changed tires to nobbies! I was suckered into running Hoosiers and spun out on the first turn. The track had man made bumps on the inside corners to make it more difficult. I had never had to deal with that, track also had crazy double jumps! If you look way in the back you can see my silloette in the ATV News photo coverage. At lorretta the weather was perfect and everyone was out walking around. I remember seeing mike Coe, Marty, jimmy, mendenhall, sparks. I was star struck.

[phantomtracer]

Awesome story! There were a lot of guys who switched to two wheelers after three wheelers. Most true three wheeler guys hated the quads but settled because that was the only choice you had if you were going to race atv's. I almost decided to go the two wheeler route myself. My cousin was a great motocross racer that was older than me and my brother so I remember growing up going to mx races. That is what got me into racing ATC's.

Thanks for Posting!

Yes, you are 100% correct. We hated quads and really thought they were easier to ride and we wouldn't be caught dead on one. In 86, the local tracks started racing 3 and 4 together and it was not pretty. The quads would bump you in the corner they had an unfair advantage. We were bitter against the quads!

[atc007]

Phantom, we must not be very far apart. Broome is a click over 2 hours from me. Most all of us embraced the quads immediately. We knew it was the only way to keep these tracks open. And they were SO damn easy to ride!! Just like sitting in a couch.. No Honda dealer around here had a 86 or 87 TRX in stock,,ever. Then the 88 was so much better, they flew out the door also.

[phantomtracer]

Phantom, we must not be very far apart. Broome is a click over 2 hours from me. Most all of us embraced the quads immediately. We knew it was the only way to keep these tracks open. And they were SO damn easy to ride!! Just like sitting in a couch.. No Honda dealer around here had a 86 or 87 TRX in stock,,ever. Then the 88 was so much better, they flew out the door also.

I was from Carmel, NY at the time. To this day I just can't get my head into the whole quad thing. I wonder if 3 wheelers survived the cpsc if the popularity would be larger than the quads are today. It's a little disappointing to see the current state of quad racing.

[Joseph Farrow]

Here are some old vid's I dug up. Unfortunately they are only the first minute of the race. I have tried to down load the complete vid on photobucket and for some reason it will not let me.

These is from a race in Jackson Tennessee in maybe 1982. I am on the Red bike that pulls the hole shot and my brother is on the Blue bike in second. We weren't cutting each other any slack. lol We were on our 110's. We go on to finish 1st and 2nd.

http://vid271.photobucket.com/albums...psxqcdj3pl.mp4

This is from the same race second moto. I pull the hole shot again, Judson is in second until he clips the hay bail. He ends up making his way back to second.

http://vid271.photobucket.com/albums...psg03ayopp.mp4

[Daddio]

Joseph, try putting them on youtube. I used to use photobucket for videos but youtube is much better.

[shortline10]

The first 5 photos were taken at Lockhart stadium in Fortlauderdale around 1985 . The last few pictures are how my old retired racer looks as of late tired and old

[Joseph Farrow]

Good stuff Mike.
Awesome shot going over that Double!

[Joseph Farrow]

Here is a vid of the 150cc Pro main from the 1983 Tennessee State ATV Championship at Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch before the Nationals began. It is the first ATV race held at Loretta Lynn's.

My Brother is running a friends RM125 Suzuki Conversion. He wins. I am running our Blue 110. I finish 4th. Needed a few more laps. lol

https://youtu.be/VFAxXU3MvEM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFAx...yer_detailpage

[Daddio]

How many laps was that? That one corner looked awful rough on the inside line. That had to take a toll on the guys running the inside.

[Joseph Farrow]

How many laps was that? That one corner looked awful rough on the inside line. That had to take a toll on the guys running the inside.

Not sure how many laps it was.....wasn't enough for me. lol I could not get by the guy who finished third. He held the inside line the entire race. I actually won the heat race with the tri moto finishing second.
Here is a pic of the bike my brother ran. It was actually the first time he raced it. An air cooled RM125 Suzuki.



Here is a flier for the race. Check out some of the sponsors. It was a big deal for Tennessee at the time. It was two days of racing with amateurs on Saturday and pros on Sunday. A lot of racers from a lot of states.

[Keith Salyer]

This was at Ponca City Oklahoma in 1984. I rode my 84 fooler with a water cooled 200 kit. Terrible pic but if you look close you can see the radiator on the right side of the tank. It was a cool track right on the edge of town.

[Jmoozy27]

These are all good documents of history and great stories on top of that. Zipping around that flat track on thoses screamers looked fun as hell. Was there any cross country racing back then? I'd like to see one of those setups.