Looking for opinions on Suzuki Rl250, looking at one now, thinking about it for twin shocks class. Have a TLR200 now, how do they compare? Decent bike for class? Bike overall? Tks
I never had one, but rode with a friend that did. It was a great enduro / poker run bike. But wasn't as good as a pure trials bike. i think the flywheel was just to light. At times we had a Sherpa T, RL250, TY250, and the honda TL250, all riding together at the same time. On fast trails it was always the RL first, then TY, honda, and the Sherpa T. And when trialing it was the Sherpa T first, then TY, honda and the RL having the hardest time. Never seemed to matter who was riding what bike. Good fun. The RL was one of the best looking though.
Great old girl if you get a good one , watch for crack in left hand (mainly) frame rail (from top of shock to footpeg) strong engine, bit bigger and slower turning than a TY but very stable get a good one like this and you'll end up a sucker for them like me , just rescued this poor old girl from a barn, figured I'd get a return on the cool custom seat :huh or sell the muffler to some one for a water tank Happy buying BT
The RL was the poorest of the trials bikes of it's day. Really crappy build quality, ho-hum power. There are guys that make them work in the UK I heard but usually do a lot of work to them...frames, flywheel wgts, etc. Just go with a Yam TY250 or KT KAW. They are easier to get parts for and actually work. The TY is plentiful and ultra reliable. Easiest to get started on for vintage.
True, the RLs were not the best trialers of the day. Of the Japanese bikes the TYs certainly were the best. However, I would not hesitate to pick up an RL. To many they were the best looking of the Jap offerings. I have ridden several and I love them. One of the coolest things about owning and riding a vintage bike is that you get to improve it year after year without the worry of upgrading your bike to the latest model. Hey, BorisTas, that's a beauty you have there.
The first year 1974 RL250 with the aluminum tank, will quite often develop a frame crack, where the front down tube connects to the lower steering head assembly. Suzuki welded a small gusset plate on either side of the frame, on the steel tanked 1975 models... You can actually see the small gusset plates, on the above two photos of the cherry RL250. While no contender, still a pleasant and enjoyable trials bike to ride. 996DL
My frame was cracked. I welded an additional gusset onto both sides of the frame. I added flywheel weight and had the aluminum tank repaired. I keep a steel one on hand for riding, aluminum is just for show. The clutch on these bikes is a problem. There is a two piece shaft that goes through the motor and acts like a pushrod on the pressure plate. The rods wear on each other after time and can mushroom and become crooked in the bore. The fix is to remove them and replace with a single pushrod made frome stronger steel than stock. Now my clutch is buttery smooth. Replacment rear sprockets can be tough to come by as the stocker is dished. You can find or make a spacer to overcome this. I got lucky a found a brand new one collecting dust on my local Suzuki dealers shelve.
Ok, for those interested in such things we tried to put a fire in the old farm find yesterday (that is the disgusting old red RL in the post above), spent a couple of hours cleaning out the old Mikuni but unfortunatly the pilot jet has grown in to its little home a little too well. Plan B involved stealing the carb off the good bike and the tank while we were at it. got a couple of strokes out of her but not happy ......best look at the timing :eek1 mmmmm lots and lots of play in the big end .....ahhh well gues she'll get the full rebuild treatment now , you know , since the engine's come out might as well do the frame, since the frame looks so good we better do the ..........and on and on it goes. Funny how "just clean her up a bit and get her going for friends to ride " turns into another rebuild Might get a bit different with this one . How do you reckon it would look with a white frame and the other two or three Suzuki GSXR blues on the eng (pale blue) the other bits (darker blue) and the tank in the darkest blue ??? Just dreaming at the moment. BT mind you, I allways thought this looked good too
Thanks for info, still not sure on Suzuki at this point. Redoing the TLR200 this winter may just finish it out and use it. Nice bike BorisTas!
Man that thing looks old!!! <object classid="clsid: D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" width="16" height="16" id="movie" align=""><param name="movie" value="http://forumsmiles.com/content/6/mov.swf"><param name="bgcolor" value="#ffffff"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed allowScriptAccess="always" src="http://forumsmiles.com/content/6/mov.swf" quality="high" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="16" height="16" name="movie" align="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"</embed></object>
I had an RL250 for a while (well, two actually...) To quote a good friend, "For a trials bike it makes a good trail bike, but its not nearly as good at is intended purpose." After riding the bike for well over a year I'd have to agree with him, but would also add that the small tank makes any serious trail riding out of the question, as does the limited, shall we say, seating. I could ride the thing like a mountain bike on singletrack, though, and it sure was indeed fun to do so. The stock RL did not handle particularly well at slow speeds, was geared too high, didn't deliver power where it was needed, and, as has already been mentioned, needed a heavier flywheel. The Beamish bikes made a number of improvements, but still were not considered stellar by any stretch when compared to other bikes of the day. The bike did come from the factory w/ a pointless ignition and Mikuni carb, if memory serves, which made it pretty reliable, especially compared to some of its counterparts of the period. As has already been alluded to, the aluminum tanks on the '74 models were/are notoriously fragile, and rightfully so. YMMV-- kix
Having owned a Suzuki years ago between Montesa's I picked one up cheap a couple years ago. As all have said they do have their weak points. I mechanically restored it and rode it one outing for a shakedown before I entered my first AHRMA event. I had not ridden in 25 years. I managed to place 3rd so they can't be that bad! If you find one cheap, go for it!
Vintagetour....Just think if you had been on that Montesa that day! You might have WON instead of finishing 3rd!.
Can't help with the pushrod dimensions, but if anyone else knows I'm interested. Clutch on my '75 works just fine though. Here's a photo of mine: Picked it up last year for $800. Runs real good. Definitely stronger motor than the Bultaco M49 I had been competing on. Not as quick steering as a TY250 but I just ride Novice so I'm sure it will be fine. So far I've just done some driveway trials and cruising around on it but I'm looking forward to competing on it this year. AHRMA seems to have pretty much flamed out around here so I guess I'll be going to RMTA events and entering the Vintage class. If/when winter ever ends that is...
