New toy

[Jake the Peg]

Not in anyway Toyota related, but made in Japan, meet my non identical twins, only 30 years apart Now please can we have lots of sunshine?

 

[Grimbo]

I can't believe the prices for 90's era bikes .... especially 2 strokes .....
Both nice bikes .... ;-)

 

[Jake the Peg]

Grimbo, prices are crazy, I have some 2smoke Yamahas but parts are nuts!

 

[Towpack]

New RD and RG500's from the mid 80's, were around £4K new IIRC, now good ones are fetching £20K+. The appearance of race bred 4 strokes like the GSXR750/1100 and FZR750/1000's brought about the early demise of the 2 smokes but they were still exciting bikes to ride in a way that the 4 strokes couldn't match.

 

[Towpack]

Not in anyway Toyota related, but made in Japan, meet my non identical twins, only 30 years apart Now please can we have lots of sunshine? View attachment 171447

I almost bought an '02 model a few years back, purely for "green laning" but decided it was a bit too heavy. I'd certainly take one in preference to a GS though anyday.

 

[Chris]

Jake, we'll see you up in the Peak. We love a ride out. Well might be a bit of a way.... We're planning to get up into Scotland as soon as we can. Border opens on the 26th

 

[Grimbo]

Grimbo, prices are crazy, I have some 2smoke Yamahas but parts are nuts!

I sold my last Stan Stephens tuned 350LC with Swarbricks , flat slide carbs , alloy swing arm , rear sets etc a few years ago now ...even then I was able to buy a Willys Jeep with the proceeds.... I loved riding it but you couldn't leave it parked any where and I realised I shouldn't be riding it like I rode the one I had in the 80's...
it wasn't going to end well ;-)
The RG500 in an RGV frame project got shelved at the same time...
You can't beat a 2 Stroke .... ;-) ;-)

 

[Jake the Peg]

I almost bought an '02 model a few years back, purely for "green laning" but decided it was a bit too heavy. I'd certainly take one in preference to a GS though anyday.

The 02 is the same bike, just different colours, I bought it to replace my gs1200 adv as it just took up too much space. Thought a cheap AT can just live outside and I won’t care but it was too good, I then stripped and did a nut and bolt rebuild on it. it still only got 22k on it but for sure now I won’t ride it again!

 

[Jake the Peg]

Jake, we'll see you up in the Peak. We love a ride out. Well might be a bit of a way.... We're planning to get up into Scotland as soon as we can. Border opens on the 26th

If you decide to come as far as the NC500 route I live on it, unfortunately on the rubbish east coast but it doesn’t take long to get to the good parts! Hope you come and I can join you for a day riding

 

[Jake the Peg]

I sold my last Stan Stephens tuned 350LC with Swarbricks , flat slide carbs , alloy swing arm , rear sets etc a few years ago now ...even then I was able to buy a Willys Jeep with the proceeds.... I loved riding it but you couldn't leave it parked any where and I realised I shouldn't be riding it like I rode the one I had in the 80's...
it wasn't going to end well ;-)
The RG500 in an RGV frame project got shelved at the same time...
You can't beat a 2 Stroke .... ;-) ;-)

Are you a big Rd guy? I have the remains of mine which was a Faron 370 and what was the start of a 4LO hybrid build.. I almost bought a Marlboro rd500 a few years back for 2k, how stupid not to have done

 

[Grimbo]

I was ... Stan or "GOD" as he's known was/ is fairly local to us .

I had various bikes as we all did back in the 80's and being teenagers .

I had RD's , GT's , and KH's ... also raced CR's and KX's never owned a 4 stroke .

At one time I had 2 aircooled 250 RD's... a 350 aircooled TZ / RD hybrid that ran on premix and was incredibly quick but seized at every opportunity and is why today I still ride with one finger on the clutch leaver , a pair of KH's and a coffin tanked RD400 all in my Dad's garage.... he threw a bit of a wobble and I had to have a thin out....

Had a 4LO 350 that was built by someone else that was the quickest 350 LC by miles in our area , it ran so clean on Bell Ray that even the tips of the exhausts were a nice light brown ...

I think were were lucky to have grown up in an era when 2 stroke was king , many a race on my 350 against big supposedly quick 4 strokes .... for laughs the RD did occasionally have 250 side panels just to wind up the bigger bikes more.

Spent a year or two working as a mechanic in a bike shop when all the race reps were being launched and can still remember my first ride on a GPZ 750 Turbo.... a 4 stroke that behaved like a 2 stroke with it's power delivery and the first bike I did 150 plus on .. the first RG's on the press fleet from Suzuki were shall we say " not exactly standard" ... brilliant times and lucky to have survived probably

Think I've said on here before if I had kept all my old bikes I could probably retire given the prices they are now now fetching.... How much for a CR500 !!! god I loved that bike ;-)

Had a mild mid life crisis and an opportunity and bought a cheap 4LO 350 needing "some" work 8 years ago and built as close a bike as I could to my dream 350 back in the day.... "some work" turned into everything was knackered but after much work the bike turned out a stunner .... had a couple of years of summer fun screaming around but rear sets and high bars are not as comfortable second time round and although my teenage leather jacket still fitted the reflexes were a little dulled .... teenage daughters loved going on the back ...wife hated it .... common sense said it was time to let go ;-).

You never get over being a biker and I would love a 2 stroke enduro bike for summer fun but have you seen how much a PE or IT goes for ....
Currently have another mistress in my life taking all my cash in the form of a 1943 Halftrack so bikes will have to wait .

 

[Shayne]

Must have been two years after i crashed the surgeon said to me you look calm as they wheeled my bed into the operating theatre . I'm gonna wake up with one leg aren't i says me . We had got to know each other quite well by that time so he was straight , shook his head and said if i must i will cancel just to give you a few days to get your head around it before we proceed .

I still have two legs and i promised myself i'm gonna keep em as long as i can so only occasionally on a sleepless night do i let myself start lusting after something like this