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Norton Dominator 500cc 1951Twin Cylinder 500cc 4-stroke Road
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Suzuki T250 HustlerTwin Cylinder 250cc 2-stroke Road
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Suzuki TS250 SavageSingle Cylinder 250cc 2-stroke Trail
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Yamaha RD350Twin Cylinder 350cc 2-stroke Road
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Yamaha MX250Single Cylinder 250cc 2-stroke MotocrossThis bike was an improvement over my Suzuki TS250 for motocross, but wasn't exactly startling. Basically a hotted up DT250, they were no match for the Suzuki RM's which were released not long after I bought the MX250. The RM's were designed, from the ground up, for motocross, and I think they were the first Japanese production bikes designed this way. I didn't have the MX250 for long, the combination of mediocre rider and bike was not a good one! |
Yamaha YZ125Single Cylinder 125cc 2-stroke Motocross
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Suzuki TS250Single Cylinder 250cc 2-stroke TrailWhilst motocross and flat track were fun, the hits were few and far between. With no car to transport the bikes I was limited to bumming lifts to events and virtually no practice during the week. I decided to hit the bush again, but buying another TS was a big mistake. Suzuki had not made any improvements to the original design, so after the YZ the TS seemed like a fat slug. To make matters worse, this particular bike seemed to be a lemon, and didn't perform as well as others of the same model. |
Husqvarna WR250Single Cylinder 250cc 2-stroke TrailThis was Husqvarna's attempt at a trail bike (a WR250, not a 250 WR). It was not a very good one, as it didn't have the creature comforts of the Japanese bikes, and didn't have the performance (mainly in the frame/suspension area) of a European bike (including competition Huskies). Didn't really manage to get the power to the ground..lots of spinning and sliding about. |
Suzuki GT750Three Cylinder 750cc 2-stroke Road
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Bultaco 360 FronteraSingle Cylinder 360cc 2-stroke Enduro
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Suzuki PE250Single Cylinder 250cc 2-stroke Enduro
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Yamaha RD400Twin Cylinder 400cc 2-stroke RoadAfter having lost my competition license (thank you ACU of Qld - NOT!) it was back to the road. The RD400 was a backwards step from the RD350, having more weight and a less sporty engine. It seemed that a lot of the extra weight was in the new "mag" wheels, as it turned into corners like a slug compared to the 350. I sold it after 8 months, and then gave up bikes for three years! |
As "real" motorcyclists rode British or American (and NOT Japanese)
bikes, and with some peer group pressure from friends, and from my
father (who had owned the same model), I bought a Norton Dominator
twin cylinder 500. This was the 1951 model, and as it was 20 years
old it had to have an engine re-build before I could go for my license
on it. The 1951 model was pre-featherbed (i.e. just before swinging
arms), had "Roadholder" (telescopic) forks and a 21 inch front wheel.
It also needed a lot of other work done to it, but I could never get
it to be reliable. The magneto didn't like water, and since I was
in Victoria at the time it was a problem. My friends also bought the "right" machinery,
one got a 650 Triumph (single carb) and another a Harley WLA. The
WLA was the slowest of the lot, and the Triumph the fastest. One other
guy in our "group" reneged and bought a new Yamaha R5 350 two stroke.
He ran rings around the lot of us, and the thing didn't leak oil and
didn't break down. Within 9 months we all had new Jap bikes.
This bike was a revelation after the old Norton. I did more travelling in three months on the Suzuki than I did in nine months on the Norton. It didn't sound as good, and it didn't like travelling into a head wind. I had a ball on the Great Ocean Road and did so regularly, since my parents lived in Lorne. It wasn't that good on fuel, and can remember routine points and plug maintenance was essential to good performance. The Hustler's donk had an advertised 33 bhp (25 kW), top speed with a tailwind was up around the imperial ton. While haunting the GOR I did a few excursions into the Otway Ranges, on dirt roads, and caught a dirt bug. T250 Website 
I did a lot of riding on this bike, but couldn't say there was anything special about it - except that it was utterly reliable. It even got stripped down to ride in club "scrambles" on the weekends. It ended up fitted with the popular "Basani" exhaust pipe and riddled with holes in attempts to loose weight! The TS of the day lived in the shadow of the Yamaha DT250, which did seem to steer better with it's 21" front wheel (the TS had a 19"). So what, the TS took me so many places, and I had so much fun on it, that comparisons with anything else don't matter!
The RD350 was an excellent bike. Major improvements over the R5 were the addition of reed valves and a disc brake. The extra power (compared to the Hustler) was sufficient to overcome the problems running into headwinds. I did quite a few km's on the bike (longest trip Townsville-Lorne), and had no problems at all. It was great on winding roads, and had sufficient power for touring at reasonable speeds.
This was the first YZ125, with the aluminium petrol tank. From memory the YZ was available at the same time as the MX125, but was billed as a "Works Replica". Indeed they were, like the RM's, designed for motocross, with no commonality between trail and motocross products. The YZ was a lot more competitive than the MX250, and a lot of fun. 
Long live the waterbus (or water bottle). The waterbus was a fantastic tourer. It had massive midrange power (for the day) and thus made Honda CB750's look like a 350 when it came to top gear roll-on's at normal highway speeds. It didn't suffer with fouled plugs as much as other two strokes I'd owned, and had a water jacket, so no more hot air breathlessness and 2-stroke clatter. It just burbled on and on. Drilling the front discs improved wet weather braking a lot. Longest run was Townsville-Hobart. Longest day was 15 hours Townsville-Brisbane (was just under 1500 km), which was my one day record for all vehicles for ages, eclipsed in 1990 by 17 Hrs Broome-Darwin (1927 km) solo in a Toyota Landcruiser.
This was the first 360 Frontera, with a wonderfully fat powerband. Suspension design had progressed with 8" (200 mm) travel at the front, and a bit less at the rear. The rear suspension was forward mounted twin-shocks. Original power was a bit tame, but could be improved with a Pursang pipe. The big improvement came with a home made exhaust designed for the motor, which gave the bike a competitive, fat powerband. On the downside I did have ignition problems after about 9 months, and the bike did spit a ring once.
Had a ride on the first PE in town and had to have one. Beautifully compliant suspension (lay forward twin-shock) gave great traction, and it steered better than the Frontera. Suspension was a lot better than the first Yamaha Monoshocks, which seemed underdamped. Took a lot of tuning to get rid of problems just below the power band - this bike needed a six speed gearbox. As a package, the PE was excellent, and easy to ride; the arrival of the Japanese Enduro bike? Does this bike look dirty? Check out
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on to Part 2 |
