Mark was my favorite rider of that era , I was also a Suzuki fan ,so it was a win win. I had all the same gear as he did as well as the same bikes .To me it was the best era of motorcross as there were so many stars that could win at any given day,as were now it usually is only one or two riders that dominate.I sure miss those days,specially when you could actually watch the races on TV.Thanks for posting
@@BarnettPhotography May I politely ask , are you Marks daughter ? or how are you related, if so, I feel like I am talking with royalty ~! either way if you have more keep them coming~ cant thank you enough!
@@Denita6969 Channel owners don't like to talk with people leaving comments. They just say "thank you" sometimes if you praise their work. I guess it is a cancel culture thing. I don't understand it. "Wow---we can talk with people from all over the world with this new internet thing!!!!" And this is it.
thats awesome! Do you remember what channel or network you watched it on? i have trouble finding any information about it, i just have the tape recording.
I think I remember this as well, although I don't recall Saddleback being on ABC? Maybe it was a in-depth bit from Superbikers or Carlsbad.. That's all we had back in the day, maybe Daytona. Thanks so much for sharing 👍.
He was my absolute hero when I was a teenager in the early 1980’s. I raced Suzuki 125’s from 1979 to 1982 (then went to Yamahas and later Kawasaki’s) and wore Fox gear, just like Barnett. I remember waiting for the latest motocross magazines to come out to follow his progress. I wanted to be him😂👍.
U rode those Suzy's because no one made a better bike in those years. Of course the 1980yz 250 was epic and the best air-cooled 250 ever..but when is was growing up in those years everyone wanted a RM but would settle for a yammy!!
@@craigsteinman9807 Hey, I had a 1980 YZ 250. It was fast, but it was heavy!! Plus those original Full Floater rear ends on those 81'-85' Suzuki bikes were great! Yamahop is real!!!!
@@vinceedwards3978 yes the Yamahop was real..I got a1981yz 125 brand new for my birthday by 81 the last year of the crossmember swingarm. It was a little better than 78-tgru 80..not much..however the lighter 125 i only felt the hop when braking hard it wasn't so bad..but I bet the big bikes jump around under power as well..yes the floater was heads and tails over every one else. The uni-track was a solid second..in the hose years..thing about the yzs was they were a quality built bikes ..all u have to do is go to vintage races and plenty of old yzs an old rm is is hard to find..they fell apart
@@craigsteinman9807 I kept my 81 RM 125 until 1991. In 91' that was that engines last big rebuild. I worked for a Suzuki/Honda dealership then. I built that bike back up to practical showroom condition mechanically. I was not going to race, because in 1986, after three good races in the B classes, I had a horrible accident, and my mother said your racing career is over!!! But I rode past then
@@craigsteinman9807 Eww, plus you had an 81 YZ 125??? You spent hours chasing water leaks. That bike, until the 83 were nice, power wise but good gravy the 84!!!! I think of that poor bike and can only quote the 2 time F1 Champ Fernando Alonso....this is an F2 engine
I used to go to all the races , pros and novices. I lived in Michigan City. I used to work at Larocco's Dads Honda /Yamaha dealership. Mark was the fastest racer I ever saw.
Super cool!! so great to see this video; I watched Mark race often in Indiana and Michigan in the 70's.... thanks for posting. My cousin was his bike mechanic during his amateur career.
Barbara, I saw him race in Anaheim Stadium once. Guys were going over like 14 whoops in one section,Barnett went through it touching the ground maybe 3 times!! Could see his bike clearing twelve to fourteen rows of seats under the rear wheel! Absolutely a speed demon,that was great!
I remember, and raced again (i.e., watched from afar) Mark when he rode a YZ-80 with super wide handlebars at K&R Raceway in Portage, IN, and then watched him come of age at Red Bud and so many other tracks.
Jeff, I think I have a pic. from Lakeville MX with you (#208?) in the pic. too (1st turn). I ran Dist #15, Suzuki #07g [KEVIN GOULET] that year ('79?). Think we banged bars a few times back in the day. Remember watching Barnett coming up the ladder too. Practicing once (Summer'78) at Red Bud on a weekday -Mark was there too, his blue Econoline parked under the trees just behind the starting gate. He was out grinding laps on a very stock-looking RM125C no numbers either... Finally realized who it was when he passed me and I read BARNETT on his yellow jersey. I pulled over every often for the next several laps to just watched him rip it... Mark was puttin' on a clinic... a 'How to' on riding a rutted, chewed up track (Gene Ritchie was there too but had not disc'd it at all since the weekend), track was horrible to ride that day but 'The Bomber' made it look like he was riding on a golf course ... so fast and smooth, regardless the track conditions.
I loved that track at (River city dirt riders?) Lakeville.. I raced a Rm100 at Shady hill, Remember that farm field and Sandy “S” turn. As an adult, I raced at RedBud, a real Motocross track.lol
1977? 250 class, bruce goode, got the holeshot, hit the 1st big jump as i saw mark soar by me landing twice the distance. watched him disappear after the next few corners. it was thrilling to get the holeshot then more thrilling to feel him blast me!
So he started training in Alabama at 17. How’d this city kid get into racing growing up in Chicago? Did he race as a youth? Got any 80 class footage of this legend? I know he builds premier tracks to this day but does he still ride? Would be a treat to see him ride, I know he still looks like he can go hard for 20 laps. 100% American bad ass! Thank you for sharing🔥
I raced dis16 (wi) 1975 to 1981 125B class. mark was racing A class , and i can rember him dominating his class, i talked to him a few times and he was a down to earth type guy . Very Cool Video !
Thanks for posting your videos, I remember Mark from Bridgeview, Il. and Argo High School, that 1975 ford van he won from winning the 1975 Amatuer championship and his sister Judy
Wow! I have been looking for this video for a long time! Even posted on a few boards hoping someone would know what I was talking about! I saw this when it first aired. I think it aired prior to one of the Carlsbad races. I had it recorded on a Betamax tape. Thanks for posting!!!
Dirt Bike magazine thought they were going to ride with Mark,and do an article,they saw him at the start for about ten seconds,and he was gone! They couldn't keep up with him no way, no how!!
FYI 81,82,83 Susuki 125 class what he brought to motorcross is training our body's like a bodybuilder he ran 5 miles a day in sand in his Boots I know him and he will tell you that not a single person in all of motorcross Supercross has come close to my speed. Jason Falcon 76.
@@bonniebankston9974 i met Barnett once at the suzuki school of motocross back in the early 1980's. He was extremely fast on his 125 around the Carlsbad track. That bike was wide open the whole way except for about 1 second of braking for the turns. It was impressive!
My family always called it 'the country' - We would go there a lot growing up to ride dirtbikes and ride the quads around and make new trails. You could still see my dads track, it was basically mounds of dirt with grass but still cool to see as a kid. Lots of great memories! The land is still owned by our family but I haven't been up there in a long time.
Both sports are tough. Moto is not 45 minutes any more. The good soccer players don't get pulled out until they've been on the field for 60 minutes. Moto is higer risk, and it deserves more respect. I think another study in the 80's compared MX to a combination of soccer fitness, and boxing toughness. Most people don't get it unless they raced.
we had a farm growing up, he always liked having the cows. Unfortunately once he moved to NC he sold them all. Its a life goal of mine to have a farm one day! haha
@@BarnettPhotography I'm fortunate to still farm & grew up on dirt bikes. SE MN a great place for both. Dungey, & the Martin boys all from here. Come on up & then ride snowmobile in the winter.
I would love to see a Mark Barnett interview to catch with him. Didn't he start the track building company that builds the SX tracks today, Dirt Works?
The legend of legends Mark the bomber Barnet what up bro how you been I'm doing alot better after I went of the deep end when Yamaha paid Lisa sparxxx to get with me she made me into a player big time fortnite 500 style big 🐰 bunny living L,,,,I,,,,,V,,,,,I,,,,,N 🤣 what did you think when you heard of me in 07 man I wish you were there I smoked him but he's fast fast nothing compared to me and Brian Young but just like Daniel Young he's fast but not enough for a G like me why won't Kevin Windom or Travis Pastrona want to meet a great person they all think or have heard watch out he will steal your wife I'm so sick of hearing that crap gives me a bad image in bars the sexiest changes on a dime when I walk in and there all thinking and hearing you know why he walks with a limp becouse he's tripping on his own self freaking women have tried to actually tear me apart in bars I've decided to go super stealth maybe tell all the women I'm 30. Hell that's what about 100 of them had did to me. Freaking how old are you 36 more like 42 or 47 freaking females are bad I'm telling ya.p,a Jason Falcon 76 living next to Kinnion Bankston who owns Southern Boyz Outdoors which is were I live.❤️💯🦊🏁🗣️👀🏆🦊🤣❤️💯🏁
Pretty embarrassing how slow they were back then. Racers today are so much better and would destroy them on their own machines. God we are so much better than old People were at their best. It's like they were not even trying
81 was the first year for Japanese production WX, and these are "works" bikes. The FIM ended works bikes in the USA in 1986 to stop development in the USA. All the other history about is is BS.
Um sorry, you my friend are TOTALLY WRONG! Please google 1981 Suzuki RM 125, 1981 Yamaha YZ 125, 1981 Honda CR 125. Pretty much any 1981 Cagiva 125. Kawaski went water cooled 125 in 1982, Husqvarna in 1984. Good posting without knowing anything, genius!
Mark was my favorite rider of that era , I was also a Suzuki fan ,so it was a win win. I had all the same gear as he did as well as the same bikes .To me it was the best era of motorcross as there were so many stars that could win at any given day,as were now it usually is only one or two riders that dominate.I sure miss those days,specially when you could actually watch the races on TV.Thanks for posting
Same! You’re welcome, hope to post more soon
@@BarnettPhotography May I politely ask , are you Marks daughter ? or how are you related, if so, I feel like I am talking with royalty ~! either way if you have more keep them coming~ cant thank you enough!
@@Denita6969 Channel owners don't like to talk with people leaving comments. They just say "thank you" sometimes if you praise their work. I guess it is a cancel culture thing. I don't understand it. "Wow---we can talk with people from all over the world with this new internet thing!!!!"
And this is it.
My 1981 and 1982 Rm 125s were the best ever
i saw this on tv when it was first aired. Always thought that this was such a unique documentary and perspective of motocross. Thanks for posting!
thats awesome! Do you remember what channel or network you watched it on? i have trouble finding any information about it, i just have the tape recording.
andrea barnett I’m pretty sure it was ABC. Back then there were like 3 tv channels. ABC, NBC, and CBS. Then just a few local public tv stations.
I think I remember this as well, although I don't recall Saddleback being on ABC? Maybe it was a in-depth bit from Superbikers or Carlsbad..
That's all we had back in the day, maybe Daytona. Thanks so much for sharing 👍.
Mark is a true gentleman as well.
Always loved to watch him ride, back when they didn’t grade the tracks between motos, thanks for posting.
Mark Barnett was the 125 God back in the early 80s!!!
The Bomber was the real deal and an absolute bulldog. He is an all time great.
Andrea thanks for uploading this video,if you have any more love to see them,your dad is very well respected by those who know MX
He was my absolute hero when I was a teenager in the early 1980’s. I raced Suzuki 125’s from 1979 to 1982 (then went to Yamahas and later Kawasaki’s) and wore Fox gear, just like Barnett. I remember waiting for the latest motocross magazines to come out to follow his progress. I wanted to be him😂👍.
U rode those Suzy's because no one made a better bike in those years. Of course the 1980yz 250 was epic and the best air-cooled 250 ever..but when is was growing up in those years everyone wanted a RM but would settle for a yammy!!
@@craigsteinman9807 Hey, I had a 1980 YZ 250. It was fast, but it was heavy!! Plus those original Full Floater rear ends on those 81'-85' Suzuki bikes were great! Yamahop is real!!!!
@@vinceedwards3978 yes the Yamahop was real..I got a1981yz 125 brand new for my birthday by 81 the last year of the crossmember swingarm. It was a little better than 78-tgru 80..not much..however the lighter 125 i only felt the hop when braking hard it wasn't so bad..but I bet the big bikes jump around under power as well..yes the floater was heads and tails over every one else. The uni-track was a solid second..in the hose years..thing about the yzs was they were a quality built bikes ..all u have to do is go to vintage races and plenty of old yzs an old rm is is hard to find..they fell apart
@@craigsteinman9807 I kept my 81 RM 125 until 1991. In 91' that was that engines last big rebuild. I worked for a Suzuki/Honda dealership then. I built that bike back up to practical showroom condition mechanically. I was not going to race, because in 1986, after three good races in the B classes, I had a horrible accident, and my mother said your racing career is over!!!
But I rode past then
@@craigsteinman9807 Eww, plus you had an 81 YZ 125??? You spent hours chasing water leaks. That bike, until the 83 were nice, power wise but good gravy the 84!!!! I think of that poor bike and can only quote the 2 time F1 Champ Fernando Alonso....this is an F2 engine
Excellent!! He was the best! Thank you for posting this!! 😎👍🏁🏆
I used to go to all the races , pros and novices. I lived in Michigan City. I used to work at Larocco's Dads Honda /Yamaha dealership.
Mark was the fastest racer I ever saw.
Super cool!! so great to see this video; I watched Mark race often in Indiana and Michigan in the 70's.... thanks for posting.
My cousin was his bike mechanic during his amateur career.
Barbara the Illustrator oh no way! What was his name?
Mark Goodrich from Valpo
Barbara,
I saw him race in Anaheim Stadium once. Guys were going over like 14 whoops in one section,Barnett went through it touching the ground maybe 3 times!! Could see his bike clearing twelve to fourteen rows of seats under the rear wheel! Absolutely a speed demon,that was great!
I remember, and raced again (i.e., watched from afar) Mark when he rode a YZ-80 with super wide handlebars at K&R Raceway in Portage, IN, and then watched him come of age at Red Bud and so many other tracks.
Jeff, I think I have a pic. from Lakeville MX with you (#208?) in the pic. too (1st turn). I ran Dist #15, Suzuki #07g [KEVIN GOULET] that year ('79?). Think we banged bars a few times back in the day. Remember watching Barnett coming up the ladder too. Practicing once (Summer'78) at Red Bud on a weekday -Mark was there too, his blue Econoline parked under the trees just behind the starting gate. He was out grinding laps on a very stock-looking RM125C no numbers either... Finally realized who it was when he passed me and I read BARNETT on his yellow jersey. I pulled over every often for the next several laps to just watched him rip it... Mark was puttin' on a clinic... a 'How to' on riding a rutted, chewed up track (Gene Ritchie was there too but had not disc'd it at all since the weekend), track was horrible to ride that day but 'The Bomber' made it look like he was riding on a golf course ... so fast and smooth, regardless the track conditions.
@@1CreativeRider Great memories at Lakeville back in those days.
I loved that track at (River city dirt riders?) Lakeville.. I raced a Rm100 at Shady hill, Remember that farm field and Sandy “S” turn. As an adult, I raced at RedBud, a real Motocross track.lol
One of my all time favorite riders, saw him at Mid-Ohio win the '81 USGP, I still have the pictures, he was one of the most fit riders too.
Great video, what a racer 1
. Very cool brings back a lot of memories that's when the sport was a lot safer today Motocross is like well you know what I'm talkin about
1977? 250 class, bruce goode, got the holeshot, hit the 1st big jump as i saw mark soar by me landing twice the distance. watched him disappear after the next few corners. it was thrilling to get the holeshot then more thrilling to feel him blast me!
Love the Saddleback footage.
So he started training in Alabama at 17. How’d this city kid get into racing growing up in Chicago? Did he race as a youth? Got any 80 class footage of this legend? I know he builds premier tracks to this day but does he still ride? Would be a treat to see him ride, I know he still looks like he can go hard for 20 laps. 100% American bad ass! Thank you for sharing🔥
I raced dis16 (wi) 1975 to 1981 125B class. mark was racing A class , and i can rember him dominating his class, i talked to him a few times and he was a down to earth type guy . Very Cool Video !
One of my all time Riders!!!
Thanks for posting your videos, I remember Mark from Bridgeview, Il. and Argo High School, that 1975 ford van he won from winning the 1975 Amatuer championship and his sister Judy
thats awesome! Auntie Judy and him were always really close.His other sister Marla was also there a lot and even rode sometimes with her son Selby.
Wow! I have been looking for this video for a long time! Even posted on a few boards hoping someone would know what I was talking about! I saw this when it first aired. I think it aired prior to one of the Carlsbad races. I had it recorded on a Betamax tape. Thanks for posting!!!
That’s the nuts 🍀🏴👍🙏 thanks
Amazing! When bikes were bikes.
Pride of Bridgeview👍
Dirt Bike magazine thought they were going to ride with Mark,and do an article,they saw him at the start for about ten seconds,and he was gone! They couldn't keep up with him no way, no how!!
believe me Motocross is much harder work than football
Mark "the bomber"...
I think the first million dollar contracted rider in MX history.
These guys were animals, I wish I was in 1/2 as good of shape as I was in my riding days. A 100 mile enduro will make ya honest I’ll tell ya that.
5:34 Badass Segment right here 🙌✊💨
Peter Starr made this. I never knew much about him, but he has a lot of great interviews on his site. "Motostarr".
Awesome.Anything on Daryl Schultz?
Barnett was a one man wrecking crew in 1980,1981, and 1982. His competitors in the 125 class were no match for him.
FYI 81,82,83 Susuki 125 class what he brought to motorcross is training our body's like a bodybuilder he ran 5 miles a day in sand in his Boots I know him and he will tell you that not a single person in all of motorcross Supercross has come close to my speed. Jason Falcon 76.
@@bonniebankston9974 i met Barnett once at the suzuki school of motocross back in the early 1980's. He was extremely fast on his 125 around the Carlsbad track. That bike was wide open the whole way except for about 1 second of braking for the turns. It was impressive!
I loved The Farm with Grand Ma there when coming to test while on the National Circuit. My favorite memories there'
My family always called it 'the country' - We would go there a lot growing up to ride dirtbikes and ride the quads around and make new trails. You could still see my dads track, it was basically mounds of dirt with grass but still cool to see as a kid. Lots of great memories! The land is still owned by our family but I haven't been up there in a long time.
Back when track prep consisted of hammering in stakes and hanging boundary netting...
He sold a lot of RM125s!
Yep, I wish I had bought one instead of all my YZ125s in the early 80's. RM had the best suspension at that point. oh well.
Soccer don't compare to mx .those guys get a rest .and can rest during the game ..no rest in a Moto..unless u taste dirt..no contest
Both sports are tough. Moto is not 45 minutes any more. The good soccer players don't get pulled out until they've been on the field for 60 minutes. Moto is higer risk, and it deserves more respect. I think another study in the 80's compared MX to a combination of soccer fitness, and boxing toughness. Most people don't get it unless they raced.
Cool. Back when yellow bikes ruled.
Does your Dad farm at all now?
we had a farm growing up, he always liked having the cows. Unfortunately once he moved to NC he sold them all. Its a life goal of mine to have a farm one day! haha
@@BarnettPhotography I'm fortunate to still farm & grew up on dirt bikes. SE MN a great place for both. Dungey, & the Martin boys all from here. Come on up & then ride snowmobile in the winter.
lmao Guess that's where I got it. " I do lift weights.. Quite a bit , Like a couple times a day." 🤣🤣🤣 not a Week but Per day!! in the blood!
You have to everyday if your going to be anyone in this sport
4:32 go pro in the 80s?! 😳🤯😆
I would love to see a Mark Barnett interview to catch with him. Didn't he start the track building company that builds the SX tracks today, Dirt Works?
Only his daughter followed in his footsteps.
Was he your dad? That’s so awesome. I’m 33 and remember how truly huge motocross was when I was younger
yup! I am also 33..well 32 going on 33
That footage was 35 years before the first go pro
Yum, smell the Klotz fumes
Talk Mark into racing vintage Unadilla come June. I have a trick 83 kx125 for him
Good luck trying!
@@BarnettPhotographyNot me! You !
He will listen to you. Do you still ride?
@@64maxpower I do still ride! Riding tomorrow 🙌🏼
This is at Saddleback????
I am not sure. I think so based on other peoples comments
The legend of legends Mark the bomber Barnet what up bro how you been I'm doing alot better after I went of the deep end when Yamaha paid Lisa sparxxx to get with me she made me into a player big time fortnite 500 style big 🐰 bunny living L,,,,I,,,,,V,,,,,I,,,,,N 🤣 what did you think when you heard of me in 07 man I wish you were there I smoked him but he's fast fast nothing compared to me and Brian Young but just like Daniel Young he's fast but not enough for a G like me why won't Kevin Windom or Travis Pastrona want to meet a great person they all think or have heard watch out he will steal your wife I'm so sick of hearing that crap gives me a bad image in bars the sexiest changes on a dime when I walk in and there all thinking and hearing you know why he walks with a limp becouse he's tripping on his own self freaking women have tried to actually tear me apart in bars I've decided to go super stealth maybe tell all the women I'm 30. Hell that's what about 100 of them had did to me. Freaking how old are you 36 more like 42 or 47 freaking females are bad I'm telling ya.p,a Jason Falcon 76 living next to Kinnion Bankston who owns Southern Boyz Outdoors which is were I live.❤️💯🦊🏁🗣️👀🏆🦊🤣❤️💯🏁
The tracks back then were almost flat compared to the tracks later on, up to today..
Pretty embarrassing how slow they were back then.
Racers today are so much better and would destroy them on their own machines.
God we are so much better than old People were at their best. It's like they were not even trying
"Water-cooled 125" ??
Uh... No. No one was making water cooled dirt bikes back then
81 was the first year for Japanese production WX, and these are "works" bikes. The FIM ended works bikes in the USA in 1986 to stop development in the USA.
All the other history about is is BS.
Um sorry, you my friend are TOTALLY WRONG! Please google 1981 Suzuki RM 125, 1981 Yamaha YZ 125, 1981 Honda CR 125. Pretty much any 1981 Cagiva 125. Kawaski went water cooled 125 in 1982, Husqvarna in 1984. Good posting without knowing anything, genius!