Your Collection: 1982 YZ100J
Monday, December 17, 2012 | 10:05 AM
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PrintThis weeks collection comes to us from Frank Totton.
The 1982 YZ100J was one of my favorite motorcycles. It was the perfect size for a 16 year old who was smaller in stature. It was also very light (179 lbs) and pretty fast. I believe it was named "bike of the year" by one of the moto magazines of the time.
I won my first race on this bike; rode the amateur Pontiac Supercross against some very fast Michigan riders (including some kid named Jeff Stanton); and even won a moto against 125s at Byron, IL where the 100B class was combined with the 125B class. This is when the 100 class was dying off and it was typical to combine them with some other class.
I attach a picture of my original bike in 1982 (with the dreaded Yamaha number one plates). The other photos are of my current model that was found in 2011 on Craigslist, posted as a 1983 YZ 125. The guy couldn't believe I wanted the thing. We both walked away happy and I never felt the need to correct his thinking that this was an '83 125. It was in decent shape and ran, but I spent this summer freshening up the top end and suspension, while listening to Asia and Sammy Hagar. I am looking forward to putting it in some vintage races. As is typically the case, when I rode it again for the first time in 30 years, my first impression was "How did I ever ride this thing?" and "This is not anything as fun as I remember". We have it so good with the current bikes.
- Frank
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Wow I remember this bike well, This bike was the stepping stone from 80s to 125s Yamaha had this market cornered with this size bike... Very nice bike !!
Nice ride. I've got a 1982 YZ100 project bike for this Winter. Going vintage MX racing in the 100 class next summer....can't wait!!!!
Biker 143 - Exactly - This bike was the "shit" in the old 100 class back in the 80's. I had this bike and had the 80 J as well. This bike allowed me to throw the 80 around like a toy. The days back when Yamaha dominated in BIKE and COLOR. Oh, for the Retro Yellow color now.
I love the factory-esque brick-and-milkcrate bike stand in the first pic. What a labor of love to rebuild an old chunk of your history. Great job.
Racer X - Thanks for the Great Picture. Brings back awesome memories!!!
@ Mx Bob
Check the Ellis post !!
On the YZ 100 I found this rather bike at a garage sale actually my aunt said somthing to me . Hey would you come up amd see it . I took the bike for $ 100.00 dollars did some cleaning and carb motor things and dumped maybe 200.00 more ito the thing and looked brand new. I was very proud of the end result. My Aunt wanted me to give it to my cousin who at the time was 11 years old he just loved the bike. Brings back good memories. I hated the drive side on the brake side though !
1982 I had switched from Yamaha to Suzuki then to Honda 250 that year with some Euro bikes . I did make a mistake with that Honda that year but 1983 was a different story I was gold that year on the CR
Sorry I guess I should have checked the spelling first.... I'll blame it on the drugs ! LOL !
Hello there Mr. MX! I remember that bike too. A kid from town raced one with us. It was fun to get on and go for a rip! I remember, back in the day, the late GREAT Donny Scmit would come out on an 80, whip everyones' butt, then hop on the 100 and do it again! 4 motos-every weekend! It said "Peanut" on the back of his helmet, and was a pleasure to watch. RIP Donny...
Up in Canada they were white and red, and I have a permanent reminder of my 1982 YZ100 in my right arm - a steel plate that held my radius together after I had a very badly broken arm (both bones). I was never really a big fan of this bike or the 100 class in general, even before the broken arm. In 1983 I graduated to a Honda CR125, one of my all time favorite bikes in my late 70s-late 80s career.
Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I wanted that bike sooo bad as I was on a 79 yz100 at the time-until I picked up a used YZ125g. Soon after my buddy got the J model 100 and Dad helped me get a 83 YZ125k. We were both poor country kids and our practice tracks were carved out in plowed fields after the corn/beans were harvested. Seemed like I could go faster on the 100 (on our track) cause I could just PIN the throttle,FAN the clutch,and ROW the gears.
Miss the 100 clas,district 17 had some bad dudes back in the day in that class!
@bucky394 - I wasn't around MN much when Donny was working his way through the amateur ranks, but I saw him at Loretta's in 1983, dicing for the 100cc championship with some other Midwestern guy named Jeff Stanton. I do remember practicing at the same track way back when the name Peanut still made sense. He later had a growth spurt that I never had.
I raced LL on one of these in '83 and '84. If I recall correctly, in '83 they had two 100 classes. An A and B. I rode the B and Jeff and Donny would have been in the A for sure. In '84 it was only one class. I believe that would have been the last year for it and Yamaha never made this bike again.
Good old memorys for sure thanks!. Hey man, I had a 77- Rm 100, Won my very 1st motocross race on it. Thrown in w/ the 125 jr class, I was 12. Funny part about it, after practice I was crying saying "these guys are all waaaay to fast!" I did not realise that everyone was on the track for practice! lol... I placed 2nd in both motos more out of fright than anything else, Irish hills michigan 1977. dist 14.
I've watched my dad restore old dirt bikes for years. For awhile he was all about flat track and TT racing so he had TT500s which I was kind of fond of because of the decompression lever like my '02 YZ250F.
But, and to the point of this article, I always wanted to put modern forks and a shock on after I rode them. This YZ100J is another example, though I haven't rode it. I'd love to throw some YZ85 or YZ125 forks and shock in there and have my suspension guy work to make the bad boy ride closer to today's bikes. I know they will never be the same due to geometry and weight bias, and its blasphemy when "restoring". But Im not of the era, I just want to have fun with the dinosaurs of moto not feel like a dinosaur rider.
I won the 1st round of the 1982 Fla Winter AMA series in St Pete on one of these..
Bubba McClure #21
I had forgotten that they stayed air-cooled to the end. I remember I would smoke past 100s on my 125. I wasn't riding against future world champions, or heavily modded bikes, but they were pretty good riders. It was a huge HP difference.
I guess the modern day equivalent would be a big-wheel super-mini.I thought about getting one of those, and even though the seat height is high, the proportions are for a kid. It felt like I wouldn't even be able to sit down all the way with a full knee brace on.
Wow thanks for the memories Frank.I had this bike when i was 15.Man what a blast to ride an race.I remember the class was dying off when i raced it but i always liked it when they combined us with the 125s it made you go faster trying to catch them.
Everyones showing their ages, lol...I might as well share mine too. I had this bike back in 82 and raced it in District 34, I broke the front hub twice from jumping and I sold it. I ended up buying a RM 125 with a sleeve down kit to 100cc. It was a clear advantage in that class with the full floater suspension. Ahhh memories, when the times were stress free, better music. In the summer I'd be riding home from a friends house after hanging out till 9 PM haha. Those were some special days. No texts, no cells, no computers...that was living.
@motorhead620
You wrote: "Miss the 100 clas,district 17 had some bad dudes back in the day in that class!"
I was in "that class" in 78 and 79. Those were the days!!!!
localexpert - the sleeved-down RM125 was definitely the hot ticket in the 100 class in the early '80's, seemed like that's what every expert in NESC was running back then. I know what you mean about the cell phones, music, computers as well!!!
MXLord327, sleeved 125 were the hot ticket for a long time. In 72-72 I raced well on a Hodaka Super Rat. Very competitive @the time but for some of the Euro-chassis bikes (Penton/KTM, Monark, etc). Then in summer 74, I was on the then-unbeatable CR125 Elsinore, but I missed racing against my raceday buds all still in the 100 class. Honda's HRC (RSC at the time) had quietly spread a small numer of FACTORY 100cc kits to dealership race teams. I go in for a piston one day and the shop says if I come back with the whole top end, they will swap me even for the 100 kit!
Elsinore chassis in the 100 class in 74 was like the fox in the chicken coup. For 5-6 weeks it was like clubbing baby seals. Maybe too much so: parts for the 100 kit were slow coming, so they swapped me back (even, again!?) for the almost as rare 125GP kit. A week later at sign-up is big notice that District 11 had BANNED CR100 kits.
Would like to think I had something to do with that.....
Makes me wonder, any old D11 guys know if they relaxed that for the YZs and RMs later?? If not, blame me, I guess :)
Frank - Great restoration. Really nice work.
Gentlemen (and yes, I'm using the term loosely) - thanks for the trip down memory lane.
I was a 100 class guy in the late 70s when the class emerged and was at it's peak and there were lots of fast guys in the class. I usually raced in District 34 (with Kurt McMillan, Carlo Coen, the Scannapieco brothers, Damon Baehrel, etc.) but managed to hit some District 3 races at Broome and Mexico and even hit a few at Sleepy Hollow in eastern PA. Once in a I would even throw on the 125 cylinder and give it a go in the 125 expert class. I liked the 100 class because it was a pretty tight group of guys.
The '82 100 Yamaha was after my time in the class. The two bikes I had were both Yamaha125s with 100 cylinders. The first was a '76 YZ125 and the 2nd was a '79 YZ125. The '76 was a hand-me down from my older brother (when he bought a 400 Maico) but the '79 I bought on my own.
@ local expert - I put Simons forks and a Fox airshock on the '79 for suspension and I think that made the biggest difference in this class. I didn't do much to the motor other than a DG gold head. I used the 125 pipe, managed to get the 125 reed cage in, and did a little polishing on the ports but did not change size of shape of anything.
@ JoeMoto & Osteo - I went to the Amateur Nationals at the old Hangtown track in '79 where I was "introduced" to the Michigan Mafia. I pitted next to Connie Fiest and met a number of riders from D17 - all really fast. An outside left gate in moto 1 and a crash in moto 2 didn't help the results but it was a great experience.
Ahhh - good times. Thanks everyone.
@Elsinore - I never had a problem with the 125 chassis in the 100 class in D34, but that was a few years later in '77 - '80.
Nothing like a restored 100 to get all the (us) "old guys" out of the woodwork. Everyone under 35 eyes probably glazed over a long time ago.
Sure beats complaining about the TV crew or hating on some current rider.
@MX Bob - agreed, and the lack of whining, name calling, and throwing of insults is refreshing.
CR500AF, I remember all that in Dist. 34 I built my little brother a RM100 in '75. Took one of my practice bike RM125M chassis and bolted in a TM100 motor. It handled like nothing else in the 100 class. We would get protested for the first few weekends then they just gave up, it was very obviously a TM100 motor.Had to bring a box to the line for my brother to stand on for the starts. He turned expert on that bike. He then the next season (on a '76 RM 100) would battle with Ralph Scannipieco every weekend. Does the name Bruce Winter ring a bell?Carlo Coen was still ona XR75 I think. Hell, I started out in '72 on Bultaco 200, was booted off the line a few times for being under aged for the class. Dad made me get a 100, Harley Baja 100. I still quiver and shake thinkin' of that P.O.S. Good ole Days.
Oh by the way, very nice job on that YZ100
@McMoto - yes, I remember Bruce Winter very well. A big guy compared to me which is probably the only reason I could keep up with him. Ran into him a few times over the years at a few of the nationals. A good guy.
Chuck Hicks was part of that crew too. There are a few others I can remember from the 100 expert class in D34 - unfortunately I can picture faces but don't recall names.
Here's a blast from the past with a story about Carlo that mentions him on an XR75 then the jump to 100s and then pro -
http://www.history.mscmotocross.com/assets/1984 MSC Newsletter.pdf
CR500, I must know you from the past. I'm Bruce's brother Don.(step bro) hence the different last name. Went to high school with Chucky Hicks, we had "Andre's Farm" scramble track right across the street from school. Corona M.C. ran it, my first attempt at racing Bultacos in '72. We belonged to Ace M.C. My dad probably sold you tickets to get in to race in Walden, then Parkers Outdoor world in Fishkill and finally over in Modena.He was the Grizzly old dude with the pistol ALWAYS on his side. Have a Merry Christmas if I don't post anything else this year. Going sno boardin' for the rest of this year..........yeahhhhh!
@McMoto - enjoy the snowboarding. If you are still with xcel energy, check your e-mail inbox.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you too.
I loved that bike, I remember riding it for the first few times, it felt so big compared to my YZ80. The bike belonged to my brother so I would only ride it on the practice track. It was great to learn to ride a bigger bike to make the move to the 125 class. Great restoration, thanks for the memories.
Here's a photo of mine in 1982: http://tinyurl.com/chwbmu7 those were the good days, no doubt about it!
Reminds me of a story that still ticks me off. In 72-73 around Districts 10,11, &15; a few other guys and myself scored a lot of 2nds, 3rds behind a guy on a Penton 100. Came close quite a few times, but just could not beat him. Drove me & my buds nuts. Thing was, in that day it seemed no one in the 100 class was over 16-17. This guy was like 26 and had a braided ponytail that came past his kidney belt (what happened to those?). We must have known his name but I dont remember it. He was just "the ponytail guy" on the Red tank (100cc) Penton. Frustrating as hell.
A million years later I am at the Mid-Ohio AHRMA event and Penton/KTM is the brand of the year, so there are a bazillion of them. Under a big display, I get talking to these guys who all worked in a Penton shop in N. Kentucky. I tell them I will always resent Pentons because of Ponytail Guy, etc. They all start laughing and say I must be talking about Cliff (or Bob or something). Turns out Ponytail Guy bought a red tank with his green (125) Penton. "You mean to tell me he was on a 125 the whole fricken time? I almost KILLED myself chasing that guy." Apparently that made it even funnier. Stupid Pentons.
@ElsinoreRacer THAT Sir is the funniest thing i've ever heard on these comment threads; glad i read thru those... As said by others this is a refreshing thread-read. I've got my dad's '77 Penton MC5 400 from Ohio/PA trail & hill climbing days. And yes that is one sweet YZ there. When they were truly Yellow Zonkers. i had a '76 Hodaka Dirt Squirt 100. chrome tank & fenders. what a nerd; dreamed of YZs, CRs & Super Rats..... oh yeah B^]
@ElsinoreRacer - Now that I've stopped laughing, thanks for your post.
Reminds me of chasing my older brother on our track, him on his 125 and me on my 80. Really good practice for me, but really frustrating at the same time.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Man i had that 100 it was like a factory bike compared to my old rm 100s was havin a blast first race of yr at red bud till i ripped all my knee ligs again awesome memories cant remem damn district tho in north ind? 15 maybe