1987 80cc Motocross Shootout

[@triple6758]

I got a spanky new RM in 1989. I still have it.

[@NMX777]

I rode a 79 RM 80 back in 81...I was a skinny teenager and that thing amazed me because of how powerful it was.

[@simonty353]

Thanks for doing this I loved it. The last 80 I had was an 86 RM80 and that was my favorite bike I ever owned. Brings back good memories watching this

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Aykosss]

Love the old 80s. I’m restoring an 88 Kx80 and 89 cr80 at the moment. Would be awesome to see some more mini content in your channel.

[@lanceromance5768]

My 2nd bike was an 88 kx80 littlewheel. That thing ripped. After high school I went to 4 wheels and never looked back but would love to find that bike someday.

[@derrickzenner9300]

87's as a group have the best color schemes IMO

[@derrickzenner9300]

I recall a Bradshaw comment about being proud to have kicked butt on the last place ranked YZ80.

[@TheMotocrossVault]

I could see Damon saying that for sure!

[@clintanthony1779]

I had a 89 Suzuki ds 80 as a 13 year old, a kid I knew had a 87 yz 80. We swapped bikes one day just to try out each other's bike, I remember how big & fast that thing was compared to my little ds. I didn't want to give it back to him.

[@RS-sv3bl]

Had the YZ - agree on all points, esp. suspension. Mine was ported, was hard to start but went like the clappers when that ‘band hit!

[@sushimamba4281]

I still have a 1980 YZ80 which I bought new and had it ported. It's sitting in a shed on a farm awaiting restoration.

[@anthonyatherton5994]

I still own a prestige condition Kawasaki kx80 D2 1982 the holy grail of motocross bikes back in them days 👍👍

[@joshmarks3954]

Thanks Tony, good look back. I love them all. My first bike was a xr 80. Good learners bike. Then an 83 rm 80, I loved that thing so fast liquid cooled single shock oh man. Than a brief ownership of a 84 kx 80. It was a rough bike and in poor condition and blew up after 2 days. Got a 88 yz 80 for a steal after that, and it was mint, all original. Loved that bike. Set me up for my 97 Cr 125 then Cr 250 after that. Cheers for the good work mate 👍

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Thanks for sharing I appreciate the support!

[@ejacks3871]

Loved my KX80. Thanks for the video.

[@ejacks3871]

@Alex Supertramp I had an 86. Can’t say what’s the best years though. I only had the one KX before moving onto something bigger.

[@wschwarz500X5]

Very cool video. I'm currently restoring my first bike I had as a kid, which is a 1984 kx80. Hope someday to see a review of that machine as from what I've read they were ahead of the competition. Thanks for the great vids!

[@23MikeJ22]

All this stuff requires a ton of work so I thank you for putting in the time to do this for us

[@theozBandit]

AGAIN....AWESOME vid Tony, I myself have shared your channel with over 88 people now,. so far ALL here absolutely love your videos! We are in lockdown atm in Australia.where you cant go outside...so your channels being passed right across the Aussie motocross industry down here keeping many people occupied whilst locked up at home. If and when we would love to see 1985 Kawasaki range review and maybe something on Supercross throughout the 1980s? Keep up the awesome videos, we down here are sharing your vids bigtime! Cheers ! 🍺🍻👍👍👍

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Thank you very much I really appreciate it and I can definitely do one on the 85 Kawasaki lineup

[@frankwilliams2198]

You can thank Yamaha for the mono shock and the power valve they were way ahead of their time.

[@scottyfum]

Awesome video!!! I grew up on these and owned a 85 kx. Cool to see how they all compared.

[@MikmawWarriorBrave]

Thanks for the trip back in time...

[@ozevox]

good bikes i remember the 86 kx and the 86 cr both were awesome machines the best times as a kid go riding all day without a care in the world

[@Horsewithnoname88]

I had an 87 YZ. I blew it up at Hollister Hills. My dad bored it to a 105 and ported it. It was a rocket ship! I could pull 250’s on the TT track. After I blew it up it blew me up by destroying my knee when I high sided on the sweeper. 80’s are rad!

[@mikehike6894]

the KTM MX80 sure looked trick there was a kid who raced one in our area back in the 80's would be interesting to see how it stacked up against the other 80's in '87

[@jamesbramblett3346]

Truly the golden era of minis. Well done appreciate this very much

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Thanks

[@derrickzenner9300]

I recall hopping off of my 91 KX125 to ride my buddies 89 CR80 and thinking lots of power but too small compared to what I was used to to be able to make it haul without devoting a bunch of time to get used to the small size.

[@Lightnin42]

You have great knowledge from my era ✅

[@TheMotocrossVault]

I appreciate that

[@timwyatt5453]

Absolutely awesome 👍 honest review. Keep them coming. Please. .

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Thank you! Will do!

[@bikelifewithalex120]

I've ridden all these but YZ80, and Cr80 were the most comfortable and powerful. My brother had a second-hand almost new bike CR80 same 87.

[@coletrick8748]

More 80 stuff from the 1980’s please ... 89 in particular

[@AD25-h3v]

Bailey and Hannah, and you’re a motocross guy! I see what you did there... Waiting patiently for a review on JT Racing. Great videos, keep ‘em coming!

[@derrickzenner9300]

I missed it

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Yeah my wife is certainly understanding. I will get on that JT vid for ya!

[@derrickzenner9300]

@Alex Supertramp I meant prior to alberts original comment I missed it.

[@derrickzenner9300]

@Alex Supertramp no problem. I never took for granted that my parents let me ride/race dirt bikes. My dad said i could have any dirt bike i wanted as long as I paid for it. I bought a two year old 88 kx250 at 14 years for $1350 after working on a farm the summer before to save up the money. Yep it was way to much bike but I don't think my dad minded that when he rode it. Now I'm 46 and i haven't even started my 2002 kx125 in probably 8 years. Just no time anymore. Glad to hear about your sweet purchases.

[@deborahchesser7375]

Watshakin TB , hope ya have a good wknd, and as usual thanks for the vintage reviews

[@TheMotocrossVault]

My pleasure thank you very much

[@toddbarboza425]

I always thought the kx looked the coolest but my dad wouldn’t let me spend an extra 100 bucks for it. Had to settle for a brand new 85 cr80. What a dependable bike. Rode it two years never even removed the spark plug once. Always started first kick. Solid machine. Typical Honda. Paid 949.00 brand new. I remember the kx was exactly 1050.00. Lol

[@Davido50]

Have an 06 RM85 now for fun its a blast an very fast. Case reed engine an powervalve. 11in travel both ends!

[@joesmoe8869]

The 1985 CRs are the best looking bikes ever my second new bike was a 1985 cr80 took me 9 years to find one in my area it was all original

[@Thesaurcery4U2C]

In my area at that time the KX was the most popular and the name was even known by non-riders when referring to something fast. Followed by the RM.

[@scottyd2262]

You should look up old Australian Dirt Bike magazines shootout results as well. I still have all of mine..

[@WeirdBeard617]

Early December 1986 I took a ton of the money I saved from my paper routes d went with my neighbor to Bettencourts Honda and bought a brand new 1987 Honda CR80R, it was my birthday after Xmas and they threw in a bell Moto 4 helmet. I was turning 12. Bike was amazing and I still have it

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Thanks for sharing I wish I still had some of my old bikes

[@WeirdBeard617]

Tony, I wish I could keep them all without getting a divorce. I would have kept 1976 xr75, 1991 kx125, 1996 cr250, 2001 cr250. The 2001 was probably the best incarnation of the cr. I started racing in 1991 on the brand new kx125 and at 175 and almost 6’, the bike wasn’t enough. Toasted a clutch almost every moto, the next season I switched to Cr250’s and rode them exclusively until 2003. But the 02-03 cr sucked, I switched to yz450 after that, kept a 250f for a while too

[@jacobhendrickson8935]

I had a 87 kx 80 loved that bike.

[@jamiemcphail1432]

Coming from that era, J can tell you DIRT RIDER was the lamest of all of the magazines. My first 2 stroke was a 1983 CR 80. God ,I loved that bike. In 83,KX was the top of the 4, although any of em would rip your face off if you were a novice rider. Also,the difference between the four if them was modest enough that the rider was the biggest factor of whether you won or not.

[@joesmoe8869]

Tony knows his stuff

[@harrymananus5380]

Growing up I had an 86 cr80 and my friend had an 87 rm80. He couldn’t believe how much stronger the cr was.

[@williamsherman1089]

Ok I get it now, Hannah and Bailey. I've been watching your channel for a while now and just caught onto that 👍

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Lol

[@tcibutler]

Do you host a podcast at all? Your knowledge is absolutely priceless...

[@TheMotocrossVault]

I do have a podcast but at this point it basically just audio versions of my videos. I may expand it in the future.

[@jarin12ga]

I had a 1988 RM80 when I was like 15. That was the best sounding motor hands down out of all the 2strokes I had. I had alot of them too.The 1988 RM80 had a awsome metal pinging howel, bone stock! Almost hard to describe . It was a great little bike. It really ripped. I was bone tied with my friends CR80 that was supposed to be much faster. Not in my experiance!!

[@Stroopwaffe1]

Rm80 in 87 taught me low to mid, cornering and clutch, didnt get real fast till kx100.

[@philipwurm5121]

In 1987 I was 19 yrs old and rode the KX 125. I wanted a CR 125 but unless preordered on the East Coast (I’m in Jersey ) you were out of luck. But I was able to buy my gf the 87 CR 80. She looped it out on her first ride and was scared to death of it. Needless to say we broke up and I sold it as a brand new bike which it was... The saddest part was that I never even took it for a lil run being 6’3” I just wasn’t interested. Now I wish I had ridden it.

[@reedtarted1932]

Maby a vid on 60s/65s

[@jonathonfearn3992]

Please do more on cr85r great content hats off to you the fountain of nolidge

[@TheMotocrossVault]

Thank you!

[@jieme6397]

I always loved the shootouts, especially when mcgrath was on his run, 500 class shootout still existed, can you do mid 90s 500cc? Kawi gets little respect for bieng the king 500 for so long

[@chadebel2970]

Blendzall smells so good with race gas

[@tonycerino9645]

1990 CR 80 didn't have an atac valve it was the year with the nykisil coated cylinder.

[@TheMotocrossVault]

The ATAC was added to the CR80R in 1984 and removed with the redesign in 1986. It never worked all that well on the 80 and was only used in 1984 and 1985.

[@jeffreyenglish2413]

I had a 1979 kx 80 the first year it had 5 speed transmission 17 inch front week out of all the 80s it was a little bigger then YZ80 RM CR the kx had a lot of bottom end and midrange power I would always get the hole shot but in the top gears the other 80s had that 6 gear I remember it like yesterday it had 15 hp and my parents paid $ 749 also it was air cold I was 14 just learning to ride I looped it out and broke the rear finder had to wait for month new one from Japan wow I can’t believe how much horsepower the new 85s are making 27 hp unbelievable tech.

[@jeffreyenglish2413]

Great Job

[@simonty353]

Bye the way, I had an 85 KX and within one cap on my new Rm 80 86 model I was going quicker on the RM than the KX eeven while just running the RM in. By the time I got the hang of the RM is so much quicker than the KX. All the shootouts said KX was best but I RM was so much better

[@adriantowe278]

I agree rm all the way maybe we just got 2 really good one's I don't think so we just like the rm respect to you from England

[@jamieteal2107]

@@adriantowe278👍🇦🇺

[@ztnjv]

why are shootouts on modern line ups so hard to find? I have been looking at some used 85 bikes for my son and have been hard pressed to find shootouts to see how the different models compare.

[@robertrishel3685]

I’m curious Tony, if you have a copy of a 1979 or 1980 magazine (MXA?) featuring an interview with Eric Kehoe as a mini rider? If I recall correctly he was a Yamaha support rider and the article described how he was learning to port his own cylinders….a day in the life, etc. I have been searching online, but there doesn’t seem to be much about the mini riders from that time. Kehoe, Chris Heisser, Brian Meyerscough….etc.

[@TheMotocrossVault]

I'm sure I do but I don't have it scanned

[@Damien-q8t]

Always found it odd that Yamaha and Suzuki saw fit to give their 80cc tiddlers liquid cooling but left their 500cc /open class machines air cooled😊.

[@clubbyvxr8]

Hi, do you have any shootouts for 2002 250cc two strokes. I cant find anything online. Many thanks

[@TheMotocrossVault]

I do have them all. I will be doing that year in the future for sure

[@iconatlarge]

We had an 86 KX 80 that would beat many 125s and any 80 cc bike in our area back then.

[@grumpyoltimer7523]

No way? The CR whooped some 125's! That's nut's.

[@emexduzentos]

The front wheels on the first two bikes (Carmichael's and Fisher's) are bent.

[@chrisgleis2821]

Can you do ones on old tracks

[@TheMotocrossVault]

What exactly do you mean?

[@DjRay1967]

Yes. Do a video about some old tracks like Indian Dunes. 👍

[@nofilter265]

The 80cc was what it was

[@murrayminimotors1674]

Have 2 yz85 n 1987 n 1990!!

[@kennycampbelljr5896]

When you are small the 80's don't feel any faster when you outgrow them they don't want to stay under you and fast as hell.....L0L

[@adriantowe278]

I love 2 stroke bikes but the piston and rings are always break that's the only bad thing that makes you go for the 4 stroke I wish it was different but it is what it is

[@chrisgleis2821]

I had a 87 cr 80

[@sambourre9539]

Plllllzzz do the '79 RM250

[@jacobhendrickson8935]

What exactly was dirt riders excuse for not ranking these bikes?

[@nickcraig2417]

Do a 90s 80cc shoot out

[@TheMotocrossVault]

I will be doing one in the future for sure

[@theblazierfamily7723]

Hiiiii

[@TheMotocrossVault]

LOL Hi Bailey!

[@theblazierfamily7723]

The Motocross Vault hi

[@stevenrussell4052]

I had the 87 cr 80 it was awesome