Radar

Best looking, maybe a 2002 MY silver and black R1 Worst, 2003 MY Fazer 600

Go, ride, enjoy

My tip would be a TDR250 if you could find a good one these days

1. XS250 2. XZ550 3. XV750SE (altough for some reason I like them) 4. TR1 5. BT1100 (If only it was as good as it looked) Food for thought, not open warfare lol!

I like all of those, I suppose Yamaha have made many great bikes over the years, making the selection rather tough. I rather like the mid to late 90's TZR250's and was the TDR250 a Supermoto ten years early??

Cheers

Had my 98 Thundercat since 2000. Has given me superb service...great all round bike. I have thrashed over Welsh mountains, toured europe, done the Napolen run, the cat and fiddle, chugged to work, carted the Mrs about. Fabulous bike

Tough one... 1. RD500 2. FS1E 3. RD350LCII YPVS (31k) 4. YZF1000 R1 (1998) 5. FZ750 Honorable mention to the FJ series too

You are obviously a man of some taste Merv! I remember a friend of mine had a mint V reg RD400 back in the mid 1980's that had been tuned by Terry Beckett, that thing flew and whellied like few other bikes

A few years ago I had the notion to be a journalist working for a bike magazine and applied so for a job with one of the major titles. As my CV had nothing to do with bikes or biking I decided to submit an alternative CV detailing all the main bikes that I have owned and what impact they had on my life. Didn't get job obviously and the CV has been sitting on my PC ever since. I thought that you lot might find it of interest... Mar 00 to date Yamaha YZR600R Thundercat. Job Description: Sports tourer. This bike marked my return to the front of the pack, or at least towards the front. Blessed with a stupid name (could be worse could be a Vulcan), a strong engine and soft suspension well suited to the bumpy Worcestershire lanes that surround my home. This bike is first I have ever bought purely as a toy, my demise from day in day out biker to Sunday morning scratcher complete. Iinitially I was restricted to “600cc squadron”, the group I ventured out with weekends. This was great fun, but the chance to build a relationship with your bike isn’t there, that only comes with constant use and care in all conditions and circumstances. That has come in the last two years as the loss of a company car has meant much more day in, day out riding too. During 2007 I used the T Cat for a stunning 2300 mile, 10 day blast across France, Italy and Switzerland. The T Cat was faultless Nov 05 to April 07 Yamaha XJR1300SP Job Description: Proper Bike After years on poncy sports bikes time for some heavy metal!!!! The XJR was a real muscle bike, and the creamy torque of the big aircooled lump made the big Yam easy to ride. However for some reason the fire did not burn in quite the way I thought and I sold the beast after only 18 months. Nov. 91 to Mar 00. Yamaha FZ750 Genesis. Job Description: Pure Sports (Well, that was what it said on the fairing!). My “line in the sand”, the encroachment into my biking life that the onset of wife, mortgages and children inevitably brings stopped here. Bought initially as a good all rounder and pressed into daily service. In one glorious summer I crammed 10,000 miles into only four months as I blasted between Norfolk and Worcestershire every weekend. Rarely have I ridden so swiftly and so well, I knew every little nuance of the bikes behaviour, where the engine pulled best, how to exploit the quick steering 16” front wheel, what I could get away with basically. My route was punctuated with clock towers on churches and town halls etc. and I set myself bogie times from clock to clock that I had to match or beat. All very silly of course, but huge fun and a good way a breaking the pattern of the same run time after time. This bike and I became old friends as I cared for her as she slipped gracefully into her dotage. New suspension, brakes, pipes etc. Gradually she fell from regular use as the pressures of working and family life grew. Even at the end she looked great, Micron pipe glinting in the sun, that iconic 20 valve engine still keen and eager to propel me into a world where troubles are sucked away in the slipstream. But old father time is unforgiving, unrelenting foe and eventually the time had come to move on. When she slipped from view for last time a lump formed in my throat. Goodbye old friend, still crazy after all these years! June ’89 to Nov’91. Yamaha RD350F2. Job Description: Budget Sports. (I think). They say never go back out with an old girlfriend, and this bike rather proved the point. After my first YPVS this bike was something of an anti-climax. By the time I bought it new the Powervalve legend was fading, the RGV Suzuki and KR1-S Kawasaki had adopted the mantle of the chosen tool of the lunatic fringe. A good bike in many ways that I enjoyed riding, but it lacked the edge of the earlier models. The raw fun was gone and our time together was pretty quiet, although blowing away a local nutter on a heavily tuned YPVS engined 350LC was a highlight. To be honest the biggest thrill it provided was that only collecting a brand new bike can bring, that heady mixture of nerves and anticipation. Sept. ’88 to Mar. ’89. Honda VF1000FII Job Description: Dinosaur. Oh dear, we all make mistakes and this was mine, a huge bike in every respect and I hated it. Quite why I bought it continues to elude me. On the test ride I was pulled out on by a Nun in Transit van of all things, but did I take the hint, oh no. The handling was extremely top heavy and I had no confidence on this bike at all. A powerful, gusty engine was a highlight, but the whole added up to much less than the sum of its’ parts. So here was a bike that at time in my life I could ride at will that I actually chose to leave in the garage. Not surprisingly, it did not last long in my hands and just after we took an unplanned flight literally into the Norfolk countryside (in bid to keep up with a GPZ900 mounted friend), she was hastily sold and money spent on my wedding ~ see, I would do anything to get shot of it! Jan. ’87 to Sep.’88. Suzuki GS550E Job Description: Definitive UJM. Had a hard act to follow after the manic YPVS that proceeded it. A good solid bike that did many things well, and went about its day with a minimum of fuss. The first and to date, only bike I have taken to the IOM. At time when I was buying my first house the GS was a good tool to keep my hand in. Not the greatest bike, but hey, a bike is a bike! Mar. ’85 to Jan.’87. Yamaha RD350YPVS. Job Description: Adrenaline Pump. The absolute DB’s! This bike and I spent a roller coaster 18 months together, thrashed and ultimately perhaps inevitably, crashed. The bond between bike and rider was strong here, and at the time I owned this bike they were THE machines for the young lunatic about town! There were so many highs and so many lows. Formation wheelies in traffic, side by side with my best mate aboard an identical bike, crazy high speed rides to nowhere just for the hell of it. The thrill of scaring your girlfriends shitless! It was not big, it was not clever, it never impressed the girlfriends, but so what! In 18 glorious months it ate 7 tyres, countless brake pads and I generally poured money into my habit ~ everything had to be scarified to allow worship at the altar of the POWERVALVE. It had to end in tears and sure enough on September evening I came second in an unequal fight with a Bedford lorry - boy did that hurt. The bike was put back together again, but something had gone, the feeling of invincibility that only the I high octane mix of ignorance and youth can bring. Time to move on, but the memories will linger forever. April 1984 to March 1985. Yamaha RD250LC. Job Description: First Sports Bike. My first step into “big bikes”, the LC was a great fun bike. Light, fast and furious it really was the best bike for me as a (fairly) skinny 18-year-old seeking cheap kicks. The first bike I clocked 100 mph on, the first I took touring with my mates, and this first bike I took to pieces. After my CB100 the bike seemed so fast and I felt I had the respect of my peers. The LC provided me with a year of fun, what more could I ask for? October 1983 to April 1984. Honda CB100N-A Job Description: Learner legal sports. Where the habit I can’t just kick all started. I really wanted a 125LC but could not afford the insurance! I learnt to ride on this bike wobbling around the car park of disused factory, then later passed my test too. I discovered the world of “Bikers” when I joined a local club, the bike redefined my life in a way I had not imagined possible. The joys of “going prone”, pulling my first wheelie getting my first conviction ~ all done on this little bike. I thrashed it to within an inch of its life, but somehow I never managed to fall off. We all seem to keep a special place in our affections for our first bike, and I am no different. A have also owned a various points: FZ600, 2 Superdreams, another 2 YPVS RD350s, 2 CB250RS, RD250E, RD250LC a KH250 and a CD185

Summer 1989 and after a few frustrating months owning a lumbering Honda VF1000 I was more that a little relived to see the back of the brute. Mainly because I hated the bike but also to provide some much needed funding for my impending wedding. However, I was not going to be yet another one to give up biking when marriage looms. The big question I had when the VF went and the marriage dust settled was what to buy. When I thought about it the VF had about 125bhp, but I had real trouble even using half of that power most of the time, say 62bhp. While when I had my 59bhp RD350YPVS I merrily screwed every lost drop out of it at every opportunity! So another RD seemed to be an obvious. There was however a problem…money, or to be specific the total absence of any. Weddings are not cheap and I was flat broke. So I did the only thing I could – I bought a brand new 61 bhp Yamaha RD350F2! £25 deposit paid with my credit card and the rest over 3 million years on the drip! As I pulled of the forecourt at Carnell’s not so much as a tab washer on that bike was mine. Hey ho!! I picked up the F2 the day I got back from the honeymoon. Compared to the earlier model I had so enjoyed a few years before the F2 boasted another 2 bhp (yeah, really), ‘bean can’ exhausts, a full frame mounted fairing, a snazzy racing type fuel filler, a better means of rear suspension adjustment and new clocks. These were all just tweaks really to a fundamentally sound package. The frame-mounted fairing was the biggest actual improvement as it promised enhanced stability at speed when compared to the earlier model, which was fitted with a handlebar mounted cockpit fairing. Personally I have always preferred the look of the earlier YPVS models, they looked more aggressive somehow, a result of the more-sit-up and beg riding position. The F2 looked more delicate, pretty even. Performance was very brisk, with the trademark kick in the power delivery at 6,000 rpm and carried on to pulling hard for another 3,500rpm, just a little short of the redline. Somehow despite the on paper power gain the F2 just did not feel as dramatic as the original model. Once or twice I managed to coax the speedometer needle off the end of 120mph scale, but again the bike just did not feel as edgy as urgent as the earlier one. The raw numbers were pretty much the same, but the feel was different. Handling was pretty good despite narrow section tyres and spindly front forks, the tyres look almost ridiculously skinny now, especially when compared to modern bikes, even the sporty 125s have wider rubber fitted these days! On one memorable occasion I took on a local hotshot on the road from Wymondham to Hethel in Norfolk (only 4 miles or so), and totally wasted him. He had a tuned YPVS engine in an earlier LC frame, a classic combination. I was absolutely determined that despite having a bog standard F2 I could still hack the pace. The road in question is a superb combination of twists and turns mildly undulating finished off neatly with a savage S bend onto a longish straight with a section for heavy breaking before the 90 degree turn into the lane to the factory (where we both worked), was located. I had done this strip of tarmac twice a day for 4 years by this point, and had got to know it well. I gave the F2 everything I could and she writhed and twisted under me as we hurtled from bend to bend. I furiously worked the 6 speed box to keep the engine in the “powerband”, and at no point could my mate keep up let alone get past. I had maintained my credibility. What a great buzz. The LC rider came up to me once we were both in the bike car park and showed me the huge flats he had worn into the “spannies” fitted to his bike. Fantastic! Ironically the LC/YPVS combination the lad was riding contained some bits from my old RD that he had bought after the last owner had written her off (RIP). Despite the fact the F2 came into my garage around the time I was starting a family I still managed to blast around the Norfolk lanes pretty regularly, mainly in company with a mate who rode a (then), new 750 Zephyr. We hit the Norfolk coast roads that were pretty good fun most Sunday mornings, and just thrashed around until we found somewhere to have breakfast. Another memorable blast came about after I took the Yam from Norfolk up to the midlands. Once there I hooked up with a couple of mates, and we all went for afternoon of fun riding around up in the hills. One lad was on a Yamaha FJ1100 (a superb bike by the way), and the other on a HD 883 Sportster. Quite a combination of very different bikes, and my main memory of that ride is the HD rider habitually performing heroics with the ill handling brute to keep in touch with the FJ and RD. The F2 had Bridgestone tyres fitted when I bought her and being fair they gave a reasonable performance in all conditions. The rear lasted about 4,000 miles or so in mixed use and front still legal when I sold the bike with 6,500 miles clocked up. Fuel consumption was around 40mpg and oil lasted about 600 miles per litre. Obviously getting throttle happy sent this figure plummeting to well below 30mpg. But what do you really expect. If you want 100mpg, buy a C90! Pillion passenger wasn’t brilliant either, it never was on any LC, but if you look at some of perches on today’s sportsbikes the F2 looks like a Goldwing by comparison! The longest trip I did two up was from Norwich to Bradford and back (glamorous lifestyle I lead!), some 300 miles. The wife couldn’t get her legs back together for days, so some positives did emerge from the trip!! Overall the F2 provided me loads of fun scratching around the back lanes of Norfolk (are there any other kind there?), but somehow something was missing, an edge that the first YPVS models had in spades. It was a bit like the class rebel leaving school and joining the civil service, the air of rebellion was gone. If you ever get to scratch the 2-stroke itch the F2 is good, better than the flaccid Brazilian produced R model that replaced it, but the 1983 RD350YPVS is much better! So sell the four stroke, get an LC a RD and put a smile on your face.

I had one of these in 1987. Here are my impressions for anybody who might be bothered... Somehow I keep buying bikes that I don’t really need, don’t have the money or space for. Then I create a mythical role for them, realise that I had been a pillock for buying the bike in the first place and then sell it on. Is this just me? Anyway my Yamaha RD250E fell firmly into this camp. When the immaculate, low mileage RD was offered to me my will power crumbled as soon as I heard that delicious two-stroke burble from the exhausts. The Yam was also painted in those Kenny Roberts inspired colours of bright yellow with black racing blocks. The very first thing that I did, about two hours after handing over £250 of my hard earned overdraft was to ride the Yamaha from Norfolk down to Dorset. This was a trip of some 200 miles, on bike I had only just bought, and it was chucking down with rain. Sensible lad! I rode down in the company of my old mate “Nippy”, who had the dubious pleasure of owning a Honda FT500. Yes the FT does stand for what everybody thinks it does… Anyway we had a great laugh bouncing along the A30 at all the speed our two bikes could muster; about 90-95 mph if memory serves me well. Nippy was going through one of his suicidal periods at the time and I remember wincing as he overtook a long line of cars straight into the path of huge Volvo artic heading the other way. The driver of the truck had every surface possible covered with extra spotlights and he blazed everyone at Nippy along with the loudest air horn I had ever heard. Nippy just kept on the gas, he was twisting the throttle so hard he had his elbow scraping on the road virtually! He nipped through the gap with millimetres to spare, the Volvo horn and light show still in full swing. No problem… We made it to darkest Dorset and back to Norfolk with only a few more dramas. Once back in Norfolk I had a problem, my Suzuki GS550 took up all the space that I had available in my Barrett built rabbit hutch of a house and postage stamp garden. So the RD was shipped up to my parent’s home in sunny Birmingham to use when I was there and the GS remained my main bike. See what I mean about mythical roles? Dumped in Birmingham it languished only getting occasional use, a real shame. To tell you more about the bike itself the RD250E itself was a 1980 model and as such one of the last air-cooled models made before the fabled “Cult of LC” stared with the launch the RD350LC. As a late model the air-cooled boasted cast alloy wheels, a six-speed gearbox, electronic ignition and a disc brake for the rear as well as front wheel. The surprisingly gusty 2-stroke engine put out around 31 bhp and I nearly squeezed the magical 100mph out of bike on a few occasions. As usual this feat was achieved on my private test track (officer). Fuel consumption wasn’t really a priority for me, but I suppose that figures in the mid to high 30’s was about what I was getting from the Yamaha. Acceleration was pretty good, remember that these were learner legal bikes when new, and this lively performance when combined with the bouncy handling made the bike a real “fun” riding package. In 1987 when I owned the RD the brakes felt fine, but I rather suspect that if I owned the RD now I would be less impressed, but realistically what else would you expect? Over the months the RD was mine I enjoyed the bike immensely but it came to an anti-climatic conclusion. Chasing an Escort XR3i through the streets of Birmingham (I know, I know…) all of sudden the bike hesitated for an instant, and then all the power just ebbed away. The hot hatch escaped. Investigation later revealed that the engine had suffered a cracked piston and hence the power shortfall. But there was a silver lining to this tale. The RD still ticked over as normal and looked immaculate. So I sold it to dealer for a small loss, £50 or so. Not bad for a bit of 2-stroke fun I think you will agree. Overall to summarise the RD250E is a cracking bike and to compare the Yamaha with it’s peers; the Suzuki X7 is quicker, more edgy, but had an air of fragility about it. The Kawasaki KH250 despite it’s classic status now is a seriously overrated bike, while the likes of the turgid Honda CB250N and Suzuki GSX250E just don’t deserve to be on the same page in biking history. Prices for good RD250’s are on the rise now, but the RD400 seems to take all the limelight. But don’t forget the 250, and if you do buy one prepare yourself to have some fun.

I ghost wrote this for a mate, who posted it on a SRX site. Thought you guys on here might find it of interest too... There are many strange things about motorcycling: for instance I had owned a Triumph 900 Sprint from new for six years. A fabulous beast of a bike with a lusty and tuneful triple engine at the heart of it’s appeal, but something was missing. Can’t really put my finger on it, but the link between the big Triumph and me simply had not been forged. The result of this was less than 3,000 miles covered in those years and when somebody came along and offered me a reasonable price for her I took it. Now what is worse than having a bike that you haven’t “clicked” with? That’s right, having no bike at all! An old mate pointed out an add in UBG for an SRX, it was a local number so what the hell? Before I knew it a 1986 SRX400 grey import was sitting where once my mighty Triumph had resided. So a 16 year old (and somewhat frayed around the edges), single was to be summer machine. The bloke selling it had wanted over £800 but after a bit of haggling we settled on a price somewhere well south of that! So my superbike was gone, but there was a smile on my face, Like I said, biking can be a strange thing. The SRX is a light and nimble almost café racer style of road bike, with more than a whiff of “spot the RD common cycle parts” about it. Its heart is a lovely single developed from the XT500 lineage, which is superb around town, and also the twisty lanes. A closer examination of my new steed revealed an essentially sound bike with a few little extras like twin disc front brakes fed fluid via stainless hoses. Only a single disc was standard so an upgrade had clearly gone on its murky past at sometime. The speedo didn’t work either, and the exhaust note was not exactly legal on account of rather more holes that intended in the collector box. Sounded good though! The previous owner had made a few attempts at giving the single a little extra style with interesting results to put it kindly. So over the next few weeks various bits of the Yamaha got stripped off the bike then cleaned and painted before getting stuck back on. I really enjoyed seeing the bike improve and even the boss (Hi Bev!) got involved with some of the spraying and polishing. I fixed the speedo drive, the lads in the fabrication shop at work worked their magic on the exhaust in their lunch break, and I even lashed out on a rather racey new mirror too (I hate riding without mirrors). After all this TLC the SRX was looking pretty smart even if I do say so myself. However on to the important stuff, what is it like to ride? Basically great fun and I am not alone in thinking this. One evening a series of my so called friends tried out the poor thing, all came back smiling. Surely that is what any motorbike, irrespective or size or type, should be all about isn’t it? Over the summer of 2002 I had a brilliant time “giving it large” at every opportunity. The aircooled, 30 bhp single was a willing partner albeit somewhat strangled at the top of the rev range. I expect the UK spec 600 version would be significantly better in this respect. Sometimes I rode on my own locally, just appreciating being out there, but many longer thrashes in company with much faster machinery were also tackled. For instance I went to Matlock Bath one Sunday morning with a couple of friends, one on a Thundercat and the other aboard a Ducati 748 of all things! Well the SRX was ridden to the max and put up an honourable show as I exploited the nimble handling on the tight stuff. Flat out I could just squeeze out a tree figure top speed according to the lad on Duke, but can you trust an Italian speedo reading!? We all swapped bikes about on this run too and when the Thundercat rider was on my machine we came across the surreal sight of a Harley owners club run. They were decked out in the full regalia, Chips outfits, American flags fluttering in the breeze, the full nine yards. The whole thing looked like a break out from a Village People Video shoot! All on the outskirts of Lichfield, weird. They were riding in convoy and people were lining the side of the road to wave at them. All jolly good for the image of biking and no mistake. So does my mate allow this procession to go on unmolested? On no, he hacks past on the SRX with the (as yet un-welded) exhaust blaring out, and dived past the lot into an island at a crazy speed! If he wasn’t too busy keeping the bike on the road I am sure he wound of given them a suitable digital salute too! Laugh, I nearly fell off his bike! The hard pressed Yamaha also endured several thrashes around Shropshire and up into Wales, again trailing people on much faster bikes. To its’ credit the brave machine took this treatment in its’ stride and you can’t knock it for that. The good ground clearance and light weight allowed me to push hard in tight and twisty stuff. The straight bits were a different matter altogether though, so in the end my Thundercat owning friend had mercy on me and bought an ancient Honda CB250RS that he could ride to keep me company. We had an absolute ball on the two old singles hammering around the north Midlands and generally being way too committed. It was like being 18 again, but without the acne this time! As for all the practical stuff like mpg, chain and tyre wear I’ve had no problems, but this wasn’t what the bike was bought for. Call it 60+ mpg and the tyre wear has been slight in the 2,000 miles or so I have put on the Yam. With 30 bhp on tap it was never going to shred tyres like a Busa was it? But as a practical commutor, and some thrashing fun of a weekend, its very rewarding. The SRX has given in a lorry load of pleasure in one summer. Crucially it has made me question why so many of us bother with superbikes, and all of the hype that surrounds them. If biking is about fun, which I think it is, then the SRX400 delivers… So, summing up,you don’t have to be single to have fun, but it helps! Fledgling website; http://www.srx400.co.uk/

Cheers for the welcome, I will post some more Yamaha related posts when I get a chance. I have already put some of these on another forum that I contribute to, is it ok if I credit them at the end of the posts? Good to be amongst like minded people. I was in the LC club for a while but didn't the chance to go to any meets.

Just decided to join as a lon time Yamaha rider it seemed the natural place to be: My Yamaha roll call since 1984: 1980 RD250LC. 84 to 85 1984 RD350LCII YPVS (31k). 85-87 1989 RD350F2. 89-91 1986 FZ750 Genesis. 91-00 1998 YZF600R Thundercat. 00 - still got it, fantastic bike 1999 XJR1300SP. 05-07 1986 FZ600. 06 - still got it, see post in classic section I have also had another YPVS and a RD250E

Back at the tail end of 2006 after selling CB250RS I got myself a little FZ600 to keep my Thundercat and the XJR1300SP I had at the time company. I rode it home the 216 freezing miles from Durham. Anyway after a few months the MOT and tax ran out and the little FZ got pushed into the shadows. Time passed and a failed attempt at an MOT at my rather picky local test centre. Leaky fork seals, leaky zorst and stiff rear shock. Well 16 months later it was time to dig her out of hibernation and return to her rightful place; on the road. As I am notriously hard to motivate I roped in a mate to help me and so he turned up and we got on with it. After moving the Thundercat, 4 mountain bikes and a collection of empty boxes big enough for The Sweeney to chase some slags in an old Jag through the FZ begins to emerge! Even the spider had died of boredom awiting the return to the road! He kept trying to get me to cut my fairing off and 'fighter' the old girl. I was dreading taking off the exhaust; I had visions of siezed studs and hours battling with the headers. In the end the odd mix of bolts, cap heads come straight off. Result! Hopefully stainless will be going on in their place As you can see the exhaust isn't stainless!! A couple of pin holes explained the blowing exhaust note. This lot will be cleaned up and welded by another mate of mine. Should look a bit better then! Off with the Scorpion end can, probably worth more than than the bike! With the fairing, down pipes and zorst off we could stick the bike on my friends' rather wonderful lift. Great piece of kit, must get one for myself. Off with the front wheel, calipers and front mudguard Having already removed the clip ons ad released the fork pinch bolts we could drop the forks out We were coming up to a complicated bit, so its out with the Haynes 'Book of lies' The manual wittered on about special tools to take out the inards of the forks, but we improvised! The fork oil had seen better days... Getting there now! More improvisation! Yes, that is a paint roller! The circlip put up a bit of fight, but came out in the end. In the absence of the correct type of circlip pliers we used a couple of thin punches in each of the eye holes and a small flat bladed screwdriver. Tip, remember to keep things sided. We fitted the one seal without problem, refittted the original dust cap, but then hit a problem. Our improvised tool (!) wasn't suitable for the re-assembly task. So my partner in crime has taken the forks away as he reckons he has someting lurking in his garage that could do the job. So progress is halted for a little while. I will sort the rusty downpipes this week, while he sorts the fork assemblies. The FZ is pushed bike to the side of the garage, to await the next stage. Part 2 will follow soon