new old trails bike...

[Datafunk]

first up, not sure if this should be posted here.. or the vintage section... or the all about me section... so move it to whereever.

got my first trials bike... a 1974 Suzuki RL250... plan on doing a "resto" of her, i put the comma's there because at this stage it won't be a proper resto, just one to get her looking good (she already SEEMS to run good) and up to scratch... also, get her roadworthied....

how common are the compliance plated rl250's? whats the deal with them? full rego? rec rego? vintage rego? bit lost really.

anyway, here's some pics!


also, bit of info on the bike, only done 1300kms and supposedly has the original tyres still on it... in some aspects that is totally believeable, but i do believe it was never properly stored, im guessing covered and chucked in the shed where it sat for a long, long time.










also own;

2006 kawasaki zx-6r was on road, now off the road, slowly, but surely going to convert it into a track only bike, the * will get me killed on the road
1979 yamaha xs250, slowly, but surely turning this into a brat style bike.
1984 toyota celica supra

any hints as good places to shop would be awesome too, bought some parts from the states for my bike (fender and a clutch cover, LOL @ the retarded homefix up)

sidenote: you can't sign up using gmail, but you can using a @live.com account? :S bit odd.

[David Lahey]

Welcome Datafunk. I'd love to see inside that clutch cover when you get to taking it off
You should be able to get normal road rego due to your RL having the ADR compliance plate - if you want it. Its old enough to get club rego if you want. Very few people road rego their trials bikes as they are so bad to ride on the road.
In Qld, the road rego RL model was more common than the non-rego model when they were new. In other states it may have been quite different.

[Datafunk]

whats the top speed of them roughly? 70? faster? one thing i might change is having no tacho, much prefer my bikes to have one...
why so bad at road riding? due to tank size? no top end? ect? genuinely curious, im not planning on dding it, more hooning round town on probably.
yeah, that clutch cover, ha, doesn't SEEM to leak..... oh and what oils you guys suggest? and what mix?! first two stroke i've owned... did a quick look was going to go with roughly 30:1 (i think thats right?) i bought "shell advance 2t mineral motorcycle oil" wasn't sure if synthetic was a no no or not.

cheers.

[Greg Harding]

Hi Everyone,

Datafunk, the RL is a "L" model 1974-1975 which should have a compliance sticker on the headset. Judging by the car number plates, you are in Victoria, which should give you some options? Westy (RL250 MANIA) in Twinshock and Classic has an RL registered and may be able to help you. In my opinion, registering a trials bike is limited because of low gearing (probably cruise @ 30-40 kmh) and if you gear them up they are no good for trials!

Love the clutch cover artwork, must be someone out there who is proud of their handywork, where abouts did you buy the new cover and fender?

Another RL250 fan.

[Datafunk]

well, i say new, i mean new old clutch cover, straight from the US. the fender was supposedly new, so i think someones making them or something, once again, from the states. with the awesome aussie dollar its just less hassle (as long as they arrive) to import parts atm, also gives me sometime to actually strip the bike and at least start prepping shit by the time they all arrive (i think one of the parts is coming surface mail, so 2 months or so) im in no rush, as long as the bikes "ready" by summer i'm happy.

also, if you're an rl enthusiast, you might want to check out ebay at the moment, an RL is up there, from the US with FREE, yes FREE shipping to any major port on the east coast of australia (all you pay for shipping wise is import taxs ect) no compliance plate though, but its in pretty good nick from the pics...

[FM350]

Use a fully synthetic oil at 60:1 if you are using it as a road bike, and 70:1 for trials. Trials bikes are not great to ride on the road though, as riding position isnt very comfortable, gearing is very low, and some bikes tend to vibrate quite a bit.