250cc on L plates

[nick crisp]

I wonder if Paul is annoyed that his "250 On L Plates" thread has been totally and unashamedly  :hijack

:lol

[red98]

Not annoyed at the hijack...love talking about the old jap bikes, bit too yammy though....the x7 was a rival to the air cooled rd.but lighter and quicker ,by far the best 250 at the time, ive owned a few over the years, the white one in the first post is the one I have now, just started a winter restoration, bought this a few years ago from a guy in wiltshire, bought unseen via ebay  :rolleyes.about 80 ish miles home,got me bro to ride it home for me while I followed in the cage.microns, k+n's, flat out down the M4 , the sight and sounds took me straight back to my teens  ......bro was having a whale of a time, untill about 4 miles from home it ground to  a halt...........holed piston    :'( :'( :'(.......dont see my bro much now but when he does stop by I make sure the piston is close by  :lol

Bro had a cb 250 rs when I owned my first X7 in 1980......hence me buying the orange one recently, had three of these over the years and imho I think the best 250 four stroke of the bunch

[YamFazFan]

There was a 350LC for sale at the Stafford show. Can't remember the mileage, something around 20k I think. Little bit shabby on the finish, but all original, nothing broken that I could see. If it was a runner, just needed some tlc, £2650. I lingered over it for quite a while. Hmmm, do I regret not at least finding out more? Oh yes, I certainly do!

Someone please lock this thread, it's too bloody dangerous  :lol

Think this is the very same Stafford bike nick....

[nick crisp]

That's it!
Should I have been tempted d'ya think?

[red98]

Iam sure that one and the one behind were sold....and I went on the saturday !!!!...did see a scruffy but complete black one for just over a grand, looked a good buy to me......hope you had a gander at the X7 stand 

[nick crisp]

The 250 was definitely sold, but there was nothing on the 350 to say it was. That's why I lingered over it for so long.

I'll not deny the X7 is a good bike Paul, but I was working (Saturday lad) at a Yam dealer when the LCs first came into stock, plus my brother having owned a 350LC which he had a bore kit done on, and me and my other brother having had the p/valves, so I guess that's where my fondest memories/allegiances lie.

My first big fad was for Kawasaki 4s though, as my eldest brother had a beaut of a Z650 before I was old enough to ride, and the Kwaks just had the right image of being a bit more raw than the other Jap stuff. So went through x3 Z650s, Z1, GPz750 Turbo (fondest memories from all the Kwaks), GPZ1100. The H2s were eye openers, had x2, and glad I tried them, but I wouldn't really want to go back to them. Even if you upgraded with a custom chassis and all the bits, the engines were made of cheese, and haven't survived very well. Had a bit of a run with Suzukis; GSXR750 slabby, GSXR1100 slabby, RG500. But I think Yams have been my favourites overall; 350 p/valve, FZ750, FZR1000 EXUP, and x4 Fazer thous. Generally a better finish than the Suzis I reckon? Dunno, just something elusive.

[YamFazFan]

That's it!
Should I have been tempted d'ya think?

Yep it is tempting at the time isn't it!.For those with wallets holding substantial folding,this was also available for purchase at Stafford...

[nick crisp]

But now you're talking silly money, from my perspective at least. Thing about that LC was, powder coat the frame and a few bits, polish some ally here and there, maybe replace a few seals and bits, touch of paint, and with your own hands you could have a nice easy resto job, to have a little pride in. Assuming there were no major problems lurking unseen, but even then, engine work wouldn't be that expensive on them if you did the labour yourself - and so easy to work on!

I was just looking round it, thinking, is the price the right compromise between the silly money you'd have to pay for an immaculate one, and what it would cost to tidy this one. And I think it may well have been, because all the standard parts were there, and there was no major rust/rotting that I could see. I mean, original, undented, non-rusty pipes! How many more could you find like that? Most at least have Allspeeds or something now.

[BIG MAC]

To be fair while the x7 was quicker the air cooled RD was a better handling bike which always felt more solid. The LC felt like a thoroughbred at the time when my KH250 felt as though its frame was made of cheese strings

[YamFazFan]

Iam sure that one and the one behind were sold....and I went on the saturday !!!!...did see a scruffy but complete black one for just over a grand, looked a good buy to me......hope you had a gander at the X7 stand 

The white LC was still for sale when I took the pic.The 500 at the rear of the photo was an import model RZV.Very scruffy,but it had sold by the time we had moved on.Can't remember the exact screen price.Think it was close on £5000 :eek (?).I think the black LC for just over a grand was a French import as I remember.Yep did have a look at the X7 stand .

[YamFazFan]

But now you're talking silly money, from my perspective at least. Thing about that LC was, powder coat the frame and a few bits, polish some ally here and there, maybe replace a few seals and bits, touch of paint, and with your own hands you could have a nice easy resto job, to have a little pride in. Assuming there were no major problems lurking unseen, but even then, engine work wouldn't be that expensive on them if you did the labour yourself - and so easy to work on!

I was just looking round it, thinking, is the price the right compromise between the silly money you'd have to pay for an immaculate one, and what it would cost to tidy this one. And I think it may well have been, because all the standard parts were there, and there was no major rust/rotting that I could see. I mean, original, undented, non-rusty pipes! How many more could you find like that? Most at least have Allspeeds or something now.

Yeah i agree, it did look like a good compromise price to make a tidy usable classic stroker.Would prob have knocked a bit of the price for cash as well maybe.It's amazing how much in demand decent used parts are for them now.Nearly all the used clock sets are in KPH (MPH ones are as rare as hens teeth),'rear fender-rear' is like gold-dust (although someone is re-manufacturing them now),ditto centrestands,unbroken sidepanels,pipes..........

[YamFazFan]

Also for sale on the same stall...

[nick crisp]

So did anyone catch who the seller was?

[YamFazFan]

No,but my mate bought a set of used LC clocks from him for £50,so he might remember.He specialized in RD stuff I reckon.Had quite a few used bits & some clock binnacles that I think were NOS (if not they were a very good remake).

[FazerMikai]

Hi Guys, I really like the Haynes bike...can I convert my FZ6 to two stroke by putting RD cylinder heads on?

[noggythenog]

Hi Guys, I really like the Haynes bike...can I convert my FZ6 to two stroke by putting RD cylinder heads on?

Can you....yes....Permission granted.

crack on and mind send us some pics

:useless

[nick crisp]

Hi Guys, I really like the Haynes bike...can I convert my FZ6 to two stroke by putting RD cylinder heads on?

Yes, of course you can 

But you have to use LC heads of course, cos your FZ6 is liquid cooled too - no air cooled RD stuff. Can you weld? 

[BIG MAC]

Hi Guys, I really like the Haynes bike...can I convert my FZ6 to two stroke by putting RD cylinder heads on?

Errr yeah...you will need to take two of the pistons out as the FZ6 is a four stroke.

[FazerMikai]

I have a mate from the gym who did his but he's an engineer on the railway

[fireblake]

Back in the early 80's Performance bikes ran an X7 and i think they put a Nitrous kit on it. Boosting the power from 26BHP to 72BHP. 2 minutes later it blew up.

Mickey