IMPORTANT Dakar have hit me with a copyright strike so ive had to delist some of the videos just in case i guess they got pissed that mine were better because of the MOTOGP one before xmas that means im really vulnerable now and the channel could be removed at any time I have set up this backup channel so please go and follow it NOW, this could all be removed at any moment now so it is critical to stay in touch via the backup channel here kzread.info/dron/CSl6i-tZJNC5DQ38vgCtvw.html sorry for this if i get another strike it wipes out all my work all my old videos will be removed I wont be posting anything much on the new channel unless this goes down but this is a just in case because it really could go down at any point the videos are still visible if you have a link so if you have problems message me for links so you can still watch them, if you follow the channel and this one gets taken down you will be able to find me there sorry if thats a bit garbled ive just woken to this but i guess i could have had the channel taken down already so i should be thankful ride free everyone

The Suzuki Super Six deserves at least an honourable mention

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

You are probably right, Cheers for watching, ride free

@Nooziterp1

11 ай бұрын

Oh yeah. It left every other 250 at the time standing.

@PeterTwyning

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc And the t250 j

@noiwanttobeanonymous3797

11 ай бұрын

How about the Suzuki Hustler.

@georgebarnes8163

11 ай бұрын

@@noiwanttobeanonymous3797 pretty much the same machine, the T20 and T250 had mainly cosmetic differences, the earlier T20 was quicker as well. The same basic engine was carried through from the T20 to the X7

I couldn't agree more about todays 250s and 400s being made to look like donkey's when compared to the 1980s and 90s bikes like the KR1-S, RGV, NSR, RS and TZR 250s and the CBR, RVF, VFR, FZR, ZXR and GSX-R 400s. My first 250 was the Yamaha RD250E, then the TZR250, RGV250, my last 250 being the Aprilia RS (the Biaggi replica), to this day I've never had a bike that handled better than the wee Aprilia and that includes GSX-R, CBR, Yamaha R series 600s and 1000s, in fact the only bike I've owned that matches it is my 2023 Triumph Street Triple RS (29 years later), I'm in my mid sixties but I still miss the smell, sound and thrill of a 250 stroker hitting the power band, I just have to catch a whiff of burning two stroke oil and it takes me back to my youth.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Castrol R runs through my veins lol Cheers for watching mate, ride free

@danceysmith2374

9 ай бұрын

Well said....as stuff "improves " things go into reverse...a modern 250 with less power then a 1980s 125...

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

glad you enjoyed it mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂

When I turned 17, back in 1981, the first thing I did was to get myself an RD250. Crazy bike, sometimes I am amazed that I reached my 18th birthday. I only rode it in London but it was perfect for city riding as it got up to 60 really quickly! You never forget your first real bike.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

that ones true 🙂 I remember taking the cash for a trick KH 250 when i had just passed my test and they had just got a 350LC in, it was a hard choice but the LC won 🙂

@joecamel6835

11 ай бұрын

I had the RD200 , electric start was rare then .

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@joecamel6835 they were another bonkers little bike 🙂Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend 🙂

@rufus1346

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc Bet you wish you still had your 350 LC, that bike is a classic. You need deep pockets to buy one of those now. After I passed my test I went for the GS1000, 4 stoke direction instead. Been riding ever since, keeps you young at heart 🙂

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@rufus1346 indeed mate, but if i had who knows what bikes i might have missed 🙂 enjoy the ride mate

The CBR250RR sounds like nothing else revving up to the moon! The bike made you ring its neck and it taught me so much about riding!

@nickhall5959

11 ай бұрын

You learn a lot more riding a small bike.

@crunchytheclown9694

11 ай бұрын

Expensive hand grenade, good chasis though

@shotokanbiker

11 ай бұрын

Had the FZRRRRRR, loved it but I was always wanting a 400 or 600. Now I know better I wish I still had it😔

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

The lessons we all learn eh :-) cheers all, happy riding

My 250s in my earlier life were all Kawasaki, S1B, S1C and KH250B1. All good fun. After that came a Z900A4 (I still have it) then a ZZR1100D2 (I still have that too). But, I was missing a Kawasaki triple in my life. So I bought a Kawasaki H1F in 2015. The 500 is so much more tractable and torquey compared to the 250s. Passion fulfilled.

@chrisbraid2907

11 ай бұрын

I actually owned a stock 1964 T20 Suzuki 250, the first of the 250 Hustler Six Speeds in NZ which could exceed 100 mph and accelerated quicker if the Posilube Oil injection was set at half the factory setting and quality Two Stroke Oil used. I also had the use of an A1 Kawasaki belonging to a mates brother and discovered once that if you set the rotary valve on one side two notches back from standard , the bike had to be push started but could pull 135 mph once it was up and running. It wasn’t quite as quick as the Hustler and the biggest quirk was the pegs were round on round shafts so at a high lean on a race track you couldn’t leave your boots on the rubber as it spun, so you’d lift your foot up over the Carb box … both sides … that was a challenge … the Ram Air GT 250 from Suzuki accelerated quicker but topped out before my T20. That T20 was bought by a scout collecting early bikes for the Japanese collector market, I really regret selling that bike …

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

enjoy them mate, Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free 🙂

@rickydee5863

11 ай бұрын

I also had a 250 hustler . I hit the ton on that.thats the cop told me anyway.also from New Zealand

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@rickydee5863 whenever did the cops get anything right tho lol, i cant comment much on the Hustler as we never got it

@xhippy4682

11 ай бұрын

I had a 1970 Bridgestone 200 GTR and then a 1970 H1, Cherry Bomb. Still alive at 68. Still ride, Tiger 800XC, among others in the garage today. I sure miss the 2strokes.

As a teenager, I remember a nighttime race along the North Wales coast between a BSA Starfire B25 and a Ducati Desmo 250 single - We all waited at the cafe some 15 miles away to see who might arrive first - it was the Ducati a good couple of minutes ahead - astonishingly the front downpipe was glowing dull red - they were both gorgeous looking bikes

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

wild times 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂

Remember many of the 70s bikes mentioned -my father had a 1973 RD350,my brother had RD400 and I remember the X7,RD250LC have an original 80s Honda pamphlet for the MVX250,a surprising failure as a rider in the town I lived had one,rode it hard and didn't have any issues thanks for the doc much appreciated Auckland New Zealand 2023

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

welcome aboard mate, Cheers for watching, have a great week

I modified a 250cc four stroke motorcycle and went 123 mph at the Ohio mile in 2012. Dyno horse power was 61 hp and almost 30 ftlb of torque. Great video.

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

tell us more :-) sounds a beast

@darkhorsegarage9623

9 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc I am Darkhorse Racing. I started with a stock 2008 250 ninja and just tried to see how fast it would go in an official land speed event. 84 mph at Maxton North Carolina with the East Coast Timing Association. Long story short over the next fifteen years I have been racing with a top speed of 123mph in 2012 at the Ohio mile. It’s a 4 stroke parallel twin. I have run it from stock to turbo nitrous methanol. It’s been fun.

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

@@darkhorsegarage9623 good going 🙂 Im a corners and dirt man more than straaight line speed but our differences make the world more exciting 🙂 enjoy it mate

@darkhorsegarage9623

9 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc This just started to see how many things I could do with 249cc. I rode to work every day., then went to the drag strip. The bike ran a 14.2 second 1/4 mile. Then I did a couple riding clinics and some track days. I planned to do an Iron Butt rally across the US in 50 hr, but once I tried land speed racing the people are amazing. I never looks back.

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

@@darkhorsegarage9623 good on you mate

Thank you for doing this vid, brings back good memories of me & my best mate riding out to southport on a saturday on our 250's, i had a yam TDR250 and he had a G plate RGV250, we used to ride to west coast bikes, they always had exotic import stuff from japan, TZR 250 reverse cylinders, the NSR 250 with credit card ignition, GSXR 250's, NSR400's etc i very nearly bought a katana 250 from west coast but ended up buying a fully restored RD350LC, think i made the wise choice 😁 we were lucky to ride in a time when you could ride a bike that gave you such excitement and we did'nt have the green mafia wanting to hang you from the nearest lampost for riding something other than a pushbike. You get more excitement taking a big dump than what you get on a modern 250, 😂 and we used to think the superdream 250 was boring. I feel sorry for the young uns, there are some good nutters out there who would be great on a 250 stinkwheel but the good old stuff is well out of their price range now.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

lol, cheers for the comment mate, and yep, todays crop are a bit sad, Cheers for watching mate, ride free 🙂

@user-jy6uv5wm3n

22 күн бұрын

I had years ago kh250 greentripple. Then rd 200 and 250.my next one was amazing tzr 250.

I'm currently rebuilding a 67 cb77, not a 72 sadly, but it really is a nice platform. Sleek, simple, and reliable. Can't wait to get this old thing back on the road.

@pisstinpete4700

11 ай бұрын

I had a cb72 It was my first bike and I didnt realise how good it was at the time,and it could do about 95 mph ,and more reliable than anything british

@bobmitchell8012

11 ай бұрын

A Very Pretty Bike , one of Honda’s Best.

@tonyjourneyman1944

11 ай бұрын

I traded one in the 90's for a kawasaki ER5, not criticising the kawa, but man was that a mistake.

I had a '91 TZR 250 R from 2000-2008 , I had a seized cylinder riding in the mountains, sold it and regret a week later, sorry about since. My colleague had the Suzuki Across. Those bikes were imported directly from Japan by Red Baron Motorcycles into Hungary. They shipped a lot of wrecked 250s in containers and assembled usable bikes from their parts. At that time there were a lot of 250 and 400 ccm bikes in Hungary. Good old days.....

What a great presentation of these old greats. I remember being 15/16 yrs old drooling at the 250’s as they were released and the so envious of the slightly older generation. When my turn came I got the Yamaha RD250LC and would street race anything. A great trip down memory lane - thanks for putting this vid together I can see a lot of love and effort went into it.

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

glad it jogged some good memories mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂

I had the KR 250 back in 1984, absolutely loved it. But then i have always been a 2 stroke fan.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

cant fault you mate, Castrol R runs through my veins lol, .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

Amazing work. Thank you. 42 minutes of edition and thorough information. Really appreciated

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! :-) Cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride

Thank you for your wonderful film and comment! As a 2-stroke fan, I bought a Kawasaki Avenger 350 cc in 1968 and after several 4-stroke Hondas I bought a Kawasaki KR1-S in 1990. The KR1-S was the best two-stroke bike I've owned, it did indeed turn like a razor and nothing could have been mis-tuned. The suspension had to be precisely adjusted for my light weight and if the tires had 2 lbs too much pressure I couldn't ride it and if it was too low it steered too hard. It braked fantastically and I usually braked with 2 fingers. At 8000 rpm the KIPS system started working and the extra resonance chambers closed. Then the engine pulled excellently and really ran like a screeching turbine. When I drove away after a winter break, I came back after 3 minutes and spent 2 hours cleaning the carburetors, because there was deposits in the fuel jets, of course also adjusting the vacuum exactly and, above all, the throttle cables, otherwise the engine will vibrate. If you do not feel the contamination of the jets while driving, the engine is guaranteed to be damaged by a mixture that is too lean. Those are the disadvantages, but if you like technology, it is nice to have everything checked and adjusted very carefully. Now I ride a 250 cc Honda (CBR250R) of 26.4 HP, also an excellent motorcycle, but touring is of course more fun when you are 74 years old, haha!

@barebonesmc

Ай бұрын

Great story 🙂Cheers for adding your bit mate. Ride Free 🙂

In 1965 I bought a brand new Honda Dream SS 250 I was 19 and just returned from 19 months serving with the RN in Singapore and the far east. I was caught speeding on the A1 by a police Austin Westminster at doing 98 to 103 for over 1.5 miles I made the main news as the first person to be caught doing over 100mph after the silly 70mph limit was introduced supposedly to save fuel.

@GrenvilleP710

11 ай бұрын

Things have gone backwards.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

it does seem like it in many ways. Cheers for watching mate, have a great week

Great video. It brought back many memories of the late 70’s and early 80’s! 👏👏👏

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

glad you enjoyed it mate, .Cheers for watching, Ride Free

Thank you for a trip down memory lane. Back in the day I owned the RD, X7 and a KRIS before moving on to bigger four strokes. My older brother had a Suzuki Hustler and later GT, overlooked in your review (that’s not a criticism). I appreciate the time taken by you to research all this 👍 most enjoyable.

@mikebreen2890

11 ай бұрын

X7 was a rare bird.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

the list of bikes i missed keeps growing lol, but at 42 minutes it was getting to be a nightmare already lol, Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free 🙂

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@mikebreen2890 The X7 was common as muck here lol, not so common now though lol, a lot were trashed badly 🙂

@mikebreen2890

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc It was all RD250 and Kawasaki KH 250's here, nobody had an X7. Well, somebody must have done but you know what I mean. Oddly, one person did have an X5.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@captainblacktooth371 lol, glad to oblige mate 🙂 .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

What a great show. I drove three RD 350 in the 80s , young, wild and fast as the Honda 750, with 74 Hp.

@barebonesmc

10 ай бұрын

wild days, and even wilder nights 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂

when I got my learner licence in 1989 I went out and bought a KR-1 250cc loved the look sound and it was just a blast to ride. 55hp 123kg from memory. went over 200km/h few times. great memories. cant beat 2- strokes

@barebonesmc

5 ай бұрын

glad it jogged some good memories mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂

The Suzuki X7 was an afterthought to the T20 Super Six that blew away any other 250 at the time. It's a shame it wasn't mentioned.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

I do my best mate 🙂 at 42 minutes long it was just getting to be a nightmare so some were always going to be missed, Cheers for watching , Ride Free 🙂

@dave8204

11 ай бұрын

There were quite a few GT250's in between.

@maxflight777

11 ай бұрын

It was at 12:40 , watch again !!

@kevinjamesdawes7223

11 ай бұрын

The x7 was just a yamaha with its reed valves. They even sounded the same. They were just too small, low and skinny. What this video fail to show is the appalling fuel consumption of all the 2 strokes. Never thought about it at the time but most were around 20mpg. I have a 380 and that's doing 18mpg when pushed. That and engine life span finished them off.

@stevereeves5248

11 ай бұрын

​@@maxflight777the Suzuki T20 did not get a mention.

Great video ! One of the most comprehensive look into 250s ive ever seen! Very well put together and full of suspense. 100/100

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

thanks a lot mate, it was hard work im not gonna lie, i started thinking it would be an easy one lol, after listening to my own voice for 42 minutes over and over again it wasnt lol, .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

Great video! Here's a little context that might be of interest to younger or non-UK viewers: In the UK in the early 1980s, 16 year olds could ride 50cc bikes (mopeds), and 17+ year olds could ride up to 250cc bikes with a provisional licence, never needing to pass a test for the rest of their lives. They'd have to display "L" plates and could only carry passengers who had themselves passed a motorcycle test. This changed, mainly due to the belief that 250cc bikes were getting faster and faster, so learners were restricted to 125cc bikes at age 17. At that time I rode a Honda CD175, and knowing the law was about to change, I had to either sell it or pass my test. I did pass the test, and although I haven't ridden bikes for many years, could in theory buy any bike tomorrow and ride it straight from the showroom without any further training! (p.s. My wife won't let me.)

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

the 250s being central to the racing scene played a big part too, and as i said the Japanese do still love their 250s. it does look like the 400cc sector is hotting up bit now but only time will tell, and its being driven by sales in Asia not the UK, USA or Europe too so we may not get many of them over here, Cheers for watching mate, hope you have a great day

@ParaBellum2024

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc Thanks! I shared this video with some of my colleagues who have bikes.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@ParaBellum2024 cheers mate, i appreciate the support 🙂 enjoy the ride

My pissed up Geordie neighbour woke me at 2.30am arguing with his wife but I stumbled across this and what a treat. Thank you. Don’t hate on the neighbour, he used to ride at the TT! Respect…

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

pmsl :-) Cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride sorry it took so long to reply, you raised a smile :-)

We most certainly got the Suzuki Across here in Australia. It was my first ever bike and what I learnt to ride on. It was very fast for its size and after some tuning I clocked it at 180kph. The helmet compartment was also one of the best features for a commuter bike and would hold a decent amount of shopping if the situation called. I sincerely regret selling my Across and can definitely see myself getting another one again one day. Fantastic video by the way, well done.

@MrGutfeeling

7 ай бұрын

The helmet where the tank normally is was such a great design, perfect for a learner. I never understood why those bikes seemed to suddenly vanish from the roads. I guess they just got too old. Shame!

I had an RDLC 250 for a few years... 84-87 I think... what a great little bike, I also acquired a beat up 350 version. One of the baffles fell out one day when a friend was wringing it out, and the piston seized. They were good to work on as well...

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

sounds like an entertaining story lol .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

A mighty video , some forgotten gems in the list. It was the change in the licence laws that killed the 250 ,,, once l plates went to 125 no one cared about 250s any more , manufacturers just turned out a 250 token gesture and went onto 600s , as that was the logical jump after 125.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

it was an epic to make lol, video that long takes so much processing time for each edit lol, Cheers for watching mate, ride free 🙂

The GSX-250 Xross I rode in the mid 90s. Couldn't wait to get off it. All sound, no go. Made my RGV feel like a 500cc GP bike

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

a very different bike the the RGV for sure

When selling motorcycles in Japan, from around 1980 there were many traffic accidents, and under pressure from the government, four manufacturers began to voluntarily regulate horsepower according to engine displacement. Specifically, 50cc was set to have 7.2 horsepower, 125cc to 22 horsepower, 250cc to 45 horsepower, 400cc to 59 horsepower, 750cc to 77 horsepower, and over 1000cc to 100 horsepower. These numbers were lowered in 1992 to 40 horsepower for the 250cc and 53 horsepower for the 400cc. This voluntary regulation was abolished in 2007, but exhaust gas regulations had already stopped the production of two-stroke engines.The Aprilia RS-250 might not have taken the top spot if it hadn't been for self-imposed restrictions that only annoyed its users.

@barebonesmc

8 ай бұрын

Cheers for adding this mate. As i have often said, if we could amass the combined knowledge of all the subscribers we would have the most comprehensive motorcycle encyclopedia ever 🙂

My first big bike after my test was a red and grey Kr1s. Loved it to pieces no matter how often it tried to kill me.😊

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

lol Cheers for watching and the comment mate, Ride Free

GREAT VIDEO BONES ,IM 85 NOW ,I RODE MANY OF THESE BIKES WHEN I WAS YOUNGER .STILL RIDE EVERYDAY ,ON A HUSKY 2T ..LOVE THOSE 2 STROKES...GREETINGS FROM THE PHILIPPINES

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

welcome aboard mate, you have to love the strokers :-) 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great day

Rode a newly purchased MVX250 in the 80's it was very cool . Never seen one since. Cheers from New Zealand.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

a very rare bike here too, Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free 🙂

On a 5km stretch of motorway heading north my 250cc Hyosung Comet V twin held 160km and 148km on the return south .60kg rider.Not bad for a Korean 4 stroke.

@uhtred7860

11 ай бұрын

Well it is a Suzuki designed engine after all. The engine in the 650cc version is just a direct copy of the SV650s engine.

Back in the early 90’s I was the proud owner of a ZZR1100, my young cousin had a KR1S. I can well remember riding at over 130 mph with him sat directly behind me on the little 250.. I was genuinely shocked at how quick his bike was..🤓

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

the equivalent for me was being passed around cadwell by a 1970s 125 racing honda that looked like it was made with mechano lol, Cheers for watching mate, have a great week

@rickwaldron4255

11 ай бұрын

Your story at 130 sound like a lot of BULLSHIT M ORE LIKE 130 KLM.S TO ME.TRY THAT NN NIWNOW YOU 130 130TO ME TRY THAT

@rickwaldron4255

11 ай бұрын

Try that today yiu would still be useing a bus pass

As a 64 yr old consumer from "across the pond" we were fed a constant diet of "bigger is always better". Having ridden a RZ350, ad a RD 350 & 400 Daytona myself - I constantly longed for the '97 yzf 1000 (thunderace in EU) and still have mine! But I enjoyed this video so much, even though smaller displacement road bikes were never pushed here..

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

glad you enjoyed it mate i have 2 EXUPs so i know what you mean with the YZF, great bikes🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂

After the summer of 1982, I'd have imagined sales of 250s would have plummeted. I remember the Yamaha RD250LC, though. It blew away all rivals with ease.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

learner laws played a part, but the change in focus in racing did too, Cheers for watching and the comment mate, Ride Free

WOW!!!! That was a mind-blowing video by you and I enjoyed every second of it. Thanks

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

cheers mate, a much appreciated comment, it was a bit of an epic to do, and you still get know it alls moaning lol. glad you enjoyed it and thanks again for the comment, .Cheers for watching, Ride Free

Good video. Id like to see the same thing for the 125 two strokes. There was some really cool ones in the 80s and 90s

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

who knows in time mate but itll take e a while to recover from this one lol, .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

The first Hondas brought into the UK were the 250 Dream with the full mudguards and 125. Then the 125 Benly arrived, what a sharp looking 125 that was. A shame the 250 sports version wasn't styled the same.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

i do like the old Benly 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great day

I have been in the motorcycle trade since 1977, have owned Yamaha YDS5, YDS7, YR5, Suzuki GT250, X7 & Kawasaki 250 S1. I have managed a 250cc British Championship winning team in the 90’s with a Yam TZ 250 and simply love the small capacity class, and what a SPLENDID video you have put together, I agree with most of what you say, however, the X7 was a ‘fair bit’ quicker than an RD250, the X7 was capable of keeping up with YR5350/RD350’s in the right hands as me and my 350 riding buddy disappointingly found out on several occasions ha ha. Thanks for the video. Have seen several Suzi Across in Taiwan where I now live.

@barebonesmc

8 ай бұрын

glad it jogged some good memories mate, mymate had an X7 when i had my 350LC, it was damn quick, but the LC did the turns so much better IMO 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂

Your films are superb! Packed with encyclopaedic info and great footage! Bravo 👏

@Interdiction

11 ай бұрын

He is not accurate at all . Suzuki was missed out via the T250 Hustler and the GT 250

@kramnam4716

11 ай бұрын

@@Interdiction ah ok

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

there is always a choice, at 42 minutes the video was already too long, i cant always include everything the T20 was actually closer than the GT or Hustler but the T20 should probably have got a mention

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

cheers mate, i do my best :-) Cheers for watching

Brought a smile to my face as I remembered my CB77 & an RDS5 :)

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

glad you enjoyed it mate, Cheers for watching, hope you have a great weekend

I am not a biker but your video brought back memories of the late 70s and early eighties when a few friends of mine were bikers, technology as progressed but not always for the better, safety, emissions, production costs etc has played a part here. Probably people skip the 250 in search of a better deal on a bigger bike ?. I am not a biker but I did enjoy your video.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

glad you enjoyed it mate, i do think cost comes into it in a few ways, from bike production cost to profit margins and insurance costs to name just 3 have a great weekend mate

What a fantastic video !! Brought back soooo many memories , superb 👊

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

im glad mate and Cheers for watching , hope you have a great weekend

I was 17 when I bought my 1985 KR250. Straight from an XS250 this thing was FAST. It would do awesome wheelies too.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

im sure it did .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

I don’t watch a lot of 40+ minute videos but I didn’t think about not continuing with this one. My first M/C was a 305cc Honda CB77, Yamaha 250, Bultaco 250 and a couple of Aermacchis a 250cc and a 350cc. I also had a Honda CL72 “Scrambler”. This was the last half of the’60’s & some of the’70’s. Just to top it off; a Triumph 650cc and BSA Gold Star 500(in a box. Never got it running). Thank you for the video/info.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

i dont do 40 min videos in general mate but this one just didnt seem right split up :-) glad you enjoyed it even if it was a marathon :-) Cheers for watching , have a great week

1970 i became 16 and bought a honda cb 250, it was gold and white and at full bore sounded great, great memories.

@barebonesmc

10 ай бұрын

glad it jogged some good memories mate 🙂Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂

2 stroke engines are very sensitive to humidity as well as ambient temperature, I remember how much better they pulled on a cool and humid autumn or spring day, and how a hot and dry day used to affect them... Maybe that explains some of the speed variation in different tests..

@sambrooks7862

11 ай бұрын

You're absolutely right, I rode with a mate over 100 miles from home to Nottingham with a mate who had RD250 DX and it was about 80 degrees that day. When we came back a couple of days later the weather had really turned and it was about 55 degrees. Both bikes were a hell of a lot quicker on the journey back.

@chrissmith2114

11 ай бұрын

@@sambrooks7862 Unfortunately on the cooler and damper days the road surface was often damp as well, which limited the extra fun you could have - especially with tyres in 1960's and 70's.

@sambrooks7862

11 ай бұрын

@@chrissmith2114 yep, still, binning it is all part of lifes rich tapestry lol!

Great video, brought back some great memories of my early biking days. Had a KH250(B2) back in ‘78 , bought on the back of a ‘Motorcycle Weekly ‘ road test where it was tested at 93.4 mph (one way ) , making it the fastest 250 of the day . Truth be told, there was little to choose between the KH , RD or the GT but it didn’t stop my mates and me arguing, constantly. Happy days.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

lol, oh those arguments lol, we had an "agreed" location to use late at night, the coppers even came to race some nights lol, wild times, Cheers for watching and the comment mate, Ride Free

@marktiller1383

5 ай бұрын

I had a new blue October 77 B2, from Kawasaki lowfield heath Gatwick . An Excellent bike that I kept long after my test and It still lives in my memories to this day.

Excellent .. I had the RGV and 250/350LC …. Loved them.

@barebonesmc

10 ай бұрын

great bikes 🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂

Great trip down memory lane. Those were the days my friend

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

.Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

I had one of the first RD250's at 17 years old, people always forget the predecessor YDS7 which was just as good even though it didn't have reed valves also the Suzuki Hustler which was good. Enjoyed the video very much.

@stevenedwards2162

11 ай бұрын

Just purchased a YDS7 in mint condition had one as a 16 year old.1971

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

cheers for the comments, .and thanks for watching , Ride Free

@andypandy9931

11 ай бұрын

@@stevenedwards2162 I wish I had a 250 now it would be ideal, enjoy it.

@stevenedwards2162

11 ай бұрын

@@andypandy9931 Thanks I paid a fortune for it but I just had to have it the exact same colour in gold and black as the one I had as a youngster, certainly will not be riding like when I was sixteen thou 🤣👍

@andypandy9931

11 ай бұрын

@@stevenedwards2162 no Steven take it easy we are both a lot older now. I used to really hammer my RD 250 then got a new Kawasaki H1 I think £715 and then a H2 which was £939 on the road.

The RD250F was an extremely exciting bike to own after my FS1E moped, it was crazy to be allowed to go from 45 mph to 95 mph without any instruction though.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

wild days lol have a great day mate

@randombanditdad3754

11 ай бұрын

Thats because back then people had brains ,didn't need instruction

@bobupen6476

11 ай бұрын

@@randombanditdad3754 Wow, that really is a sweeping generalisation. I have a few mates who had bad accidents on their 250s at that time. I had done some off road riding as a schoolboy so was ok, it was more to do with experience than brains in my opinion.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@randombanditdad3754 i dunno, i reckon i knew as many dumb asses then as i do now lol , enjoy the ride 🙂

@randombanditdad3754

11 ай бұрын

@@bobupen6476 thats why on batteries it says do not drink contents 🤣🤣

My history of 250's was GT250M, RD250DX, GT250A, my brothers X7. Rode a mates superdream and couldn't believe how slow and heavy it was. Ride an old Firestorm now!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

firestorm is a great bike :-) Cheers for watching mate, have a great week

Great video! I have a 1963 CB72, which I'm getting ready for the road at the moment.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

good on you mate 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great day

Great video (as always), I hankered after the KR1-S when I passed my test, but my Dad who signed for the finance said no, GPX250R lol. Re the ZX-25R, I LOVE the fact that Kawasaki bucked the recent trend of singles and twins and remade a mighty screaming 250-4! SHAME though it wasn't released in the UK(Worldwide) 😒. But yeah, I regularly saw 120 on the clock with my GPX (ok giving 5 MPH with speedo accuracy etc 115), but, LOVED it! 14,000 rpm red line, the looks (STILL wished I had the KR though hahaha). My biking life had many a 'Strange'/unusual bikes with a few Imports, black and red GPZ400R (I even once saw a GPZ500R in a dealers window), GSX400F/R, Bros400 and a coupla others... Ride safe, ride free my friend(s)! 😎🇬🇧

@davidbrayshaw3529

11 ай бұрын

You mightn't be here today if your dad had allowed you to buy the KR1S. A friend of mine purchased one new. I was lucky enough to take it out a few times. It was blisteringly fast with the most brutal powerband that I've ever experienced. The thing would barely run until you were doing 5 or 6 thousand RPM but when you got to the 7 thousand mark, it was like someone had attached a rocket to the bike and lit it. You couldn't change gears fast enough to keep up with it, just about. I actually find it hard to believe that they were 60 horse power. To this day, it's got to be amongst the fastest "real world" bikes that I've ridden. My friend sold that bike at about 30,000km. It had had about 5 sets of rings through it and he'd given up replacing plastics at that point. Everything was broken or scratched. The bike was a shadow of its former self. Somehow, my friend survived. The KR was not a bike for the road. The GPX was a much better choice. Your father is a wise man.

@thedarkknight1971

11 ай бұрын

@@davidbrayshaw3529 Hahaha yeah, you're right, after I had the GPX for a while and kept reading about this and that about the KR1/1S I thought "Yeah, can't be arsed with the constant piston ring replacements ,(even though it was easy enough to do it on strokers), but, I seriously didn't want to end up side if the road with a broken ring hahaha. I did end up getting an RD350 YPVS FII (with some Stan Stevens tuning) after I had some time on the GPX so, did at least get to enjoy some 2stroke madness again, loved that too! 😈😈 Mwuhaha 😉 😎🇬🇧

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

cheers mate, i guess the ZXR400 is the closest we have got, but with a 9.6k price tag it may take some selling against the bigger bikes, :-) Cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride

Extra honourable mention to Yamaha SRX250 of 1984. 32hp and 123kg dry. Oh how I miss her.

@FrogFranker

11 ай бұрын

Yes the Yamaha SRX 250 single/4stroke was so much fun Cafe Racer style bikini faring, rode it to university all week at Max throttle and put only $2 petrol in the tank. It was beautifully made with Yamaha great fit and finish.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

not a bike i know much about to be honest :-) Cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride

I bought a kawasaki A1 in 1970 and to this day I wish I still had it !!!!

I owned 3 of the list, the RGV ,NSR and KR1 , my favorite being the Suzuki😊 ,god I wish I still owned it or any one of them , great video ,took me back to some great times ,thanks😊

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend

Great video, I loved the trip down memory lane, I think you are dead right about modern 250s not hitting the mark, I feel very lucky that I passed my bike test in 1986 . My first bike after passing the test was a mark 2 rg250, I see nothing that would make me excited about a 250 now. What a shame.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

it is mate, 🙂 cheers for watching, have a great day

What a great rip down memory lane that was. Thank you barebonesmc, that was abrilliant video.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great day

Great vid. Thanks for the time you put into this.

@barebonesmc

8 ай бұрын

🙂Cheers for watching and for the comment mate. Ride Free 🙂

Having had two RD250’s in the early 1980’s then two RD350LC’s that still look amazing today. I would have loved an RG250 gamma. But looking at the 250 Katana and the other 250 fours, they sounded absolutely amazing!!!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

i still remember borrowing a mates FZR 250 back when I was running a 350 LC, I loved it, a very different ride but great fun, and yes, an addictive exhaust note :-) Cheers for watching mate, hope you have a great weekend

@hughphillips1427

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc Thanks, you too. It is good to see Cadwell Park, used to be my local track when I was living in Lincolnshire.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@hughphillips1427 glorious track, and my 2nd home at times lol

Greeves Silverstone is another racer capable of 100mph+ on right gearing. Started off with RAS model with 36a villiers engine, but all following models were Greeves own engine.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

i will have a look🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂

Awesome video like usual of course! It was a pleasure to to watch it with my coffee! And now i want a 250 2stroke 😂

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

lol, you are going to need a big garage in the end mate .Cheers for watching, Ride Free

Frosty evening in nz, a glass of Laphroaig and many riding memories, thankyou for a magic in depth. I put 50 thousand kms on my CBR 250rr, made me a good rider, could trounce much bigger bikes in twisties. Learned how to keepher on the boil, that 19k howl made other riders shit themself one or twice.... If you see one BUY IT AND RIDE IT. Could tour a thousnd kms a day cheap and comfy for a sport bike, low seat height, catches looks, that swing arm.... Mmmm. Alloy stiffy. Spent a day on an aprillia rs. Holy shit, its learner legal in nz.... I remeber that day, i learned what real fast was. First 2stroke experience ever. Again buy one if you can, in my top three rides ever, the other being a sorted fire blade, and a 675daytona, all sublime. The 250s train you, resist the urge to sell yours if you get one, they will only appreciate . True classics. Id pay double for my 250 today if i ever saw her again. 😅❤ ride safe

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

greetings to you in NZ, great story 🙂 and great bikes, i just dont fold up as well as i once did lol, let my last TZR go a while back now, still miss the 350LC more than most, but i cant complain with the bikes i have

Couple of things of note. Although in awe of Yamaha's TZR-1, I was lusting after an RGV250K back in 1988 when they first released. I already then currently owned a 1985 RG500 Gamma which I had bought new in early 1986. Still do. Pretty sure the Kawasaki KR-1 released a few months ahead of the RGV250K here in Australia. A younger friend still on his 250 licence limitation bought the Kawasaki KR-1 (new) shortly after its initial release, and I the opportunity to ride it hard. My recall is that it was a very appealing bike with no immediately apparent vices, and a drop dead gorgeous looker. I particularly loved its radial rims which had only just started becoming de rigeur in mainstream road motorcycling which Suzuki had deliberately avoided on their RG500G hampering it with bias ply rims and undersized front rotors in order to promote their marketing shift to 4 stroke with their new flagship the GSXR-750. Such a shame. A bit over a decade later I bought one of the last new Suzuki RGV250Ts available from the RGV's final year export production run. That model was still black box unrestricted, but had had by then a rev limiter imposed at 11500rpm. By the end of the suffix T model produciton, all but one of the mechanical issues and undesirable idiosyncracies of the original and subsequent stock models had been eliminated, that being namely it's neutral stability and heavy front end tendency to head shake horrendiously requiring skilled corrective input if its straightline stability was upset by some external road condition/object. This could be all but eliminated by fitting a steering damper for which the frame was set up with a damper lug ex-factory, but of course at the cost of front end feedback & finessed feel. I never fitted one to mine, although I've experienced some 'you really need to be experienced and capable' scale tank slappers over the years attributable to this. The Aprilia RS250, owned by friends, which I've ridden shared that same characteristic. Stock, I put my RGV through the test radar at 212kph true flat nil wind. My overall assessment without detailed elaboration. It's a much more difficult and challenging bike to ride very fast capably than the RG500, and very VERY easy to get yourself pear shaped fast without experience and exceptional skill level. Definitely a bike for experienced skilled riders. Much as the wife persists in nagging me to sell them, I still own my RGV250T too.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

great story :-) Cheers for watching and the comment mate, Ride Free

@marcellogenesi6390

11 ай бұрын

No mention of moto Morini. I did own a Ducati mach1 in 1965 and reached 8000rpm equivalent to 108mph; with full fairing and a slight wind behind me

@theblytonian3906

11 ай бұрын

​@@marcellogenesi6390 Even fully faired on the track at its claimed 116kg dry with just 200ml of fuel in the tank and a 45kg rider aboard for 27HP, I find that an event I'd have to personally witness to believe without scepticism. Already read the memory lane specs, so please don't bother quoting them. Perspective. My 1974 Ducati 450 Desmo (14kg heavier) producing the same spec HP would be pressed to do that as I recall, and not for long given rubbish Ducati metallurgy of the day. 70s' Ducatis in particular. Spit! Ugh! Just Ugh! Although I owned three and rode considerably more during that period, -sucker for punishment or slow learner (?), they were all a regrettable mistake given 20:20 hindsight. Moto Morini made a momentary distribution presence splash for all of a figurative 5 seconds here in AU with one of their 350s mid 1970s during the height of Italian bike fashion craze, but the brand didn't sell. Pretty and stylish bike though. Fairly sure local pricing stupidity had something to do with it being a non-event at the time. Laverda, MV Augusta, Benelli, Moto Guzzi all suffered from the same overpricing affliction. Ducati was the only Italian brand near price competitive with understandable Japanese dominance, with Guzzi and Laverda providing a niche anternative to the cashed up BMW R90S buyer who wasn't one. The 750 S3 and 850 Le Mans (Mk I) Guzzis sure were stylish though. I had a mate with 'Italian brand fever' who bought a new Laverda 500 of some now forgotten flavour in early 1979 I used to ride with frequently. Spectacularly unimpressive in all respects except price. In late 1979 or early '80 after I'd blown up the Desmo and GTS and in need of reliable set of two wheels for not too much money I bought a new Kawasaki Z500 which outperformed that Laverda -and just to to add insult to injury, for around a third of its price!

@marcellogenesi6390

11 ай бұрын

@@theblytonian3906 Whether you belied or not I did reach 8000 rpm, that is 108mph in fifth gear, maybe the road was slightly down hill I cannot remember. My first bike was a Triumph 200cc tiger cub. then a Gilera175cc super compressed, then a Ducati 250 Daytona, finally the Ducati 250 mach1; sadly followed do to anforseen circumstances to a an Austin Minivan.

@theblytonian3906

11 ай бұрын

@@marcellogenesi6390 That's a great distant memory to have regardless. =]

Sad thing about the KR-1 is the fact that it's crank-halfs were made in one unit which meant that you couldn't do a con rod replacement as like on any other regular two stroke. A friend of mine still takes one of these to the circuit and I'm the one to rebuild his cranks... 🙂

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

the voice of experience :-) .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

@phillarsson8253

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc cheers to you for making these great videos! That's a thing i'm totally NOT experienced in. 🙂

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@phillarsson8253 thanks mate, i do my best, even an old dog like me can learn new tricks lol, if you look back, all i did until this year really was use KZread as a store for old video footage, no editing really at all, then i began to edit the footage from the European tour last year and it sort of progressed from there, would never have believed it could take off like this, Cheers for the support, Ride Free 🙂

@phillarsson8253

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc you're doing great, don't worry! As an old dog myself as being a motorcycle mechanic since I was around 13, I've ridden and worked on so many mopeds and motorcycles and even lawnmowers... from a simple Vespa Ciao over lots of Japs and crossing total overhauls of bevel-head Ducati's on to early Kawasaki ZZR 1100's cranks repairs. The list is long but ever so fascinating.

I had a 1991 Suzuki GSF 250 Bandit. It was based off the Across. Mine had a small Cafe fairing with a short wind screen. With 1 more tooth on the front sprocket I could get to 115 MPH on Radar, speedo said 122 MPH. It would not pull top speed in 6th gear on flat ground but would do 100 MPH. It got 72 MPG on the US 3.8L per gallon if I short shifted. I sold it and the guy rebuilt it with an over bore and a full Dustbin fairing, he said it would do 130 MPH.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

sounds like a hoot :-) Cheers for watching mate, hope you have a great weekend

I had a 1964 CB72 in the mid 1970s. Could call it a 'bitsa'. Headlight from a Royal Enfield complete with ammeter, speedo and rev counter from a larger Honda, exhaust pipes from the CB77 Scrambler for better ground clearance, clip-on handlebars, fibreglass race tank & seat and flipped footrests for a cafe racer style. Problem was it was never as fast as it looked, I always felt that the CB72 engine was a bit asthmatic producing a lot of noise but not much go even when well set up. Gave up on it eventually due to persistent problems with the 'C' ring holding the gear selector drum.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

🙂Cheers for the comment mate. it would feel asthmatic now im sure in many ways, but maybe not as asthmatic as some of the modern 250s lol Ride Free 🙂

I'm surprised that you didn't mention the Suzuki X-6 Hustler. In 1967 it produced 29 hp and although I never saw figures that put it over 100mph, my 1967 X-6 Scrambler will easily go over 90mph. This was a great video! I loved all the info and saw many bikes that I never heard of. Thank you!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Cheers for watching mate and glad you enjoyed it, there would always be missed bikes, i was sick of listening to my own voice by the end of this one lol , have a great weekend 🙂

@sambrooks7862

11 ай бұрын

In 1981 I had a 1971 T250 hustler and my God it was quick. I usually rode with 5 or 6 other lads, most rode either RD250s or X7s although one lad had a GT 250, none of them could get anywhere near my old hustler, it wasn't just "a bit quicker", it embarrassed all of them. The only lad I rode with who could get anywhere near me had a honda 400/4 and even then he wasn't faster unless it was head wind and he was about 3 stone lighter than me!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@sambrooks7862 lol, weight is the enemy 🙂

@sambrooks7862

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc tell me about it 😂

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@sambrooks7862 lol

The Suzuki Across was very popular here in Australia. It was comfortable and powerful enough to tour on and the storage compartment (fuel tank) being able to carry a helmet was a bonus! PS Australia also got the KR250. Cheers.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

.Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

@MrTerrymiff

11 ай бұрын

The fastest shopping trolley on two wheels.😀

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@MrTerrymiff lol

@awestruck9075

11 ай бұрын

Also the chassis was designed to take up to a 500cc engine.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@awestruck9075 that would have been a blinding bike

Wow! What a fantastic video. Thanks for making it 👏👏👏

@barebonesmc

2 ай бұрын

glad you enjoyed it mate 🙂 Theres plenty more on the channel, hope you will look around and find something your interested in. there is more on the website too. and there will be more to come. Cheers for watching. Ride Free 🙂

had a RD 250 DX air-cooled, the first alloy wheeled Yamaha 250, microns, bigger carbs, skimmed head, ported & flowed, Wiseco pistons, huge Manx tank, single Snetterton, converted to mono-sock with a RD 350 LC back end, massive front calliper and big disks, painted in yellow with black race stripes, that bike was so much fun I wish I could go back to the year I bought it and do it all again, I used to carry spare pistons under the seat and could swap them out in an hour,

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

sounds like a fun bike :-) Cheers for watching mate, have a great week

In the 90s my friend built an RG250 project with his dad. They sent the motor to Kevin Cameron to have it built. It put out 52WHP on a stingy local dyno. In hindsight it was one of the most special bikes I've ridden.

@stephenhurst9257

11 ай бұрын

Top work yes that motor must av been well tuned also to produce that decent power it must have been fantastic on the go 😂

@brazoon1

11 ай бұрын

@@stephenhurst9257 Indeed, very peaky power delivery. About 2000rpm of useable power at the top of the rev range. If memory serves, it had re-worked FZR 600 forks and swingarm as well as wheels. If I knew then what I know now, I'd have a collection of historically significant motorcycles from the 80s and 90s. LOL

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

that was/is part of the joy, that tuning. We had a guy called Terry Beckitt back in my day who was a wizard. and i thought i had done fairly well getting a TZR I had to around 65HP but the guy who bought it (the right new owner) took it to Mick Abbey and in the end (lots of changes including a banshee block) got it up to almost 90HP at the wheel which was unbelievable to me. but i saw the dyno readout. Mick is obviously the modern day Terry Beckitt i think :-) Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend

Lot of research in this video, and well presented. My favourite 250 was the honda cb250rs which I owned for a couple of years. My only transport for work. Most certainly not a contender for this list. I agree about the lack of progress in this capacity, rather disappointing.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Cheers for the support mate, have a great weekend

I remember when the 250 two strokes were hot, back in the 70's. Some friends also had Bridgestones, which were pretty much on par with the Suzukis and Yamahas.

Great video and presentation, loved it.

@barebonesmc

10 ай бұрын

🙂Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂

I owned a Suzuki Across for a few years so I'm very glad to see it get an honourable mention here. They were a great little bike, surprisingly reliable and quite popular here in Australia through the 90's. One feature of the bike was the storage area where the fuel tank would be in a more traditional design, large enough for a full face helmet. The actual tank was under the seat, but only held approximately 12l of fuel.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

ouch 12 ltrs even on a 250 is limiting, but good to hear a bit more about them, i knew about the storage, i guess thats where honda got the idea for the NC700 🙂) Cheers for watching mate, ride free 🙂

@stewybot

11 ай бұрын

My first road bike was a bandit 250 which had the same engine as the across. Fun little screamer it was and dead reliable. I miss it!

@tonyjourneyman1944

11 ай бұрын

Interesting, I didn't know about the storage, I recently sold my Honda NC750X and thought that was a groundbreaking idea, little did I know it had been done before.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@tonyjourneyman1944 me neither mate, we live and learn as they say 🙂

@DocMagoo

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc Yeah, the 12 litre tank was a pain so I got into the habit of carrying a 5l fuel can in the trunk.

I wonder how much difference a fairing made to the top speeds. All of the earlier stuff up to about 1980 were naked bikes but after that not only were you getting a jump in engine output with water cooling but the bikes were all faired. Together they must have been worth a good few mph.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

good point :-) Cheers for watching mate, ride free

Awesome video, thanks for making this 👍👍👍

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

:-) Cheers for watching mate and thanks for the comment, enjoy your weekend

I am lucky enough to be the proud owner of a 2000 bandit GSF250N that came to me as a gift. Thank you Jack. Your are assured of a place in Heaven. This bike is the naked version of the Across and has the gas tank in the appropriate place. It has a variable valve head that chips in at 7500 rpm when there is an audible click and it takes off like a two stroke up to 14000 although I’ve never been there. The road holding and brakes live up to the motor so it’s just a blast to ride. The motor is in a 400 frame so it looks large I am a mature rider and I try to ride ride like a nun. I know that this is the best bike I’ve ever ridden/owned. I shocked myself when I looked at the rear tyre wear and found how much lean angle I’m using. It’s just that kind of bike. Brings out some hooligan in me The valve timing changes mechanically. The cam shaft incorporates two plates separated by ball bearings. One plate has radial grooves while it’s partner has angled grooves and they rotate relative to each other to change the timing Who needs a large heavy bike when you can have just as much fun on a 250? Enjoy while you can because when it’s gone it’s gone forever

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

suzuki do seem to have a habit of creating hooligans lol 🙂 cheers for watching mate, have a great day

Great video, I really enjoyed it, but where are the Spanish 250's of the late 60's and early 70's? The Bultaco Metralla and Montesa Impala were both 100mph bikes on a good day with a tailwind. They were widely used in production racing and can still be seen in action at Spanish events.

@barryhood7659

11 ай бұрын

The Bultacos also launched the career of one Mr. B Sheene

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

the Metralla has been mentioned, ill check the other one out, some inevitably get missed :-) .Cheers for watching , Ride Free

Great video! As a Suzuki fan, I would have liked to seen the X6 mentioned in there, but I know you can't always get everything! Great job!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

It did just get too long in the end, there are plenty coming out of the woodwork though so who knows in future :-) Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend

@shaggybreeks

11 ай бұрын

Yeah! The Suzuki X6 set records. It's production top speed was 104 mph. It came out before the Kawasaki samurai, and it was faster. I won a lot of gold with an X6 in the day.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@shaggybreeks ill agree it probably should have got a mention 🙂 🙂 Cheers for watching mate, ride free

Very interesting summary. You made some excellent points about old vs new. Thanks for posting.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it mate .Cheers for watching , Ride Free

Very enjoyable KZread upload with great footage in order of some awesome bikes over the years, thank you for that. Best Wishes, QQ.

@barebonesmc

9 ай бұрын

Thanks for your support mate 🙂 the feedback does help me and i do appreciate it

Small correction: it's pronounced Aermacki. As you predicted, here's a correction regarding the Honda MVX250F being Honda's first two-stroke street bike. It wasn't. If we discount the fact that Honda's very first production model, the A-Type, was equipped with a small two-stroke motor, the title goes to the MB5 launched in 1979. If we include all street-legal models as opposed to street-only, then we must include the MT125 and MT250 dual sport (or dual purpose as we used to say and not to be confused with the MT250 road racer) both launched in 1974. And now the biggie: no one has to thank MZ for rotary disc-valves on two-strokes. They did use them on their GP bikes, but they did not invent them. What Walter Kaaden, MZ's race engineer, did do was to develop formulae for calculating exhaust resonance in two-strokes in order to improve gas flow and in particular he improved on the work previously done at DKW (MZ's pre-WW2 predecessor before the partition of Germany) on expansion chambers. These formulae are the secret that pilot/engineer Ernst Degner took with him when he defected out of communist East Germany and it is the reason why every performance two-stroke is fitted with expansion chambers. And now an anecdote: when I was a motorcycle-mad teenager in Montréal, I would often walk or cycle over to Plaza Cycles which was one of Yvon DuHamel's early sponsors. Besides all the shiny new two-strokes and magnificent Z1, they would sometimes expose one of Yvon's bikes. Even then, it was surprising to me how small these race bikes were. And, of course, always with number 17.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

i hadnt thought about the MB5 which is a bit bad because my mate had one :-), i stand corrected. and yes my pronunciation isnt perfect, old habits die hard as they say :-) and MZ/DKW might not have invented the dic valve but they did do a lot of pioneering development with it. and the way i saw it, it was the combined use of the better disc valve alongside the expansion chambers that was what improved the overal performance. but im happy to be corrected, ill do some more reading. my understanding was that without the improvement in performance of the disc valve the power pulse was less focused which made designing the helmholz resonator much more difficult. as the power pulse was focussed the frequency band of the resonator became narrower which meant it was easier to create the expansion chamber that would work over a wider rev range. so that is why i always mention the disc valve as well. Cheers for watching mate, hope you have a great weekend

I think the lack of exciting 250cc bikes has to do with the nanny states we all seem to live in. Having said that, my son has a Ninja 300. It is a fun, quick bike. I've had it to 3/4 ton without giving it the whip. My son won't tell me how fast he's riding it. I'm sure he is a ton up boy.

@nickhall5959

11 ай бұрын

No dad, I know him and we never go over 30mph.

That classic black and yellow Yamaha rd 250 is by far the sweetest bike there.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Roberts speed blocks eh :-) Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend 🙂

I have a Honda CBR250R 1988 rebuilding at the moment but nearly finished and can’t wait to get out on it when the weather improves! Winter in Australia now

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

i think the RS owners are amassing lol .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

What a fanrastic video, thank you! The most exhilarating and exciting class of bikes there ever was, in my humble opinion. I own a 1991 KR1-S, which I bought new. It wears the black & green racing livery like the example shown in your video, and aside from a couple of minor but unsightly fairing scratches which were professionally filled & painted in the early 2000's, and a 5mm hole repair & repaint on the exhaust, it is all factory and mint. A low mileage example it's whole life, sadly it just doesn't get the miles these days which it once did. I keep it run and maintained though, and the soundtrack alone isn ike a time machine, transporting me back 30 years to the twisty country roads of Sussex & Hampshire, and rhe pure adrenaline rush. Happy days indeed ❤ Thanks again for this great video.Would love to see the full KR250 deep dive please!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

the KR250 video is going to take some time :-) ive got to contact some owners and translation can be a bugger sometimes lol, but it is on my list :-) Cheers for watching and glad you enjoyed it , hope you have a great weekend

It seems that the Suzuki T20 of 1965 is missing in your otherwise very complete listing. As far as I remember, it was the go-to 250 cc bike when it appeared, with its 6 speeds gearbox, at keast in France where Kawasakis were not imported at that time. It was also easy to tune for racing/

@chrisbraid2907

11 ай бұрын

I owned one in NZ and it was a genuine ton up bike there when the oil pump was set right …

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

there will always be ones that get missed, they werent as popular here. it wasnt until the ram air GT250 that Suzuki started to gain more of a market share but it maybe should have been mentioned

We got hosed over here in the States, of the Japanese bikes the 88-90 Honda VTR250 was about the closest thing to any of these bikes that we ever had (at least to my memory). I think the market has gone price driven and less care about performance, today's newer riders want electronics and B.S. not power.

@waveman1500

11 ай бұрын

In many countries, young learner riders were restricted to 250cc only, which is why so many high-performance 250cc bikes were built.

@tonyjourneyman1944

11 ай бұрын

I do think the VTR is a grey looking bike tho. Agree about the electronics, I recently bought a new Suzuki SV650 and one of the things that appealed to me is that apart from ABS it is pretty "dumb".

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

i think the shift in focus from racing 250s was a big part of the changes, :-) Cheers for watching mate, enjoy the ride

Wonderful content mate, brings back memories of chasing my mates across the North York moors on my rd250 and many years later racing a kr1-s.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

glad you enjoyed it mate, Cheers for watching , have a great weekend

@jeromebradley9232

11 ай бұрын

@barebonesmc I've recommended your channel to a few of my ex-racer, 2 stroke addicted mates, hope they join the tribe. Keep up the good work and many thanks for the content and the effort you put in.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

@@jeromebradley9232 much appreciated mate, im still reeling that we passed 10k subs without me even getting a chance to say thanks to everyone again, doesnt seem 2 minutes since it was a thousand lol 🙂 Cheers for watching , ride free

I bought a new Suzuki RG250 in 1985 and paid £1,500 for it. Fantastic bike and would love another one.

@barebonesmc

8 ай бұрын

great bikes 🙂 Cheers for watching mate. Ride Free 🙂

The 1986 ex250 Ninja was the best looking 😀 I loved that bike. It was right around 100 mph top speed. Not bad for a four stroke twin of the time!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

they were great little bikes .Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free

Great trip down memory lane. Interesting to see what the Lambretta and Vespa guys can get out of their Two stroke scoots, 30 to 50bhp quite easy , then up to 70+ bhp! Eric Cope got 127mph on a Lambretta RB250 @ Elvington!

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Ive seen them racing at Cadwell and one guy took one out in the fast group at a trackday i was at, no one realised he had a 350LC engine strapped in it 🤣🤣 bonkers things. Cheers for watching mate, Ride Free 🙂

@jimsregaturntableshifijukebox

11 ай бұрын

@@barebonesmc thanks for replying and sharing, I really appreciate it. Hope you have a great weekend. Jim 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 ☺

This was a Great Video - Thanks for this !

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it! :-) Cheers for watching mate and thanks for the comment, enjoy your weekend

I only got to ride a few small 2 strokes but man do I miss the smell of them running, everytime i get behind one now it reminds me of the good old days.

@barebonesmc

11 ай бұрын

I love the smell of Castrol R was one of the first TShirt designs i did lol Cheers for watching mate, have a great weekend