2-stroke

Sweet All original RD350

Paul Nisanth sends in his excellent old 2 stroker.

Hi
This is my 1974 Yamaha RD 350. 8400 orgnial miles.I bought from ebay.When I bought it was sitting in a stotage for 15 yrs.

Christini AWD update. This is some nice engineering pRorn.

I’d done a post on the Christini AWD bikes a while back and I always want to see it closer up.  Well a big thank you to Colin for the message board link over on Dirt Bike World where these were located.  This is the sort of technology that just stops me in my tracks and get me staring. Amazing how compact it really is.  I’d think the weight would be easily offset by the added traction.   Ant that  KTM 300 is already a rocket ship!  Really brilliant.   I’d love to ride one someday.

Barton 750! The Silver Dream Racer!

Chris Alty sent in these pics of a bike and brand that I’m a little ashamed to say I know very little about. Especially considering my love of two strokes and old movies. He’s also getting a restoration business off the ground and included some nice links to more information. Check it out.

Hi
I have just had a look at you site and thought i would send you some pics of my Barton 750 projects, i hope to have one out in August and my site is www.bartonphoenix.moonfruit.com
Regards Chris Alty

(and in a later e-mail)
Eric Buell bought the rights etc when Barton closed its doors, check out the film Silver Dream Racer as Barton Made the bike in the film, i hope to have one of mine on the track later this year.
Regards Chris

Here’s a nice clip from Silver Dream Racer to see the bike in action. Nice stuff actually. Especially for the times!

A nice (but wounded) Yamaha RD400.

I’m a sucker for a nice 2-stroke.

Tony McGuire writes in:

Heres a pic i took yesterday of my gleaming Yamaha RD400 overlooking the Bridlington Bay in the UK (my home town)
the 2nd pic is of today when a 20 year old girl decided to reverse without using her mirrors 😦

Ouch.. Glad it wasn’t worse..

The Mighty Honda MB5 “out in the wild”!

Jim Meyer spotted this clean little scoot and sent her in.

Steve, I spotted this today and had no idea what it was, never saw one before. Very cool little bike. Where has all the simplicity gone?

Good Question Jim.

These engines had decent specs including 185 psi compression! And I’ve read that some US versions had top speeds in excess of 50 mph. Wow!

Engine
Type Air cooled 2-stroke, reed valve
Cylinder arrangement Single cylinder 40 degree incline
Bore and Stroke 39.0 x 41.4 mm (1.54 x 1.63 in)
Displacement 49cc (2.98 cu in)
Compression ratio 7.6:1
Max Horsepower 7.0 BHP @ 9000 rpm
Max Torque 4.05 ft-lb (5.6 N-m)
Oil Capacity, transmission
Oil tank 1.1 US qt (1.0 liters)
1.2 US qt (1.1 liters)
Lubrication system Forced (eng) and wet sump (tranny)
Air Filtration Oiled polyurethane foam
Cylinder compression 185 psi (1275 kPa)
Engine weight 38.6 lb (17.5 kg)
Idle Speed 1400 rpm

An amazing two stroke work in progress. Suzuki TR750 from the UK

Thanks to Peter Kent.  Looks like a lot of pipe and frame work here. Just amazing. Must be a hell of a ride.

 

And while we’re at it… a 1965 Suzuki Hustler!

Henry Buss from the previous post also sent in this excellent Hustler.

Hi Steve.
This is a 1965 Suzuki Super Six or Hustler that I restored a while back from
a basket case. I had sent you some pictures before of a Honda CR 750 and a
1965 Ducati 350 race bike that I had biult. I can’t remember if you put the
Ducati on your site but I will send a picture for you.
Regards
Henry Buss
Canada

A really interesting “One Make” MZ250 racebike from the UK

Andy Writes in:

Love your site ,thought you might like to see some of these.
MZ 250 racing bike as run in the BMZRC, have a look at
bmzrc.org.uk

A one make series running in the UK we celebrate our 25th year this year at Cadwell pk.
cheers Andy.

Fantastic stuff. Is there an equivalent class to this stateside? Good affordable (or as affordable as racing can be I suppose) fun.

 

I lifted this one from their website.  Looks fun!

Looks like the Daytona Vintage Motorcycle Auctions are alive and kicking.

It was looking like the Daytona vintage races and the Deland motorcycle auctions (just west of Daytona) were almost a thing of the past.  Well good news!  They’re not going without a fight.  If you’ve never been to the J. Wood auctions in Deland in the past I highly recommend it making the trip this year to the new location at the Volusia County Fairgrounds. Sounds like a great new location and that they need all the support they can get. It’s not on the Bonhams or Barret Jackson level but it’s not far. There are a LOT of great vintage and classic bikes on the block and I’ve been tempted many a time.

More info on the J Wood Auction Site and check out their site here for all the specific info! I’ll be there on the 16’th (my birthday as it turns out) camera in hand as well as checking out the Flat Track races. Hope to see you there!

And here is the early  CONSIGNMENT LIST (which will no doubt quickly grow) so check it often!

And a sweet TZ shown here in the flyer.

A Sweet (and street legal) Aprilia RS250 2 stroke.

A carry over from the 2 stroke board. I’ve seen a few of these titled and street ridden in the US and it always makes me drool. As realistically close as you can get to a GP bike on the street. Brace yourself for the maintenance costs though.

Hairu wrote in:

I consider myself a 2stroke lover. I always believed that 2stroke is the most ideal engine for a sportbike. I think MotoGP made a big mistake by banning the 2stroke to compete. They should have let the 2stroke to compete with what ever type off engine. Anyway I just recently owned an Aprilia RS250 1997 model. This has been my dream bike back then and now I own 1. Riding it takes some time to get use to as this thing has freakish power delivery at ultrahigh RPM…..but ones you get use to the power delivery you would enjoy the superlatively devastatingly fast riding you could ever have imagine. you can even take a very steep angle short corner without any brakes being applied from a very high speed. Of course your feet will be very-very busy changing the gears but it still fun doing it. Anyway this is my picture with I consider my 2nd wife…….she is 1 of my big extended family.

Thank you.

Hairu Al Akmal

It’s always a great day when you land your dream bike! Nicely done! (oh and I agree about the Moto GP comments)

Living the dream!