Oh c'mon now, how could that happen??? The sport is the people involved. As long as there are blokes who want to celebrate the Pre 78s then there will be classes and races for them. Who the Hell cares if some big girls blouse wants to race an 86 CR500 and pretend he's on a real bike??? You could have events for all those girly newcomers who want to restore an 89 KX125, and there'll still be old schoolers with garage queen 72 maicos and 68 BSAs and so on. Why would a bloke racing a Pre 75 bike suddenly think "Wow, I've seen the light, gotta get me one of them 88s?" But a bloke with an 88 just might think "Geez, those old bikes are sooo cool, gotta get me one of them".

Is Linkage Vintage? No. But is linkage OK to race in VMX? Yes.

To me, it's what Firko says, Vintage as a concept, or a philosophy even, is Pre 75 (OK, Pre 78 maybe). It's wildly different to the bikes of the 80s and 90s, and I think we have to preserve that concept. I'm doing my bit, my only old bikes now are a 78 125 and a 74 125.

But... the 80s were a time of real evolution too. The bikes from 78 to 88 changed dramatically and it's a time in history as valid as any other. And I LIKED all that big hair and lycra - some of the girls at gym back then really had my attention!! And I actually painted an XT500 fluoro yellow and pink. Sad but true!

Vintage is about those halcyon times from the 60s and 70s. It's about a different world, a time now lost. That said, there is definitely a place for celebrating people's youth, be that 40 years ago, or 30, or even 20. And the VMX scene is where we can do that.

So, I say we NEED Evo, Pre 85 and Pre 90 to keep the whole VMX scene growing. But true 'Vintage' is sacrosanct and it's Pre 78!!! Not sure how to really cement that idea in people's minds tho.

Imagine an '80s MX' raceday, all those luvverly fast fluoro graphiced linkage suspended, water cooled rocketships with their studly riders being tended by a bevy of lycra clad, big haired beauties? I'd nearly buy a CR Honda for that. Nearly...

I watched the race lap times on amamotocross.com, great ride from Reedy. Seemed to have it all in hand and easily as fast as Stewart. Reed seems very prepared and confident, while I think Stewart will be the one to have to lift his game mentally. I think he settled for second yesterday rather than risk a crash - wise thinking but he might also lose his edge doing that...

What happened to Metcalfe? Did fine in his heat but not so good in the race?

Well done Reardon too, 4th in his debut ride on the SX series.

I must admit the S12 has been the best front tyre I've used, but only in the right conditions. On a harder surface I find it a bit skatey. The Dunlop felt pretty good, and was definitely better on hardpack. That's why I leaned towards it as my riding is mostly intermediate to hard (I avoid riding in the rain - hate cleaning dirty bikes and gear). But of course you can't avoid the mud entirely so I didn't want to go with a hard surface tyre. I figure the modern bike needs good tyres, whereas the older ones probably aren't so critical. I have a Kenda Trackmaster on the front of the TM and a Cheng Shin on the rear and all seems fine on a bike only 6" off the ground...

OK, getting close to having the stable all ready to go for another year. Looking for advice on tyres and oils.

First, what's the recommendations for oil in the RM125M and TM125? I have used Motul 800 in the past but recall a thread which I can't find that suggests the fully synthetics aren't so good in the older bikes. I think there was also the suggestion that 20:1 is the optimum ratio? Any thoughts?

Secondly, I am looking at fresh tyres on my '05 YZ125. I am tossing up between Michelin S12 (F) and M12 (R), Dunlop D756 (F&R), or Kenda Millvilles (F&R).  What's the go? I have Dunlops on the RM-M and they feel great, but I do like my S12s too.. And the Kendas *look* nice!

Good to see you on the forum Pat. A practice day on Sunday? Excellent... I just put some new rings in the TM and need to bed them in and see if the thing goes any better than it did at Wagga so I might come on out for a while.

I don't think it works for the 250, it just so happens that the CR and TM125s share the same bore/stroke so the pistons are interchangeable with a little careful trimming. I am no expert on this, but I think the 74-77 CR pistons fit the 73-75 TM/RM125.

My collection of pistons include TM, TS and CR, all of which differ slightly in length of skirt, height of crown, and cutaway. I am sure there are slight differences in power as a result, but given that these things don't make much power anyway I don't think it matters much...

It's an old school 125, who needs torque?

Check this one out KX500 lovers

http://www.ozvmx.com/classies/index.php?method=showdetails&list=advertisement&rollid=950&fromlist=advertisement&frommethod=showdetails&fromid=950&fromfromlist=advertisement_active&fromfrommethod=showhtmllist

Yep, does have a squish band, and no, haven't checked the volume, but happy enough with how it looks so will reassemble with *some* confidence.

But another question. These CR pistons (and they aren't OEM I don't think) have two rings. One has a slightly tapered cross section, the other is rectangular. Which goes where? I am assuming the tapered one on top and the other on the bottom?

It hasn't translated all that well, but here's a scan from an ADB test (they loved it!). I just think it's a great shot. And the more I read this thread the more I think I should buy one of these things...

Well I for one think it's great to see a little VIPER in-fighting. For a while there it looked to all the world like NSW couldn't get its act together and was full of malcontents and draconian nazi wannabes posing as volunteer officials, while Victoria, Queensland and WA were icons of Vintage errr... Heaven. But now we see the truth!!!

Actually, I don't think the thread was supposed to be a whinge about VIPER, Bahnsy posted a perfectly good question about Evo and we've had a whole lot of mostly constructive discussion. Let's keep it like that.

I reckon you're right Chris. I am running a CR piston in the TM and it is fine. Just wasn't too sure about the RM as I thought the head and barrel are different on them. My collection of CR, TM, and TS piston kits all have different skirt lengths and crown heights, but a bit of trimming and any of them seem to work OK...

Yeah, that one was tempting but I just don't have that much available at this time of year. Sad but true. And my slack brother didn't win Lotto last night either!

Might keep an eye on it though...

Thanks for that, I'll try the solder thing tomorrow. You're right of course, plasticene is pretty iffy at best. Never thought of solder...