Rider
Reports on Suzuki T250
A 'now and then' review of the Suzuki T250 by Joe W Richardson (Sep
2005)
In 1973/74 I used to
ride a T250J (Red of course) registered on an ‘L’ plate. The
bike was mainly used for two up travelling or in company with a mate on
a T20 with the occasional ‘group’ ride out.
Being nearly new, all
the controls were smooth and positive, no corrosion on the chromework
and the paintwork was in good condition but with the ‘orange peel’ look
that most Suzuki’s of the early seventies had. The bike
always started second kick when cold and did not need any throttle to
keep running whilst it warmed up. Hot starting was always
first kick with engine idling stable at all temperatures.
Handling was fine Solo but struggled somewhat at the rear when carrying
a pillion due to soft spring rate and damping. Tyres were
good in the dry but felt ‘nervous’ in the wet though generally no worse
than Dunlop ‘Safety mileage’ tyres. The electrics worked well
with bright indicators and tail lamp with lighting only let down by a
poor headlamp and high beam indicator lamp. The headlamp; at
35W for main beam and 25W dip, was totally inadequate for the speeds
possible. OK maybe for fast ‘A’ roads with white lines or
roads with street lighting but!!! Unlit back roads were a
severe test of reaction times and braking ability. View was
also compromised by a red coloured main beam indicator that was too
bright and tended to dazzle especially in the rain.
Performance? Claims were made of the ability to do 100mph however, like
the T20, it
was more like 90 tops. Additionally, this was only possible
either prone on the tank (dodgy for retaining control of the bike and
anyway you couldn’t see properly like that), downhill or with a
following high wind. Maximum speed with the high bars was
normally about 80 though anything over 70 tended to be tiring on the
arms and painful in the wallet. As all bikes of that era, the
speedometer was well optimistic and showed a good plus 10% of actual
speed. So, although a cruising speed of nearly 80 was
possible; it was in reality a lot nearer 70. When compared to
family cars of that era where a 1300 was considered on the large side
i.e. Escorts, Mini’s Imps etc, this speed was more than adequate to
leave them well behind. Acceleration was also comparatively
good and even the larger capacity family cars with a faster cruise
speed could not keep up on general roads. At junctions, a
good trick used to involve setting off at reasonable revs then winding
the throttle fully open and leaning back slightly. As the
needle passed 5000rpm the front wheel would lift and then be about 3
foot off the ground when changing up to second. Cool or what
especially as in those days it was in front of an appreciable audience
(most car drivers were also bikers or ex-bikers)!!! This
manoeuvre was especially easy with a pillion and a balance could be
held at about 6000rpm with careful use of throttle thus keeping the
front wheel in the air whilst crossing the junction. This
manoeuvre was simple enough when going straight ahead but the clever
dicks (me included) used to be able to do it whilst turning
right. It had to be a fairly large junction and you had to
have an understanding pillion otherwise it either wouldn’t work or you
fell off. Luckily (or skilfully) that level of embarrassment
never happened to me.
Compared to other
bikes around at the time? When out in a group (as you did
when 17, learner riders and at college) the ‘Brit’ bikes were always at
the back with next in line being the Honda 250. Kawasaki 250
triple? Nobody had one and I don’t recall ever seeing one in our locale
and so out in front was always a Suzuki or a Yamaha. Now
which one of these two was best? It used to depend upon rider
weight and ability with no real clear winner. Quite often it
was whoever made the better (more risky?) overtaking manoeuvres in the
last mile that got there first. However, I suppose in some
ways the Honda and brit bikes owners used to have the last laugh as
their mpg’s were much better and so they had more beer money.
Day to day riding of a
T250 was just a matter of putting in fuel and keeping the oil tank
topped up. Maintenance when required was very simple and
ignition timing not as critical as other two strokes. The
oiling system on the Suzuki was also more superior to others resulting
in a very reliable engine.
Update for Today
Do I have one
now? The answer is No to just one but yes to one of every
version i.e.
T250, T250II, T250II
(US high pipe version), T250R (European version), T250J and finally
TT250.
At the moment the only
fully roadworthy bike is a T250R. It was rebuilt a couple of
years ago and was treated in 2004 to a new paint job. This
one is somewhat different to a standard UK model R and originally was
imported from Europe by a previous owner. As such it has the
later model ‘J’ type headlamp and shrouds with a ‘J’ type stripe on the
side panels and high stay type front mudguard.
The engine rebuild
included a reconditioned crankshaft plus new barrels and
pistons. The carbs were fully cleaned with the barrel ports
cleaned up and polished thus ensuring the engine would be at maximum
efficiency for standard porting. 
Note that
the paintwork is the correct type of green for an ‘R’ but it always
seems to come out Blue on a digital photo???
The bike has now (Sep
05) covered over 2000 miles since rebuild and is fully run
in. The engine runs well being extremely responsive and very
quiet. In fact you hardly know it is running with only a
gentle ‘pop’ from the silencers at idle. Starting is
excellent with all controls silky smooth and light in
operation. Handling is much better than I previously remember
but with modern rear suspension units, fork oil and tyres that is only
to be expected. Unfortunately, the headlamp is still the same
as the bike is fitted with a ‘standard’ unit however, this is of no
great problem as the bike it is not generally used at night.
There is still that strange steering movement because of the rubber
mounted handlebars and the front wheel still lifts a treat in first
gear. Finally, anything over 70 is like having a big fist try
and push you of the seat so in all respects the bike is exactly as I
remember from 1973.
Of course these days
the bike is treated with a lot more respect. No more ‘Red
lining’ and ‘earoling’ round corners (though I still ride it quite fast
on occasions AND it will still wheelie). Motorways are of
course no joking matter and only lorries are slower. Even
fast 'A' roads require a lot of work to keep up with 'modern' traffic
but it comes into its own on country roads. After half an
hour of quite near empty road riding it feels just like you're back in
the 70's again. Sigh!! Nostalgia ain't what it used to
be.....
The bike is also not
purposely taken out in bad weather and lives in a nice dry
workshop. However, this is more because I now find it
somewhat tedious the hours of cleaning required after a 'wet'
ride. Additionally as this bike is only a small part of the
collection, if the 250 is not going to be fast enough then I take out a
350 or a 500 instead. Nice to have the choice to treat
something a little more gently but I still remember that back in the
learner days, what you had was IT. Additionally there was no
such thing as Road Camera’s, Radar etc and you had to be ‘clocked’ to
get a speeding ticket. It was therefore one eye in the
mirrors and full throttle wherever you went. Taking it a
little ‘easy’ especially in a group was not an option as after all;
NOBODY wanted to arrive LAST when riding a Jap two stroke
250. The embarrassment factor amongst peers would have been
much too high to be comfortably endured at that ‘young’ age.
Also, being last generally involved buying beer for others and as such
this ‘cost’ factor had to be taken into account when deciding to ‘go
easy’. 
Currently,
the remaining T250’s have been stripped down for storage excepting the
T250 Mk1. This bike is nearing completion of a full rebuild
(pre rebuild photo below) and is due to come back in probably the
‘Orange’ colour.
End
note Why are the other
T250’s stripped down. Well with a collection of nearly 90
Suzuki two strokes (twins and singles); I am currently struggling for
storage space. Stripped down they take up less floor area as
I can pile them high. I also have many boxes of spares both
used and new so when I build the next one all I do is pick the best of
the spares and together it will go.
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