sdpete
Junior Member
Posts: 29
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Post by sdpete on Jan 24, 2021 11:48:29 GMT
I was wondering what other 250/400 bikes the members may have considered owning from era?
When I was looking at changing my first bike - Silver 250N - ideally I wanted a larger capacity machine (400N) but the insurance was prohibitive. I considered a number of options but ended up with a Black 250NDB.
So to kick this off:
RD250/350LC - I don't really like 2 strokes but I really like these. They came out not long after I had already replaced my first bike. XS250 - Was not pretty. IMHO the superdream was far superior
GSX250 - IMHO I felt the bike was ugly although it was supposed to have had a good engine and was very slightly faster than the Superdream X7 - This was the fastest 250 when it first came out (the RD250LC would take the honors a little later), but it looked cheaply put together and I did not like 2 strokes
My elder brothers had a 400/4 and a 750F2 The 400/F was really lovely to ride, with a very sweet and smooth engine, however for me at that time fashion was determining my taste and I felt it looked old fashioned compared to other machines. My eldest brother, who bought the 400/4 from new, before selling it to my elder bother and buying the 750F2, recently admitted that he never liked the look of the 400/4 - even when he bought it!
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Post by Graeme on Jan 24, 2021 12:22:38 GMT
I went to buy an RD250LC, the salesman was very dismissive so we went to Victor Devine's and bought a black Honda 250N in 1980.
Other bikes I rather fancied later on were a KH400, a friend had one and the sound of the triple still amazes me.
The CX500 was another contender all the way through to the Euro Sport model.
I had various smaller bikes, Honda XL125 and the likes through to the noughties when I bought my CB600F Hornet, then it all started again, had bikes ever since.
Gee.
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sdpete
Junior Member
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Post by sdpete on Jan 24, 2021 13:31:03 GMT
I still like the look of the CX650 Eurosport, and still a lot of respect for the CX500 workhorse. This was out of my league at the time. The CX650 Turbo is still a very desirable bike.
We had a family friend who had countless new bikes, but would not buy a Japanese bike - lots of BMWs - R90S, R100RS's, R100RT's K7,K100 - MZ's - Moto Guzzi's. His son appeared to be following in his footsteps with a couple of MZ's, Moto Guzzi......until he bought a CX650!! After telling us all how much better the Honda was I thought his dad would not talk to him again.
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Post by Graeme on Jan 24, 2021 15:17:07 GMT
The MZ has escaped me so far, quite fancy one but either no room or no funds, they are sneaking up in price.
Just the two stroke ring ding ding appeals to me and they are unbustable.
I have had the CBX1000 but quite fancy the CB900/750, looks more like the SuperDream although it was the other way around.
Gee.
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terryc
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Post by terryc on Jan 24, 2021 15:19:01 GMT
I allways liked the CX but I followed my first 400 SD with a CB 550 four which I never really gelled with I still prefer singles and twins
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Post by mansell on Jan 24, 2021 17:21:46 GMT
I went to buy an RD250LC, the salesman was very dismissive so we went to Victor Devine's and bought a black Honda 250N in 1980. Other bikes I rather fancied later on were a KH400, a friend had one and the sound of the triple still amazes me. The CX500 was another contender all the way through to the Euro Sport model. I had various smaller bikes, Honda XL125 and the likes through to the noughties when I bought my CB600F Hornet, then it all started again, had bikes ever since. Gee. You should have followed your instincts and gone for the Elsie, when you hit the power band at 5k revs all hell broke loose, for a learner legal bike it was insane fun and probably why they’re still so revered today. I had both the 250 and the 350 and I wish I still had one today. They weren’t without their issues but I still think the styling holds up well 40 years later and if they re produced them today I think they’d sell like hot cakes. Did you ever get to ride one? I think they had the whole package, great styling and performance and that lovely 2 stroke smell into the bargain. I must have been one of the lucky ones as I never had a problem apart from the screws that held the exhaust baffles in came out, launching the baffles out the exhaust, I’m pleased no one was behind me when it happened as they’d have been wedged in their front grille! 😂 They have their haters but from my experience they were genuinely brilliant. I’ve been trying to track down my 250 for years and someone recently got in touch to tell me about their ownership of it (TUT 666X) but they owned it in the late 90’s and don’t know where it is now. The it was unrecognisable from when I owned it, heavily modified and the engine swapped out for a 350 but it was nice to find out a bit more of its history. I owned it from new, it was black with the Mars bar colour scheme. Happy days.
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Post by mansell on Jan 24, 2021 17:42:01 GMT
I went to buy an RD250LC, the salesman was very dismissive so we went to Victor Devine's and bought a black Honda 250N in 1980. Other bikes I rather fancied later on were a KH400, a friend had one and the sound of the triple still amazes me. The CX500 was another contender all the way through to the Euro Sport model. I had various smaller bikes, Honda XL125 and the likes through to the noughties when I bought my CB600F Hornet, then it all started again, had bikes ever since. Gee. You should have followed your instincts and gone for the Elsie, when you hit the power band at 5k revs all hell broke loose, for a learner legal bike it was insane fun and probably why they’re still so revered today. I had both the 250 and the 350 and I wish I still had one today. They weren’t without their issues but I still think the styling holds up well 40 years later and if they re produced them today I think they’d sell like hot cakes. Did you ever get to ride one? I think they had the whole package, great styling and performance and that lovely 2 stroke smell into the bargain. I must have been one of the lucky ones as I never had a problem apart from the screws that held the exhaust baffles in came out, launching the baffles out the exhaust, I’m pleased no one was behind me when it happened as they’d have been wedged in their front grille! 😂 They have their haters but from my experience they were genuinely brilliant. I’ve been trying to track down my 250 for years and someone recently got in touch to tell me about their ownership of it (TUT 666X) but they owned it in the late 90’s and don’t know where it is now. The it was unrecognisable from when I owned it, heavily modified and the engine swapped out for a 350 but it was nice to find out a bit more of its history. I owned it from new, it was black with the Mars bar colour scheme. Happy days.
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Post by Graeme on Jan 24, 2021 17:50:51 GMT
I went to buy an RD250LC, the salesman was very dismissive so we went to Victor Devine's and bought a black Honda 250N in 1980. Other bikes I rather fancied later on were a KH400, a friend had one and the sound of the triple still amazes me. The CX500 was another contender all the way through to the Euro Sport model. I had various smaller bikes, Honda XL125 and the likes through to the noughties when I bought my CB600F Hornet, then it all started again, had bikes ever since. Gee. You should have followed your instincts and gone for the Elsie, when you hit the power band at 5k revs all hell broke loose, for a learner legal bike it was insane fun and probably why they’re still so revered today. I had both the 250 and the 350 and I wish I still had one today. They weren’t without their issues but I still think the styling holds up well 40 years later and if they re produced them today I think they’d sell like hot cakes. Did you ever get to ride one? I think they had the whole package, great styling and performance and that lovely 2 stroke smell into the bargain. I must have been one of the lucky ones as I never had a problem apart from the screws that held the exhaust baffles in came out, launching the baffles out the exhaust, I’m pleased no one was behind me when it happened as they’d have been wedged in their front grille! 😂 They have their haters but from my experience they were genuinely brilliant. I’ve been trying to track down my 250 for years and someone recently got in touch to tell me about their ownership of it (TUT 666X) but they owned it in the late 90’s and don’t know where it is now. The it was unrecognisable from when I owned it, heavily modified and the engine swapped out for a 350 but it was nice to find out a bit more of its history. I owned it from new, it was black with the Mars bar colour scheme. Happy days. Never rode one, I did my mates KH400 once, as mentioned, the triple sound is awesome, power band was ooooof! I had a Z550 at the time, the "Z" was faster but not as much fun. I agree, the RD LC look is timeless, never aged and still looks fabulous today. They would sell in todays market no problems at all. A 500 LC that looks like the 250 and 350 instead of what they made would be truly awesome. Gee.
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Post by na44superdream on Jan 24, 2021 18:05:13 GMT
I was wondering what other 250/400 bikes the members may have considered owning from era? .... GSX250 had a very smooth engine, liked to ride those, had a white X7 for a while, but just a passing interest. I did love the RD350LC but never got round to owning one. Still have the CB400f2 (has run with superdream reverse comstars since 1983, and superdream forks and brakes from a little later). Bought a new VT250FD in 1984, and kept that until the late 90s, that was a lovely bike, almost the same power as the four4, and much lighter, great bike. Used all year round, very reliable. I think the other desire at the time was a Z400J....
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Post by kickstart on Jan 24, 2021 18:20:29 GMT
I had a GSX 250 smooth engine and a little faster than the SD but to me a little ugly much prefer the Superdream
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Post by Graeme on Jan 24, 2021 18:26:44 GMT
The Z400J, wow, very scarce but very much like my Z550.
I did want a 400J but the Z550 (1980 Pre GPZ) came up.
It had a Lazer 4-1, incredibly loud.
As for the GSX, loved the looks and the sound, a friend had one, performance seemed on par with the CB from memory.
I would have one now.
Gee.
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sdpete
Junior Member
Posts: 29
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Post by sdpete on Jan 24, 2021 20:38:58 GMT
Some great memories here. Learning a lot about the GSX ...the magazine tests said it had a great engine and your experiences seem to confirm that ...still prefer the SD though.
The RD350LC ...saw a concours example at petrol station last summer. A white and blue example, cockpit fairing, belly pan and some fancy expansion chambers......beautiful. From your feedback it seems to live up to all my expectations. The picture of ‘Mansells’ beautiful bike make me envious. Feel sorry I never rode one ....very nearly, but that is another story. Question: how was it possible to scrape the pegs on such skinny tyres.
However, I had a school friend who was built like a very small jockey, but to my surprise was amazing at racing a bike, Went to see him race his GPZ1100 and he made the podium! I digress; before the Elsie came out he built an RD400 with a transplanted racing TZ350 racing engine. He let me have a go . It was completely gutless at low revs and I really had trouble pulling away, stalling it a couple of times ......however once moving and hitting the very high power band (7000 revs ?..) it went completely crazy.
Gee, so envious you had a CBX1000 ...I still love them!!! Money being no object I would probably have this bike at the top of my list.
A friend had a 900F when I had my 250 ....He was gushing about how good it was. The styling was just so right. Wished the SD NB had adopted a slightly larger rear light , a smaller version of the 900, to fill the upswept tail section
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carlthebandit
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Post by carlthebandit on Jan 24, 2021 22:07:55 GMT
I had a superdream when my mates had X7’s and LC’s, I would love a Mars scheme 350lc but they are too expensive, I did have a later RD350 YPVS Brazilian made i beleive and was very disappointed as I had it after my tdr250 which was far better. Talking about GPZ’s I recently got an 83 550 which is a nice ride even today.
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sdpete
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Post by sdpete on Jan 25, 2021 12:41:51 GMT
The GSX550 is a lovely bike - and your looks to be in fantastic condition. I was lucky enough to spend the afternoon on one that looked just like yours for a 'test ride'. After selling my superdream, and with no bike, I used to go out for test rides on different bikes. The bike shop was very trusting and I would be out for an hour or more on some really great bikes: GSX550ES GSX750EF CBX550F2 VF750 All of these were fantastic bikes to ride, and the taste of the V4 led me later own a VFR750 and my current VFR800 Test riding back in the 80s seemed like a nice way to go motorcycling - not sure bike shops would allow that now. One test ride took me between Maidstone and Woking!
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Post by reversespin on Jan 26, 2021 11:48:29 GMT
It has to be KH400 for me as well. Stunning looking and what a sound. Nearly bought one in the 70s, but, settled for a G5 instead as couldn't quite afford the KH400 and wanted to tour Northern France 2 up and wanted something a bit more sedate and yes it had an electric start LOL.
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