Curtis Armstrong
US History pd.1
1/4/12
Mr. Silva
History of Dirt Bikes and Motocross
Dirt bike which can also be called Motocross is the most exhilarating sport
in the world. The feeling you get when you are whipping around a turn at 40
miles per hour is a feeling that is impossible to explain in words. Motocross is a
form of motorcycle racing held on enclosed off circuit dirt tracks. The sport
comes from the motorcycle trials competitions that were held in the United
Kingdom. Motocross is a physically demanding sport, for it requires excellent
vision, focus, and balance. This sport has transformed into a worldwide known
sport.
The Dirt bike it self had no real founder. Many people took off the lights
and horns and added a suspension and knobby tires to what was there street
bike. Back in the 1880s and 1900s a dirt bike was nothing more than a modified
street bike. It wasn’t until the 1940’s dirt bikes began getting there own look. One
of the first motorcycles designed specifically for offroad use was by Sigfried
Bettmann of Coventry, England. The company name was Triumph Motorcycles
and the year was 1914. Bettmann was a car, bicycle, and motorcycle
manufacturer. Triumph Motorcycles became a big trade name world wide.
The first dirt bike used a basic two stroke engine. There were two rear
shocks, one on each swing arm of the motorcycle. as time progressed so did the
quality and efficiency of the dirt bike.
Suzuki was the first company to make production dirt bikes. Suzuki started
as a looming company back in 1909 and became Suzuki Motor co. in 1954. The
first dirt bike they made was a 60cc. There brand name spread through America
in 1963. During the 1960s and 1970s the suzuki brand name was spreading
rapidly because of the amount of motocross championships won an that bike.
During this time men were riding 500cc motorcycles.
Although yamaha started making motorcycles before Suzuki, they were
only used for war purposes. It was in 1954 that the first production dirt bike was
made by Yamaha. that bike was the YA1. The Yamaha Motor Co. moved forward
from that point, introducing innovations like the first automatically mixed lube and
fuel system for two strokes, dubbed somewhat imaginatively the Autolube
System. The first of the Yamaha dirt bikes was the legendary DT1, this 250cc
two stroke was Yamaha's first purpose built dirt bike. The bike made a huge
impact on the North American off road bike scene. Yamaha continued to break
new ground with the introduction of the YZ250 in 1975, the first motocross bike to
feature a single shock rear end. Seeing the success of such a company as
Suzuki, more companies began making dirt bikes.
The Kawasaki dirt bikes history stretches back a long way, Kawasaki
motorcycles began in 1949 when the company started producing motorcycles
engines, before then Kawasaki produced parts for the aeronautical industry. By
the early 50's they were producing complete motorcycles for the Asian market.
The B8M Motocrosser was the start of the Kawasaki dirt bikes legacy, the long
running KX motocross series evolved from these early race bikes. The KDX
series was another success story for Kawasaki, these bikes were more suited to
cross country and enduro racing. The KDX series bikes are on borrowed time
with tough new emission laws spelling the end of road registered two strokes.
With two strokes being legislated out of existence, bike manufacturers are now
pouring all of their R+D dollars into four strokes. This has led to the birth of the
KX250F and KX450F.
The Honda dirt bikes story began in 1946 when company
founder, Soichiro Honda, opened the Honda Technical Research
Institute in Hamamatsu, Japan. After the end of World War II, Honda
saw a need for cheap transportation that was also economical on fuel
due to the shortage of gasoline following the war. He picked up batch
of unwanted two stroke electric generator motors and set about
adapting them to fit into a bicycle frame. The result was quite
successful and Honda started to develop a complete purpose built
motorcycle. The Honda Motor Company was founded in 1948 and in
1949 the company produced the D-Type motorcycle. This was the first
actual motorcycle produced by Honda, this machine was the realisation
of Soichiro Honda's dream to build a complete motorcycle and so was
dubbed 'The Dream'. In 1958 Honda released the C100 Super Cub
which would go on to become the biggest selling motorcycle of all
time. The bike had a centrifugal clutch making it easy for beginners to
ride and also had a step through frame configuration which made it
popular with females as well as males. The Super Cub also became the
first Honda motorcycle to be sold in the U.S.A and in the same year
Honda also launched the 250cc C72 Dream in Europe, the first
Japanese manufacturer to release a bike there. In 1960, the company
began motorcycle production at its factory in Suzuka, Japan. Honda
has always been a company that is race inspired and the development
of the Honda dirt bikes range led to the company taking the win in the
first Baja 1000, held in 1967. The first serious Honda dirt bike was the
'Elsinore', released in 1970. The bike later became available in a trail
version. The SL125 was the first genuine trail bike released by Honda
and was soon re-released with a 250cc engine. The SL's went on to
become the XL range in 1973. The development of Honda dirt bikes
has gone from strength to strength since then, the CRF450 is arguably
the most popular mid capacity four stroke motocrosser on the market
today.
The story of KTM dirt bikes began when Hans Trunkenpolz, one of two
KTM company founders, opened a repair shop in Mattighofen, Austria, in 1934.
The repair business grew in size, becoming one of the larger car and motorcycle
repairers in Austria. In 1953 the KTM company was founded by Hans
Trunkenpolz and Ernst Kronreif. The official company name was 'Kronreif,
Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen' (KTM). The first production series of KTM motorcycles
commenced. KTM has a rich pedigree in enduro and off road racing, the
KTM's first raced in the International Six Day Enduro in 1956. They've
also dominated the Paris-Dakar Rally for many years, arguably the
toughest off road race in the world. In 1968 KTM dirt bikes were
exported to the U.S. for the first time by Jack Penton, the Penton Six
days was manufactured by KTM and exported by Penton under his own
name.