250cc on L plates

[lew600fazer]

My one was a blue one , the faster model, believe it or not that wee bugger would hit 60 mph

[nick crisp]

I did my test on a Honda 50 Sprint in 1965, it was classed as motorcycle as no pedals, within 12  months I was throwing a Triumph Bonneville about like a fecking idiot.
As you can see still afecking idiot how do I delete that lot as cannot open it  :eek

:eek  Go into "modify" on your post, highlight all that code, and hit delete button.

I'm doing far too much reminiscing at the moment; can't be good for me!  :lol

[ukdiceman]

At 16 I rode a Suzuki AP50, unrestricted, pedels locked in place as footrests, topped out about 50! Saw one at the Stafford bike show fully restored asking just under £3k for it!
On my 17th birthday I got a Kawasaki KH250 triple, rode it for a couple of months on L's then passed my test on it. The test was a ride around the roads near the test centre with an examiner watching with a clipboard.... those were the days! Then a month or so later I got a Honda CB550/4 super sport. Wish I had kept this now as I never see any around, plenty of 400/4's still around.

[maxzer1500]

My 'L' plate bike i passed test on was an early RD200, brilliant little bikes . Mainly had RD Yamahas until kids came along, then it was mainly big Honda 4's. Apart from some ZX9Rs, Kawasaki and Suzuki never got a look-in.

[bigralphie]

I rode an XL185 in 84 on L plates and no decals on the bike (pretended the law hadn't changed  :lol )
Then the year later now in the RAF in Norfolk went half's with a mate on RD400E and still rode it on my provisional licence


I was such a bad ass lol

[nick crisp]

My brother did the 250 test. Bought himself a Superdream. Mug!  :lol

[chaz]

GP100,just before Christmas 1987,tester on foot.I've heard it said that it was the release of the RD250lc that prompted a change in the law?.

I think it was the death toll of young riders that caused the law to change, however most of the ones I knew who died had passed their test? that's the one where you rode round the block for 10 minuets answered a few questions and that was it.
At least now you get some training, we oldies just have Darwinism to get through it?

[nick crisp]

Anyone seen this month's copy of "Bike"? 500th issue, proper trip down memory lane! Fazer thou gen 1 gets a very brief mention under the banner "Wow"! Wheelie king 

Nice mention for the gen 2 as well (again, very brief). But loads of bits from old mags, many copies of which I had. Love the bit about the turbo bikes - confirms I had the only one worth having, and sums it up nicely. There really hasn't ever been another production bike quite like it 

My first issue was August 1980, the one with the Italian 500s comparison test - see the pic of the Montjuic rider removing his brain through the top of his helmet; and this mag was a major influence on my approach to biking!  :eek  :evil  :lol

And they're at it again; article about a Rocket III with supercharger... :think I know, I'm easily led astray  :eek  :evil  :b  :lol

[dazza]

Hit the road at 16 on a Portuguese Casal moped. Was a weird one that and I remember the speedo started from the top right hand corner and went round the bottom instead of the top, I think. Would read over 60 mph though but spent more time off the road in bits
as it kept blowing up.
Passed my test and had my first accident on a GP 100.
Then bought a RD 350 Powervalve in 1983.
Oh the memories.

[pilgo]

the whole reason im into bikes is i joined the post office/Royal mail as a Telegram boy so had to get around on a bloody puch maxi 50cc thing ( sadly not the BSA bantam 175's of 'back in the day' ),passed my 50cc test in summer 1981 ( not sure if that was an offical test or a PO test to  be honest ? )i brought a suzuki TS 125 ( old original 'P' reg ) and id do the telegrams on that untill the head of wentworth golf course reported me  :lol ,id of probably not bothered doing another test but a bloke started working on the post who had a 750 something or other,he took me out on it up to the bike show at Earls court and i was hooked,passed the new 2 part test in febuary 1983,did the part 1 at Catford and passed part 2 in the pissing rain/dark/cold in that wonderful town of slough,instructor on foot the miserable jock wayne kerr 

sadly all my photo's of my early bikes are at my mums house up in leafy berkshire,im up there this weekend,i must bring them home and add to this classic bike topic  8)

[chaz]

[quote author=nick crisp link=topic=15194.msg172259#msg172259 date=1415032544]
Anyone seen this month's copy of "Bike"? 500th issue, proper trip down memory lane! Fazer thou gen 1 gets a very brief mention under the banner "

And they're at it again; article about a Rocket III with supercharger..

500th issue............ I bought the first one, and still got it? 

sorry about the crap image?

[chaz]

can't delete the other photo but this one should be better?

[Red Ceri]

FS1E-DX in 77, RD250C in 78 Hospital bed 79, H0^$a CB200 in 80

[noggythenog]

I have a stealth question for all the old farts please (ie everyone on this thread :b )




What is it about the Yamaha RD350?........why "did" you like it so much & if yamaha made a brand new one.........would you trade in your current bikes and have one instead?......or would it spoil your pissy mattress dreams .


Obviously im not really asking the big touring types but rather  the average weekend rider types.


That is all


Here's a pic incase yous have all forgotten since the start of your last memory this morning.

[dazza]

Noggy,  in it's Day it was the latest cutting edge technology incorporated into a lightweight 2 stroke machine that would trouble even the fastest machines of the era up to 100 mph +
Most of us had been forced to ride restricted 125's and for many this was the first real taste of power and speed that gave you the ultimate adrenalin rush.
They were also so tunable with many having Stan Stephens stage tuning and that unmistakable sound of after market expansion chambers screaming past while having its neck well and truly rung.
I can almost smell it now.  8)




Or is that wee?  :lol

[nick crisp]

So hard to describe to someone who's ridden nothing like it.

Think of the image that KTM have promoted with the 1290 SDR. Well, that's the kind of image the 350LC and perhaps to a slightly lesser degree, the YPVS 350 had. And well deserved! It may have been smaller, far less power than the big KTM, but those strokers just took off when they hit the power. That's what it was all about! And they were very simple bikes mechanically. Everyone did their own strip downs and rebuilds, replacing worn out pistons and rings and the like, and as Dazza says, loads of people took them to guys like Stan The Man for tuning, to get even more of that addictive buzz. They really were like a drug.

There was a kind of gang mentality to it all. In days of no speed cameras, when if the law wanted to bust you, they'd have to catch you first, there was a real hooligan element involved. Total bike anarchy! And everyone wore Doc Martens or trainers, bomber jackets and jeans - no one gave a foc about safety, Kevlar and CE armour were unheard of.

Compared to todays bikes, they were evil handling, with skinny, wobbly chassis and foc all brakes to mention, which doubled the thrill of launching them at the horizon. The old LC Pro Am racing is still, in my memory, some of the best racing there has ever been; all knees and elbows, fairing bashing and ungentlemanly fighting for position.

But we hadn't known much better. That was just how bikes were back then. The big improvements started to really come in the mid 80s, when frames got stronger and suspension got adjustable.

Today, bikes are all strangled by emissions requirements. All these snatchy throttles - they don't have to be that way, it's just the manufacturers are restricted in what they can do. Everything now is too refined, too slick and smooth. Back then, things were raw and uncompromised. And the Yam strokers were the epitome of it all. You could have a small bike and still have fun. And yeah, the great smell of Castrol Rrrrrrrrrrrrr!

The loss of the 2stroke is the worst thing that ever happened to bikes. Long may the memories live!


Think me colostomy bag has split  :\

[dazza]

Amen
I remember being challenged to a race when I strayed out of my territory by someone on an rd 250 lc
I was on the powervalve
Needless to say I beat him.
The next week he had fitted 350 barrels that had been tweeked and this time he just had the edge on me.
As Nick says this was the fun of it,  making them go as fast as you could.
And don't get me started on the Castrol rrrrr.

[Deefer666]

I had a 350 LC, and at the time it was the most barking bike you could get. If you had an LC then you were the man....then I went through a succession of Kawasaki triples, a TZR V Twin, TZR reverse cylinder, a road legal CR500.......Until I bought an RG500.


I pity younger riders because they did not get to experience the sheer lunacy of two strokes, They were more addictive than crack cocaine (& probably killed more people too)

[noggythenog]

Im feeling the love for these RD350, yous have painted the image well there.


But back to the question of having one now.......if they rolled outta the factory tomorrow....albeit with slightly wider tyres and some fazer brakes..........would you ditch your current bikes and have one instead?.


I've been reading a few reviews about a certain new bike and many of the reviewers are drawing parallels to the RD 8)

[nick crisp]

Give up my  :faz ? Never!

But if they did resurrect the 2 stroke, and it was good, then yeah, I'd have to try to scrape the money together. But it would have to be good, and no stupid pricing. I guess there is a fair bit of rose-tinted specs syndrome here, but they were fun. Also, I think some of it is about the context of the days in which it happened. But can anyone really go back when the years have taken their toll? I'd have a damn good try!  :lol