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Every Moto Kid’s Dream Machine
By Kent Taylor
Riders living in a day when television sets had three channels (and two colors) can remember when motorcycling wasn’t meant for kids. There were mopeds, pull-start minibikes and eventually the Honda Mini-Trail, but none of these machines bore much resemblance to real motorcycles. All of that changed in the 1970s with the Yamaha Mini Enduro, the Honda SL70 and the Suzuki TS50. Now, little dudes and dudettes could ride on bikes that looked and operated like their big brothers’ cycles.
In 1973, Honda introduced their first-ever two-stroke motocross racer, the CR250 Elsinore, the machine that would turn the motocross world upside down and even win a national championship in its first season. That same year, the company unveiled another new race bike, the XR75, meaning young racers could now make believe that they were champions, too. The road to an Elsinore began on the XR75, and before long, the little thumpers were filling up starting lines on racetracks across America.
Cycle News tested the new racer in its January 16, 1973, issue. The XR was no warmed-over, stripped-down version of their popular SL70, which was a trail bike, complete with lights and a speedometer. This XR was an all-new design, looking much like the XL models in the Honda lineup. Although the manufacturer provided no actual figures, CN estimated that the little machine pumped out approximately seven horsepower. So as not to be offensive, those ponies were kept quiet by a cannon-sized muffler. Silencer aside, everything else about the XR was miniature. It came with a 16-inch wheel up front and a 14-incher in back. The young racer sat on a seat that was 26 inches above ground level, and the transmission offered just four gears.
Cycle News’ test machine was actually a privately owned motorcycle, on loan from a nine-year-old racer named Doug Tullis. The speedy lad chased down some bigger displacement machines during the test, which took place at Cerritos Cycle Park, near Del Amo, California. Little Doug could keep pace with bikes as large as 90cc in the tighter sections of the track.
“Watching the XR75 in action,” wrote CN, “it was soon apparent the bike is a good handler. It tracked through the whoop-de-doos straight and had the power to keep up with anything in his (young racer Tullis) class. The Honda would really eat them in the turns and corners. The bike seems harder to slide than the SL70, probably due to the longer wheelbase, plus knobby tires which come standard.”
Just one page flip shows that Cycle News wasn’t bluffing about the new Honda. During the Mini World Championship at Saddleback Park, the XR75 was already proving its mettle on the racetrack. Young Chad McQueen (son of the King of Cool, Harvey Mushman, aka Steve McQueen) is shown on his own XR. In full leathers and a Bell Star helmet, “Young Chad McQueen dominated his class, taking three firsts in a convincing manner on his XR75.”
Future pro racer Todd Peterson also picked up a win on a new XR75. Also worth noting was the King’s daughter, Terri McQueen, who finished second against the boys in her class, though it’s unclear what brand motorcycle and size she was on.
There was once a time when two-stroke and four-stroke engines ran head to head, cubic centimeters vs. cubic centimeters, so any two-stroke engine found itself on the track with the XR with no discernible displacement advantage or disadvantage. Yamaha’s zippy little YZ80 would show up on the scene in 1974, but the XR was the toughest kid on the block, and it held its own for a few more years. Superstar mini-MX’er Jeff Ward even had his line of racing mods, Jeff Ward Racing Products, which hot-rodded the little Honda with big-bike trick parts. Lightened, polished cranks and high-performance pipes helped it keep the top spot in the mini-cycle scene, and Ward piled up championship after championship aboard Honda XR75s.
The first XR75 sold for just $399 in 1973, which meant that lawn-mowing money, matched by mom and pop, could still help a kid make their two-wheeled dreams come true. “The bike was sharp-looking as a nice package to the engine and frame,” wrote CN, “and Honda should sell all they make and then some.” CN
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