5 Classic 1970s 250cc Motorcycles

The 70s was a goldern era for the 250cc motorcycle, we look bike at 5 classic machines from the period load cloths and terrible hair styles

[HorseMalone]

These were great years for the young wish I could do it all over again.

[neilmcMK]

Great piece of nostalgia. I had a GT250A from 1976. And now, 47 years later, I’m getting another one!

[kevinbird]

I had a Rd 250c with coffin tank in Kenny Roberts colours. A great ride and a superb looking motorbike

[chriskappert]

Beautifull machines full of metal .
What a difference with todays Tupperware ! ❤

[simonfunwithtrains]

I can not believe that I went from a Honda c50 moped on to a new Yamaha RD250!!. That's the 70's for you.

[colinrashleigh]

I had a TS 250 mz in 1980 we would visit all the race tracks up and down the motorway my mates had 250 Honda super dreams and really struggled to keep up with the mz even with there six speed gearbox you could ride it flat out all day l did a lot of miles on that machine very underrated but getting popular now, at the time it cost me £508 and the super dream £825 so it really was a bargain at the time . Great video thank you for including the well deserved MZ 😊

[dukeoliver]

Man, I could listen to these things run all day long....
just heavenly.

[yonniboy]

My first 250 was the Suzuki T250J Hustler, next was a second hand S2 Kawasaki 350 which handled like a pig so I traded it in for a Yamaha RD250E, the first bike I owned that handled pretty well and I had the Yamaha two stroke bug, next came the RD400E, followed by the marvellous RD350LC, the 350F power valve and finally the RD500LC before I Moved on to four strokes, the first of many being the GSX-R750, these days I've got the 2023 Street Triple RS which is probably the best bike I've ever owned but must admit the 350LC was hard to beat even the smell of two stroke takes me back to my youth lol. incidentally a mate bought a CZ250 in the late 70s and we ripped the piss out of him but he's still got the little CZ in his garage with well over 100, 000 miles on it while our strokers were long gone decades ago.

[madmeister]

In 1974 I bought a used 1971 Suzuki T250 Hustler in green. I loved that bike and had so much fun riding around with my mates. How I miss those days.

[nationalfluidpowercentrelt]

i have a brand new kh250 b4 in 1979, i thrashed that bike unmercifully everywhere, mine never smoked, i never gave it chance.!!! 35000 miles on it when i got rid and apart from burning spark plugs out it never gave me any trouble....i wish i could find it if its still around so i could buy it back and restore it. I was the local lunatic riding around like a madman, wheelies, scraping the side stand and the centre pipe on the opposite side round every corner i could, hardly anyone could get close to times....lol but i loved every

[tonebonetones]

Wow, frightening nostalgia. Great upload, mate. Priceless memories of carefree days avoiding the close attention of police ford granada 'jam sandwiches'. Although I am deducting serious points for your glaring omission of the nimbler, faster Kawasaki answer to the Honda super four stroke Z250, styled like the big Kawasaki Z's, complete with machined alloy wheels. Indeed, Kork Ballington had won the 250cc world championship for Kawasaki, and the very first A1's had a replica Ballington option. Marvellous machine, though the later A2 version didn't seem quite as fast to me and my A1.

[TheBezaleel]

I had a Suzuki GT250 in 1977 but I agree the KH250 was the most desirable, the sound was pure music !

[peterwainwright]

Great video - reliving the 70s all over again. Had one of each of these over the years apart from the MZ. The KH was temperamental and was terrible at low speeds, the Honda was far too heavy but very well made, the Suzuki look great but unfortunately a little ponderous around corners, my favourite was the RD which always started easily and was great fun to ride even at relatively low speed through town. A friend had an MZ which kept on going despite infrequent maintenance and was surprisingly sprightly.

[BStevie]

My 250 in the 70s was the BSA Starfire, great bike never let me down, then later moved onto another great Brit bike the Triumph.

[andrewpreston]

Lovely seeing these bikes again, thank you for putting up this video.
In 1974 I bought a '71 T250 Hustler. Quite a change from a couple of years previously, when I had a '62 BSA C15. I remember the Hustler as an absolute screamer. Specs looked great, but really, rather tiring to ride a distance. You needed those 6 gears to keep the thing .., not so much on the boil, but to have any chance of progress on the ups and downs of English roads. I was always rather wary of the handling. I'll leave it at that. Within it's limitations, looking back, I view the old BSA C15 as a more practical and relaxing ride.

I could never understand why the Honda Superdream 250 was so popular. To me it defined the terms..., bland, middle of the road, older mans bike...completely uninteresting. It stil looks that way to me. I really liked the '60's Hondas, CB72, CB77 ( quite rare here in the UK, as I recall )..., and the little 125cc CB92.

Thank you again for putting up this video. Really enjoyable.

[sjk]

I learnt on a 250N. I'm 6'2'' and was around 200lb at the time so it's larger size was appealing and I didn't see the relative lack of performance as a hinderence. I figured there would be lots of time for bigger and faster bikes when it was time to move on. It was a decent enough workhorse for my daily commute, but TBH I don't ever get dewy eyed about it. I now ride a Z900RS for Sunday morning fun.

[stevedunn]

I had the kawasaki 250 f scorpion in 1979 surprised you didn't show one. It was a nice bike. Good vid thanks. Oh I still ride at 63 and own 2 bikes.

[noahwail]

Another nice collection, thanks. My first streetbike was a Suzuki GT250, one of the first bikes with CCI lubrication. All fine and well, untill one day I was screaming down a long hill at 160 km/t (100 mph) and i suddently stopped making noises, exept from the rear wheel... The litle stud that connected the oiltank with the pump broke of, and the needlebearings in the bigends got weldet together in 2 single rings. Ups..

[davidpalin]

I had a 1982 RD200, brand new.
I loved that bike 🏍 😍

[carlarthur]

I had a 250cc Ariel Golden Arrow 2 stroke went quite well, road holding was exceptional you could ground your pegs on every bend, also had a Suzuki 200cc, and many others in the day, Happy days, I starred in 1965 at 16 and am still riding bikes, at the moment a B M 750 flying brick . Great video thanks for the memories 😀