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 manufac
-
turer provided no actual figures,
CN estimated that the little
machine pumped out approxi
-
mately 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 transmis
-
sion 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 appar
-
ent 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 leath
-
ers and a Bell Star helmet, "Young
Chad McQueen dominated his
class, taking three firsts in a con-
vincing manner on his XR75."
Future pro racer Todd Peter-
son 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 centime
-
ters, so any two-stroke engine
found itself on the track with the
XR with no discernible displace-
ment advantage or disadvan-
tage. 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 Prod
-
ucts, 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 champion-
ship 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
VOLUME ISSUE MAY , P143
Subscribe to nearly 60 years of Cycle News Archive issues: www.CycleNews.com/Archives
In 1973, you could buy a
brand-new XR75 for about
$399, but that's about $2400
in today's dollars.
