80s bikes... your favorite?

[DownUnder]

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Street and Raced these for 5 years. Nothing street legal has ever been the same. Don't get stuck in traffic, as they didn't come with a rad fan. My buddy had the wind knocked out of him from the gas tank raising so quickly when the power hit. LOL He never asked to ride it again.

Not sure about here but I remember the late 90s in Australia and England too, people were shoehorning those engines into rgv250s. There's some amazing builds out there that would try to kill people on a daily basis.

 

[xrljoel]

Every time I visit this thread I remember another 80's bike I lusted after. Though I never got to ride one I thought the TZR250 was a beautiful bike. I know it was peaky, but I wonder how the reliability and rideability as a street bike was.

The end of the 2 stroke street bike era gave us some spectacularly cool bike.

 

[boyoboy]

Nostalgia ain't what it used to be.
Current generation machines are so much better in every way I can't hold out much sentimentality.
As period pis, fine BUT that's it.
Get your flamethrowers out....

flame throwers? lol you ride a royal enfield !..smile. wink lmao

 

[guzzirider]

Modern motorcycles may be mechanically superior but has it resulted in modern riders being less proficient?
Before ABS I taught people how to emergency brake on gravel.
Are we only a few steps away from adding 2 wheels for stability and a full body?
I ride both new and vintage bikes and enjoy both.

 

[TK4]

Every time I visit this thread I remember another 80's bike I lusted after. Though I never got to ride one I thought the TZR250 was a beautiful bike. I know it was peaky, but I wonder how the reliability and rideability as a street bike was.

The end of the 2 stroke street bike era gave us some spectacularly cool bike.

Unfortunately they were expensive and slow. But as you say, very nice to stare at !

 

[TK4]

flame throwers? lol you ride a royal enfield !..smile. wink lmao

Touche !

 

[gammaguy21]

Unfortunately they were expensive and slow. But as you say, very nice to stare at !

Curious, slow compare to which bikes?

 

[TK4]

Curious, slow compare to which bikes?

RZ350s would spank them.

 

[Relax]

The Gamma was a legend in its own time. My best friend had one in showroom condition and let me ride it whenever I wanted. I guess he felt guilty about writing off my NS400R. Speaking of which:

 

[gammaguy21]

RZ350s would spank them.

Ah, got ya. For sure the rz350 would.
I was trying to think of 80's 250cc bikes available in Canada that were faster... couldn't come up with any. The rg250 gamma was the only one I could think of and the tzr250 is faster and has a better chassis.

 

[gammaguy21]

Not sure about here but I remember the late 90s in Australia and England too, people were shoehorning those engines into rgv250s. There's some amazing builds out there that would try to kill people on a daily basis.

View attachment 60949

I know a guy that's local to me who has done this. Just an amazing combination.

 

[Mad Mike]

RZ350s would spank them.

Maybe. For those who have never experienced riding a 2 stroke street bike, the thrill is sometimes overstated. The scariness didn't come from wild power, it mostly came from a mismatch of small flexible frames that couldn't handle 60-80hp engines.

An '80 RD350LC would take off from a dead start like a Virago 250 till you hit about 25mph and 5500RPM - up till then they were about the same. At 6000RPM the RD made 20hp and 35lbs of torque, you got a kick in the pants as revs increased with force to 10,000RPM when it made about 40hp at just over 40mph.

In stock form, a beginner's Ninja 400 might spank a US/CAN spec RZ350.

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