Show me your 90's Crossers

[MrBig]

I started riding motocross when I was about 10 years old. Started off on a KX60, then went to an 80 and then an 80 big wheel. Will never forget how fast the 80 felt when I first started. As a teenager my reading literature of choice was Dirt Bike Rider magazine. As a result, even 30 years later I still dream about owning a mint period 90's crosser. I miss the days of lurid graphics, pink plastics and graffiti fonts!

Nowadays I don't have the time to race, and my beetle project is swallowing up money, but still harbouring a dream of picking up a cheap restoration project, so often find myself looking at Tony Blazier's stuff on social media and dreaming!

KX250: Any colour you like as long as it's retina burning green!


CR250: Would have to be an early 90's machine with the lipstick font '250R' on the swingarm!


YZ250: Don't even talk to me if it doesn't have a pink seat


Spent hours trawling marketplace and ebay but for these and similar bikes; KDX/KMW/WR/TS etc, but prices are nuts, so for now I'll have to stick to window shopping.

Anyone own such a machine and fancy sharing some pictures?

[jackthelad1984]

Not quite a motorcrosser but I have a 93' Honda xr250r tucked away in the garage that I keep saying I'm going to tidy up one day.
Hasn't been ridden for 4 or 5 years and is very well used(quite tatty!) but I'm sure some fresh fuel and a bit of swearing at the kick start would have it fired up. Will try and dig out a photo.

[TwoStrokeNut]

Not a crosser, but basically a road legal RM250.

It was practically like new. A JDM model RMX250ST with an oil pump. Went really well and just floated down green lanes..

[Birky_41]

I got a 1995 CR250 and 1996 CR250 here but made both to look like 1996s. Keen eye will see the white air box covered on the 95



I've also got a 1997 CR125 fully restored I got many years ago for my 30th as a memorabilia bike of my racing days riding the same bike in its day

[gazzarose]

jackthelad1984 said:

Not quite a motorcrosser but I have a 93' Honda xr250r tucked away in the garage that I keep saying I'm going to tidy up one day.
Hasn't been ridden for 4 or 5 years and is very well used(quite tatty!) but I'm sure some fresh fuel and a bit of swearing at the kick start would have it fired up. Will try and dig out a photo.

In a similar vein, I've got 2 DR350s sat in my garage, both '92. One is unregistered that I had as a field/forest bike when I was 15 (I'm 37 now!) But essentially still works, the other is a registered one but with a knackered engine that I bought in November '21 while my wife was in still in hospital having a week previously had our daughter (oops). I really have got to get round to combining them into a working retro trail bike/commuter. It does share the garage with a MK3 MX5 and a '16 KTM EXCf 350 Sixdays, so I'm not short of toys!

[rodericb]

The YZ in those colours is ace. The YZF750 of the same era had similar colours and looked ace too, that's probably a conversation for the Show me your 90's sportsbikes thread....

[MrBig]

rodericb said:

The YZ in those colours is ace. The YZF750 of the same era had similar colours and looked ace too, that's probably a conversation for the Show me your 90's sportsbikes thread....

I’ve never seen one of those YZFs in the metal, they do indeed look awesome. I think at the time I only had eyes for crossers so probably wouldn’t have noticed them

Great replies so far, thanks all. Hope we can keep it going!

[poo at Paul's]

I have a 96 cr250r, now don’t race it really, use more modern 4t stuff. But it’s still likely the best mx bike I’ve ever had, out the box!
Last of the steel frames, and it’s ace.

[Birky_41]

poo at Paul's said:

I have a 96 cr250r, now don’t race it really, use more modern 4t stuff. But it’s still likely the best mx bike I’ve ever had, out the box!
Last of the steel frames, and it’s ace.

Yep agreed. Same with the 1997 CR125. Remember racing that and having some great results, 6 speed 'box

Then 1998 they switched to the first gen ally frame. Loads of marketing, mags all on the hype for the launch of it and I got one of the first from Ron Humphreys motorcycles back in the day

Started riding it and was like...hang on this is a turd. 5 speed 'box, the gap between 2nd and 3rd was terrible to try drive out of short corner/jumps and the frame was a bone rattler. Absolutely no flex!

I have always been a Honda mx guy but it was the only time late 90s I switched to Yamaha and steel frame again. They got that first gen ally frame really wrong

[Crook]

Had friends who went: KX80 - KX80 big wheel - KX125
Back in the day.
I vividly remember watching the super cross back when Rick Johnson and Jeff Ward were in their prime and wearing the subsequent BBC / Too Hip / Life’s A Beach gear.
Very happy days.

[Birky_41]

Crook said:

Had friends who went: KX80 - KX80 big wheel - KX125
Back in the day.
I vividly remember watching the super cross back when Rick Johnson and Jeff Ward were in their prime and wearing the subsequent BBC / Too Hip / Life’s A Beach gear.
Very happy days.

Thats more 80s see Ricky Johnson there. I was a kid idolizing riders like him

90s was more Jeff Emig names that I remember. There are loads I remember and could reel off but thats a whole new thread

Some names I (UK top Brits) I have been lucky to be on the gate (and had my butt kicked) but still great to race alongside

Jon Barfoot former british champion is local to me and we race in same group (he does Evo I do twin shock so classed different) even now. He is late 40s and still rapid

I'm doing Farleigh World Vets this year so will be lined up with a lot of them https://worldvetsmotocross.com/ having guys in their 50s and 60s absolutely smashing it round there

[Crook]

Birky_41 said:

Thats more 80s see Ricky Johnson there. I was a kid idolizing riders like him

90s was more Jeff Emig names that I remember. There are loads I remember and could reel off but thats a whole new thread

Some names I (UK top Brits) I have been lucky to be on the gate (and had my butt kicked) but still great to race alongside

Jon Barfoot former british champion is local to me and we race in same group (he does Evo I do twin shock so classed different) even now. He is late 40s and still rapid

I'm doing Farleigh World Vets this year so will be lined up with a lot of them https://worldvetsmotocross.com/ having guys in their 50s and 60s absolutely smashing it round there

Fair point: thinking about it they all started racing Schoolboys in ‘86 at places like Long Buckby, Ellsworth and the like. One carried on until relatively recently (late 40s) and was AFAIU pretty good.

Good luck with the series

[BlackG7R]

I had one like this, exactly the same graphics, what a weapon !!

Not sure what year it was somewhere around '94 I reckon.

[poo at Paul's]

Birky_41 said:

poo at Paul's said:

I have a 96 cr250r, now don’t race it really, use more modern 4t stuff. But it’s still likely the best mx bike I’ve ever had, out the box!
Last of the steel frames, and it’s ace.

Yep agreed. Same with the 1997 CR125. Remember racing that and having some great results, 6 speed 'box

Then 1998 they switched to the first gen ally frame. Loads of marketing, mags all on the hype for the launch of it and I got one of the first from Ron Humphreys motorcycles back in the day

Started riding it and was like...hang on this is a turd. 5 speed 'box, the gap between 2nd and 3rd was terrible to try drive out of short corner/jumps and the frame was a bone rattler. Absolutely no flex!

I have always been a Honda mx guy but it was the only time late 90s I switched to Yamaha and steel frame again. They got that first gen ally frame really wrong

Yes I reckon it took Honda about 11 years to get the beam frame right, 2008 or so, on the 450 anyway.