Your Collection: 1978 Suzuki RM 125
Sunday, February 3, 2013 | 6:00 AM
Share
Comment
Email
PrintThis weeks collection comes to us from Dominic Sileo.
A genuine 1978 Suzuki RM 125 Moto-X Fox, Fully restored to original condition. Once owned and raced by a rich kid from Oregon. Many more Rare bikes if you are interested in looking.
Dominic Sileo
Old S'Cool Vintage Motocross Restoration
I restore dirt bikes for fun, Not a business.
Did you like this article?
Check out CAUGHT OUTSIDE
in our Latest issue of Racer X available now.
One of the most successful—and controversial—team managers of all time, Larry Brooks is looking to return to the races. Page 146.
Look for the verified symbol 
Impulse Studios
SANO RESTO!
That model holds a special place in my memory bank.
Thanks
Dominic, 1st class job you've done there. I'm on doing a 78 RM125 as well, can you tell me where you got the exhaust silencer, if it wasn't already on the bike before you started.
Thanks.
That's a beautiful bike and worth alot of money. Simons forks, Fox Airshox, Thor swingarm?....the best of everything! Nice job!
Wow! That is a job to be proud of, Dominic. That was a hard bike to beat in '78, and probably would today too!
Nice Work! Maybe you should consider quitting that Day Job....but then it would take all the fun out of it! Very Cooool...
Yeah that is an amazing look. I still have my original 1976 RM125 that I updated to a 78 with the better swing arm and suspension. I would also like to know who made the pipe silencer combo. Those 76-78 RMs were some if the most badass looking bikes ever made!
Yes, the good old days !
OLD SCHOOL HELL YA !!
I have a set of those forks if anyone is interested. They are on a RM250C and I want to find/put stockers on.
What a beauty. Mommy, come here honey, mommy,........like Jack Nicholson said in The Bucket List honey, never waste a ............. and this RM gave me one.
Elsinoreracer, I,m interested..my next bike is going to need a set..have stockers to trade..drop me a line man..
Thanks everyone for the kind words..stayed tuned I may have a few more that will light your vintage doobies up!
dsileo, how do we do this? I do NOT my email on here. Maybe I can make a one-time-use one..... thinking, thinking..... check back in a day or so.
absolutely awesome! great job! and thanks for sharing
When I saw this, I thought cool my first MX bike! Then I saw it and went that's not my old bike! Cooler yet! Nice job!
Great looking bike, have one on the bench right now waiting to be restored!
ElsinoreRacer, very interested in your forks, no probs with a trade for some nice 78 RM250 forks plus cash your way!
Two air shox are better than one!
I rode d6 since 7 years of age..Clifford, Pa. Was my home track..I owned that place in my mind anyway..ha ha...
i started racing on a '77 rm100. suzuki was the bikes to ride in the late '70's. to this day, i still have a soft spot for zooki's !
I bet you race that bike on last nights track you end up in the Hospital LOL!
That must of been Pat Richters bike - MotoX fox was the coolest stuff ever back in the day. We made a YZ80 MotoX fox pit racer- tooled it around Delta and Red Bud back when you could still get away with it. I raced a 78' rm125- it was one of the best bikes ever according to the mags. I bought it on a Saturday night and raced a huge mud bog on Sunday- and put 6 months wear and tear on it right away. Nice Bike.
That sure is a nice looking scooter. But from the looks if that tank it clearly is a 1977 RM 125B. I raced both the "77" and the "78" RM 125 back in the day and can tell you the "78" RM 125C had an angular plastic tank and not the tear drop metal tank shown in this picture. Maybe the rebuilder swapped out tanks?
@dsileo
Was the rich kid's name Dean from Vancouver, Wa ?
@Go-Lo, I thought the same thing that it was a '77 untile I noticed the tank on the ground behind the bike.
I'm interested in those Simons. I should have some '79 forks stored somewhere. valleysigns@yadtel(dot)net
@ Hammerhead, I didn't even notice that "78" tank on the ground hidden partially by the stand. The bike had all the "77" plastic along with the tank... convinced me it was a "77."
If you are old enough to have raced one or more of them back in the seventies ....
Hey ElsinoreRacer,
I am getting your information so we can make a trade on the Simons for the stockers. Mine are perfect condition. Please do not let any of these poochers grab them until we speak...and of course thanks
Dsileo
Dominic, in the day, I built my 77 RM125B with the 17.5 Fox Dual airs, Thor Swingarm, but couldn't afford the Simmons forks, so I used oem forks with the long top out spring removed. Mine also had a FMF cylinder signed by Donnie Emler. Rand a 36 Mikuni, with a DG high flow 6 petal reed block, FMF pipe and Mototek ignition. I was fortunate enough to get the parts with a 1/2 season of use from a local fast guy. Somewhere I still have the original Suzuki owners manual, Fox Shox manuals, and a photocopy of the MXFox performance book for RM's.
Nice bike, brings back some memories of my younger years racing NESC in the 1970's.
PK
Guys,
The '78 RM 125 came with a plastic tank that did not look close to the aluminum tank.
The plastic tank had different lines at the head stay area than this picture.
The RM 250 in 78 had two editions. The first edition was the RM 250 C had the '77 aluminum tank and then Suzuki came out with RM 250 C2 witht the plastic tank. I have
a RM 250 C with aluminum tank it was the tenth one of limited prod of 125 of them.
Good job Dominic, this bike really is stout, and reminds me of Mark Barnett's first pro year in '78 racing the Moto Fox #322. What kind of wipers do you have on the Simons
Forks? These forks would leak like a weaping school girl. Great forks but man would they blow out the oil.
Hmm..noticed a gas tank under your bike is that the plastic tank?
Please take a very close look at the bike stand and notice the original 1978 tank on the ground...so many experts and so little time to educate them all...back to building bikes for me..enjoy...more on the way..
Dsileo
That's a Jemco pipe/silencer. Same set-up used on this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gR_Xp-CJq6c
dsileo, great job on the bike. I too was thinkin' '77 until I saw the ole plastic tank hidden there. I had a '77 RM250 set up just like yours (with out the Forks), I worked for Moroney's Cycle in those days while Pat Moroney was sponsered by MX Fox. What a cool time in MX, those '70's. I still have a jersey & Yoko moto x fox pants left,(the kids found my motoX fox KRW helmet and...... nuf said), I rode over in Dist.# 6 Hurricane Hills, nice track. Thanks for the memories
I NEED MORE PICTURES! How can we voyeristically enjoy your moto-mojo with one picture to drool over? Not just an excellent restoration, but serious jewelry. Well done!
The side panels are from a 77 also, with the vents. I am betting this is a 77.
the tank on the ground is from a 78.
@ Dominic,
My current vintage Suzuki collection consists of:
3 74 TM 125's won at Mid Ohio three years in a row 125 Expert class
1 76 RM 250 completely restored was featured two yrs ago in Throttle Jockey Your Collection. Roger saw it at Red Bud the year it won best Vintage Bike of Show.
1977 RM 125 B good but not excellent condition
1978 RM 125 C in mint condition
These are just my Suz collection of vintage bikes. I used to race Pro in '77 and '78 on
Suzuki's look in the Vault under results. So I guess I could be called some what of an expert on Suzuki's and not sure what you meant by don't have time to educate everyone.
No one is ripping on your bike as it looks very top class...
@ LarryWitmer
L.O.P Buddy !
RPM ! lol !
@P P
Lorenz Offner...LOP
Gary Chapman RPM
Did you remember Eric Gorr got his first real motor gig working for LOP, as did
Terry Varner. Varner went out west early 80's made it good for Varner Racing. He worked with Allessi's. His son was tragically killled approx 1 1/2 ago racing. I think
He quit everything after that.
@ Larrywitmmer,
I own a few zook's myself from a first generation ts90 up to and including a 1980 Rm400...do the math, thats a bunch of Suzuki metal, Honda, 1973 billet crank DG package racer to and including a few few 1986 Cr250, a half dozen real Mugens, more unique Yamaha,s than all of those put together and one , yes one lowly Kawasaki, A 78 125A4...plus a bunch of vintage Bultaco, CZ, husky etc...I wasn't pointing nothing your way just responding to others...I was there too in the early years. Artistic license was the norm...that's what made those days so special. Keep roostin bro...
And now the sad part of my story is with all of these fantastic machines, all I can ever do again is work on and restore them ,because a riding accident and a broken back has only left me with great memories of days gone by in the dirt and a bunch of toys I can never use...kind of ironic huh. .
Beautiful. Just beautiful. Shhhhh. Don't say anything. Just let me enough it's wonderfulness. Fox Shox, Simon Forks, trick silencer. Ya know. It's sad the kids of today can't understand how cool that bike is.
@ LarryWitmer
Varner is still in California building engines. He's also been racing at REM (Glen Helen) a lot. In fact, he overalled his vet intermediate class just last Saturday and was A3 Saturday night.
@LM/PP
Did either of you personal know Lorenz ? I have a great story and few picture to share with you if so.. I'm too dumb to get it to post onto this string of replies. Story cannnot be told here either ! He was probably one of the most unique people I have ever had the opportunity to meet, certainly in the decade of time we meet.
DS
@DS- yes I raced for Lorenz in the early 80's for him. Went to Waukeegan (sp?) numberous times. Greg Theiss, Moates, Surwall all hung out. Yes, Lorenz was a special
guy. Do you ever get up to Red Bud?
@Animal- tell Varner Witmer said Hi. Miss that guy. Hung out with him at Loretta's in '02. He was Mike Allessi's mechanic. Mike's Super Mini wasn't running right so Tony
takes the gas cap off flips the bike upside down and starts %#@@&! at Terry. He just looked at me eyes rolled. And Gary Bailey is parked beside us also in the Honda pits.
He was not a happy guy...Last time I raced there and came away #1. Gary made all the
Honda guys a special plaque that year for winning. ..
RED BUD! UNADILLA, BUDDS CREEK....I try to make a few each year if I can gather enough sake to make the trip. Simple things are not so simple for me now. But I get my race fuel and castor burnin at least once a year.
I have the honor to work for the Ritchie Family since '83. I am the track announcer until
the National. I do color commentary Sat morning for the Nationals, but I am in the tower helping Tim Ritchie run the event. Big fun, but lots of responsibilities. Yell at me if you
are coming this year. my email is:
[email protected]
Anybody want some additional photos for enjoyment can forward your email to me. I did the build of this bike which in fact is a late 77 (original alloy tank). It was a true barn find and almost all the components were on the bike. Engine was essentially stock (ports were cleaned up and transfers raised approx1.5mm) when I found it. Silencer was gone as were Simons triples (weird that they were missing) but bike was under dust and mattress for 30 years!
Sweetness,man thats a memory overhaul,had rm100s in 78,forks tubes used to bend like noodles,everyone bought a 125 and sleeved it to 100cc (i was told) Witmer knows,hey larry i remember you at trojan nite races when they had the wheelie contest( around the outside of the track ,used it for flat track on certain weekends) He dominated 125a,250a #767 i believe, couldnt beat those days,rider turnout was unbelievable
@FB, the Suzukis of that era, 100 and 125 we didn't sleeve. The setup was to buy the RM125 and install a RM100 crank and top end. sleeves wouldn't get the job done since the stroke is 54mm for the 125 and 50mm for the 100.
PK
Thanks PK,i always thought everyone was cheatin,i rode stockers,threw a metzler on the front an back and that was it,i was shorter so the stockers fit me better,never had a prob pullin holeshots,so maybe we cussed those guys with 125 frames and 100 internals for notta lol sorry guys
Hey Dominic,ever wanna sell that bike,let me know cant stop lookin @ it,great job,always wanted that setup but my dad always told me i still couldnt ride the stocker like Barnett could,didnt even try to argue
FBI
Post your contact information.....
D
Dominic,shoot me some #s [email protected]
Dominic, do you still have this RM?
Paul
Paul,
Yes..I still my bike..
What's up ?
Dom