Reply With QuoteI still have my 1982 white with red stripes 350lc bought in 1990 and a Kawasaki KM90 (1975).
RD350R Holed a piston well over the ton with her on the back..........................
Note the safety boots.
I still have my 1982 white with red stripes 350lc bought in 1990 and a Kawasaki KM90 (1975).
Had this during my uni days in India. Was my pride and joy, sold it to buy a car. Love the smell of 2 stroke engines. and the trailing smoke. I miss it so much
Spud, you on Norbos forum?Originally Posted by spud767
Thinks...
Peugeot 104
Honda Melody Mini
BSA Bantam D7
RG250 (for about an hour - it had a bent frame and bent log book)
RD250LC (Stan Stephens tuned)
RGV250 Wolf
I'll have to dig out some photos
Had quite a few 2 Strokes but this 350LC was my favourite
Last edited by Vanguard; 7th June 2016 at 10:12.
Yes.
I have never ridden a 2-stroke on the road, only ever had a Yamaha Thundercat for commuter duties.
I have had a real blast racing them in motocross events though - KTM 125, Yamaha YZ 465, KTM 495, KTM 500, KTM 250 and then on to 4 stroke enduro bikes Yamaha WR450 and finally KTM 450 EXC.
Off-road racing does it for me.
My first road bike was a TZR 250, I loved it and it helped hone my back road skills.
1976 GT 500 Suzuki
1977 GT 750B
1983 RD 400
EU killed them and the U.S. emissions Crap
Stan Stephens-tuned RGV250-K with Jollymoto pipes and Kevin Schwantz Lucky Strike paint. Has been mothballed in the garage for years as I haven't the heart to sell it, first bike an' all. Kept my first car too (although that's still on the road). Maybe it's time this turned a wheel again...
That done up a bit should fetch about 5k plus nowStan Stephens-tuned RGV250-K with Jollymoto pipes and Kevin Schwantz Lucky Strike paint. Has been mothballed in the garage for years as I haven't the heart to sell it, first bike an' all. Kept my first car too (although that's still on the road). Maybe it's time this turned a wheel again...
Wow. If that's the case maybe I should get on with it! I put it away because it was so highly strung it forever needed tinkering with. I used to commute daily from Kent to central London and park on Lincolns Inn Fields among R6s, GSX-Rs and CBRs. It always started well on a single kick but often rendered the other riders in a plume of smoke not dissimilar to those fight scenes in Tom and Jerry – just the odd visible limb sticking out of the smog. Great fun, but man did it test patience in terms of reliability...
You might need to give it a engine re-build with original parts but as you know thats fairly cheap on a 2 stroke twin. The closer you can get it back to original factory look and spec the more it will be worth to a collector or enthusiast. Or just ride it and enjoy for a few more years as it is.
I had a James with a villiers 2 stroke I think it was a 125 used to thrash it all day and it loved it my brother in-law purchased a Airiel Golden Arrow new at the same time it had a fantastic sound like nothing else on the road Ps sat outside a bar in Portugal yesterday and a guy rode up on a DKW 2stroke popping its heart out and smelling great I had to go and look at it dam I should have taken a photo.
Fifa
Cool, nice to see friendly faces across both these hobbies :)Yes.
You're right, lets post pics of our bikes here.
Thought I recognised this. This exact bike now belongs to a member of my staff.
Had quite a few 2 Strokes but this 350LC was my favourite
^ No way, small world huh ? I sold it years ago, hope it's still being looked after and in the same condition ^
What engine was it? I had karts with the 9E engine (old blue invalid carriage) kept breaking down.I used to have an old Villiers powered Greeves trials bike; loud and quite smelly - wish I still had it
My favourite 2 stroke bike was my little RS250, great fun to ride
I'm not sure but I think it was the 200 (9E).
It ran okay but I had problems with the gearbox.
Still very well cared for, although I think he has different pipes on it and has added a dent to the tank.
Will try and get some recent pics next time I see it.
Clutch rather than the gearbox itself was my problem, that and the engine seizing because I tried to lean it out too much
Suzuki GT 380 for me. Bought it with a seized middle cylinder (common fault on an air cooled triple ). Not quite a 750 kettle but the basics were there and very quick in its day!
Mike
RD400E
Me and a friend, off to the Stonehenge festival, c. 1981.
I had a BSA bantam 175cc from 1966-68.
Stuck with BSA bikes the best being a 350 gold star.
Kwak H1 was a 500cc, the H2 was 750.I had three A Garelli Rekord, Yamaha DT 175 and a GT 550 Suzuki triple with a three into power chamberI've some pictures some where. My mate had a H1 750cc Kawasaki, he bought for £600 in 1975...he still has it and has been offered £16,000 for it but he say's he'll never sell it
I've got an S1 (250) triple in the early stages of restoration. bought it from a bloke in a pub for £150 4 years ago...don't think he realized what he had TBH.
My mate has two H2s; one a concourse blue one. The other a Purple H2C street fighter. The blue one gets ridden, the purple one not so much. Both sounds absolutely ridiculous and they turn heads wherever they go.
Our other mate has a H1, but SWMBO keeps on at him to sell it and make garage space.
Isn't the H2 the one with a hinge in the middle of the frame? ;-)
Me on my 50cc, circa 1980
My Trusty Yamaha RD200DX probably going to ride then sell later in the year , ring a ding ding! Sorry cant post pics as too large , but you know the smell..........
Last edited by higham5; 8th March 2018 at 22:34.
RM125. Loved it, crashed it.
Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head should be asked not to hit it at all.
Friedrich Nietzsche
That’s compulsory on a crosser!
I’ve mostly been a four stroke man but I started in a TY50 before progressing to a Suzuki GT185 and a brief fling with an LC350.
1st bike was Villiers 175 made into trials bike, 3 speed box, low geared and could climb trees with it, followed by: FS1E, DT175, Montesa 247, Beta TR34 (Jordi Tarres replica, lovely chrome pipe), CR250 followed by CR500 (frightened the crap out of me) only one man I knew who could tame a CR500 - Dave Thorpe. Went 4 stroke after that, must admit I miss the smell of a 2 stroke :)
Just found this thread! Only six years late to the party
First bike (at 16) was a new Yamaha YAS3 125 which saw a lot of mods over the four/five years I owned it. Thrashed the poor thing to death and it only seized up on me the once. Then there were.......DT175, TY175, RD200, Suzuki TM250, two Kwacker KH250s..........then had to go down the 4-stroke route.
I never felt truly happy on a 4-stroke. One of the key things about riding 2-strokes is the lack of engine braking and being happy to carry a lot of corner speed. You'd just back off before a corner, feather the brakes in and then whack it open asap. A very smooth way of riding I found. Whereas when riding a 4-stroke I always seemed to end up coming to a virtual standstill sometime before the corner and having to feed the power back in again to get round. I could never get used to the off throttle instant deceleration.
Give me a 2-stroke anyday tbh. I was very sad to see 4-strokes take over, but it's great that so many people are still keeping the classic 'twos' alive
I was there as well, but was driving a green Ford Zephyr Mk4! All my buddies on their bikes and we carried the camping gear this time! Halogen days Rodney, halogen days.....RD400E
Me and a friend, off to the Stonehenge festival, c. 1981.
I'll ask a related question. Anyone else had their 2 stoke start up running the wrong way? It happened to me. I kick started the bike...thought is was running a bit rough...decided the timing had slipped and I'd sort it out at home (less than a mile away)...into gear...let out the clutch and went backwards. In with the clutch...didn't believe that just happened...try again...same result. Think...stop engine...kick start...all OK...phew!
I’ve heard of it happening but never experienced it. Apparently it was quite common on big mxers because of compression kickback.
My friend had an RD200 or similar that used to do that (air cooled possibly a Suzuki) mostly by flicking the kill switch on off at the lights. You could tell when it was going backwards as the Rev counter stopped.
I have only heard of it on old points ignition stuff as is a timing issue.
Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
Last edited by MB2; 9th March 2018 at 08:19.
Deleted
Last edited by MB2; 9th March 2018 at 08:19.
Yep very common on off road two strokes, video here of a Suzuki
https://youtu.be/m8StmcJNirw
Steve
Not so experienced in riding some of the classic 2 strokes like many here though my first bike was an Aprilia RS50, followed by an RS125. Nothing I've ridden since has quite required the same level of involvement to have its neck rung.
I rode 2 smokes for years, as a kid, but all off road.
They were always wild things to ride, but i do prefer the 4 strokes.
Fond memories
Big Guns
Oh for smellyvision!
FS1E, GT250M, GT550A, GT750A, H1F (I could change the middle piston in about 30 mins on this one due to getting lots of practice) thence onto 4 strokes, wish I still had any of them, they're all worth phone numbers now.
Derestricted RD125LC back in the day
Still surprised I'm alive the way I rode it as a teenager with no sense of self preservation
Simon
Wait a minute, Forget nostalgia I still ride four of them ! All on the road
Kawasaki KH 250 air cooled triple 76 MOT and Tax exempt
Kawasaki kR1s two of them ! 91 & 92
Yamaha Rd200DX electric start 1981
Im a top tier two stroke oil buyer!!
Last edited by higham5; 9th March 2018 at 18:04.
Big respect
TS100, A100, GT250 and TS250er.
At the local gravel pits a long, long time ago;
I still have a 185cc to satisfy my 2-T habit, but this one flies...
Last edited by E_2_Right-Force; 9th March 2018 at 18:32.
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